JoNova
A science presenter, writer, speaker & former TV host; author of The Skeptic's Handbook (over 200,000 copies distributed & available in 15 languages).
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I hope everyone has a great break & gets to spend it with those they care about, over the next couple of weeks 🙂
Please spare a thought for the tireless and great work of the ambos, police and firies who are always on duty …..
170
Yes, and all the people in power stations, hotels, airports, airlines, data centres, public transport, hospitals and so on. The world is non stop for many people.
160
Not including livestock farmers?
On call 24/7/52 doesn’t cut it?
160
That would be the so on part. I dont consider myself perfect or able to consider everyone and everything. Even if I have cows for neighbours. Thinking about it, at least they have the luxury of being at or near home. Many dont.
50
Yes, including livestock farmers, also flight deck and cabin crews. Our son has to fly early on Christmas Day, long haul, so days away. His family will have their main celebration on his return home.
Wishing everyone a Very Happy and Merry Christmas.
PS…Christmas choccies for Jo time, not forgetting Easter eggs in due course!
121
Also spend some time where possible with old retired folk who are struggling to keep their head above water.
140
Fair point…the elederly in this country dont get a great deal, IMHO.
I find it interesting about how if you look through the Bible, you find the older peoplre revered and told to be resptected as sources of wisdom…..
“The glory of young men is their strength, but the splendor of old men is their gray hair.” ( Prov 20:29 )
“Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding? “To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.” ( Job 12:12-13 )
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James Burke Has an interesting take on why older people are not revered as they once were; prior to the invention of the printing press, older people were revered for the memories, but after the printing press made knowledge available to everyone, old people’s memories were not as big a requirement. Today, with knowledge available to everyone electronically, old people’s memories are not required at all. Of course, while knowledge is easily accessible, wisdom is often not as easily found.
140
Funny how “old wive’s tales” is a derogatory term, isn’t it?
50
Today there is much discrimination against the aged, and it’s getting worse. It’s one main reason why a nation loses direction and eventually falls – so much waste. We are surrounded by upstarts who think they know everything when in fact they are only just started on the road to knowledge and wisdom.
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The part that p1sses me off is that they rarely acknowledge whose shoulders they stand on. As if the modern world that they take for granted just fell from the sky a few decades ago.
70
My mum turned 100 on 30/07/2018. I am on a carer’s pension, as I am her primary carer. She has a level four MyAgedCare package, which gets her two daily visits for personal care which she refuses to let me do ( fair enough ). She is unable to turn in her bed, far less get out. She is profoundly deaf, legally blind, and now doubly incontinent. I left work 30 months ago and withdrew my meagre Keating super in order to stay home and do what I could to help, and to keep her in her own home.
Her MD tells me it’s a pity she doesn’t have a “chronic heart condition”, there would be heaps more services to help her. I say, “you’re a doctor, and thus reasonably educated, surely 100 years of age qualifies as ‘chronic'”.
In the middle of all this I held my wife in my arms as she died of cancer.
People abuse me as not being a nett contributor, when I have paid taxes all my life.
In my view this country treats it’s citizens appallingly. Keeping mum at home saves them thousands. They ‘reward’ me with the princely sum of $500 pw for doing so. They paid me the same amount to care for my wife while I watched her die.
Donald Horne coined the term “The Lucky Country”. I wonder what he, or John Patrick O’Grady ( Nino Culotta ) would think now.
I apologise for the rant, but it’s a very hard time of year for me.
This country needs to change, and soon. Mum can’t afford the energy bills, and neither can I. But it’s far more than energy, It’s everything. Back when there was great resentment re the GST, I was moonlighting as a cab driver, and it came up all the time. I used to say that I couldn’t care less. I would even say it should be increased to 15%, as long as the extra 5% went to fund childcare, education, health and aged care, like any civilised country should do. It would need to be quarantined to keep politicians grubby hands off it. Naïve or what? The only politician in my living memory that may have considered such a thing might have been Peter Costello. I am still unconvinced by his “Future Fund”, and of course the next lot voted in just grab that stuff anyway.
I have read a few low brow books re life in East Germany, where life was drab, and certain things were in short supply or unavailable. However, it seems that all apartments and hones had heat, the citizens were law abiding and the elderly were cared for. I don’t know if that is true, but it sounds a whole lot better than the “enlightenment” we see here.
Will there ever be compromise? Will we always be working in an adversarial system?
In a recent thread, SciFi books and movies and TV shows were discussed.I have many loves here, too many to mention. One I rate higher than most is Star Trek Next Generation, for the simple reason that the “Federation” set out to treat all as equal. Of course, if that had worked it would have been a short run series, as SciFi needs drama ( Asimov and Clarke and Niven and Silverberg et al knew that, as did Roddenberry ). But the idea of a life where acceptance is the norm is far more appealing than the dog eat dog one we currently have.
I wish you all Merry Christmas, or Season’s Greetings if you prefer. Send some love to my mum if you can spare it. I have no science, but I have a deal of common sense. I thank you for allowing me to share.
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Absolutley. I have an old friend who retrained as an ambo in her late 40’s and is great.
Also, spare a thought for those tireless people in the Liberal and National parties putting soooo much effort towards stuffing up their election chances in 2019 to a fare the well. They have been going at it like enthusiastic honey bunnies of late. 🙂
131
Stuff happens, agrarian socialist sought a date with a pretty lass and he fell on his sword.
Poetic justice, after the way he treated Barnaby. I know, we’ll parachute a woman into his vacated seat.
91
eg….I just bet there is an endless line of women just gagging to be members of the Nats. 🙂
But yeah, given the latitude Barnyard has had in terms of “not” enquiries it poor form.
But, i did see today that there is some talk of Peta Credlin sticking her hand up for Mallee. I had no idea, but apparently she is from a town in that electorate and has connections and recognition there?? Now, you know my perspective, but i think it would be much much fun to have her as an opposition MP for the Nats. 🙂
111
Its a safe Nat seat and I think Peta’s brother lives on a substantial property there abouts.
But the riveting news is …
‘Angus Taylor faces hostile state energy ministers at COAG as his NSW counterpart says the PM must change course on energy and climate change.’ Oz
81
Much surprisiment that a minister of the current Govt / Muppet Show handles negotiations badly. 🙂
51
He is a novice but I’m confident of a good outcome.
40
Because the government is going to announce new coal fired power stations.
‘Don Harwin said he was “very disappointed” with the outcome of the Council of Australian Governments energy council on Wednesday because an obligation to reduce emissions is “absolutely critical” to encourage investment in new power generation and lower prices.’
Guardian
40
They are going ballistic.
‘A fractious meeting of energy ministers ended in acrimony directed at the Morrison government.’ SMH
30
Oh nose ….
‘NSW’s Energy Minister launches a stinging attack on his federal Liberal counterpart as climate change debate is shut down.’ Oz
30
Ahhh… a man who knows he is facing an election in 3 months, that the voters always get it right and unlike a lot of Libs can actually see the writing on toilet door. 🙂
61
Premier Gladys has left her energy minister out of the loop, much amusement.
20
For a laff, have a look at this one eg. Crabb is a bit of a lightwieght, but she sometimes does some funny stuff like this.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-20/annabel-crabb-andrew-broad-year-in-canberra-scott-morrison/10636166
seems to me that the media have well and truly shifted int0 …”FFS, lets just have an election and put everyone out of their misery” mode. 🙂
10
Here in Vic the Ambos had slogans all over their vehicles campaigning for Labor 4 years ago. I’m not sure I want to give them my Christmas cheer, no matter how hard they work. If they want my support then they should remain apolitical.
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And here’s to ROM getting better soon. You are in our thoughts. Merry Christmas
30
Seconded!
00
video about Package Stealers … funniest thing Ive seen all year.
https://youtu.be/xoxhDk-hwuo
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Thanks for the link Matrix, what an engineering masterpiece, but I think he needs to change neighbourhoods. ToM
110
A mention on recent TV where somebody packaged bricks and left them at their front door, but this one was much more ingenious. Enjoyed that.
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I’m calling that FAKE.
You spend months of work building an expensive package to gets views on your youtube channel,
then your not going to wait around for a real thief, which would happen rarely.
And the theft footage looked fake anyway.
66
The red was supposed to be green.
20
FAKE and COPIED from other Youtube professionals.
I have seen a similar thing done before, though not as sophisticated.
This got on MSM in Australia, can you believe it ?
42
If you are going to cause a thief all that grief, the stink and the glitter, you wouldn’t fee safe from retribution; unless
you weren’t worried about that because you knew all the actors as part of the deal.
KK
33
Really, Keith? Bloke has cameras everywhere, the thieves are tracked by GPS, and you think he’s worried about comeback? I know that we think the Yanks are nuts, but even I don’t think they are THAT nuts. Their Police have a ‘shoot first and ask questions whenever’ policy.
Anyway, lighten up…. it was funny.
30
http://joannenova.com.au/2018/12/midweek-unthreaded-52/#comment-2083900
Lighten up?
Maybe we could all do that.
20
Mine wasn’t. The guy has ample $$$$ to do something like that. His quals are real. He makes many other vids catching people out. My thumb was red.
10
theft of porch drop packages is an industry in the US, not a rarity at least in some cities. Some people follow UPS (and similar) vans around for that purpose.
30
Its also becoming common in Australia too, as a postie we’ve been getting more reports of parcel theft over recent years with a few of us catching them in the act, they will follow us or delivery couriers around and grab the item as soon as you’re out of sight and this happens in all types of neighbourhoods.
The offenders will range from opportunistic kids to organised gangs from all societies demographics, I caught out some kids (~15yo) stealing parcels on a round virtually in the act and gave them a warning of police involvement if I saw them doing it again, next week they were still doing it and by chance the police were in the area so I approached them to report what I’d seen but they didn’t seem interested even after I pointed out the serious charge of tampering with mail under Commonwealth law.
My advice to mail customers who value their parcels is get a decent sized lockable box like the Pacman dropbox or choose the delivery option of being carded for local PO pickup if you’re not home.
And for those that have genuine complaints about poor parcel deliveries remember %99.99 are by contract van drivers NOT properly trained and conscientious Auspost Posites.
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Yeah, thanks……………. yet another ewetoob rabbit burrow for me to waste time on……. lol. Pretty neat though, as are his many other vids…… I say again, thanks….. lol.
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Replacing sparkles with point or oil would have improved his retribution.
10
Since I got here early;
Great Idea Steve, yes everyone enjoy Christmas and remember to thank those who serve us in all forms and be generous with those who are less fortunate than us.
On a different note; How do we tackle the elephant in the room CO2??
CAGW and renewables are built on a house of cards BASED on Human CO2. If the CO2 meme is brought into serious question the sheeple might start to really question if they and their wallets are being herded into the death house for the economy and energy!
But how, it needs some sort of NATIONAL DEBATE supported by politicians (God bless their self centered greedy cotton socks!) and a fair balance of intelligent presenters with a good grounding in CO2 science. But how? Jo is there any chance it could be done on SKY Channel? I would say Aunty but she would never risk her idol!
Come on where’s your thinking caps??
Merry Christmas and may CO2 make new year very healthy!!
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Ian Plimer on the Outsiders seeks a debate with Tim Flannery, which has been rejected out of hand.
‘Come on where’s your thinking caps??’
To get the MSM to debate the issue of climate change we need the PM to hold up a lump of coal and say the government is going to build three new coal fired power stations.
My concern is that we don’t have a credible story to prove CO2 is benign and the virtue signallers will take us to the cleaners with their yarn.
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The crucial issue in deconstructing the climate change meme is to debate Carbon Dioxide.Not to be confused with Carbon – that evil black stuff y’know!
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I wish ‘they’ would stop calling CO2 ‘carbon’. I think its possibly deliberate to distract from certain ‘facts’. Most polits and MSM pundits dont realize why they even regurgitate this stuff.
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If carbon is destroying the world and the only way to prevent Earth’s destruction is to sequester carbon, I’ll take all your nasty diamonds (almost pure carbon) and make sure they don’t contribute to the Earth’s demise. You can save the Earth by sending me your diamonds via Joanne and she can keep 20% for historical purposes.
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This is what I told my member, I said that I would take all the nasty carbon they wanted but I insist that it be in the most compact form for storage, the hard Crystaline form please. Just dump the stuff by the truckload on my lawn and I will clean up after.
20
Don’t forget that coal was known as Black Diamond.
I wouldn’t mind a few tons of both the black and ultra- compressed form to be dumped at our place, please.
10
El Gordo;
NO the PM needs to open the box, question the science, CHALLENGE and show that Short-a-ton is scamming the country.
It’s is they that have to prove the CAGW CO2 meme – we just need to show where to drive the trucks thru!!
That should not be that hard!
111
‘…. question the science….’
Morrison knows nothing, any idea on how we can educate him before the election?
He could organise a Royal Commission into the science, but that seems unlikely at this point in the political cycle. Perhaps a BoM audit for starters, to put the Klimatariat on the back foot.
The way to get immediate traction is for the PM to say we are building Hele coal fired power stations because we have recently discovered that carbon dioxide is a trace gas which doesn’t cause global warming.
92
There is a credible story to show that CO2 is beneficial. Lets start there.
The CO2 is a pollutant story needs some more work to overcome. Initial attempts to discredit the dangerous greenhouse warming theory have been side tracked;
1. the BOM side stepped an enquiry into the HQN temperature data by dropping HQN in favour of the ACORN-SAT
2. cabinet rejected an enquiry into ACORN-SAT at the urging of Greg Hunt (climate minister)
3. the Technical Advisory forum was commissioned by assistant miniet5er Bob Baldwin. They met one day per year over 3 years and delivered 3 bland reportsd which the BOM has still to address in full.
4. Mark Steyn accused Dr Michael Mann of poor science. Mann sued which could have been excellent at the discovery of scientific irregularities. The case has been in the US courts for 10 years with scarcely any movement.
The best chance now is some cooling, but even if that happened it might be made to look like warming. If we don’t get cooling the whole thing might go on and on.
81
‘…it might be made to look like warming.’
Unless we can prove its cooling, the loss of intensity in the STR for example. Bertrand Timbal at BoM knows what I mean and should speak up for the sake of humanity.
41
You can bet he won’t.
He’s protecting his pension.
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https://abc11.com/weather/raleigh-durham-area-sees-entire-winter-average-in-one-day/4866428/
“Before winter has officially started (winter officially starts Dec. 21), many areas in North Carolina have already exceeded their average snowfall for the entire winter season.
“We’ve had our entire winter average in one day,” ABC11 Meteorologist Don “Big Weather” Schwenneker said.
“Snowfall totals:
Person County: 14 inches
Wake County: 8-9 inches (in parts)
Alamance County: 11 inches
Durham County: 12 inches
Granville/Vance County: 10 inches
Orange County: 10.5 inches
Halifax County: 7 inches
Johnston County: 3.8 inches
Chatham County: 8.6 inches
Franklin County: 11 inches
41
Scenario
1: The cooling due to the coming grand minimum will that great that they wont be able to sustain , its warming that cools crap.
2: They will get ice bound and still preach warming.
3: The populace brainwashed ignoraty will actually wake up after they cant get food, have to walk to work in snow, get massive power outages as the un-renewable power grid fails. Then a major riot as they realize they have been scammed for 20+ years.
20
would make a good movie, not out of hollywood obviously. Maybe the Scandis could follow up “Follow the Money”
10
El gordo,
There’s a very simple scientific condemnation of the CO2 _ Climate Change atmospheric heating meme.
All physics trained people know that while CO2 may selectively absorb energy from outbound Infrared there’s a problem for the Warmers: it cannot hold or “trap” that energy.
There is almost instantaneous equilibration of the CO2 with surrounding molecules, principally oxygen and nitrogen.
The hotter parcel of gas then floats up thus continuing the energy transfer from ground to space by convection.
Admittedly convection is slower than moving IR but over the 24 hour solar cycle it’s not all that relevant.
If basic uncontestable physics doesn’t stick then we have to go with IF.
What if it was true: that CO2 causes global warming. The second problem for warmers is that Human Origin CO2 is such a small contributor to the system that it is quantitatively irrelevant. The biggest “dangers” are atmospheric Water and natural origin atmospheric CO2.
The Science is all too real, but qualified scientists want to keep their jobs, and who can blame them.
Voodoo is alive and kicking.
KK
171
That is terrific Keith, now condense that so an ignorant mass audience can understand.
Imagine you are writing for Rowan Dean, who has little time to get an idea across, so it has to be short and simple, yet profound.
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If Timmy refuses to leave the safety of his water side mansion, maybe Ian could debate Andres Levermann.
http://notrickszone.com/2018/12/15/climate-of-confusion-nasa-pik-scientist-confirm-global-temperature-has-fallen-0-2c-since-1850/
Could be fun.
31
The elephant in the room is not whether a CO2 increase causes warming and clearly it does not, but whether CO2 is able to be changed at all by human activity. We no more control the amount of CO2 in the air than we control the amount of water in the ocean. It is known to be in rapid equilibrium with the 50x the amount freely dissolved in the oceans. We could not change CO2 levels if we tried, no matter how many power stations are shut.
The reason climate scientists are rapidly dropping the ‘sensitivity’ of global temperature to CO2 is that there isn’t any. In 1988 an alleged +0.5C in 10 years was extrapolated to +5.0C in 100 years. Thirty years later it is clearly not true, so ‘sensitivity’ has dropped to 1/3rd. At fifty years it will have dropped to 1/5th. It’s just not true. As for water amplification, they are still pushing that now disproven conjecture, using water to create Global Warming because CO2 can’t do it.
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Well put.
There’s no way that Human Origin CO2 can influence Earth’s atmospheric temperature.
40
El Gordo says:
It’s not the sceptics’ problem. The hypothesis belongs to the warmists. Accordingly, it’s their lot to provide the evidence in support of it.
So far, all the evidence has done nothing but support the Null.
The models, that encapsulate their hypothesis, fail to forecast future temperature and future conditions. This version of Spencer’s graph captures the failure very effectively:
http://www.globalwarming.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/CMIP5-73-models-vs-obs-20N-20S-MT.png
In addition:
The Artic sea-ice hasn’t disappeared.
The Antarctic sea-ice is stable.
The Antarctic is gaining mass of ice and snow.
The rain hasn’t failed to fall.
The snow hasn’t become a thing of the past.
The sea-level hasn’t risen in accordance with their exaggerated predictions.
Cyclones haven’t increased in number.
Tornadoes haven’t increased in number.
Droughts haven’t become more frequent.
And, of course, the temperature continues to fluctuate independently of CO2 increases; the 17 year “hiatus” being the latest manifestation.
111
Good work Sam, the combo of graph and dot points are perfect for an audience with a short attention span.
21
ABC says fires and floods within a week of each other is a clear sign of climate change , when interviewing the Victoriastan emergency commissioner they even pushed him to admit that the floods and fires were because of CAGW as per IPCC consensus.
I get the feeling we are losing the battle , but when our new overlords put the carbon tax on fuel and electricity and ban tradies Utes we might just turn believers into yellow shirts .
71
Bushfires are a result of the incompetence of the parks management to apply risk management strategies consistent with the increase in lands that have come under their control over the last thirty years or so.
Just behind me on the south coast of NSW the state forests, National Parks, and nature reserves are in an appalling condition. The fire trails are all over-grown with regrowth, the fire trail creek crossings have been gullied out due to lack of maintenance to such an extent that they are impassable even to the most adept four-wheel driver – let alone a fire-control vehicle.
Fire breaks are similarly over-grown and pose a great risk to isolated settlements and the little villages and hamlets that exist in the region.
You have to see it to believe it. That’s why they need the “climate change” fiction. It provides an excuse for the failings of the parks managements and the parliamentarians that have responsibility. Meanwhile the locals continue to be whacked with higher costs for insurance premiums, fire service levies and oppressive building regulations that the technocrats think will somehow stop the conflagration that their incompetence will bring on in due course.
And, of course, in Victoriastan the volunteers making up the front line of community fire response are under attack from the unions which are more interested in control, power and money than in ensuring community safety.
111
Bushfires are also caused by arson.
20
We really do need the convoy of no confidence with added yellow vests again directed at both lib and lab prior to the election. We need to take votes from both the makes this election. If one nation took 5 seats the LibLab cartel would sit up and listen.
I’ve just about given up on the lesser of the two evils winning the election so we just have to get enough Senate votes to make ONP balance of power of the Senate. If that happens then invest in popcorn futures, a Labour house with ONP balance of power in the Senate well be a thing of beauty to watch.
10
Sam,
The failure of the 73 climate models is obvious. However the graph does not show its source
Also the observations of temperature should not be a straight line. Because of those two things I would not show this image to a warmist as evidence.
20
Does it matter?
It tells the story in a way that the dullest can understand.
It’s the complex academic treatises that have confused the truth getting out.
“Keep it simple” is the only way to communicate. The green-left subversives have refined it to an art form. It’s time the sceptics adopted more powerful communication strategies.
20
Yes it does matter,
Information that we present must be truthful and verifiable!
The graph looks good and communicates a message. But who created it?
30
Is it untruthful? Wrong?
10
http://www.drroyspencer.com/2013/06/epic-fail-73-climate-models-vs-observations-for-tropical-tropospheric-temperature/
00
Thanks Greebo,
Author is Dr John Christy
00
G’day ColA,
I’ve also been wondering how to get the message across to our politicians, and have come up with this idea:
Prepare a two page document , covering a single point. Page one, in large print, a short slogan, easily understood and irrefutable. E.g.
“Carbon dioxide is not a pollutantl
It is a plant food”.
Page two, in intermediate sized text, some expansion with three(?) sections under headings like:
“Some detail” – CO2 combines with water in the green leaves of plants to form glucose;
“More detail” – an explanation of photosynthesis; and
“Some references” – eg Encyclopedia Britannica/ Wkipedia…
:::
My idea is to give them strong information, which they, or their staff, can follow to certainty. Page one to give them something to say, page two give them something to answer questions.
And the above is my first.
What do you think?
Cheers,
Dave B
70
They don’t want to know, they know all this as people like you and I have been writing to them for 8 years. I’ve offered to present the true scientific explanations to them for years …. for free but they never bother to accept.
However, I still think my campaign has had some impact, so write to your member, if you have a proper grasp of science and have credentials to back it, then offer to educate them for free. Be committed to your view.
Be vocal particularly about how solar and wind power actually emit more CO2 than HELE coal because they are so large scale and have such short lives. I have made some impressions by pointing out how exposed these assets are to storms, (cyclones) and attack (wartime or terror) asserting that they are impossible to defend militarily and constitute a huge national security risk. Or enemies already know they can take down SA by cutting the interconnector on a hot still day.
30
G’day Bobl,
While I share much of your pessimism, I live in some hope, and decided it might be worth a try to give them something, short, true and supported that they can read quickly – my first page.
I have a (grudging) respect for politicians as they have a lot to try and absorb on a daily basis. They seem to have to rely on brevity, or party policy. If even two or three can get up in a party room meeting and say something like “This makes sense. And the references check out”, they may initiate a party room discussion, giving change.
And I think it could be done with something like 5-7 such two-page documents.
Cheers,
Dave B
00
Happy festive season to the minority and merry Christmas to the majority .
What’s going on with the govt head shrinks urging the Morrison govt to change its views on deadly climate change ?
80
Sincerely wish every liberal you know a merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year,
additionally conveying upon them the blessings of the season.
It is a good sentiment, and the appropriate thing to do.
Those that can accept in good spirits may be marked as candidates for remediation.
Pity those who cannot.
And hope those with negative retorts get a visit from the ghost of Climates Past, Present, and future.
And, in the spirit of the season, it’s time to visit Jo’s tip jar.
80
I had the fascia ripped off the side of my house by the storm last Saturday, bit of a freak thing involving a mistletoe-ridden silky oak falling on a service line to the house. The line held, the side of the house did not.
Unlike so many people right now, I still have power and a roof. But ideas are needed on who to sue for changing the climate. Trump? Exxon? Peugeot diesel division? Secret collier Gupta? AbbottAbbottAbbott? The bower birds who eat and spread mistletoe?
80
Adopt the AGW Principle – Go for the most money. That rules out bower birds (unless they drive Mercedes.)
40
From AEMO: The MTPASA result published on 18 December 2018 identifies a Low Reserve Conditions in Victoria in 2018-19. That means this summer Vic is at risk on very hot days, unless the wind is blowing.
And, in the spirit of the season, it’s time to visit Jo’s tip jar and thank her for her insightful articles that encourage our mostly respectful comments.
100
Rather than worrying about man-made climate change and trying to mitigate it with insane policies that in any other area would be considered acts of terrorism, here is a real threat:
Large-scale eruption of Italy’s supervolcano could impact global climate
50
Bloody CO2 caused that – it is so obvious!
30
The Neanderthals were NOT wiped out 200,000 years ago.
50
‘….Campi Flegrei played a role in the extinction of Neanderthals …’
Yep, its a lie.
20
More like 30,000 years back.
But they did spray some of their genetic material around.
30
The warmists now expect us all to act,
On climate fiction, not on climate fact.
Three easy steps are all the warmists need,
To try and wreck a grid and then succeed.
Renewables can reach a tipping point,
And knock a stable grid right out of joint.
For Australians now, too late , the die is cast,
As renewables replace the grid’s base load too fast.
Electric prices are not known to drop,
Where renewables can cause a grid to crash and flop.
140
This is a shocking thing. Two Ford executives have been found guilty of kidnapping and torture of their Argentinian workers back in the 70s. Given 10 and 13 yrs, they are allowed to spend it in home detention because of their advanced age.
WORLD NEWS DECEMBER 12, 2018 / 4:01 AM / 7 DAYS AGO
Ex-Ford Argentina executives convicted in torture case; victims may sue in U.S.
Cassandra Garrison, Nicolás Misculin
4 MIN READ
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – An Argentine court on Tuesday convicted two former executives of a local Ford Motor Co (F.N) plant of involvement in the torture of workers during the country’s dictatorship in the 1970s, victims’ lawyers said, adding they may sue Ford in U.S. federal court.
More at:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-argentina-rights-ford-motor/argentine-court-convicts-former-ford-executives-for-dirty-war-rights-abuses-idUSKBN1OA25H?ref=hvper.com&utm_source=hvper.com&utm_medium=website
50
Assuming wikipedia is accurate :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Hunger_March
“The Detroit Unemployed Council and the Auto, Aircraft and Vehicle Workers of America called for a march on Monday, March 7, 1932, from Detroit to Dearborn to end at the Ford River Rouge Complex, the company’s largest factory.
The mayor of Detroit was Frank Murphy, a politician who later became Governor of Michigan. He was later appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Murphy administration decided to allow the march to proceed, although they did not grant a permit.
On March 6, William Z. Foster, secretary of the Trade Union Unity League, gave a speech in Detroit in preparation for the march. The marchers intended to present 14 demands to Henry Ford, the head of the Ford Motor Company. Among these were demands to rehire the unemployed, provide funds for health care, end racial discrimination in hiring and promotions, provide winter fuel for the unemployed, abolish the use of company spies and private police against workers, and give workers the right to organize unions.[4]
March 7 was a bitterly cold day in Detroit, and a crowd estimated at between 3,000 and 5,000 gathered near the Dearborn city limits, about a mile from the Ford plant. The Detroit Times called it “one of the coldest days of the winter, with a frigid gale whooping out of the northwest”. Marchers carried banners reading “Give Us Work, “We Want Bread Not Crumbs”, and “Tax the Rich and Feed the Poor”. Albert Goetz gave a speech, asking that the marchers avoid violence. The march proceeded peacefully along the streets of Detroit until it reached the Dearborn city limits.
There, the Dearborn police attempted to stop the march by firing tear gas into the crowd, and began hitting marchers with clubs. One officer fired a gun at the marchers. The unarmed crowd scattered into a field covered with stones, picked them up, and began throwing stones at the police. The angry marchers regrouped and advanced nearly a mile toward the plant. There, two fire engines began spraying cold water onto the marchers from an overpass. The police were joined by Ford security guards, and began shooting into the crowd. Marchers Joe York, Coleman Leny and Joe DeBlasio were killed, and at least 22 others were wounded by gunfire.
The leaders decided to call off the march at that point, and began an orderly retreat. Harry Bennett, head of Ford security, drove up in a car, opened a window, and fired a pistol into the crowd. Immediately, the car was pelted with rocks, and Bennett was injured. He got out of the car, and continued firing at the retreating marchers. Dearborn police and Ford security men opened fire with machine guns on the retreating marchers. Joe Bussell, 16 years old, was killed, and dozens more men were wounded. Bennett was hospitalized for his injury.[5]
About 25 Dearborn police officers were injured by thrown rocks and other debris; however, none was hit by gunfire.[6]
60
Assuming ,,,,,,,,,
Yes, perspective is all important in stuff like that.
20
Assuming Wikipedia is accurate?
What are you suggesting? That nearly all the citations listed in that article come from one book published by a group called the Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute, and that this one source may be of a slightly Left leaning bias? That the march itself was organised by the Unemployed Councils, a group organised by the Communist Party, USA?
Apart from that? All true!
Honest!
50
’32?
The Commos were running hot.
There’s nothing wrong with unions if they restrict themselves to looking after the working conditions and wages of the workers. However, the Commos and other subversives at that time preferred to run towards Stalin and all the other ratbags.
Just like Venezuela today. Just like the green-left fascists today.
30
“Going native” is a bit of a risk when you are working as an expat. These guys really took to it with zeal. Makes you wonder how they ever arrived at that place where any of that seemed like a good idea.
40
“Bloody CO₂ caused that”, therefore, it also caused the snow on Aoraki / Mt Cook today: “Wednesday 19 Dec… snow lowering to 2200 metres.”
https://www.metservice.com/mountain/aoraki-mount-cook-national-park
Always read the fine print at the bottom: “Friday: Snow possible to 2000 metres… Saturday: Snow possible to 2000 metres.” All together now – On the first day of summer, it snowed and froze and snowed… Obviously the bloody anthro-fossil CO₂ is what done it! Or the Polar Bear Vortex! Or for us down under, the Polar Penguin Vortex – it’ll confuse the hell out of True Believers™ and they’ll simply hiss: See – it’s worse than we thought!
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Despite the weather Greg you still live in the second most beautiful country in the world. The flight from Melbourne to Christchurch, climbing the spectacular snow covered southern alps, the speading Canterbury plains, ah yes, I could probably live there if the people only spoke english.
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It is beautiful. I’ll never forget my first ever visit to NZ, in 1985. We came in at sunset over Mt Cook and the Rakaia River to Christchurch. An amazing pink and purple sunset; I was almost sick with excitement as I had always longed to visit NZ, especially the South Island. We stayed at Pudding Hill resort to go skiing at Mt Hutt. There were storms that prevented access for two or three days so we investigated other places, like Lake Tekapo and that amazing window in the little church looking out over the lake. We managed a brief chopper flight too.
I’ll always associate Saint Saens’ Choral Symphony with NZ as I played it three times over on the way from Melbourne! (Beat ya’ Babe!).
We even considered emigrating there for a while but decided it should remain one of our magical holiday places, like Cyprus. It’s a regrettably long time since we last managed it (2001).
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Organ Symphony I mean…groan! 🙁
41
I love that Symphony, Saint Saens was great.
20
There is that wonderful part where the organ and piano are both going…wonderful.
20
Sambar, if only you West Island skippies could write English, I’d probably have stayed there longer. Instead I’m enjoying the speading Canterbury plains 😉 Truth be known, I’m living north of Taupo-nui (Big Taupo) where we’ve got humid Queensland air blowing offshore, 2 – 3 ft perfect east coast A-frames peeling and the SST has finally hit 21˚C… whoa! It’ll burst into flames soon, sheet!
https://www.lookr.com/lookout/1496397168-Lake-Pukaki
Annie, here’s a webcam of Mt Cook from Lake Pukaki (next-door to Lake Tekapo). Can’t see much today because of the
rain and sleet and snowunprecedented heating or something.60
Just clicked on it, dam all that cloud!! good link that is a great scenic spot too. I have the pics.
20
Thanks Greg, will look tomorrow. We flew over Mt Cook and Lake Pukaki, and glaciers (Fox and Franz Josef) in a small mono-engined aircraft, to our pilot son’s absolute horror! He is definitely of the school of thought ‘Two engines good, four engines better!’ That’s one of the reasons he loves flying his ‘big toy’ A380!
30
Damn, Lesson to learn I suppose. Thanks for the laugh, I promise to only bowl over arm in future. I hope you have a terrific Christmas in the land of the long white cloud
40
Better get up to Plateau hut (highest climbing hut in Mt. Cook/Aorangi Nat. Park) fast before globul warmung melts it all!
40
well now, solstice in a few days, plus
https://balance10.blogspot.com/2018/12/top-american-corporations-in-xinjiang.html
40
Why 536 was ‘the worst year to be alive’.
A mysterious fog plunged Europe, the Middle East, and parts of Asia into darkness, day and night—for 18 months.
“For the sun gave forth its light without brightness, like the moon, during the whole year,” wrote Byzantine historian Procopius.
Temperatures in the summer of 536 fell 1.5°C to 2.5°C, initiating the coldest decade in the past 2300 years.
Snow fell that summer in China; crops failed; people starved.
The Irish chronicles record “a failure of bread from the years 536–539.” T
hen, in 541, bubonic plague struck the Roman port of Pelusium, in Egypt.
What came to be called the Plague of Justinian spread rapidly, wiping out one-third to one-half of the population of the eastern Roman Empire and hastening its collapse, McCormick says.
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/11/why-536-was-worst-year-be-alive
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Thing is that could happen again! So what are we worried about, only that we are south of the equator, oh watch out for Taupo.
60
18 Dec: AFR: Exclusive: Gladys Berejiklian splits from ‘out of touch’ Scott Morrison on energy, targets net zero emissions
By Ben Potter
The stinging rebuke from NSW Energy Minister Don Harwin in an opinion piece published in The Australian Financial Review on Wednesday (LINK) underlines the high stakes in climate and energy after violent rebuffs to the federal government’s climate agnostic policies in the Wentworth byelection and Victorian state election…
Mr Harwin said in the opinion piece that the energy ministers meeting in Adelaide on Wednesday should ask the Energy Security Board to deliver the road map, and declares that Mr Turnbull was right and Mr Morrison is wrong, and that climate and energy policy belong together…
https://www.afr.com/news/gladys-berejiklian-splits-from-out-of-touch-scott-morrison-on-energy-targets-net-zero-emissions-20181218-h19984
17 Dec: Axios: Amy Harder: Exclusive: Oil giant ConocoPhillips backs carbon tax push
In the latest sign of a global oil industry shifting on climate change, ConocoPhillips is now helping fund a multi-million dollar political advocacy campaign that’s lobbying Congress for a tax on carbon emissions.
Why it matters: The move aligns the world’s largest independent oil and gas producer with ExxonMobil, the world’s biggest publicly traded oil company, which recently contributed $1 million. Given the industry’s deep-pocketed influence with Republicans, this backing increases the odds Congress could eventually back the controversial policy…
•Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of House members recently introduced a carbon tax bill that’s broadly similar to the plan Conoco just endorsed. They plan to re-introduce it next year.
Houston-based ConocoPhillips has committed $2 million over two years to a political advocacy group called Americans for Carbon Dividends…
https://www.axios.com/conocophillips-backs-carbon-tax-push-a0c47c65-7a0e-4ec6-85c6-771687849a97.html
17 Dec: The Hill: ConocoPhillips backs carbon tax plan
By Timothy Cama
The company is pledging $2 million over the next two years to Americans for Carbon Dividends, an advocacy group that pushes a carbon tax, starting at $40 and rising thereafter, as part of a plan developed by the Climate Leadership Council (CLC) and its leaders, former Republican secretaries of State James Baker III and George Shultz…
“We are delighted to welcome ConocoPhillips into Americans for Carbon Dividends and commend their leadership in supporting this important initiative,” said Trent Lott (R-Miss.), former Senate majority leader and a co-chairman of Americans for Carbon Dividends…
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G’day Pat
The ABC version is at:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-19/don-harwin-op-ed-on-morrison-climate-policy/10633474
Terrifying.
Cheers,
Dave B
50
David-of-Cooyal-in-Oz –
it does make one wonder what’s in it for the pollies. meanwhile –
19 Dec: ABC: Extreme heat wipes out almost one third of Australia’s spectacled flying fox population
ABC Far North By Sharnie Kim
(Ecologist, Dr Justin Welbergen from the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University) said it was also the first time there had been mass deaths of flying foxes from heat stress in far northern Australia where conditions were typically hot and humid but usually remained below 40 degrees.
“Science pretty much agrees this is a sign of things to come,” he said.
“Extreme heat events are increasing in frequency, also in terms of intensity and duration, and we can expect more extreme temperatures to occur increasingly frequently further north.
“A certain proportion of such an extreme event can certainly be statistically attributed to climate change for sure. I think the jury is no longer out on that.”…
Dr Welbergen said Australia was now averaging one major flying fox die-off (in excess of 1,000 deaths) each year.
“Since our paper in 2008 where we had identified more than 30,000 casualties going all the way back to settlement, we have evidence for at least nine other major events [where] the number of casualties combined is now more than 100,000 individuals,” he said.
“So this is very clearly a very serious issue for the long-term conservation of flying foxes in Australia.”
He said climate change impacts on bats were highly visible given they often roosted near urban areas
“These sorts of events really raise concerns around what is happening to other species, especially wildlife that have more solitary and cryptic lifestyles,” he said.
“If 30 per cent of all koalas die in a forest, who will be there to see them and count the dead bodies?
“Flying foxes are Australia’s canaries in the coal mine.”
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-19/heat-wipes-out-one-third-of-flying-fox-species/10632940
17 Dec: Breitbart: Clemson Prof in NYT: Human Extinction ‘Might Just Be a Good Thing,’ Because Global Warming
by Justin Caruso
An opinion piece published in the New York Times Monday argues the extinction of human beings could be a “good thing” due to humanity’s contribution to climate change, among other reasons.
Under a headline reading, “Would Human Extinction Be a Tragedy?” Clemson professor Todd May (pictured) writes, “Human beings are destroying large parts of the inhabitable earth and causing unimaginable suffering to many of the animals that inhabit it.”
He continues…READ ON
https://www.breitbart.com/the-media/2018/12/17/clemson-prof-in-nyt-human-extinction-might-just-be-a-good-thing-because-global-warming/
18 Dec: Townhall: Stephen Moore: Follow the (Climate Change) Money
Now here’s the real scandal of the near trillion dollars that governments have stolen from taxpayers to fund climate change hysteria and research. By the industry’s own admission, there has been almost no progress worldwide in combatting climate change. The latest reports by the U.S. government and the United Nations say the problem is getting worse, and we have not delayed the apocalypse by a single day…
https://townhall.com/columnists/stephenmoore/2018/12/18/follow-the-climate-change-money-n2537638
50
As Australia has a known record for such a very short time of history, how can anyone possibly know whether the creatures haven’t been through this many times? Judging by the numbers, noise and mess we saw, heard, and suffered on a visit to Noosa, is it such a bad thing that they are culled somewhat?
Wait for all the red thumbs!!!
151
….i blame the tourist board for encouraging too many city folk to holiday there !!
40
I’m not a ‘city folk’! 😉
51
“An opinion piece published in the New York Times Monday argues the extinction of human beings could be a “good thing” due to humanity’s contribution to climate change, among other reasons.” this is straight out of the Maurice Strong philosophy, extinction of human beings. Thats what they want.
nasty people.
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I did not notice the author volunteering to lead the way.
Smug BS
101
I had the same thought.
Obviously not fully committed.
KK
31
The NYT journos should lead by example – and become extinct.
At present they are just STINCK.
71
😀
20
Die offs. They only ever occur because of man made events. I notice there is no mention of food supply ( thats also probably short because of global warming) Funny how its never the bleeding obvious. Every farmer knows a patch of land can only support a certain number of animals. One more than optimum and things start to change, a 25% increase is a total disaster. I don’t know about flying foxs in North Queensland but some questions to ask are:– Were the last few seasons suitable for flying foxes, did this allow a population increase? did food supply keep up with population increase? If not, guess what. Die off. The classic case of environmental stupidity was the introduction of koalas to the previously koala free Kangaroo Island. All good for a number of years til koala numbers ( dare I say it ) reached a “tipping point” Population exlposion, tree destruction, starving animals, diseased animals, die off. Answer to problem, cull back to the optimum number. Environmentals solution to problem, block every effort to fix it!
81
Yes, Food supply is what I would investigate.
Spring is a time of hunger for some animals, especially frugivores because very little fruit has ripened.
80
Yes, Food supply is what I would investigate.
Spring is a time of hunger for some animals, especially frugivores because very little fruit has ripened.
50
Looks like the ABC screwed up letting this hate Fact Check through:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-19/fact-check-is-the-island-nation-tuvalu-growing/10627318
Yes, some Pacific islands are actually increasing in size… unpossible!!11!
110
Bugger!
What climate denying extreme right-wing subversive racist fascist let that get published?
Hang her.
20
It only takes one New Zealander to collapse the (un) Holy Charade. Professor Kench was interviewed earlier this year on our version of your ABC – methinks he’ll be reluctant to do it again due to the nasty, venomous, vindictive, accusatory, holier-than-thou attitude of the interviewer (she’s a true believer who found it *unpossible* to acknowledge his observations). And as for those Solomon Island reef doctors from the Uni of Queensland, they’re still confusing ‘islands’ with sand bars / cays / temporary mobile accumulations of oceanic debris. Maybe they need to talk to fishermen or boaties or surfers…
00
Welbergen is a dopey bastard.
Flying foxes ever since they became a protected species have been in the midst of a huge population boom.
That’s why the turned up in the Melbourne Botanic gardens in thousand in the 1990’s. And more recently in Adelaide as well.
Expensive pests well beyond there normal territories.
As for the ones dying from ‘heat stroke’ in Northern Qld. the problem again is over population. The number of flying foxes is too high for the food supply and roosting capacity in the area. And the weak ones die. Evolution at work.
Simple
111
If these bats are supposedly suffering mass deaths from heat in Cairns, I don’t know how they thrive northwards to the northern islands of PNG.
And their southern distribution limit is Tully, close to Cairns.
Other stressors were probably at play.
90
The good thing about all the anti-Democracy UN-loving swamp creatures are now exposing their Socialist heart – this is good – come the Climate Nurember trials, it will be easier to issue warrants…..
50
Too bad Mr H’s parents didn’t curb their emissions or at least seqester them to avoid damage to the environment.
30
Gutless wonders in the state government have just confirmed that they don’t deserve to be there.
60
Gladys will take NSW down the same energy route as South Australia and Victoria.
She is a career poly who sees her future in virtue signalling to the Sydney ‘in’crowd.
Alan Jones will rant all he can but she’s a greeny at heart!!
90
I get on Fairfax these days and ask them to do it, and do it hard. Lets have them renewables , 100% by 2030! faster if possible. I mean its the future, its free, its for me!! Seriously , they are going to try it, so the best thing we can do is do it quickly like ripping off a band aid. Then we will all see how renewables really work.
90
I keep saying Yarpos , vote 1 the greens and let’s get it over and done with .
50
Yes. However, I simply couldn’t bring myself to do it.
20
What to buy for Xmas for “The dog with everything”.
https://drivetribe.com/p/ford-created-a-noise-cancelling-WkU9FkG3RpyD60_P90MuOQ?
My dogs have never worried.
40
Our border collie is terrified by loud noises, especially thunder. We think he was allowed to be rather wimpish before we had him but we just have to take things quietly and matter-of-factly, ‘It’s ok boy, just a bit of thunder’. Poor chap.The suggestion of tightly wrapping him a sheet was a non-starter. He shakes all over; our previous dogs, one long-haired GSD and one a border collie, didn’t like the thunder but just lay quietly near us, but we’d had them from a younger age.
Could do with a noise-cacelling retreat for him.
51
And there is a lot more thunder since global warming hit us with a vengeance!!~!~!
70
Our cat secures the space under the bed , just in case we need it in a thunder storm.
Had a Collie cross once. It was a lovely dog, the only pet I have gotten attached to.
40
Don Harwin, new spokesperson for Michael Photios on energy and global warming/cooling/whatever they are calling it now.
80
The newer term ‘climate change’ (globul warmung under disguise) covers their ass so that regardless of what (weather event) happens its all ‘climate change’. Most of the things they talk about arent climate anyway its just weather events , not even that extreem. Stats prove that most arent of the ordinary. (wait for the next magnetic reversal if you want extreme events!)
71
As I said recently at WUWT in Sydney where last month (November) an Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) spokeswoman had the temerity to tell us that the 105mm of rainfall experienced on Wednesday 28 November was a “once in a hundred year” event. That’s “climate change” apparently.
Unfortunately for her, there’s 160 years of records from Sydney’s Observatory Hill collected by her organisation (BoM), that puts the lie to her nonsense. Over that 160 year period there’s been 107 days when it exceeded 105 mm.
Now, we all know that the green-left find arithmetic a challenge, but even the dullest of them should be able to do a simple division to obtain an average that is some considerable way short of once on a hundred years.
The truth is not in them. Believe them at your peril.
It’s the Liberal’s wets like Harwin who will lose them the election. And a good thing too.
40
17 Dec: WFMZ: Penn Forest Township denies wind turbine application
By Justin Sweitzer
PENN FOREST TWP., Pa. – After months of public hearings on a special exception application for 28 wind turbines in Penn Forest Township, the township’s zoning hearing board voted to deny the application of Atlantic Wind LLC.
Residents of Penn Forest Township packed the municipal building to hear the long-awaited decision from the township zoning hearing board. The application was staunchly opposed by residents who believed the turbines would pose environmental and quality-of-life concerns. Residents helped fund a legal challenge to the application and also formed social media campaigns in opposition to the project…
The board voted unanimously to deny the application after taking an executive session to deliberate on a decision…
The decision was met with applause and cheers from township residents, whom religiously attended zoning hearings to make their opposition to the project clear. Among their primary concerns were water quality, noise and sight disturbances form the turbines, its close proximity to the proposed PennEast Pipeline and the potential harm the turbines could inflict on birds and bats…
Despite a favorable ruling for Penn Forest Township residents in attendance, the decision could still be appealed by Atlantic Wind. According to Zoning Hearing Board Solicitor Michael Greek, the township has 45 days to issue their findings of fact pertaining to the application, and once the board’s findings are issued, Atlantic Wind can appeal the decision to the Carbon County Court of Common Pleas…
“Thank you, board!” yelled one member of the crowd — a sentiment that was echoed by the many residents who cheered, clapped and breathed a collective sigh of relief following the zoning hearing board’s unanimous decision.
http://www.wfmz.com/news/poconos-coal/penn-forest-township-denies-wind-turbine-application/938499933
60
Form comment form Original Steve last thread.
‘What the USA has called HAARP ( all part of Scalar tech ), is what I’ve been telling people for a while now – the Chinese now openly are saying they have HAARP tech to modify the ionosphere to manipulate weather.’
This is often pushed as a ‘conspiracy’ by some alt media (which do good things on some aspect but not this, sorry you lot)
1.I dont believe that humans can control the weather even via such things as a HAARP. The energy from the SUN is many orders greater than any human output.
HAARP uses powerful RF energy to ionize a small section of the ionosphere. That energy is minute compared to the solar wind, especially during CME and eruptions. https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/real-time-solar-wind which is continuous. Like a continuous hydrogen bomb! Human systems are only brief localized and incapable of causing global changes possible brief localized phenomena.
70
I dont think it has to be global, if you can carry out a localized chnage. From a military perpectie, a modification in a region could be all you need to swing a battle. It will be intersting to observe what happens now…
50
12 Dec: KRDO: Pueblo County Commissioners turn down solar panel farm
By Dan Beedie
PUEBLO, Colo. – – In a unanimous vote Wednesday, Pueblo County Commissioners turned down a request to build a 100-megawatt solar farm in the southern part of the county.
The project was submitted for approval by a renewable energy company based out of Chicago called Invenergy.
They hoped to build thousands of panels off Burnt Mill Road near Interstate 25. However, nearby St. Charles River Estates residents brought their concerns to the commissioners, stating that the panels would prove to be a fire risk to the small community. Invenergy engineers said the fire risk was minimal…
Commissioner Terry Hart believed the panels would prove to be a massive fire risk to locals, and Commissioner Garrison Ortiz said he feared for the community’s property values decreasing…
https://www.krdo.com/news/pueblo/pueblo-county-commissioners-turn-down-solar-panel-farm/927392026
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19 Dec: AustralianMining: Glencore makes move on Mitsubishi coal assets
Mitsubishi Corporation has sold its two thermal coal assets in Queensland for $750 million in a deal involving Glencore.
Mitsubishi let go of its 31.4 per cent stake in Clermont coal mine in the northern Bowen Basin to GS Coal, a joint venture between Glencore and Sumitomo Corporation…
It is a 12 million tonnes a year mine formerly managed and co-owned by Rio Tinto.
The news follows reports this year that thermal coal exports are on an irreversible downward trend.
However, markets such as Japan, South Korea and Taiwan are strong traditional markets for thermal coal, with exports to Japan having risen by 2.4 per cent from December 2016–December 2017 to 64.3 million tonnes.
“The agreement will allow the company to continue supply of high quality thermal coal to its end users, adding to our continued commitment to energy security and its stable supply,” Sumitomo said in a statement…
Mitsubishi has also sold its 10 per cent stake in Ulan coal mine to Glencore Coal.
Ulan has been managed by Glencore, boasting a production rate of up to 20 million tonnes a year product coal through to 2031. It is situated in the western coalfields of New South Wales.
Mitsubishi expects both sales to complete in 2019. The company still has ownership over several metallurgical coal mines in Australia through its 50:50 partnership with BHP as part of the BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA).
https://www.australianmining.com.au/news/mitsubishi-sells-remaining-thermal-coal-assets-in-australia/
40
https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2018/12/17/polar-vortex-could-unleash-winter-wallop-by-january/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.5283b865b1ba
“Winter got off to a fast start in the Lower 48 even before it was technically winter. Waves of cold gripped the eastern two-thirds of the United States and several winter storms tracked across the region.
Conditions have since eased some, but the heart of winter lies ahead. Will cold and snowy conditions return and turn more harsh?
The polar vortex, the roaring river of air winding around the North Pole, holds the cards. What they reveal could be very disturbing and a harbinger of extreme winter weather in the Eastern United States.
Judah Cohen, a climate researcher at Atmospheric and Environmental Research, monitors the condition of the vortex, every day checking the latest prediction models for any sign of disturbance. He is concerned about what some models are projecting at the end of December or early January.
But when the vortex is disrupted, an ordinary winter can suddenly turn severe and memorable for an extended duration. “[It] can affect the entire winter,” Cohen said in an interview.
Rewind to February of last year to understand the implications. Up to that point, the vortex had held in its stable state, and the winter was a mild, unremarkable one. But then, abruptly, the vortex split.
The fracture set off a chain reaction, which first unleashed a punishing blast of cold in Europe and Asia. The media dubbed the cold snap the “beast from the east” as frigid Siberian air flooded the continent.”
50
Indeed.
Atlantic Canada sees uptick in ice growth
60
If that ice growth continues winter after winter..marks the start of an i.c.e.a.g.e. of some degree
50
18 Dec: AFR: Coal beats off critics to maintain share of power generation: IEA
By Angela Macdonald-Smith
Coal is proving stubbornly resistant to widespread efforts to eliminate it as a power generation source, with global demand set to increase in 2018 for a second consecutive year and no downturn expected for at least the next five years, according to the International Energy Agency…
“Today, coal remains a centrepiece of the global energy system,” IEA executive director Fatih Birol said. “Coal remains the second-largest source of primary energy and the largest source of electricity – and this will be the case for some years,” he noted, emphasising the imperative of utilising carbon capture and storage to reduce emissions from the fuel…
The IEA describes Adani’s Carmichael project in Queensland as “probably the most controversial coal project currently under development” worldwide and describes its future as “uncertain”, despite it having won nine court challenges and received 112 approvals.
Still, it forecasts Australia’s exports of thermal coal – the type used in power stations – will increase over the next five years, adding 6 million tonnes over 2017 to 181 million tonnes.
https://www.afr.com/business/mining/coal/coal-beats-off-critics-to-maintain-share-of-power-generation-iea-20181217-h196xt
18 Dec: MontelNews: Indonesian coal exports hit record high in October
Indonesia’s coal exports rose 11% on the year in October to a record high of 1.3m tonnes/day, Bank Indonesia data showed on Tuesday.
The world’s leading thermal coal exporter shipped 356.3m tonnes in January-October, also 11% higher year on year…
The county exports much of its coal to China and India, although some is shipped to as far as Europe.
https://www.montelnews.com/en/story/indonesian-coal-exports-hit-record-high-in-october/963834
where is theirABC’s report on IEA’s Coal 2018 Report???? NOTHING IS SHOWING UP IN RESULTS ONLINE. INSTEAD, THERE IS PLENTY OF THE FOLLOWING:
A damning assessment for a proposed coal mine in New South Wales recommended for knock back
ABC – 5 Dec 2018
Coal-fired power station health study prompts calls for pollution monitoring and modern emissions controls
ABC – 5 Dec 2018
Adani coal mine water licence faces Federal Court challenge over move to bypass EIS
ABC – 4 Dec 2018
Coal price drops one third as China shuts door on Australian imports …
ABC News-15 Nov 2018
Renewables overtaking fossil fuels in new power generation …
ABC News-12 Nov 2018
Thermal coal exports will fall nearly 60 per cent by 2040 under a … In an interview with the ABC, a senior IEA official…
Demand for Australia’s thermal coal exports to be dire in future, IEEFA …
ABC Local-31 Oct 2018
The figures are drawn from the International Energy Agency (IEA)…
Climate change: Australia’s position is unconscionable for a wealthy country
ABC Online-28 Apr 2018
The Adani coal mine has signalled to the world more than any spoken word… The International Energy Agency (IEA) reported recently…
Coal industry grapples with change and the challenges of transition
ABC Online-13 Apr 2018
AGL is Australia’s largest owner of coal fired power stations and …. coal exports, the benchmark International Energy Agency (IEA) World..
Coal consumption drops as gas and renewables chew into traditional …
ABC Online-18 Dec 2017
The International Energy Agency (IEA) Coal 2017 report…
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18 Dec: KhabarIndia: Power Plants Light Up On Record Coal Supply
By Aruna Sharma
Record coal supply has helped power plants to replenish dwindling stockpile even after pumping up generation as electricity demand spiked 14 per cent during the October festive season and continued to grow apace at 5.5 per cent in November.
Government data showed coal supplies at a three-month high in December, rising steadily since September when disruptions caused by rains had resulted in stockpiles at a large number of power plants diminishing to alarmingly low levels. But improved coal supply since then has raised the average coal stock at power plants to more than 10 days in December.
The number of ‘super critical’ power plants, where fuel stocks are down to four days or less of operation, has dropped to a monthly average of nine in the first 10 days of December from 14 in November and 18 in October. Coal ministry officials said the alternatives were being examined to address pockets of problem, especially for plants located far from the coal mines.
https://www.khabarindia.in/power-plants-light-record-coal-supply/
18 Dec: S&P Global: Dominion Energy Virginia investing in major coal plants to keep them running indefinitely
Louisville, Kentucky — Dominion Energy Virginia, saying “coal remains an important element” of the utility’s diverse mix of power generation resources, is investing $302.4 million in major coal-fired power plants to comply with the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Coal Combustion Residuals rule so they can continue running indefinitely, according to company officials…
Company spokesman Rob Richardson told S&P Global Platts Tuesday the utility currently has no plans to retire any of the three plants, representing over 3,000 MW of generation capacity…
Dan Genest, another spokesman, added the remaining Chesterfield, Clover and Mt. Storm units will remain in commercial operation “as long as it makes economic sense.”…
https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/coal/121818-dominion-energy-virginia-investing-in-major-coal-plants-to-keep-them-running-indefinitely
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18 Dec: San Francisco Chronicle: Blind, worm-like amphibian named after Donald Trump
By Michelle Robertson
A British company paid $25,000 at an auction to name a Panamanian amphibian after Donald Trump. They appear to have spent far less on the Photoshop job in the picture above.
Blind, slippery and prone to burrowing underground, a newly discovered amphibian has much in common with President Donald Trump, claims the British company that named the creature.
EnviroBuild, a sustainable construction material company, paid $25,000 at an auction supporting the Rainforest Trust to name the Panamanian amphibian Dermophis donaldtrumpi. The name has yet to undergo peer review.
The company was inspired to name the amphibian, which looks like a large worm, after Trump as commentary on the president’s climate change denial…
“The amphibians live almost entirely underground,” a press release from the company explains.
“Burrowing its head underground helps Donald Trump when avoiding scientific consensus on anthropomorphic climate change,” the company’s spicy statement continues. It includes links to several Trump tweets referring to climate change as a hoax propagated by the Chinese.
Other characteristics of the Dermophis donaldtrumpi include tentacles for finding prey, an extra layer of skin that their young peel off and eat, and eyes that can only detect light and dark. Trump shares these traits with the amphibian, EnviroBuild argues, though in a metaphorical sense.
???The company “is not an overtly political organisation,” the press release stresses, “but we do feel very strongly that everyone should do everything they can to leave the world in a better way than they found it.”
https://www.sfgate.com/science/article/donald-trump-amphibian-blind-burrow-envirobuild-13475948.php
of course, the story is in all FakeNewsMSM, and already has a Wikipedia page:
Wikipedia: Dermophis donaldtrumpi
Aidan Bell, owner of EnviroBuild, named the species after Trump to bring awareness to Trump’s policies on climate change and the danger they pose of causing the extinction of species. Bell said “It is the perfect name. Caecilian is taken from the Latin caecus, meaning ‘blind’, perfectly mirroring the strategic vision President Trump has consistently shown towards climate change.”…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermophis_donaldtrumpi
18 Dec: Envirobuild: Aidan Bell: EnviroBuild name an amphibian in honour of Donald Trump’s commitment to environmental issues
https://www.envirobuild.com/blogs/articles/donald-trump-amphibian
and guess who is immediately on to the story:
Blind amphibian that buries its head in the sand named after US President Donald Trump
ABC with Wires – Posted 38 minutes ago
Mr Bell also took aim at Mr Trump’s family.
“The dermophis genus grows an extra layer of skin which their young use their teeth to peel off and eat, a behaviour known as dermatrophy,” he wrote.
“As a method of ensuring their children survive in life Donald Trump prefers granting them high roles in the Oval Office.”
Mr Bell said EnviroBuild was not political, but called the lack of progress on halting climate change, particularly at the UN’s recent COP24 climate talks, “saddening”.
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Aidan Bell of Envirobuild’s previous company. I think we can guess his politics:
Jul 2016: Guardian: ‘Mistakes are essential to innovation, it means you are trying new things
by Josephine Moulds
Other entrepreneurs have learned to focus the hard way. Aidan Bell’s first company was EvoEnergy, which installed solar panels. The company grew dramatically, from £1m turnover in its first year, to £6m the following, and £25m in its third year of trading. Then the government slashed support for the solar industry. “While we had realised there were going to be cuts and there was going to be a decrease in market size, we were not prepared for the speed of those cuts. The government had literally killed the market.”
EvoEnergy made 100 staff redundant, almost a third of the workforce, but then it had to do a second and third round of redundancies. “We should have done that immediately,” says Bell. “The problem was they were really good but we just didn’t have the balance sheet to allow us to ride out the storm with a fatter staff than was required.”
With the benefit of hindsight, Bell says EvoEnergy should have taken on funding when it could have and should not have racked up such large overheads. As well as signing leases on cars and property, Evo had its construction workers on the payroll. Bell says they should have been on zero-hours contracts. “It is ethically dubious, but for a business it is very sensible because it allows you to flex up and down. We had people on PAYE because that is the correct thing to do.”
His current company is significantly leaner, with just six staff including himself and founder James Brueton. They work out of an office in Brixton, with a rolling monthly charge. EnviroBuild Materials is not, however, a small operation. The company, which distributes sustainable building supplies, is turning over more than £100,000 a month and is already profitable. Bell expects to make sales of more than £1m this year. The company has outsourced much of its labour including web design, online marketing, PR, delivery, HR, acccountancy and IT. “Broadly, the only things we have in-house are brand identity and sales.”…
https://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2016/jul/28/mistakes-essential-innovation-means-trying-new-things
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ABC were happy to print the Amphibian story , anything nasty about Trump they’ll print but any positives about the economy or reduction of regulations they are not interested .
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Trump banned bump stocks today (an accessory that converts a semi auto rifle (one shot per trigger pull) to a full auto (pull and hold trigger and it keeps foring). Wonder of the ABC will mention it?
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and they didnt, of course
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https://www.iceagenow.info/we-are-still-in-totalitarians-flunk-basic-reality/
Good one from Paul Dreissen
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My rant about the so called ‘average temperatures’.
Temperatures at one time on the earth (TODAY)
Russia – Yakutia
−52.5°C
“Now, in mid-December, it’s time for the usual -50°C for this time. The first −50 came in Oimyakon on the night of December 13. Two days later, on December 15, a temperature of −52.5°C was recorded at the “Delyankir” meteorological station.”
Australia – Century Mine
43.1C
Difference = 95.6C
Im sure that there is hotter than 43C in some other places right now too.
You cant average the Earths surface temperature, meaningless.
So much for worrying about +- .5C.
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From the NT. 48 C in flight in an open cockpit helicopter a couple of days ago
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That sounds not pleasant. Ive done a lot of door off flying in light aircraft but getting up into the cool. Skimming round on the deck in 46C sounds hellish.
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https://www.farmersalmanac.com/weather-outlook/2019-winter-forecast
“Winter is coming! And according to the Farmers’ Almanac’s famous long-range weather outlook, it’s going to be a “teeth-chattering” cold one, with plenty of snow.”
Translation – low argicultural output?
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As a result food prices will rise and risks many more deaths due to starvation. So much for the CAGW scare. Let’s be blunt here. The global warming anti-coal alarmists are just as serious a threat to the survival of the West as Hitler was during the second world war. The difference now though is we don’t have a Churchill-like replacement for the Chamberlain-like leaders we have, excluding Trump. Once Trump goes though there will be no hope for us left. We will have to go through a crash and burn before enough people wake up. Russia and China must be laughing at the West’s suicidal tendencies, and licking their chops to boot.
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I suspect installing double glazing and extra house insulation would be prudent…..
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New updates on icecap.us
Climate-Modeling Illusions Not Based on Reality
Help us Expose the Great Global Warming Fr@ud
TALES FROM THE BATTLE ZONE
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UK citizens.
Brexit hangs in the balance. It could still go either way. Remainers have the deep state (ie public service and a majority of parliamentarians) on their side. If you want Brexit sign this petition.
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/229963
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Signed it yesterday. Thanks PeterC for the link for those who might not have seen it.
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If the Brits exit now they will be screwed by the EU. No way will they be offered reasonable terms.
Maybe they should stay and exit in the chaos when France, Greece and Italy find it untenable to remain. It will happen, surely?
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may & her bunch of Remainers are in fact “EU Appeasers”.
I live here in Oz so I have no right to influence the result of Brexit there – even though I was born in the UK.
But in my opinion the UK leaving the EU will bring down the Brussels bureaucratic dictatorship.
Something better will emerge out of the EU’s imposed ruination.
God even Belgians are in revolt against the EU.
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Having lived in the UK for a while, and having UK heritage, I’d love to tell the EU to drop off…..
The EU beaurocrats are a bunch of nasty & vindictive little jumped up Stalinist wanna-bes….
May should be up on charges, possibly Tr*****n
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They know that too, that’s why they are playing hard ball.
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They have little choice but to go as the EU bureaucrats have made it impossible to stay.
Their departure may well cause others to go too.
I am of the opinion that once the UK has left and the skies haven’t fallen (despite the worst intentions of those bureaucrats) then it will encourage other countries to follow.
The problem is not the decision for closer european cooperation but the frantic drive to “unity” ASAP by the bureaucrats to do it within months not within 3 or more generations.
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No, there is a lot of scare tactics designed to turn UK opinion back to the EU. Trump for one will be itching to do a deal with the UK on day one. So can Australia and most of the rest of the Commonwealth. I think a hard brexit would actually be better for the UK long term and very bad for the EU when Britain shows that a hard exit is benign. I wouldn’t hand over a cent to them either so that’s a saving right there.
The only issue is Ireland and they could just place the border outside Ireland. (Allow EU citizens entry to Ireland but not the rest of the UK)
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Good laugh on “Last Leg” on ABC tonight. 🙂
Anti EU protester, brave brexiteer, decided to burn the EU flag.
However, due to EU regulations………..the flag was made of a fireproof material and would’t light. 🙂
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“Carbon taxes start in all of Canada in 2 weeks”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/12/18/carbon-taxes-start-in-all-of-canada-in-2-weeks/
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Poor Canada 🙁
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Look after your brain.
We hear a lot about heart disease because it takes people in the prime of life, while there are still many friends and family to mourn them. I’m an old phart, coming from a family of long livers so I have have a pretty blase’ attitude towards heart disease. What concerns me most are two things which can destroy quality of life for retirees: osteoporosis and Alzheimer’s Disease.
Osteo is straight forward: get the sun vitamin, D3 by exposing yourself to the sun without “slip, slap, slop” for a few hours a week or take about 20,000 IUs as a supplement. [doesn’t need to be taken daily]. A good diet will provide the calcium and minerals which are also needed for healthy bones.
The second is not so easy, in fact it is a death sentence with todays knowledge. BUT I believe it can be attenuated, delayed with diet and supplements.
I say this because Mrs H was diagnosed 5 years ago and is still at home when others have only lived a few years after diagnosis. She was not particularly early diagnosed but the earlier the better, obviously. Memory loss is not the first symptom, obsessive compulsive is earlier which can manifest in the larder for women: I have been doing the shopping for nearly a year now and there are things I have not had to buy nor will I for another year. With men it could show as new tools, still in their boxes. A flicking tongue was another manifestation of OCD I noticed with Mrs H.
But the most intimate family member can’t pick these things up early enough, nor will they believe there is any point: There is nothing you can do you say to yourself. I remember asking my GP about my suspicions and if there was any point in raising the matter and possibly distressing my child bride. There IS good reason to take that risk, I contend.
The first is that there are two patent medicines, neither expensive, which are said to delay the progression. They may have helped us, who knows.
Second, I believe diet and supplements can and do help. Simple things like cooking in coconut oil, ginko biloba, curcumin and many other supplements. There are many other “brain health” herbal mixtures available. The important thing being that they can pass the mitocondria and the blood/brain barrier, which common sense would tell that that is not easy. The brain must absolutely be protected from viral and microbic invaders.
So why not start good habits early in life, BEFORE the curse shows? While I’m not going vegetarian I see good reason to reduce meat in middle-age and to eat more starches, excluding bread. Buy your supplements from the US or, for some things, iHerb prices in A$ and uses AusPost.
At the risk of stating the bleeding obvious, this is not medical advice I am unqualified to give.
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Thanks for that Hanrahan. Some good info there.
I’m now wondering quite why I try to keep certain long-lived food stocks (we live in a rural area); commonsense or more than that? There is a case or two of Alzheimer’s in my background. We do eat pretty carefully as far as possible.
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Annie, you still have an excellent brain, don’t worry :D. You prolly store non-perishable foods for a similar reason I store some Au and Ag – you just never know when they may be handy.
If I were in Europe I would definitely have enough gold to bribe a border guard.
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Here folks are the things I do to prevent osteoporosis & dementia.
1: I take a supplement called Lithium Oratate ( strength 5 mgs.) each day. Why ? Because in areas where the Lithium is present in the soil the dementia rates in the elderly are much lower. I cannot buy it off the shelf here in Oz so I go to Iherb or Vitacost and get a years supply cheaply at $6-7.00 for for 60 tablets.dead cheap ! Reportedly Lithium Oratate also alleviates the symptoms of dementia in addition to holding it at bay.
2: To prevent ostoporosis In addition to D3 I take a couple of Vitamin K2 capsules. Taken with D3 as you suggested, K2 can even reverse bone calcium loss.
These tips are out & discussed on the web on reputable web sites..But quacks ? They do not know and do not want to know.
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I urged Mrs H to have her “dowager’s hump” checked out decades ago. Her GP had a bone density done and it was low. She [the GP] recommended some tabs or an injection. Dr Google convinced me that was not such a good idea. It worked by preventing reabsorption of calcium from the bones. Are ya kiddin me??? Bones are a living organism with new calcium being laid down and the old being reabsorbed constantly. Preventing reabsorption you may get denser bones but they are chalky, lacking strength. Besides one side effect was osteonecrosis ie bone death, often showing in the jaw. We have handled it ourselves ever since. Decades later her test results were classified as pre-disease.
The reason I hate it so much was watching my MIL, a beautiful lady with an active brain into her nineties, fade and die of a blood clot in the brain after years of inactivity after breaking her hip. Knowing what I do now I would have been much more assertive in her treatment.
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Here’s a little more on K2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gei4_8ZAvo
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And lacto fermented foods.
The fridge meant we stopped using the lacto fermentation process to magnify the availability of nutrients in vegetables and so on. They say brain health starts in the gut, and can honestly say the inclusion of Kefir (not yogurt) and home made fermented vegetables have been super beneficial in my case. And it improves the digestion no end that i can observe.
The kefir can be watered down as an energy drink throughout the day. No need to drink it straight. Very refreshing..
The importance of the healthy bacteria being well looked after cannot be overstated. And yet more often is not even recognized and has been there all along. The fridge did that. And the fact that the fermentation process creates a plethora of enzymes the body can use right away and other increases in nutritional value…magnification of vitamin c etc etc….
My mum remembers her mum making sauerkraut in northern Italy when she was a girl.. My grandmother stopped making her own fermented vegetable and for a time, it was available at the supermarket in a plastic bag. Very handy way to forget. More recently it is making a return on the shopping shelves at highly inflated prices. Hiway robbery.
The power of lactofermentation can also be used in survival situations.
Let us not forget the importance of the lacto fermentation process.
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lacto fermetation is loads of fun and is more paleo than Paleo.
Lots of video’s on how to make this miracle food on youtube.
“Fermented Foods vs. Probiotic Supplements”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoVNKT76MUc
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https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=lacto+fermentation
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Kefir is also pretty good if you suffer from diverticulitis, as I do. Aldi sell premade kefir. It’s not nearly as good as the stuff I make at home, but it’s certainly good to have around when I forget.
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Me too. And sometimes i intentionally leave the bought kefir out of the fridge a little so it can ferment a little more.
The home made Sauerkraut can be a lot better too. I like mine less fermented than the store purchased kraut. Three or four days of fermentation before putting it in the fridge, and i eat it by the bowl full.
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Fresh water piped from Lake Argyle would bring an end to bore water drinking in NSW.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-19/walgett-has-two-rivers-but-no-water-left-to-drink/10558428
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oH doGs eg…not Collins Canal again???
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Not quite, this from Beijing’s mouthpiece the Global Times.
‘Two years after China opened an $80 billion mega tunnel to transfer water from the country’s south to its parched north, it has quenched the thirst of 100 million people – roughly the combined population of Germany plus the Netherlands – mitigating an alarming water crisis and reaping rich economic dividends in 18 of China’s industrial, agricultural-powerhouse cities and capital Beijing.’
——
The China Infrastructure Bank will gladly lend us the money to build a pipeline and ‘drought proof’ the Murray Darling Basin.
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Venezuela – read the link
http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/index.php/2018/12/19/how-deep-senor-maduro-12/#comment-1168190
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Quite inspiring
https://www.thegwpf.com/rupert-darwall-defeat-in-the-air-at-the-un-climate-conference/
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snake bites from Innisfail and Townsville in North Qld down to Brisbane and surrounding areas. no heatwave events:
19 Dec: news.com.au: Snake bite spike in Queensland hospitalises nine in a day
Nine Queenslanders have been sent to hospital in a single day after a spate of snake attacks just a week away from Christmas
by Natalie Wolfe
https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/animals/snake-bite-spike-in-queensland-hospitalises-nine-in-a-day/news-story/651dea44fd5cf88b85ad16c3ffdf5590
Associate Professor Bryan Fry, Affiliate Research Fellow, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, Uni of Qld, was on 4BC/2GB tonite. why so many bites? “climate change” said Fry. he brought up the spectacled flying fox deaths as per the ABC piece posted earlier.
here he is in a recent AAP piece:
4 Dec: BrisbaneTimes: AAP: Queensland heat could herald snakes in your bed, experts warn
By Stuart Layt
Finding a snake in your bed could be one of the unanticipated consequences of climate change, animal experts warn.
A north Queensland man found himself with a strange bedfellow over the weekend, with an unknown snake biting him a number of times on the face…
Mackay-based snake catcher and breeder Brett Modra said it was one of a number of erratic snake behaviours he’s seen recently…
Beyond the current heatwave, the overall warming trend has disrupted snakes’ breeding cycles, meaning there could potentially be more snakes, acting more aggressively, because they were charged up by the heat.
“So the likelihood of a venomous snake coming into a dwelling to escape the heat is probably a lot more than it used to be,” Mr Modra said…
***University of Queensland snake expert Professor Bryan Fry agrees, saying snakes are the “scaly canaries in the coal mine” warning of deeper problems in the ecosystem.
“Snake encounters will go up with this extreme weather as snakes are trying to escape the heat,” Professor Fry said…
“We’re definitely seeing increases that are paralleling these acute climatic events such as these recent heatwaves, with snakes trying desperately to seek shelter from heat that would otherwise kill them.”…
Gold Coast based snake catcher Tony Harrison said he hadn’t noticed any difference in snake behaviour in his area over the last few months, with southeast Queensland largely spared the severity of the heatwaves affecting central and northern parts of Queensland…
The weather bureau’s climate outlook for this summer, released last week, predicts a dry summer with temperatures above average for most of Queensland and other parts of Australia.
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/queensland-heat-could-herald-snakes-in-your-bed-experts-warn-20181204-p50k69.html
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Has the Professor any comments about the trouser snakes?
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Heavy rain associated with TC Owen had nothing to do with it :GRR:
These people KNOW they are lying.
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saved this earlier today, but forgot to post it until I just heard Rowan Dean say it will come up on Outsiders tonite. mind u, ABC tries hard to muddy the waters:
19 Dec: ABC: Is the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu growing, and not sinking, as Craig Kelly says?
RMIT ABC Fact Check
Principal researchers: David Campbell, Billy Phillips
The verdict
Mr Kelly’s claim checks out.
In the four decades to 2014, Tuvalu’s total land area grew by 73 hectares, or 2.9 per cent.
The expert behind this research told Fact Check the nation’s islands were continually adjusting, and that the new land was habitable.
But that’s not to say Pacific nations are not at risk from rising seas…
The research cited by Mr Kelly suggests certain islands — specifically, larger atolls and reef platforms — can adapt to the current pace of sea level rise.
However, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) sets out four scenarios for future rises, three of them more severe than what Tuvalu has so far faced…READ ON
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-19/fact-check-is-the-island-nation-tuvalu-growing/10627318
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yet another website to avoid!
18 Dec: Gizmodo: (Washington) DC Just Passed the ‘Strongest Climate Legislation’ in the Nation
by Brian Kahn
The Trump administration isn’t about renewable energy, but thanks to the Washington, D.C., city council, it could soon be running on clean power. The council passed one of the most ambitious climate bills in the country on Tuesday requiring the District to get all of its energy from renewables by 2032…
The ambition doesn’t stop in 2032 either, with the bill including a mandate specifically for increasing the share of solar power through 2041. It will now go to Mayor Muriel Bowser’s desk, and she has 10 days to decide whether to sign it or not. Last year, she pledged to reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions 100 percent by 2050…
With the White House controlled by a climate denier, the chances of passing federal climate legislation are about as good as Washington’s football team winning the Super Bowl this year (those odds are not good)…
***“This is only the beginning,” Reverend Yearwood, the head of the Hip Hop Caucus, said at the press conference after the bill was passed. “We must take this movement all around the country and model what has happened in D.C.”
https://earther.gizmodo.com/dc-just-passed-the-strongest-climate-legislation-in-the-1830688724?IR=T
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19 Dec: TheLocalFrance: AFP: French police clear ‘yellow vests’ from roadside strongholds
French police cleared “yellow vest” protesters from several occupied roads on Tuesday as President Emmanuel Macron looked to turn the page on more than a month of often violent anti-government protests.
Police removed protesters and makeshift wooden huts from roads and roundabouts in Normandy in the north, Brittany in the west and the central Burgundy region.
The operations early on Tuesday were carried out without any trouble, but violence was reported overnight Monday in the south of France where a motorway toll booth was set on fire near the town of Bandol…
On Tuesday, parliament passed an amendment to the 2019 budget which grants each police officer involved in “yellow vest” protests a bonus of 300 euros
($340)…
The bonus for the police will cost an estimated 33 million euros, adding to the rising bill of defusing the biggest crisis of Macron’s 19-month presidency…
Macron was to assemble government ministers on Tuesday evening at the presidential palace to launch ***a three-month “grand national debate” about the economy and taxes.
The meeting is part of a new bid to involve grassroots groups and local leaders in government decision-making, following criticism of the president’s highly-centralised top-down approach.
Companies too have been asked by the government to help purchasing power by offering Christmas bonuses to staff
https://www.thelocal.fr/20181219/french-police-clear-yellow-vests-from-roadside-strongholds
19 Dec: Daily Mail: French POLICE threaten to protest against Macron’s government as Yellow Vest demonstrators are joined by the ‘blue vests’
By Peter Allen and Ross Ibbetson
Instead of a bonus, police unions are asking for the payment of thousands of hours of unpaid overtime that has accumulated over years…
In Biarritz protesters were out in force on Tuesday to demonstrate against the French government as French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian visited to make a speech before hundreds of ambassadors ahead of next year’s G7 summit in the city.
Mr Macron had been billed to attend but the foreign minister was sent in his stead as he carries out vital work to solve his Yellow Vest headache in Paris…
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6507721/French-POLICE-threaten-protest-against-Macron-Yellow-Vests-joined-blue-vests.html
France’s Yellow Vests Might Enter Politics—If They Can Unite
Bloomberg-7 hours ago
Cut Carbon Through Innovation, Not Regulation
New York Times – 20 hours ago
People across the world are rejecting the idea that carbon taxes are the answer to lowering emissions. In France, the government just suspended a planned fuel tax increase after some of its citizens took to the streets in protest. And in the United States, the results of November elections showed that these plans and other government interventions are just as unpopular..
LOL:
The ‘yellow vests’ are tainting France’s revolutionary tradition
Opinion-Washington Post-17 Dec 2018
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Saint George:
19 Dec: Financial Times: FT Person of the Year: George Soros
by Roula Khalaf
For a man facing daily attacks for his activism and liberal vision of the world, George Soros was in a curiously buoyant mood on a sunswept afternoon in Marrakesh…
Influence has come at a painfully high cost for the 88-year-old father of the hedge fund industry and one of the world’s most prominent philanthropists…
The Financial Times’s choice of Person of the Year is usually a reflection of their achievements. In the case of Mr Soros this year, his selection is also about the values he represents…
He is the standard bearer of liberal democracy and open society…
For more than three decades, Mr Soros has used philanthropy to battle against authoritarianism, racism and intolerance. Through his long commitment to openness, media freedom and human rights, he has attracted the wrath of authoritarian regimes and, increasingly, the national populists who continue to gain ground, particularly in Europe…
In Britain, too, the country where Mr Soros completed his studies and owns property, he is remembered for being the man who “broke the Bank of England” with his 1992 bet against the pound. Decades on, he is maligned for his opposition to Brexit and for the financial muscle he lends to Best of Britain, a group campaigning for a second referendum over membership of the EU…
He calls himself, rather too modestly, a “failed philosopher”…
Mr Soros has many homes but the FT meets him in Marrakesh, where he is due to attend a conference…
One of the largest donors to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 US presidential campaign, Mr Soros was stung by the election of Mr Trump (he also wrongly bet the stock market would fall in the wake of a Trump win). He had long disapproved of Mr Trump and once refused an offer for office space in a Trump building, but contends that he will be a passing phenomenon: “He [Trump] is his own worst enemy, a narcissist who wants the world to revolve around him and has succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.”…
In the 2020 presidential vote Mr Soros plans to stay out of the primaries and back whoever emerges as the Democratic opponent to Mr Trump…
The world, according to Mr Soros, is in a state of revolutionary ferment. But he is not losing hope, even for Britain, where he is encouraged by the prospects for a second Brexit referendum…
Having originally planned that his foundation would last his lifetime, he completed the transfer last year of $18bn from his family office to the Open Society Foundations. That reduced his fortune to $8bn, according to Forbes magazine, but ensured that his activism would take on a life of its own. And he has found a successor in philanthropy: his son, Alexander. “We fight for principles, we fight irrespective of the results, win or lose,” he says. And, almost as an afterthought, he says: “I don’t like to lose so much.”
https://www.ft.com/content/2bd12012-01e4-11e9-9d01-cd4d49afbbe3
17 Dec: Daily Caller: Soros Org Gave $500K To Activists Who Later Accosted (Attorney General of Florida) Pam Bondi At Movie Theater
by Peter Hasson
Organize Florida, the group that hounded Bondi from a Florida movie theater, received $500,000 last year from the Open Society Policy Center (OSPC), according to OSPC’s most recent tax forms…
Organize Florida activists yelled at Bondi, a Republican ally of President Donald Trump, about the president’s immigration and health care policies during the protest in June. One of the protesters spit on Bondi’s head, she said afterwards…
https://dailycaller.com/2018/12/17/george-soros-org-pam-bondi/
6 Dec: Bloomberg: Soros Family Office Fined by Hong Kong Watchdog for Naked Short Selling
By Bei Hu
Soros Fund Management, the about $25 billion family office of billionaire George Soros, was fined by Hong Kong’s securities regulator for naked short selling.
The company’s Hong Kong unit was reprimanded and fined HK$1.5 million ($192,000) for a 2015 trade involving a bonus share issue of Great Wall Motor Co., the city’s Securities and Futures Commission said in a statement on Thursday…
Soros is no longer actively involved in the firm’s operations. Most of the firm’s assets under management now belong to his Open Society Foundations, after he transferred the bulk of his wealth there…
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behind paywall:
Climate-push Liberal minister Don Harwin’s coal links
The Australian-3 minutes ago
NSW Energy Minister Don Harwin, who yesterday attacked Scott … of the leading moderate MP, who is close to lobbyist Michael Photios…
NSW push for emissions target could ‘cost thousands of jobs’
Daily Telegraph-1 hour ago
‘Arts groups will go to wall’: Funding delays attacked
The Sydney Morning Herald-3 minutes ago
NSW Arts Minister Don Harwin has been accused by Labor of using arts funding as his “personal plaything”…
19 Dec: AFR: COAG energy meeting: Tempers flare as Angus Taylor blocks NSW ‘net zero’ plan
By Ben Potter and Simon Evans
The bitter split between the NSW and federal coalition governments comes as Gladys Berejiklian’s NSW Coalition government faces a March 23 election in which climate policy looms large ***after voters sharply rejected the Morrison government’s climate change agnostic energy policies at the Wentworth byelection in October and the Victorian state election in November…
Mr Harwin said in a statement after the meeting: “I am very disappointed by the actions of the federal government at COAG Energy Council in Adelaide today.
“The refusal, on procedural grounds, to let the vital matter of restoring an emissions obligation into national energy policy be discussed is extraordinary. NSW will continue to pursue this critical matter with COAG Energy Council.”…
***’Shut down’
The meeting heard from Australian Energy Market Operator Audrey Zibelman on the agency’s plans for the summer, with a risk of hot weather and blackouts in ***Victoria and ***South Australia, and agreed to the inclusion of a retailer reliability obligation, part of the abandoned National Energy Guarantee, into national grid rules…
https://www.afr.com/news/coag-energy-meeting-tempers-flare-as-angus-taylor-blocks-nsw-net-zero-plan-20181219-h19acd
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behind paywall:
Warning of deaths over solar panel installations
The Australian-17 minutes ago
Energy Minister Angus Taylor has written to his state counterparts to warn that lives could be at risk from unsafe or sub-standard solar panel …
18 Dec: BusinessGreen: Free power? Government confirms plans to scrap solar export tariff
by Madeleine Cuff
Feed-in Tariff scheme will officially close on March 31, government confirms, leaving new solar PV owners exporting green power to the grid for free
The government has today confirmed controversial plans to axe the export tariff for solar power, which guarantees owners of PV panels money for excess energy they produce.
Campaigners have for months been fighting to save the export tariff after the government revealed plans to scrap the flat rate payments to households after March 2019, when the Feed-in Tariff subsidy scheme will also end.
But despite overwhelming opposition to the plans being expressed through the official consultation, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) today confirmed both the Feed-in Tariff and the export tariff will close to new participants next year as originally planned.
It will mean households with solar panels installed after that date will be expected to give away any unused solar power to the grid for free, a decision Greenpeace’s chief scientist Dr Doug Parr slammed as “perverse”.
“Solar prices have plummeted, and the solar industry is ***on a path to subsidy-free status,” he said. “Ministers should be looking for ways to help this affordable technology expand instead of putting spanners in the works.”…
Neil Jones of 10:10 Climate Action, which has been campaigning against the scrapping of the export tariff, said the decision is “hard to fathom” etc…
Dr Alan Whitehead, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Energy and Climate Change, accused the government of “pushing the solar industry off a cliff edge.”
“Expecting future solar projects to give their power to energy companies for free is not right or fair, and the government must urgently bring forward alternative plans,” he said…
https://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/3068445/free-power-government-confirms-plans-to-scrap-solar-export-tariff
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includes links – LOL:
18 Dec: InsideClimateNews: That Global Warming Hiatus? It Never Happened. Two New Studies Explain Why.
Missing Arctic data was part of the problem. In the end, the idea of a pause, often cited by climate policy opponents, didn’t hold up to statistical testing
by Phil McKenna
That is the conclusion of a pair of studies, published Tuesday in the scientific journal Environmental Research Letters, based on statistical reassessments of a recent 10-year period that appeared at the time to evince a flattened warming curve…
“There was a natural slowdown in the rate of warming during roughly the decade of the 2000s due to a combination of volcanic influences and internal climate variability, but there was no actual ‘hiatus’ or ‘pause’ in warming,” Michael Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University and an author of the climate modeling study, said…
***”We simply didn’t have all the information available at the time,” Stephan Lewandowsky, a researcher at the University of Bristol and lead author of the climate modeling report said…
“When things don’t look quite how you expect, you dive into it,” said Gavin Schmidt, a climate scientist and director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. “People looked into it, and it turned out to be nothing.”…
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/18122018/global-warming-hiatus-pause-never-happened-studies-explain-climate-change-risbey-oreskes-mann
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Or in 3 words: fox, meet henhouse.
10
behind paywall:
19 Dec: UK Times: In this climate, Carney should stick to testing things he can measure
by Katherine Griffiths
Mr. Carney is a highly political central banker…
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/in-this-climate-carney-should-stick-to-testing-things-he-can-measure-mf8zrsth9
Carbon Brief re the above: Katherine Griffiths, banking editor of the Times, argues that the Bank should apply any new stress to “a more immediate challenge” than climate change. “There are plenty of other meaty topics the committee could choose this time, such as cybersecurity, how companies use customers’ data or the risk of outsourcing key services to third parties,” she writes. In contrast, focusing on the risks to banking from climate change “runs the risk of the Bank, and Mr Carney in particular, again veering into political clashes with prominent sceptics such as the US president”, Griffiths says, “while at the same time struggling to gain credibility for trying to measure something that as yet cannot be easily measured”.
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“As a result of the increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere we’ve actually got more energy in the Earth’s climate system, and it turns out that over 90 per cent of that extra energy has actually been taken up by the ocean,” Dr Cleugh said.
“Our oceans and land are performing an enormous ecosystem service at the moment because they’re taking up a lot of the anthropocentric [human-generated] CO2 emissions.”
Australian Brainwashing Company
20
Aunty reluctantly agrees that Craig Kelly is correct, Tuvalu is growing.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-19/fact-check-is-the-island-nation-tuvalu-growing/10627318
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Southern US God Botherers
‘According to Pew, 77% of Hispanic Catholics are likely to say human activity has contributed to the Earth’s warming. Religiously unaffiliated (64%) and black Protestants (56%) are also likely to tie climate change to human activity. Pew points out that “fewer white mainline Protestants (41%) view climate change as primarily due to human activity … white evangelical Protestants are least likely to hold this view.”
Guardian
10
Might reflect on the educational status and ability to read past their nose.
30
Oh dear..!
We are all dooomed !
CSIRO ..climate report 2018 issued..
Sea level Rising at 3mm/yr
Fires flood and destruction inevitable .
Etc etc etc
https://theconversation.com/state-of-the-climate-2018-bureau-of-meteorology-and-csiro-109001
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On the Conversation ? Then it is crap by definition. No need to go look at it.
🙂
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Sorry bill,
But i dont think it is any better direct from the CSIRO.. !
https://www.csiro.au/en/Showcase/state-of-the-climate
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Difficult to believe that a so-called “scientific” organisation, who introduced many great technical advances to the world, should be reduced to this over-the-top non-factual hysterical reporting that exceeds even the worst excesses of the IPCC. And to be backed up by the BOM makes it even worse.
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Hiatus Erased
https://4k4oijnpiu3l4c3h-zippykid.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/josh-humpday-hilarity.jpg
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The BOM (Australian Bureau of Meteorology) publishes Forecasts for the coming month.
On 29th November they published the December 2018 forecast. This predicted that the top end would be rather drier than normal.
Then Cyclone Owen happened and it behaved rather oddly it curved back from the NT boarder and headed back towards Cape York. Now there are all sorts of interesting data items, (post incident of course)about the why and the how and sort of explanations. One measured effect has been published, the sea surface temperature in the Gulf of Carpentaria dropped TWO degrees Celsius in a very short time!
Can Climate Models accept/understand such rapid surface temperature changes over water?
Halifax on the coral sea coast of the York Peninsular had 681mm of rain in 24 hours.
We paid how much for that forecast Mr. Minister?
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More than a week ahead is not easy, especially when they model in global warming as a fact. BoM should give up seasonal forecasting.
10
Especially when it’s become painfully obvious that the Bureau Of Mendacity relies on GCM computer models for its long-range forecasting.
00
2018 6th Warmest Year Globally of Last 40
December 20th, 2018 by Roy W. Spencer, Ph. D.
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33 C warmer = nonsense
GHG energy loop = nonsense
S-B BB upwelling = nonsense
nonsense^3 = 0 GHE & 0 CO2 warming & 0 man caused climate change.
Nick Schroeder, BSME, PE
For details see LinkedIn site
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