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Midweek Unthreaded
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9.3 out of 10 based on 15 ratings
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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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Statistics
The nerds have the numbers on precious metals investments on the ASX
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Climate science fraud in the US — more “estimates” than real temperature measurements in our national average temperature, and we were supposed to have the BEST network of weather stations in the world (see pictures at end of article at the second link):
https://elonionbloggle.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-us-surface-temperature-record-ushcn.html
https://elonionbloggle.blogspot.com/2019/05/ten-year-study-anniversay-us-surface.html
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Trump administration hardens its attack on climate science
” … the White House-appointed director of the United States Geological Survey, James Reilly, a former astronaut and petroleum geologist, has ordered that scientific assessments produced by that office use only computer-generated climate models that project the impact of climate change through 2040, rather than through the end of the century, as had been done previously.
Scientists say that would give a misleading picture because the biggest effects of current emissions will be felt after 2040.
Models show that the planet will most likely warm at about the same rate through about 2050.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/27/us/politics/trump-climate-science.html
via #junkscience, who comments:
“Climate bedwetters are in full panic mode because their junk science is about to be exposed and they are about to be publicly humiliated.”
https://twitter.com/JunkScience/status/1133354569877078016
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Jennifer Marohasy explains why the ANN should be taken seriously? We are looking at natural cycles.
https://jennifermarohasy.com/2019/05/robots-recreating-past-temperatures-are-best-to-avoid-australian-data/
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Bring on the Climate Nuremberg Trials…….get your popcorn here…..
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I have added 3 sample one page nontechnical issue summaries to the Climate Change Debate Education blog — http://ccdedu.blogspot.com
Topics are the Little Ice Age, solar caused warming, and hurricanes. Each one pager comes in two versions, with and without a Gogle Scholar search that shows a tremendous amount of present day research on the topic. The students mostly cannot follow these technical papers, but they can see the volume, so the science is far from settled.
The 193 videos are still there of course. I hope to have a lot more of both videos and one page issue summaries.
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“In Court, none of the Council Officers could explain what 5G is; and their leading Government expert refused to attend the Court hearing. In conclusion, the Judge refused to gag Mark, stating:
“The public have a right to know.”
http://humansarefree.com/2018/10/britains-first-court-case-against-5g.html
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“Mark Steele, a 5G campaigner, has been highlighting the dangers of a secret 5G rollout by Gateshead Council where residents are complaining of increased illness and Cancer in the affected area. ”
So how does cancer suddenly increase in a few weeks due to the rollout which would have only been installed in the last 6 months at best? Cancer takes more than that to develop.
Insanity.
5G is just a protocol just as the other xGs are. It defines the modulation, frequency and transport protocols for a communication system.
Also HOW the higher speed data is used has NOTHING to do with the above. (ie Spyware)
This is another attack on technology by the totally ignorant (same loons that believe krimate change), who will stand next to the microwave oven while heating their lattes and complain that WIFI is giving them cancer.
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I don’t know enough about 5G to have an opinion but generally, the more data you wish to put on a signal the higher the frequency, or shorter wave length, the carrier must be. The higher the freq. the more harmful it is.
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The key reason why this radiation is not a problem is that the energy spreads out over the surface of an ever-expanding sphere. So if the distance doubles, then the radiated energy drops by the.cube of the distance (I.e. Formula for the surface area of a sphere.) So the radiated energy drops off VERY quickly as the distance increases. A much greater problem is placing a mobile phone adjacent to your brain – although the power is less, the distance is very small and the likelihood of damage much greater.
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Sorry G,
The surface are of a sphere = 4 pi r squared, not cubed.
Cheers
Dave B
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And beamed horizontally but G#4s principal still stands.
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Thanks for the correction David. When I wrote it, I was thinking whether it was cubed or squared, and should have checked. But the reasoning I believe is still sound.
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Agree. (I had to check my memory too.)
Cheers
Dave B
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Its the square rule not the cube rule.
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Cube is for volumes, Square for areas.
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Im more inclined to be cautious, namely high frequency pulsed radiation and proximity to humans who are biologically conductive has have a form of risk. I think multiple point sources of microwave band radiation in your home with the IoT taking off is going to compound existing issues in that space.
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Ionised radiation has enough energy to cause damage to DNA ergo mutation ergo cancer, examples would be x rays and UV rays. Non ionised radiation can’t cause DNA damage, all comms networks are in the non ionised spectrum, you cannot get cancer from 5g
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I take the approach that if you can cut human flesh with a focussed source of RF,then other damage is possible. I believe the Russians did studies on persistent low dose radiation. From memory it didnt end well. Ill see if I can find them.
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I worked on a HIGH powered 10cm radar. We observed the safety guidelines, sort of. If it was a powerful 3cm radar we would have been VERY careful.
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Sigh…..if you cut human flesh you would burn it, high levels of non ionised radition can burn you, usually ear lobes, eyes testes etc but you won’t get cancer
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Take a good look at your microwave door, why do you think there are tiny holes I the metal screen covering the window? Also why do you think there is a groove in the plastic around the door?
There is a very good reason why they are there…..
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The Inverse Square Law – Point sources of x- and gamma radiation follow the inverse square law, which states that the intensity of the radiation ( I ) decreases in proportion to the inverse of the distance from the source ( d ) squared:
00
Not really H, high powered radars for example use parabolic dish so they have a focal point a distance from the dish. This point has the highest energy beyond that it drops away but is governed by antenna type. Beam width shape of lobe etc. The big risk is in the side lobes, you could stand behind the antenna and still receive a high dose
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Since we are talking about mobile phone towers and not radar dishes, I believe H is correct. FarmerDoug has also pointed out that there will be some horizontal gain, but I doubt that mobile phone towers use other forms of beam focusing. At least it doesn’t appear to be so, looking at their antenna arrays.
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Not really. It greatly depends on the absorption of bio tissue to RF energy or any electromagnetic spectrum.
2.4GHz was chosen for MW ovens as it absorbs by water molecules more readily. Other spectrum is less absorbent, of course if the density is high enough then you will get cell damage still greatly depends on the absorption which isnt linear.
I have worked around high power RF in my career and still here. There have been cases with workers around microwave transmission dishes getting tumors by then they worked around them most of their working life.
As Graeme#4 points out the density drops of very quickly, sub nanowatts per cm2 wont do much.
Every day you a bombarded by high energy muons from the ionosphere, noone mentions that ever.
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It’s the liquid-filled parts of our body that are more susceptible, and there’s also a time duration to be considered. When working with RF radiators in public areas, we were allowed to exceed the emission limits due to the short time intervals of public exposures.
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That’s occupation an and public exposure rates
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HI
The “Smart” 5G Killer Technology Agenda with Special Guest Mark Steele -links below
I did watch this presentation,” Special Guest Mark Steele” the program as you will see, dose cover many issues.
My comment at the time
2018-08-29- how much truth is in this?
The fifth generation 5G cellular mobile data network roll out is imminent. Does it merely bring us better download times and faster personal devices or is it in fact a serious danger to personal safety.
The “Smart” 5G Killer Technology Agenda with Special Guest Mark Steele
Visit https://www.saveusnow.org.uk/
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Alex Jones has been pushing 5G Killer propaganda. I have trouble taking Jones seriously, as he funds his operation via the sale of snake oil!
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Also the above is the result of what is summarized nicely on here – What is “junk science”? https://junkscience.com/about/
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will this link activate
The “Smart” 5G Killer Technology Agenda with Special Guest Mark Steele
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joseph,
the link should work now,it was a patreon cstt broadcast
https://www.patreon.com/posts/smart-5g-killer-20333873
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Wanted to post a few thoughts but too much happening to get my thoughts down just now and going away for a few days so will get to it on the unthreaded next week.
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Unsure how this managed to get through the ABC censors but make sure your sitting down when you read it .
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-29/anthony-albanese-must-win-labor-base-government-from-coalition/11157474
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Albo thinks CO2 is a pollutant, so we should expect a robust political debate.
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Those who believe CO2 is a pollutant should stop breathing it out. The real problem is then solved – namely we get rid of the fools so the rest of us can resume our normal lives.
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Albo will come into parliament with this.
‘Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions continued to rise in 2018, according to a government report to the United Nations.
‘The submission shows again that Australia faces a huge task in meeting its obligations under the Paris agreement despite the government’s insistence it has laid out “to the last tonne” how it will do this.’
Guardian
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Anyone else notice the subliminal changes in the two leaders. Scott Morrison is interviewed wearing a RED tie. Traditionally Liberal leaders wear BLUE ties.
On the other hand Albo, a bit of a commie at heart, has taken to wearing BLUE ties. Former Labour leader, Bill Shorten, was never seen without his RED tie.
Is this a new form of identity confusion akin to so many different genders suddenly appearing?
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Watch out for transgender mutations!
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I wish I could write satire like this. Except it isn’t satire…
Climate activism failing to represent BAME groups, say campaigners (BBC, 27 May)
I hope Al Gore brings up this problem of “racism, sexism and classism” amongst climate activists when he sits down with Annastacia Palaszczuk next week.
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🙂 🙂
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What the hell has “racism, sexism and classism”. got to do with climate, except in the eyes of the lunatic lefty fringe totalitarian goons, and the BBC.
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The left love divisions, because they offer nothing but destruction…..
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Except in arithmetic
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Leftist political theory is based on the idea that humanity can be understood by dividing us into groups variously labelled “victims” and “oppressors”.
Leftist politics is always based on conflict between identified group.
Don’t think that the loony left (as tho there was any other kind of left) can argue climate without resorting to identity politics.
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Yeah but wothout name calling, they cant advance thier agenda, which means its just fluff and BS in equal measures….
This is why they never debate stuff, coz it never holds up to scrutiny. Its all hype and agro, masquerading as politics…
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The main factors that contribute to climate on Earth.
1. The sun for energy input.
2. The vast expanse of deep oceans to store heat and before variation in heat input and output.
3. The connected of deep oceans.
4. The presence of an atmosphere.
5. The phases and phase transition of water.
If there was no interconnected water masses the temperature would vary much more than present. That would likely cause the atmosphere to be lost to space and Earth would be an airless, waterless rock like the moon. The global average temperature of the moon is 197K so that is what Earth would be. So the 255K of the greenhouse fairy tale is nonsense.
The negative feedbacks of water in stabilising the climate are significant. The vapour pressure of water rises steeply above 25C:
https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/docs/documents/687/saturation-vapor-pressure-diagram.pdf
That limits the maximum temperature of tropical oceans to about 30C because the large water column above warm tropcal oceans causes reflective cloud formation to limit heat input from the oceans; akin to closing blinds
Near the poles, sea ice forms and at the interface the surface water is -2C. So at low latitudes the ocean surface temperature rarely exceeds 30C and at the sea ice interface the surface temperature is -2C. The transport of heat from the tropics to the poles is what creates weather. What occurs over land is also weather as land provides near zero input of energy to the climate system; what comes in each day is lost at night.
The Pacific has the largest surface exposure to tropical sun so is the main solar collector. The connected of the oceans means heat collected in the Pacific can be transported to other oceans via the Southern Ocean and Arctic Ocean.
An interesting geological feature can cause significant swings in weather (and even climate) in the northern hemisphere. The Bering Strait is quite shallow and forms a bridge between Russia and Alaska during ice ages. The liked paper provides insight into how the Bering Strait influenced climate in parts of the globe:
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2012/04/land-bridge-caused-wild-temperature-swings
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So the 255K of the greenhouse fairy tale is nonsense. yes, and the misuse and understanding of the ‘stephan boltzmann’ law.
1-5 so true.
Earth hasnt lost its atmosphere because of its magnetic field, Mars has, it had a decent atmosphere but slowly lost it, stripped by the solar wind.
One more factor item 6. The solar geomagnetic field, solar wind and electron flux altering the jetstreams.
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Thanks RW,
I’ve been thinking about the role of water and where I’d put it in a prioritised list, so I’m glad to see you’ve put it in your list.
Do you consider latitude to be a subset of your #1, or an additional item?
In an earlier reply, some time back, I wrongly called water vapour a greenhouse gas. I think I should have called it a major contributor as you’ve done, even though I was trying to make a comparison with the role of CO2.
Cheers
Dave B
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The spherical shape and rotational velocity are factors that generally stabilise the climate. The shape is due to the fundamental force of gravity and the formation from a molten mass. There is sufficient water on the surface to cover 70% to a substantial depth and gravity plays its role in setting a water level.
To my knowledge, the rotation is not due to fundamental factors but just luck. The present speed of rotation is fast enough to limit the temperature range over tropical land masses between night and day. The rotation of the moon is slower so it gets very cold during the long nights.
The orientation of the spin axis is important and probably related to fundamental forces during the formation of Earth and sun with gravity again playing a fundamental role. The precession of the spin axis can alter the amount of ocean surface exposed to tropical sun so can alter the heat input for a given solar output.
Latitude is not a primary variable. Without spin there would be no Coriolis force to generate the circulating currents and they are essential for transporting heat from tropics to the poles. Also one side of earth would be warm and the other side cold and we would likely end up with static equilibrium throughout the oceans and atmosphere. Under those conditions the temperature range across the globe would be much greater than now.
Without axis tilt, I expect The Bering Strait and Drakes Passage would both be bridged with ice and that would slow or stop ocean currents at both North and South Poles as they are mostly wind driven. That means the Pacific would get warmer and Atlantic cooler. This would increase the temperature range but not have a huge impact on the heat balance.
The salinity of the ocean is also important for heat transport at the sea ice interface because the higher salinity water is able to carry heat to significant depth and this drives the deep ocean currents. That assists heat distribution and contributes to lower temperature range across the globe but not much influence on the heat balance.
The heat balance is set by the tropical clouds rapidly increasing once the surface water gets above 25C to reduce the solar collection and the formation of sea ice at -2C to close off heat loss by insulating the water surface. So the ocean surface temperature is limited to the range 30C to -2C solely by the unique properties of water. You would reasonably expect the average water surface temperature to sit close to midpoint of 14C. In fact it is 16C; likely as a result of the low proportion of high northern latitudes being water.
No doubt there are atmospheric and cosmic influences that alter the cloud formation and these factors can vary the tropical sea surface temperature. Ice free land in the South Pole or sea-ice free water at the North Pole means that there is a limit to the range of insulation that sea-ice can afford. If there is no sea ice at the poles then you know that the Earth is losing its ability to eject more heat and that would mean some increase in global temperature to recover the thermal balance. If there was no sea ice at the poles then you could be confident that the globe was heating because there is no more ability to increase cooling; drapes are already wide open.
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Rick on rotation. All bodies in the Universe appear to have angular momentum or rotation. The origin isnt known. (guessed at only)
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The Bering Strait paper was good reading until the second last paragraph which stated that the Strait was unlikely to close again because of predicted rising sea levels, the implication being that human induced global warming causing a minor rise (name your own figure X) would override a certain (50+X) metre fall in sea level at the next ice age. Editorial interference? Note the paper was written in 2012.
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Ian, they always chant
The global warming
sea levels rising mantra
It guarantees future grants
In abundance.
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Prof. Quiggan has a good peice on the relative economics of doing nothing:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/27/australia-isnt-doing-its-part-for-the-global-climate-sooner-or-later-well-have-to-pay-our-share?CMP=share_btn_tw
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‘The coal boom of the last decade will fade away, whatever Australian governments do. By contrast, the climate emergency is not going away and will force itself on our attention sooner or later.’
In reality the coal boom will continue, while the climate emergency is already history.
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Simon why bring the Guardian’s propaganda here ?
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nothing wrong with reading more widely, its what we tell them to do
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I agree, and having kept an open mind and reading the link……its crap.
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The Guardian is not reading more ‘widely’.
It’s just an ideological propaganda sheet
It’s role is to propagate fake facts
To bolster irrational beliefs.
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Bill we should read propaganda, know how your opponent thinks so that you can counter their every move.
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Old Basque proverb: know the face of the enemy.
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E G I do occasionally
But not too much
It is quite debilitating
With all it’s catastrophic d
Doom and gloom
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In homeopathic doses only !
🙂
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In homeopathic doses only !
🙂
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As an economic view, it has some merits. However, economists predicted 5 of the last 2 recessions. So it’s more of an educated guess than a fact
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He is wrong headed and lacks vision.
‘economists predicted 5 of the last 2 recessions.’
Is that a momentary brain fade or whimsy?
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Left the sarc tag off- thought the joke was obvious, sigh
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Have you an equivalent pejorative for your alarmist comrades?
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Whimsical with no brain.
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Somewhat out of character for Peter Fitzroy it’s a perfectly anodyne jest slurring economists…
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Pay more attention to Paul Krugman, a Nobelist.
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All anyone needs to know about the article or the Guardian is contained in that pic of baby-poo coloured steam against an angry charcoal sky.
Or, as the only accurate part of the article states: “Photograph: redbrickstock.com/Alamy Stock Photo”.
There is no excuse for the media in general and the Guardian in particular. Everything is a shabby verbal or pictorial stunt meant to push buttons.
The other night I made the mistake of leaving the TV on after footy to catch the announcement of the Origin team. Half of the “news” consisted of mugs putting on blues and getting caught on camera. Did you know people get tanked and start fights? Well they do! And victims are often women…or thinking of becoming women. Hashtag!
To think millions of people still back up for this “news” slop every night and that some even tune in for Kochie or Karl or Georgie every morning as well. But as woeful as NBN’s reporting is, the pretentious Guardian is a step down from that.
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🙂 🙂 🙂
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Sydney desalination plant has been operating since January and Tim Flannery is crowing.
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Got any cost per litre figures ?
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Not sure, this is the blurb from January.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-27/sydney-desalination-plant-turned-on-so-how-does-it-work/10753334
It supplies 15% of Sydney’s drinking water.
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… and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board owns 50% of the plant.
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Let Flanners drink sea water !
🙂
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Or eat yellow snow……that isn’t supposed to exist……or kids don’t know about…….and dams never filling……something something of Babylon….
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The Climate Jihadists will not give up easily. They seek to destroy Western civilization.
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Does anybody else think climate honcho Rajendra Pachauri bears an uncanny resemblance to Charles Manson?
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UNESCO REPORT STORY – all over the MSM.
2min50sec to 7min36sec:
AUDIO: 29 May: BBC: Digital Planet with Gareth Mitchell & Bill Thompson
Genderless voice assistants
The world’s first genderless voice assistant has been unveiled to the public, and it goes by the name Q. Reporter Tom Stephens met with Emil Asmussen, associate creative director of VICE Media’s creative agency VIRTUE, who was involved in Q’s creation to discuss the voice of the future…
(PARAPHRASING Q’s ASMUSSEN: we have these gender stereotypes FROM THE PAST…a lot of people are going to go back to these gender stereotypes FROM THE PAST, instead of looking towards the future…technology, which is supposed to progress humanity and make us look to the future is very stuck in these OLD GENDER NORMS.)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3csy667
May 2019: UNESCO: Explore the Gendering of AI Voice Assistants
Think Piece 2: The rise of gendered AI and its troubling repercussions
THINK PIECE 2 (LINK 145 PAGE REPORT) of I’d blush if I could (LINK), is the first in-depth UN examination of the gendering of AI technology…
It shares 18 recommendations regarding the gendering of AI technologies, and advises companies and governments to, among other actions:
•end the practice of making digital assistants female by default;
•explore the feasibility of developing a neutral machine gender for voice assistants that is neither male nor female…
https://en.unesco.org/EQUALS/voice-assistants
yesterday, BBC had another go.
prompted by Rory, Jane admits there are male AI voices available, but says – in America especially – a lot of these voices are female…
Rory to Emily: a serious point – a vast proportion of people working on AI are still men, and that reinforces gender bias being built into them.
Emily: not just men, but also predominantly white guys from priveleged backgrounds…
BBC Tech Tent: Google’s blow to Huawei
Plus, do digital assistants with female voices entrench gender bias?
Presented by Rory Cellan-Jones, with BBC tech reporter Jane Wakefield, and special guest Emily Taylor, from the Chatham House think tank.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3csyms9
shut down the UN and the BBC!
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The climate doesn’t discriminate by race or gender.
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VIDEO: 14min29sec: 27 May: ConservativeTreehouse: Joe diGenova Discusses Declassification and Origin of Obama Political Surveillance Operation…
by sundance
Former U.S. Attorney to the District of Columbia, Joe diGenova, discusses the declassification of intelligence documents relating to political surveillance; and the origin of the database abuses outlined by FISC Presiding Judge Rosemary Collyer…READ ALL
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2019/05/27/joe-digenova-discusses-declassification-and-origin-of-obama-political-surveillance-operation/?fbclid=IwAR3T08MStLttPyVYVkfNX-S7pS1qLfPlZAAHQBfJ2rdBx0qJz_SrV_GtVLw
28 May: GatewayPundit: Obama Appointed FISA Court Judge Contreras Who Recused Himself from Gen. Flynn Case Reportedly Involved in Multiple FISA Court Abuses
by Joe Hoft
FISA Court judge Rudolph Contreras who oversaw General Flynn’s case is friends with corrupt FBI agent Peter Strzok who set up General Flynn in the White House…
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/05/obama-appointed-fisa-court-judge-contreras-who-recused-himself-from-gen-flynn-case-reportedly-involved-in-multiple-fisa-court-abuses/
28 May: Breitbart: Report: Christopher Steele Refuses to Cooperate with DOJ Investigation
by Joshua Caplan
Christopher Steele, the former British intelligence agent who compiled the hoax dossier alleging ties between President Donald Trump and Russia, refuses to cooperate with the Department of Justice’s investigation into the origins of the Obama administration’s spying on then-candidate Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, according (LINK) to Reuters.
A Reuters source close to Steele’s private investigation outfit, Orbis Business Intelligence, said the ex-spy has chosen not to answer questions from Connecticut’s U.S. Attorney John Durham, who was recently appointed by Attorney General William Barr to examine the probe’s origins…READ ON
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/05/28/report-christopher-steele-refuses-to-cooperate-with-doj-investigation/
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should have pointed out diGenova youtube is AUDIO only…covered here too:
28 May: AmericanThinker: Joe DiGenova blows the lid off the real scandal: The Russia hoax was a cover-up effort for Obama’s political spying since 2012
By Thomas Lifson
Yesterday, Joe DiGenova made his customary Monday-morning guest appearance on WMAL radio’s Mornings on the Mall radio show. (WMAL is the premier conservative talk station in D.C.)…
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/05/joe_digenova_blows_the_lid_off_the_emrealem_scandal_the_russia_hoax_was_a_coverup_effort_for_obamas_political_spying_since_2012.html
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The new Union Labor Leader from the far-left, Anthony (The Italian) Albanese, is on a listening tour in Queensland lecturing Queenslanders about why Labor should have won the election.
He has a hard hat, indystrial safety glasses, high visibility vest and has added ear muffs.
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I look forward to hearing more from AnAl(?) on the 3 year campaign trail.
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No ear muffs
He’s wearing ear plugs.
He doesn’t want the punters
To know he is not listening.
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Paul Zanetti’s thoughts:-
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oops link did’t work
https://www.facebook.com/paulzanetticartoonist/photos/a.521484867892902/2775233225851377/?type=3&theater
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Maybe the US/China trade war will slow down the installation of stinkin windmills.
China is threatening to ban the export of the heavy rare earths needed in their motors. Trump, of course, will ban the import of them because China is virtually the only source of them because the refining is such a dirty process that no self respecting nation will allow it on their soil.
These rare earths are strategic materials, they are used in all modern munitions, and cautious voices have been warning about China’s stranglehold on supply but the warnings have fallen on deaf ears.
BTW I’ve forgotten it’s name but a few years ago an Aussie miner was trying to refine rare earths in Indonesia who objected at the time. Does anyone know how they are going?
10
It is Lynas Corp, their shares have nearly doubled lately but as of Sept last year their refinery was still sitting idle. The WA gov has made advances to have them build in WA. But Australia is an unreliable nation to spend capital. This attitude where a new labor gov can tear up contracts made in good faith makes it unlikely any private money will build a new HELE plant.
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Maybe. However, the LNP is likely to deal with that shortly.
On the lithium front Wesfarmers has made a big move on Kidman.
“Wesfarmers’ whopping takeover premium for Kidman puts value spotlight on lithium producers”
https://www.livewiremarkets.com/wires/wesfarmers-whopping-takeover-premium-for-kidman-puts-value-spotlight-on-lithium-producers
https://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20190502/pdf/444s310gl2djfd.pdf
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I can not fathom why everyone is so excited about Lithium (including Wesfarmers). The earth’s crust has an abundant supply of pegmatites. Australia alone has an abundant supply of Lithium minerals
Anyone in the battery game should be shoring up Cobalt supply – unless they believe their is no sovereign risk associated with 65% of Cobalt coming out of the Congo???
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H
Saw somewhere earlier that Lynas might have a chance of a refinery in US
10
I do not know the proportions, but wind turbines are increasingly using induction generators rather than permanent magnet excited synchronous generators. This link gives some perspective to the rare earth myth:
https://www.aweablog.org/rare-earths-wind-turbines-problem-doesnt-exist/
The favoured motor for electric cars is now induction motors as well.
Copper wil be the big winner in the electric age although it gets substituted with aluminium in many conductor applications if copper gets really expensive. Electric power transmission lines are most commonly aluminium where the lower density affords other benefits. Aluminium is also commonly used in electric motors but it increases their size for a given speed and power rating.
The Aussie miner you may be thinking of is Lynas. The refinery is located in Malaysia and has been operating for a number of years. Lynas has had some issues but is now making money. 2018 was its first full year profit. Its share price has recovered after some tough years. There was a good deal of resistance to building the refinery by locals in Malaysia but it was built and is a reasonable standard.
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The Manhattan Project used tons of silver because the war effort was using all the copper.
Apparently it was returned so isn’t some secret cache of silver.
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If as you say Lynas is refining in Malaysia I misread this bit of news:
So it looks as if they got the OK after the review.
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Wesfarmers did not get Lynas.
See above at 18.1.1
10
This may be the point at which we realize that interdependent trade with an adversary does not breed mutual trust, it breeds vulnerability on the state less able to do without the trade. Anyone who doubted that China would use any and all forms of trade as a weapon….well,no, of course they do, and think cuddling up to Iran is a good idea, etc. etc. Recipients of the little publicized Neville Chamberlain ‘A piece of paper’ award.
The US can do without a lot of this trade flow; not building windmills wouldn’t exactly cripple us. We have extensive deposits domestically, mine closed by environmentalist pressure could re-open under national security pressure. Other countries have supplies as well, and a rising price would likely bring them forth.
There has been a big beating of drums in the states about the awful loss of our soybean contracts. Some pain, yes, but bug disruptions in agriculture are the norm. Floods. Drought. Early frosts. Making corn into ethnanol. Swine Flu. Chicken flu.
High quality farm production will find markets in a hungry world where many countries can’t grow enough to feed themselves cost effectively.
Supply chains are leaving China at a rapid rate. The business risk of dependence upon an adversary willing to use trade as a weapon is not lost on the customers of either China or the US. In the long, run, the US has a relatively free, fair, and open system governed by the rule of law — given that all trade is constrained to a degree by government and has political overtones.
China can find new markets. They can probably be dominated politically…indeed, some can be treated like colonies. This carries its own set of risks. And these customers have little intellectual property worth stealing. They may require overseas investment by the Chinese. One can forfeit overseas investment if one acts badly. If China wishes to control the government in SomewhereVille because they built out the rail system and the ports, and a new government takes over (perhaps with outside help?) the investment is at far more risk than a supply chain factory that China was able to insist be built in China with 51% Chinese Ownership.
Of course, the counter argument is that China’s position is very strong. US companies may need to walk away from their investment in China. US companies walk away from bad investments every day. It doesn’t matter much if a plant is in China or Lordstown, Ohio. If it’s not working shut it down. Or very structure not only permit this, but plans for it.
So it’s fine that Chine now becomes belligerant about rare earths, and threatening. That’s who they are. An adversary, not a partner. They want the same prize as the US; a system that dominates world trade. Smaller players get to choose. And there will still be a parallel system where everyone does business at arms length, perhaps with intermediaries.
China probably still wants to make Christmas gizmos for the US. They have been the low priced vendor — they need the work. But yes, China can impose on it’s own people and significantly withdraw from the world.
It would not be the first time. The party there can probably stay in power through significant privations. An axis of authoritarian states can continue to threaten the world under almost any circumstances, but the world would survive just fine no longer trading much with these folks. There are plenty of just-now-developing countries who would love to jump on the China business.
China gone? World wide catastrophic recession!!!!!
I think not. Like a hurricane, a slow down while we assess the damage, then a big bump as we reinvest and rebuild.
Maybe China will back off this threat, but we see who they are. In the internal struggle there between capitalism and collectivism, capitalism may have peaked.
00
This is how every BOM article should look like; factual, and non-political:
https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/some-of-the-best-may-snow-in-decades-with-more-on-the-horizon-/529754
20
Just turned the car radio on and it came up on ABC where I heard that
ABC “World Today” was to cover someone’s indignation at Morrison’s GBR rep not including climate change in the list of its biggest problems
That was heard as I was switching to Allan Jones
Who mentioned that Trump was putting the boot into unreliable climate models.
Sounds like progress.
And the windmill is pumping.
60
This is from Cory Bernadi’s blog:
https://www.corybernardi.com/labors_unlosable_election?utm_campaign=wdcs_190529&utm_medium=email&utm_source=australianconservatives
60
interesting:
28 May: AFR: ACCC takes a long shot at mobile service competition
The competition regulator is risking holding back mobile network development to prop up an otherwise unworkable fourth network entrant, writes telco expert Ian Martin.
(Ian Martin is senior telecommunications analyst Australia and New Zealand with New Street Research)
The ACCC considers “TPG is the best prospect Australia has for a new mobile network operator to enter the market, and this is likely the last chance we have for stronger competition in the supply of mobile services”…
It’s not the first time the ACCC has tried to back a winner in the telecommunications sector based on questionable business prospects. In 2009 it jumped on the NBN bandwagon, with then chairman Graeme Samuel declaring it “will spark a new wave of infrastructure investment, technological change and product innovation”, was “unprecedented internationally” and would “easily eclipse” rival global networks…
Then prime minister Kevin Rudd thanked the ACCC for endorsing its expensive fibre to the premise (FTTP) plan. With no supporting analysis to back the big-spending plan, the ACCC’s endorsement was a pivotal factor in the NBN going ahead…READ ALL
https://www.afr.com/business/telecommunications/accc-takes-a-long-shot-at-mobile-service-competition-20190528-p51rwh
20
My elderly mother knows a lady of over 90 who keeps her old Corolla parked in the driveway at her home in Melbourne so she can sit inside it on sunny winter days to keep warm. Cheaper than running a heater inside the house…
Pensioners know all the tricks…
120
So, does that mean that the Sun reelly trooly does have something to do with the temperature/weather/climate here on Earth? It’s not just CO2?
Wow, who’d a thunk it…
Someone better tell the IPCC and the climate modellers.
Well done to your elderly mothers acquaintance, top marks for common sense.
10
ABC and SBS set to merge.
https://radioinfo.com.au/news/could-streaming-force-abc-and-sbs-merge
50
behind paywall:
26 May: UK Telegraph: EU’s filthiest states pocketing clean energy funds with no plans to phase out coal
By Jillian Ambrose
A new report will name and shame the states dipping into the funding pots meant to help smooth the transition to a cleaner energy system.
It will show that 11 states have no plans to move away from carbon-intensive coal-fired power, despite an EU goal to scrub coal from the energy system by 2030 in line with the climate targets set out in the Paris Accord.
The countries are still be able to claim billions of euros in development support, according to the report to be published by climate campaigners at Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe…
29 May: CAN Europe: Just Transition or Just Talk?
New report by Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe and Sandbag reveals Member States are receiving EU energy transition support but not committing to phase-out coal. The draft National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) of 21 EU Member States which still use coal for electricity generation show that only eight are committed to phasing out coal by 2030.
Yet, Member States with no plans to move away from coal are benefiting from various EU schemes intended to support the energy transition away from coal. Still, Member States are asking for more energy transition funding.
Read full report here (LINK)
http://www.caneurope.org/publications/reports-and-briefings/1779-just-transition-or-just-talk
00
Looks like lots of national governments
In the EU are ignoring
The Brussels based bureaucrats
And their demands for climate action
Against coal.
Cheers for national
democratically elected governments !!!
41
chin chong jen where u ben? https://balance10.blogspot.com/2019/05/re-education-chinese-commie-style.html
11
Canada, US, Norway, China? let’s talk about Russia:
26 May: Reuters: Russia, eyeing Arctic future, launches nuclear icebreaker
Reporting by Dmitry Vasilyev; Writing by Andrew Osborn and Polina Devitt
Russia launched a nuclear-powered icebreaker on Saturday, part of an ambitious program to renew and expand its fleet of the vessels in order to improve its ability to tap the Arctic’s commercial potential.
The ship, dubbed the Ural and which was floated out from a dockyard in St Petersburg, is one of a trio that when completed will be the largest and most powerful icebreakers in the world…
The drive is part of a push to strengthen Moscow’s hand in the High North as it vies for dominance with traditional rivals Canada, the United States and Norway, as well as newcomer China.
By 2035, Putin said Russia’s Arctic fleet would operate at least 13 heavy-duty icebreakers, nine of which would be powered by nuclear reactors…
The Arctic holds oil and gas reserves equivalent to 412 billion barrels of oil, about 22 percent of the world’s undiscovered oil and gas, the U.S. Geological Survey estimates…
https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-russia-arctic-icebreaker/russia-eyeing-arctic-future-launches-nuclear-icebreaker-idUKKCN1SV0E4
10
CAGW protesters – useful idiots for Big Business/Fossil Fuel companies? lol:
29 May: UK Telegraph: Bosses back bid to host UN climate talks in Britain
by Jillian Ambrose
PIC: CAGW protest, placard “Planet before Profit”
FTSE 100 chief executives from Capita, National Grid and Centrica have appealed to government to do “everything in its powers” to secure the UN’s landmark 2020 climate talks.
Fossil fuel bosses at BP, Shell and Drax have also joined the last-minute hour appeal to “take a world-leading role in climate action” by hosting the conference next year.
A total of 12 business leaders have signed a joint letter to the prime minister, cabinet and leader of the opposition calling on them to showcase the “best of the UK economy”.
The talks could provide…
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2019/05/29/bosses-back-bid-host-un-climate-talks-britain/
10
while Wall St eats Wagyu beef, they have other ideas for the rest of us:
28 May: MarketWatch: Beyond Meat is a ‘disruptor’ as plant-based meat industry sales poised to reach $100 billion
By Tonya Garcia
Jefferies analysts think there’s a good chance McDonald’s will add a plant-based option after Burger King’s Impossible Whopper.
Plant-based meat is going to be huge in the near future and Beyond Meat Inc. “is a true disruptor and innovator” in the industry, according to JPMorgan analysts.
Shares of Beyond Meat jumped 8.7% on Tuesday after the company was initiated at overweight with a $97 price target at JPMorgan. Analysts there say Beyond Meat’s “growth opportunity is extraordinary.”…
Analysts at Barclays, in a recent note, said they believe the alternative meat market can reach $140 billion on 10 years…
Goldman Sachs analysts think there is risk that Beyond Meat will have supply issues, struggle to keep pace with innovation and stay differentiated…
BofA Merrill Lynch initiates Beyond Meat shares neutral with an $85 price objective…
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/beyond-meat-is-a-disruptor-as-plant-based-meat-industry-sales-poised-to-reach-100-billion-2019-05-28
10
Developing market
https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/redpowerphotos/monthly_2019_05/D7QMd_UW0AA00Ey.jpglarge.jpeg.jpg.853afcdf2a8a4677015882a923a352f0.jpg
10
Just imagine how much of a hit this would be.
Let’s say a current Government parliamentarian actually had the c0j0nes to say this.
Trouble is no one will ever commit to something like this, because, as a politician, they know politics, and none of them have the confidence from a full understanding of the process to be able to explain it in the first place.
The Green heads so publicly exploding as they try to counter it would be smashed by the truth as it came out.
Imagine the first journalist brave enough to have his article published, and all the others laughing at him, and then, when they checked, wishing they were the one who broke the story.
Imagine the ABC on air presenters all looking at each other saying ….. I can’t say that. Pick someone else. then, after the event, kicking themselves for not having the nerve to be the one who went on air and told it like it is.
There’ll come a day when all of the above comes to pass.
My smile will be welded onto my face.
Tony.
150
Canavan was just talking with Speers on Sky and reading between the lines the first Hele will be built in North Queensland.
70
Tony, you are realistic here and make common sense as usual!
More power to your blogging pen! We desperately need rational power policies to keep Australia as a first world economy.
Sadly, so many of our vocal young successors in this great country have been brainwashed into thinking that their cushioned lifestyle of unlimited everything can be somehow safeguarded while we dismantle all so called “fossil-fuelled” energy supplies.
50
Well Tony,
that’s something that all of us here on this site understand.
But the way you’ve framed it and presented it is
Brilliant.
Maybe we could follow the example of the Wind Turbines for Warringah petition group and go for “massive CO2 reductions by HELE” on Change.org.
Of course I’d prefer at least two to be located centrally here in the Hunter Valley.
🙂
KK
40
Please Tony we need a HELE plant here in SA.
I pray that the gobbermint
Will save us poor folks in South Australia
From the big bad unreliable expensive
Windy electron wheelies
But which is better ?
Shifting the coal to SA
Or Shifting the electrons ?
20
Global cooling signal sighted in the US.
‘As the nation reels from heatwaves, tornadoes, and storm warnings, the Midwest is about to be inundated with record flooding this week as several major rivers are forecast to reach historic levels.
‘The Arkansas and Mississippi Rivers are expected to flood at record-breaking levels as a downpour of rain is forecast to drench the Midwest states on Tuesday and Wednesday.’
Daily Mail
30
EG This has been grossly apparent since November
And the yanks are wondering where Spring disappeared
Even now at the end of May.
They have snow at the ski fields sufficient to last till August
And it’s raining & cold in California.
If the daily mail has just discovered these facts
The clearly it is not aware of the daily news in he USA
41
Summer has arrived early in Japan and I think this unseasonal heatwave is a global cooling signal.
‘Japan sweltered under an unseasonal heat wave on Sunday (May 26) that rewrote heat records for the month of May, as the mercury surged above 38 deg C in many parts of the northernmost island of Hokkaido.’
Straits Times
10
An engineering advice from WattsupWithThat.com:
Interpolate at will. Extrapolate at your own peril.
10
29 May: SMH: Resources Minister backs new coal plant as Labor reconsiders climate policy
by David Crowe
A new coal-fired power station is back on the federal government’s agenda in the wake of its election victory, with ministers supporting a major project in Queensland…
“The government will progress investments in coal-fired power,” (Canavan) said.
“That was what we took to the election, it was a key part of our policy package in North Queensland – that we would look at building a coal-fired power station in North Queensland.
“That’s been overwhelmingly endorsed by the people of North Queensland.”…
“Undoubtedly Bob Brown was a net plus for our election,” he said, adding that the protesters encouraged an attitude that was ungrateful, ignorant and patronising.
“It’s ungrateful because the coal industry delivers billions of dollars in royalties to the state governments and billions of dollars in taxes to the federal government.
“It’s ignorant because a lot of people make comments about the coal market and they have no bloody idea about the coal market.
“And then it’s incredibly patronising because these out-of-town people think they have the right to come into someone else’s community and tell them they’re all evil and wrong and need to the be sacked or re-skilled.”…
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/resources-minister-backs-new-coal-plant-as-labor-reconsiders-climate-policy-20190528-p51s31.html
40
Jackie Trad –
Treasurer meets with mining bosses on new infrastructure levy
Courier Mail-44 minutes ago
Queensland Resources Council chief executive Ian Macfarlane said he would consult with about 150 coal, gas and minerals companies…
Coal mining companies in Queensland to be slugged with new ‘infrastructure levy’
The Australian-1 hour ago
– Queensland’s coal mining companies will have to agree to contribute to a new “voluntary” infrastructure fund being proposed by the Palaszczuk government in exchange for a freeze in the rates of royalties. Treasurer Jackie Trad has confirmed she put the plan for the fund…
20
ABC Vote Compass. I participated in this survey before the election and I was asked if I wanted to participate after the election so I said yes. Got the follow up survey yesterday. It had a question about climate change, three choices, man, natural, none. Of course I chose natural.
Then there was a question about where I get my online news:
Which of the following online news sites do you consult most often for news about Australian politics? Please select all that apply.
The choices:
abc.net.au
afr.com
conversation,the
Global Mail, The
Guardian, The
heraldsun.com.au
news.com.au
ninemsn.com.au
perthnow.com.au
sbs.com
skynews.com
smh.com.au
Telegraph,the
theage.com.au
yahoo.com
Other: please specify
Any trends there? left right, middle of the road? Definitely at least four left biased media sources there with ABC, Age, SMH Guardian listed
Missing was Australian,The.
Which I added to Other:Please Specify. I wonder why the Aussie wasn’t in the main list and left for “other”
100
High energy prices are a heavy burden on the steel industry.
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.files.wordpress.com/2019/05/image-123.png
20
A powerful image that applies equally to Australia.
30
I was just responding to some posts on a Youtube ABC piece on solar power and related fires in Australia. It was a bit of a twilight zone experience.
There were people on there saying the ABC was being paid by the coal industry and in the pockets of the Liberal government. It was weird, one little story that goes slightly of the rainbows and unicorns narrative and they lash out with accusations that beggar belief given the ABCs behaviour in recent decades.
The indoctrination runs deep.
90
How many otherwise decent people are living in the Twilight zone?
20
I’ve noticed similar behaviour since the election. Many of the disappointed posters are lashing out at any story on media that they think has contributed to any negative opinion on Labor/Greens. I have been astounded at some of the claims that the ABC is an extreme right wing station or in the pay of the Liberals. Some of these people also make the same claim of 7, 9, 10, every Murdoch paper and even the Sydney Morning Herald. Just amazing.
20
Snow on the pier at Mornington near Melbourne, BOM will have its work cut out homogenising the low temps this winter .
71
http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDV60801/IDV60801.94906.shtml
Mount Hotham, Victoria (degrees Celsius)
29 May 02:15am Temp -46.6 Wind chill -61.8
28 May 07:51pm Temp -43.7 Wind chill -60.0
Seems like someone homogenised these the wrong way… oops?
70
I wonder if that is a
Computer stuff up ?
Or is it directly done
By the hand of hu/man ?
A tad embaressing whatever !
10
I’m glad someone else saw that – thought my eyes were going wonky – just rechecked (3 hours later) and they’re still there. Forty below! It’s a new world record – thanks to Algorithm’s imminent arrival on your (well-and-truly frozen!) shores.
’tis way worserer than they thunked.
30
Well we did know
That cooling had arrived
With the early onset of
A cold wet Winter !
It’s freezing here in
The Adelaide Hills of SA tonight.
And so frankly global cooling
Seems to have reared it ‘s head.
But maybe someone in the BOM
Has decided to spread the news
Over enthusiastically.
but best print it off.
It will be gone tomorrow
When the regular warmistas
Seize control again.
20
Bill, it’s still there as of Thursday afternoon, Kumara Republic of NZ-time: -46.6˚C min temp, -61.8˚C apparent (wind chill) temp, 0215 29 May 2019. And, yes, I’m saving the pages – pedant that I am – for when the experts/woke shriek at me to Trust Their Science™.
Yarpos, Buller and Hotham and Lake Mountain are looking wonderful in their gobble-swarming powder-dust coating of wintry white alpine bliss. Monday/Tuesday’s next little snow-machine low is looking even better. I can see the headlines already – Crisis: Biggest Coldest Earliest Snowfall EVAH, Dr Greta Advises PANIC!
20
mmmm we woke up to a dusting of global warming on the hills near us
snow webcams show a nice cover at Buller , Hotham and closer to here at the lower cross country/snowplay resort at Lake Mountain.
30
there was some 5G stuff earlier. saw a news ticker on Sky yesterday extolling its roll-out in Australia – we’re a leader apparently, but only for some:
28 May: news.com.au: Telstra are first with their ‘beta’ 5G network
As the fifth generation of mobile technology arrives, Telstra has debuted a device that promises to boost your home internet speeds.
by Geoff Quattromani
The biggest problem for many will be whether 5G is actually available in your area and unless you live in one of ten cities Telstra has launched with, you’re out of luck. There is however plenty of reasons to be excited for 5G…
Globally, Australia is one of the first to launch 5G in this form and Optus is also only months away from their 5G network launch also…
In the same way that 4G brought apps, social media and video streaming to our phones, 5G is being seen as the next industrial revolution where the new access to these speeds will change how we interact and use our smartphones entirely…
https://www.news.com.au/technology/gadgets/telstra-are-first-with-their-beta-5g-network/news-story/f593cd8b743ac0ba26967c4efbe13318
22 May: ChannelNews: Telstra 5G Hub, Expensive, Limited Data Vs NBN & Good Luck Getting A 5G Connection
By David Richards
The only problem is that if you are a 5G fan you are going to have to hope like hell that Telstra has a 5G tower near your house (CBD Only) or you are going to end up with good old fashioned 4G streaming…
The bottom line is that 5G access is patchy and will only be available in CBD areas of major capital cities and the Gold Coast, the cost is expensive, and the data limited…
https://www.channelnews.com.au/telstra-5g-hub-expensive-limited-data-vs-nbn-good-luck-getting-a-5g-connection/
20
Must be a Mega job securing and administering antenna sites for 5G. Hard to see how this will be much more than an inner city thing for the turmeric latte set, but then sometimes I lack imagination.
00
***extraordinary how the CAGW mob are happy to have children sacrifice their education for the cause:
28 May: The Hill blog: ‘Our political leaders have failed us:’ Teen activist slams world leaders on climate change
By Marina Pitofsky
In a speech at the R20 Austrian World Summit in Vienna, Thunberg cited devastating findings from a report released last year by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change…
Thunberg called on the audience to take action and consider how they will be remembered by their grandchildren and future generations.
“If people really knew the full consequences of the climate crisis, they would join us on the streets, striking from their work, moving on from words to action,” Thunberg said. “Because the biosphere doesn’t care about empty words. The biosphere doesn’t care about what we say. It only cares about what we actually do.”…
***She also encouraged all the children and teens in the audience to participate in school strikes around the world to send a message about addressing climate change…
https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/445843-our-political-leaders-have-failed-us-teen-activist-slams-world
29 May: Thomson Reuters Foundation: Fossil fuel subsidies are wrecking the world, says U.N. chief
by Megan Rowling
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a gathering of politicians and business people in Austria that pollution should be taxed, and subsidies for oil, gas and coal should be ended.
“Many people still think that to give fossil fuel subsidies is a way to improve living conditions of people,” he said in remarks delivered at a Vienna conference on climate change.
“There is nothing more wrong than that. What we are doing is using taxpayers’ money – which means our money – to boost hurricanes, to spread droughts, to melt glaciers, to bleach corals. In one word – to destroy the world.”…
The U.N. chief on Tuesday called for “a rapid and deep change in how we do business, how we generate power, how we build cities, and how we feed the world”, so that global warming can be curbed, and people and the planet protected from harm…
Former California governor and Hollywood actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose R20 climate change initiative for regional, state and city governments organised the gathering, said the greatest movements for change all start with “people power” holding governments or corporations to account…
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-climatechange-energy/fossil-fuel-subsidies-are-wrecking-the-world-says-u-n-chief-idUSKCN1SY1XT
10
Ita Buttrose has phenominal, extra terrestrial powers of observation.
She said the ABC might be biased.
70
Labor/Green heads in a commentariat are exploding
10
behind paywall – where it should stay. these days Times will publish any CAGW rubbish making the rounds:
29 May: UK Times: Ethiopia will plant 4bn trees to fight deforestation
by Jane Flanagan
Four billion trees, equivalent to 40 per person in Africa’s second most populous nation, will be planted across Ethiopia to fight deforestation…
—
equally unbelievable – especially as it’s not two thirds, but 90%, it seems:
29 May: UK Times: Drivers start to overcome fears about electric cars
by Catherine Sanz
More than ***two thirds of Irish people would consider buying an electric car despite concerns about the vehicles’ range, a survey has indicated…
The survey, conducted by opinions.ie for the ***Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), found that 67 per cent of people were worried about the range of electric cars, despite improvements in the vehicles’ performance…
It found that ***90 per cent of consumers would consider a car powered only by electricity if its range were about 300 miles (483km)…
28 May: Guardian: European commission accused of ‘deliberately harming climate action’
Study criticising climate impact of EU’s farming policy remained unpublished for a year
by Arthur Neslen
Environmentalists have warned that sections of the European commission may be “deliberately harming climate action” after a report into the climate impact of the common agricultural policy (CAP) was quietly published the day after the EU elections.
The study for the EU’s agriculture department was finished almost a year ago but remained unpublished while debate on the CAP’s future rumbled on, leading the environmental group WWF to lodge a freedom of information request for its release…
Marco Contiero, Greenpeace’s EU agriculture policy director, said the CAP was “locking Europe further into factory farming and a pathway to climate disaster”…
The analysis, which will feed into an EU policy paper this summer, also calls for careful consideration of whether legislative moves to encourage more sustainable diets are “feasible and desirable”.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/28/european-commission-accused-of-deliberately-harming-climate-action
10
Just read something on the Phillipines mandating each student must plant ten trees .
20
***theirABC lobs soft questions.
***Rennie doesn’t even answer the question re integrating RE into the grid. do Ryan/ABC care? no:
AUDIO: 29 May: ABC The World Today: Energy industry could be on track to 50 per cent renewable target
By Peter Ryan on The World Today
Energy analysts RepuTex says Australia will hit a 50 per cent renewables target by 2030 as coal-fired power becomes uncompetitive…
Featured:
Bret Harper, Reputex
Matt Rennie, Ernst & Young
TRANSCRIPT:
PETER RYAN: So, if the push to renewables gains the pace that you’re talking about, what is that going to do to demand for coal and gas power generation? Will prices come down?
BRETT HARPER: That’s the most likely situation.
As you have more renewable energy coming on line, that makes the wholesale electricity generation environment more competitive and that tends to bring down prices – ***all things being equal…
PETER RYAN: And so will the eventual greater affordability of battery technology for homes and businesses be the tipping point when it comes to traditional energy sources?
BRETT HARPER: That’s a possibility.
If electricity prices do go back up and stay high, that’s only going to drive more people towards self-generation…
MATT RENNIE: Well, I think we are beyond the point at which it is a commercial decision. Renewables are increasingly cheaper…
The first is the point at which new renewables is cheaper than new coal and I think we passed that a few years ago and the second, probably more critical tipping point, is the point at which new renewables is cheaper than existing power stations, existing coal-fired power stations and most of our analysis says that is going to occur in the next 15 to 20 years…
PETER RYAN: And what are the risks for businesses and households in getting the energy mix right in integrating that new renewable energy into the grid?
***MATT RENNIE: Well, the big issue for households and business really is around price and reliability, and I think we are sort of past the point now where there is a choice around whether renewables will come into the system or whether coal will leave the system.
I think over the next 20 years, we will certainly see renewables being around 50 per cent of the fuel mix and then the way in which we solve reliability issues is really the question…
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/worldtoday/energy-industry-could-achieve-50-per-cent-renewable-target/11160166
Australia on track to reach 50 per cent renewable energy by 2030
SBS-9 hours ago
Australia to reach 50% renewables by 2030, despite Coalition scare campaign
RenewEconomy-12 hours ago
Australia to achieve 50% renewables by 2030 without government intervention, analysis finds
The Guardian-18 hours ago
RepuTex modelling suggests surge in state schemes and rooftop solar will reduce wholesale prices, making gas- and coal-fired power less competitive
The analysis, to be released on Wednesday, suggests that a surge in renewable energy driven by state schemes and rooftop solar installations will reduce wholesale prices from $85 per MWh to $70 over the next three years…
20
And, pray tell, what was the price 4 years ago?
According to their ABC: “the average Q2 wholesale price ranged between Victoria’s $31KWh and $45/KWh in South Australia”.
30
Oops.
Wrong units.
So what’s the answer?
00
Victoria’s $31KWh should be 3.1cents a KWhr or x1000, $31 a MWhr.
the problem is that to buy electricity at 3.1c kw/hr you have to buy a certificate. Current price around 8c kw/hr (or $80 a Mwhr)
so the cost of buying coal electricity is 11.1c, of which the generator gets only 3.1c. The rest is given as a gift to windmills and solar panel buyers. This is the wholesale price. This illegal markup is then more than doubled before it reaches the public, so everyone is making money and you are paying 30c for something which cost 3c. All thanks to the RET, the Renewable Energy(Electricity) Act 2001, the greatest ripoff in Australian history. And fundamentally illegal.
50
I just read the Guardian
My homeopathic dose of the day !
And discovered this :
The Treasury has been given population policy !
Bugger ! Those bureaucrats
Are the idiots who generated t
The ponzi population scheme
Of the past 10 years..
With 300,000 extra people
Migrating here in some years.
And we now the chaos t
That unleashed in our big cities.
Has Morrison lost the plot already ?
20
FlimFlam was all over theirABC today, with variations of the following, giving his water predictions one more time:
VIDEO: 3min55sec: 29 May: ABC 7.30 Report: Tim Flannery on water shortages
TRANSCRIPT:
LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: …Tim Flannery, how likely are Australian capital cities to end up living permanently under some form of water restrictions?
TIM FLANNERY, CHIEF COUNCILLOR, CLIMATE COUNCIL: Well, look, it depends upon how water is managed.
At the moment what we’re seeing is a widespread use of desalination to provide water but that’s expensive.
So, you know, Perth gets about half of its water from desal. Adelaide gets up half of its water at various times from desal. Melbourne gets water and we’re just about to turn the taps on in the desal plant in Sydney. That will add about $25 to $30 a year cost to water for the average consumer but I guess that’s the cost of using it prolifically.
LEIGH SALES: As you mention, Perth and Adelaide are getting about half of their water from desalination plants. Other than the expense, have there have been any lessons learned from that?
TIM FLANNERY: Look, yeah, it is obviously expensive. There can be environmental consequences.
***So Perth has had to turn off its desal plant occasionally as very salty water has pooled on the coast, causing environmental problems.
So yeah, there are consequences. I think you’re much better off managing your water properly, looking after your climate so you don’t have to bear these costs…
So, you know, last summer was the hottest summer on record for Australia, and we also had the third most severe drought, which we’re still experiencing. So add those two together and you get a lot of demand, you get a lot of stress on water.
LEIGH SALES: You mentioned high temperatures. Given the pressures of climate change, how likely is it that Australia’s dams will ever return to full capacity?
TIM FLANNERY: Well, you know, we have to see. There may be an odd weather event that brings them up to 100 per cent again but by and large, the trend has been for greater evaporation, so less water actually getting into the dams, and less rainfall in southern and eastern Australia…
TIM FLANNERY: Well, Brisbane really has led the way in times past in this and what they’ve done is issued people with their water bills, and in a way that gives them a comparison with their neighbours.
And in that sense, you see how much you’re using relative to people around you and I think that spurs on action.
The other thing that Brisbane has done is build a fantastic water recycling plant, again, a common-sense thing to do but last time I looked, ***that hadn’t been utilised because people weren’t comfortable with drinking recycled water – slightly crazy given if you visit London, that’s what you’re drinking.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-29/tim-flannery-on-water-shortages/11159604
40
Flim Flan is an ignorant or lying idiot.
Adelaide does NOT get 50%
Of it’s water from the desal plant
It has been running at around 10% for the past 6 years
On a ‘maintenance’ program.
Most of Adelaide’s water come from the Murray river
Pumped via huge pipelines
Running from Mannum to Hahndorf
And another to Mt Pleasant
From where the Murray water
Is allowed to flow down to dams on the
Onkaparinga & Torrens rivers.
This bloke used to live in Adelaide for years
Yet he is still a bloody ignoramus
About such basic facts..
Best he stick to studying mammals
At least in that field he has some expertise
60
But if you were a mammal would you trust his track record?
10
Seems weird that you don’t have at least one nice new nuclear power plant in South Australia, don’t you have acres of fuel?
10
“slightly crazy given if you visit London, that’s what you’re drinking.”
displays an interesting mind set doesnt it? I wonder how most of the population who dont get to doddle around the world make of that?
10
***nowhere in the summary is the marine scientist named. at 2min40sec (drum roll) it is, of course, good old Ove Hoegh-Guldberg:
AUDIO: 4min25sec: 29 May: ABC The World Today: Alarm as government reef envoy refuses to name climate change as main threat
By Stephanie Smail on The World Today
***One of the world’s top marine scientists say he’s alarmed that the Federal Government’s new Special Envoy to the Great Barrier Reef has refused to name climate change as the biggest threat to the World Heritage Area.
The veteran far north Queensland Liberal MP Warren Entsch has waged war on single-use plastics in his new role, arguing its time to develop a national policy to stop plastic pollution.
But he’s refusing to name any single biggest threat to the Great Barrier Reef, including climate change, prompting scientists to speak out.
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/worldtoday/new-govt-great-barrier-reef-envoy-focussing-on-plastic-pollution/11160146
30
29 May: ABC AM: Climate wars threatening to reignite
By Tom Iggulden on AM
One potential flashpoint is the proposal for a new coal-fired power plant for North Queensland, where the opposition is desperate to claw back support from voters who abandoned it in droves two Saturdays ago.
AUDIO: Duration: 3min 9sec
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/adelaide/programs/am/climate-wars-threatening-to-reignite/11159026
AUDIO: 29 May: ABC Breakfast: Sydney to get water restrictions for first time in decade
Much of New South Wales has been in drought for two years and the dams that supply Sydney are at their lowest level in 40 years
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/sydney-to-get-water-restrictions-for-first-time-in-decade/11159240
AUDIO: 29 May: ABC Breakfast: WA gas fields new battlefront in climate wars
A new battlefront in the carbon wars is playing out in Western Australia as the state’s Environmental Protection Authority prepares to re-open consultations over emission requirements for resource projects.
Earlier this year, the EPA dumped strict guidelines requiring major projects to fully offset their carbon emissions after coming under pressure from industry and the WA Premier Mark McGowan.
Now, the EPA has told RN Breakfast it had acted, in part, because it lacked confidence in the Commonwealth’s policies to meet Australia’s obligations under the Paris Agreement.
Meanwhile, the industry is once again warning the state against adopting tough emissions measures.
Guest:
Peter Coleman, Woodside
Dr Tom Hatton, Environmental Protection Authority
Mark McGowan, WA Premier
Angus Taylor, Environment Minister
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/wa-gas-fields-a-new-battlefront-in-the-climate-wars/11159294
27 May: ABC: What climate change question do you want answered?
What questions keep you up at night about climate change?
Through Curious Climate, Tasmanian residents can now ask scientists and researchers everything they would like to know…
You might be interested in options for tackling climate change around the world, how quickly things are predicted to change and where the impacts will be felt the most, or how it will affect your own health or income…
We’ll start working on answering some of your questions in July.
The most frequently asked questions will be answered by our research team and will be accessible via a series of online videos and public presentation events around Tasmania in August.
FORM TO FILL IN
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-27/tasmania-curious-climate-change-what-do-you-want-to-know/11090932
How to increase the green spaces in our cities
ABC News-14 hours ago
Australian Government have recently announced new funds to encourage the planting of more trees in urban areas to mitigate the impacts of climate change…
endless nonsense:
29 May: ABC Life: Can fashion labels ever be ethical, or are they pulling the wool over our eyes?
By Siobhan Hegarty
This week, in our pop culture and ethics series It’s Complicated, we’re looking at what we wear, how it’s made and marketed, and why the “cost” of clothing always exceeds its price tag.
Environmental degradation, worker exploitation and cultural appropriation are just a few of the problems posed by the fashion industry. So, we’ve enlisted the help of a fashion lecturer, culture commentator, sustainability expert and a philosopher to help us sleep easier (and feel wiser) about our sartorial choices…
According to Joshua Badge, a lecturer in philosophy at Deakin University, fashion as a form of excellence can promote eudaimonia or “human flourishing”, a concept central to political philosophy…
Clare Press, presenter of the sustainable fashion podcast Wardrobe Crisis: “Pick the thing that really matters to you, for example, animal rights or carbon footprint, and then look for the brands that are doing good work in that particular space,” she says.
“If you talk about something like climate change or social justice, these can be very overwhelming subjects, so I think the secret is to start small.”
https://www.abc.net.au/life/can-fashion-labels-ever-be-ethical/11146532
20
while theirABC frets over the very mention of coal, their climate leader China goes on its merry old soul way:
29 May: Nasdaq: Reuters: China expects to hit 2020 coal cap targets; demand overshadows
China expects to achieve its national coal consumption cap targets in 2020, but the country’s aggressive goals could be tempered due to solid demand from power, steel and petrochemical industries, a government-backed study showed on Wednesday…
Last year, coal consumption in China grew by 34 million tonnes from a year earlier to 3.83 billion tonnes. Beijing has kept a target for coal usage at 4.1 billion tonnes by 2020…
Expanding coal-fired utilities and record-level crude steel output have helped to ratchet up coal consumption, the study showed. The expansion of coal-chemical and petrochemical industry in China are expected to further boost the usage of coal in the country.
By 2018, China installed coal-fired power capacity of 1,144 gigawatts (GW), up 3% from 2017.
Despite continuous capacity reduction, Chinese mills churned out 928 million tonnes of crude steel in 2018 and are expected to produce 900 million-930 million tonnes in 2019 and 2020, which will stoke coal consumption to about ***4.49 billion tonnes of standard coal equivalent, according to the study…
https://www.nasdaq.com/article/china-expects-to-hit-2020-coal-cap-targets-demand-overshadows-20190529-00315
re the “merry old soul” reference:
Wikipedia: In political cartoons and similar material, especially in Great Britain, sometimes Old King “Coal” has been used to symbolize the coal industry.
30
There’ll be some merry old king coal burnin’ down south this week as your Blizzard of May slams into our once-tropical isles with snow from Rakiura to Ruapehu and maybe even as far north as Lake Waikaremoana up towards the East Cape –
https://www.snow-forecast.com/maps/dynamic/nz?over=none&symbols=snow&type=snow.next3to6days
Thanks to that dastardly carbon sumpthink, seasons are perfectly bang-on time (again). Crisis? What crisis!
50
The problem of birds getting chopped up by wind turbines got so bad in some places that there are now companies offering birdie warning system radars.
http://swiss-birdradar.com/home.html
While I don’t begrudge wind turbine operators protecting our feathered friends, it won’t be very long until you have to add bird swarms into the list of excuses as to why the lights are off.
40
And the Greens killing birds and bats by the millions, especially rare raptors are worried about species extinction? Hypocrites, but what’s new?
70
Apparently bats, which are also impacted by wind turbines, eat thousands of mosquitos. Thus if the bat population is decimated, we may have a mosquito problem.
50
The first boat people in five years have arrived, the smugglers believed the polls and a Labor win. Too late to turn back.
30
But they will be sent back I hope
Unless they are Christians from Sri Lanka
We know they are being killed by in hundreds
20
More likely Tamils.
00
ABC thought it was about time to scare wine drinkers again .
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-30/how-climatic-patterns-in-oceans-impact-australian-wines/11161696
30
Vineyard owners that I work with are ecstatic about this year’s vintage which was a return to the long
hotwarm, dry, endless summer of yore… cin cin!20
Mueller’s comments are absolutely reprehensible: Former federal prosecutor.
Harvard Law School Professor Emeritus Alan Dershowitz described Robert Mueller’s Wednesday statement — in which the former FBI director implied that President Donald Trump might have committed obstruction of justice — as a “political gift” for “radicals” among Democrats “seeking to institute impeachment proceedings” against the president.
I’ve mixed articles. The headline is from Cavuto on Fox and the quote from Breitbart. But Mueller has been 100% political. He kept his commission going ’til after the midterms in spite of never having anything to work on.
50
They may be reprehensible by civilized standards; but by democrat party standards, they’re applaudable.
10
Lots of discussions recently in The Oz about Malaysia planing to return maggot-infested recycling rubbish back to Australia. Turns out that Australian councils collect $1.5 billion from us for rubbish disposal but only spend $200 million, with most “recycling” rubbish being sent to Indonesia and Malaysia. I believe that the primary reason for doing this and not properly burning the waste in high-temp incinerators is the green ideologue influence in Europe that wants to ban incineration due to its CO2 emissions. Another unfortunate fallout from the stupid AGW alarmism.
30
This doesn’t surprise me. It doesn’t cost a lot to run a dump but the council charges a king’s ransom to actually use it.
Similar with water. Our council charges for water but limits the amount you can use via restrictions. I’m on a “water savers” rate and use the bore to keep my qtr acre block green. The savings on my rates will pay for the bore. 🙂
20
Lots of discussions recently in The Oz about Malaysia planing to return maggot-infested recycling rubbish back to Australia. Turns out that Australian councils collect $1.5 billion from us for rubbish disposal but only spend $200 million, with most “recycling” rubbish being sent to Indonesia and Malaysia. I believe that the primary reason for doing this and not properly burning the waste in high-temp incinerators is the green ideologue influence in Europe that wants to ban incineration due to its CO2 emissions. Another unfortunate fallout from the stupid AGW alarmism.
50
But Graeme
Surely not the Adelaide Hills Council !
They’ve declared a “climate emergency ” !!
I wonder if actual details of money spent
On Recycling
by the Adelaide Hills
& Mt Barker District Council
Can be found ?
10
Bill,
the figures have been burnt, but rest assured the money has been spent.
I suggested that anaerobic digestion forming methane (fuel for electricity) but no-one seems keen on that.
10
‘Several May temperature records have been broken with a winter blast hitting southern Queensland overnight.
‘Applethorpe, Oakey and Dalby have all had their coldest May mornings on record.
‘The temperature plummeted to -6.1 in Applethorpe, 2.1 degrees below its previous record 13 years ago.
‘Oakey near Toowoomba dropped to -4.4, which was 0.3 of a degree cooler than its previous record in 2006.
‘Dalby on the Western Downs had its coldest morning since 1911, recording -3.6.’
Weatherzone
00
LFTR Infornation!
Been looking at MSR piwer generation! And really wonder if Australia spent the same amount of dollars on LFTR technology research! (Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor)
We’d have close to very cheap base load power for next 100 years!
We need to start openly discussing this new power tech now, to be ready for when it comes online readily available in next 5 to 10 years!
10