Tuesday Open Thread

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265 comments to Tuesday Open Thread

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    A visit from the secret police.

    “There are many famous sayings about the law. The law’s an ass, which is very true when you consider some of the rulings handed down. Another one is an accused person who chooses to represent themselves in court has a fool for a lawyer. The reality was always that if you’re rich and powerful, the law tends to be on your side, no matter what the statute books say. In the Biden regime’s America, it’ll work differently, more along the lines of a rather more infamous saying. Lavrentiy Beria, Stalin’s head of security and all around henchman, reputedly assured his boss – show me the man and I’ll find you the crime. He always did too.”

    Read on at – https://thepointman.wordpress.com/2021/02/08/a-visit-from-the-secret-police/

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      OldOzzie

      You mean like Victorisastan – from Avi Yemini

      A single mum was pulled over on the highway, with her 7-year-old child in the back.
      At first the cop says he pulled her over for speeding. But then he starts asking the mum personal questions.

      Where are you coming from?
      Where are you going to?

      And why?

      That’s not about speeding at all, is it? That’s just the pretext for pulling her over.

      The mum — Anna Stancombe — asks what section of the law gives the cop the power to ask such personal questions. And instead of answering her, he gets aggressive.

      With the frightened child in the back of the car, the officer opens up the car door so he can get right up next to Anna while raising his voice and threatening her with arrest.

      What a shocking bully. Here, see for yourself:

      But it’s all an act. Because when the cop gets back in his car, with his bodycam video still rolling, you can see what this was really about.
      It wasn’t about speeding.

      And it wasn’t about the pandemic.
      It was about collecting nearly $2,000 in fines.

      The cop can hardly wait to boast about it to his dispatcher. He says he gave Anna a “silver medal”. He adds it all up, nearly $2,000 in total, and brags about his bravery, bullying a single mum and her son.

      And the dispatcher immediately replies, “Nice work — thanks mate”.

      “And — this is the icing on the cake — the bodycam footage shows that while that cop speeds away he’s using his iPad with two hands — while he’s driving!”

      So much for “safety” and “public health”!

      But it gets even worse.

      Anna took that cop, Allan Ward, to the Australian Human Rights Commission for his misconduct. And the police settled with her — tantamount to an admission that they abused her rights.

      But despite that bodycam footage of the abusive interaction, and despite settling with her at the Human Rights Commission, the police are still prosecuting her for those charges!

      They still want their $2,000 in fines!

      Well, not if we have anything to say about it. We’re not going to pay Anna’s fines. We’re going to fight Anna’s fines. With our top lawyer, Mani Shishineh. He’s taken a number of our http://www.FightTheFines.com.au cases, and he’s already had some important victories.

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        David Maddison

        The police boasting about such an “achievement” is surely a sign of a police state. Something you always get under a Marxist like Dan Andrews of Vicdanistan.

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          Analitik

          This just shows that not only do individual highway police have quotas to fill but that the department as a whole does. Just another way for Dan to fund the gaping hole in the state’s finances

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          It is surely a sign that this story is BS. Who writes this stuff? Why do they do it?

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            Nadia bin Du Natan

            I can’t make that case Gee Aye. I cannot return a verdict at all. Because I lack your gift of second sight. I am the Deacon Of Doubt.

            Try Science brother. Works for me. Just try science. You won’t die. You might think you are going to die but you won’t. Just try science.

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        beowulf

        Victoria Police want to know what you think about them.

        The Commissioner “looks forward to reading your feedback” in the survey launched today. You Victorians should give him something to choke on.

        https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2021/02/victoria-police-wants-to-know-what-you-think-about-them.html

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          robert rosicka

          Oh dear what could possibly go wrong with this?

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            Greg Cavanagh

            It will highlight people who out the police. Depending on how much text the survey allows, it could be a honeypot to sucker people in, attracting attention to themselves so the police will follow up against those who make such a report.

            Be very suspicious of anything police. They are not on your side.
            Thieves and liars the lot of them.

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              David Maddison

              Along similar lines, merely “liking” a Facebook post in Once Great Britain can earn you a visit from police if a thought crime is deemed to have occurred.

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          Dennis

          Answer carefully, we know where you live.

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            OriginalSteve

            When they pull you over, they are usually looking for you to self incriminate.

            “Do you know why I pulled you over?”

            “No idea, officer…”

            You will usually just get a warning.

            And be careful if you get out of the car to talk to them. Be polite.

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              OriginalSteve

              Ullo ullo ullo…whats going on here then?

              https://nypost.com/2021/02/04/greta-thunberg-faces-probe-in-india-over-farm-protest-tweets/

              “Greta Thunberg sparks criminal conspiracy probe in India with accidental tweet

              “By Lee BrownFebruary 4, 2021 | 8:30am | Updated
              Greta Thunberg faces criminal conspiracy probe in India over farm protest tweets

              “Greta Thunberg accidentally shared a message showing she was getting told what to write on Twitter about the ongoing violent farmers’ revolt in India — sparking a police investigation and a political firestorm, according to reports.

              “The 18-year-old left-wing eco-activist shared — and then quickly deleted — a message that detailed a list of “suggested posts” about the ongoing protests, according to the posts that were saved by Breaking 911.

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          Klem

          It’s a trap!
          – Admiral Ackbar

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        Brenda Spence

        I think it was Queensland.

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        Dennis

        Many years ago I was fined for exceeding the speed limit (60) in the suburbs of Sydney, the police car and officer took a long time to arrive, a motor cycle officer stopped me and ordered me to park in a side street and wait. Coincidently I had a witness driving the vehicle following mine at the time of the alleged infringement who agreed that we both were driving within the speed limit. I was stopped in the next 80 limit section.

        It happened that a police motor cycle officer was related to an employee of the business I managed and he did some checking, and later advised that I had been “bombed”, in other words selected for an infringement notice and fine by an officer driving a car stuck in traffic heading in the opposite direction to my vehicle, and the reason for the delay in arriving to issue the infringement notice to me.

        Unfortunately, noting my experience was during the 1980s, there were/are quotas, probably not officially but imposed by senior officers seeking credit for the performance of the patrol they are supposed to lead.

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        James

        Allowing the police to have encrypted communications in Australia was a big mistake. Everyone should be able to listen to the general duties and traffic patrols talking over the radio doing their job. It keeps them honest!

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      OldOzzie

      How to create a surveillance state

      This policing flows only in one direction. I wouldn’t dare complain about the guy down the block with his big BLM lawn sign, complete with a raised fist. In our current culture, he has the “right” to plant signs like that in his yard. I mind my own business and say a cordial hello when we pass one another. There are homes nearby with pictures lined up outside of all the popular victims — you know, Justice for George Floyd, et al. Nobody says a word against them.

      Yet if I were to put a “Who killed Ashli Babbitt” sign up, I would be persecuted. What the left does is fine. Any other viewpoint will not be tolerated. It’s stunning to realize that most of us had no idea, when we got the fun new phone with a camera, what extraordinary power tech companies and the media would gain over our lives, or how easily half the country could be gaslighted.

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        OldOzzie

        THE WAR ON DISINFORMATION IS A WAR ON DISSENT

        The terms “misinformation” and “disinformation” have dominated the political lexicon in recent years. Whereas misinformation merely refers to inaccurate or misleading information, the label of disinformation implies an intent to deceive. Both have served as the source of much consternation and hand-wringing from media figures and politicians alike, with countless articles, press segments, academic papers, and political speeches devoted to solving the problem posed by intentionally false or misleading information and “fake news.” For its part, the Biden administration has characterized disinformation as a “threat to our democracy,” going as far as to lay out a road map for how to combat it.

        Misinformation and disinformation are natural consequences of our public institutions’ inconsistency and incompetence.

        While our inability as a society to agree on basic facts is certainly a problem, what should be self-evident is that misinformation and disinformation naturally abound when there is very little trust in sense-making institutions. If the information sources that are deemed “authoritative” are so often wrong or misleading, and inspire little public confidence, is it any wonder that people turn to alternatives? Misinformation and disinformation are natural consequences of our public institutions’ inconsistency and incompetence.

        Furthermore, the escalating war on misinformation and disinformation seems to be less concerned with actually trying to establish authoritative sources of truth as it is with marginalizing facts or narratives that don’t suit the establishment agenda. The labels “misinformation” and “disinformation” are liberally and inconsistently applied to silence dissent and promote certain political interests.

        The war on misinformation and disinformation is more about controlling the political narrative than it is about establishing a consensus on basic facts; narratives that threaten the establishment are banned, and the tyrannical expansion of government power ensues.

        – WHY INSTITUTIONS AREN’T TRUSTED
        – THE HYPOCRISY OF MISINFORMATION/DISINFORMATION
        – REPRESSION TO COMBAT DISINFORMATION

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        Kalm Keith

        Describes the modern illness very well: the link is good too.

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  • #
    Nadia bin Du Natan

    The deception continues with alleged-Biden being pictured in an oval office where the grounds outside the windows don’t look like they are supposed to. Its difficult to tell whether this is some sort of expanded Q-Anon hopium sale. Like ho ho, its all under control. Someone else is coming to the rescue. Don’t worry about paying off that debt or growing some of your own food, because the bad guys are just about to be stomped.

    Whether the outdoors images are real, and alleged-Biden is on a Culver city movie set, or whether these guys are just blowing more smoke in our faces, I have no idea. But it is time for conservatives, who now believe in conspiracies, to start thinking how these people never seem to miss an opportunity to gas light.

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      Peter C

      I am not sure what your purpose is Nadia bin Du Natan. It seems to me that your thoughts are confused.

      Whether the outdoors images are real, and alleged-Biden is on a Culver city movie set, or whether these guys are just blowing more smoke in our faces, I have no idea. But it is time for conservatives, who now believe in conspiracies, to start thinking how these people never seem to miss an opportunity to gas light.

      If you have ‘no idea’ whether Biden was on a Culver City movie set or not then it does not follow that someone is gaslighting. If someone is gaslighting, is it the guy who made the movie set claim or the person who tried to refute it. I watched both and I could not decide. So I don’t know if there is a deception or not.

      What evidence do you have that conservatives believe in conspiracy theories?

      https://welovetrump.com/2021/01/21/castle-rock-new-theory-says-biden-is-on-movie-set-not-in-white-house/
      https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-oval-office-not-movie-set-idUSKBN29V2JZ

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      • #

        I think he is drinking the Qool aid

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        Nadia bin Du Natan

        Try and think clearly Peter. Obviously it has absolutely nothing to do with the person who points it out , when the grounds outside the White House are not what they ought to be. That is what used to be known as a FACT. The point of my post is that these facts always mean it’s not business as usual. This follows directly. Every time.

        But one ought not simply run with the story that they are trying to feed us. Because simple gas lighting is helpful to the troglodyte cause.

        So for example if Obama turns in really poor fake identification, when he could knock out the you beaut fakery, clearly that is a case of pure gas lighting. It cannot be judged as “nothing to see here.” I pass this knowledge on to help those conservatives who have been asleep for 20 years.

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          Kalm Keith

          Hello Nadia, any “miscommunication” here may result from the use of concepts, like the O’Bama one, which are probably well known in the USA but not in Australia.

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      Nadia bin Du Natan

      Now we see the total dimness of Gee Aye. The man whom logic forgot.

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        Kalm Keith

        Nadia, most of your posts are coherent and flowing and interesting reads.

        But some, are just flowing.

        No apparent point, just nice flowing sentences.

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          Serp

          Nadia bin Du Natan is definitely a bot; I wasn’t taken in by the factitious mistyping outburst last week.

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            Nadia bin Du Natan

            “Nadia bin Du Natan is definitely a bot; I wasn’t taken in by the factitious mistyping outburst last week.”

            Would that be a RUSSIAN bot Serp? Or an Iranian bot.

            You be suffering from a case of Russians under the bed. Bloody Russians hey? Bloody Russians sneaking in and scratching all your vinyl records, and compromising your heretofore faithful dogs affections against you. There is just no end to what these cunning Russians are capable of.

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          Nadia bin Du Natan

          Nadia, most of your posts are coherent and flowing and interesting reads.

          But some, are just flowing.

          No apparent point, just nice flowing sentences.

          Thank you.

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        The person who remained sceptical you mean. Maybe fact check before exposing your own lux

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          Great Aunt Janet

          I missed your comments about the Times mag article. Did any of that raise your brows at all Mr Aye?

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          Nadia bin Du Natan

          No the person who logic forgot. If the mainstream media has portrayed the outdoors of the White House as something other than the outdoors of the White House then to ignore that data is illogical. It doesn’t mean that alleged-Biden is not in the White House. But what it does mean is its not business as usual. It turns out that if you want to train people to ignore criminal shenanigans, one good tactic is to submerge them in an environment of constant gas lighting. As we have seen, and this is irrefutable, these people were able to stage a coup where only a minority of people recognise it as a coup. They didn’t get everyone trained up for this over night. This kind of control is decades in the making.

          Not long ago people came up with some footage which, were it not faked would show very clearly that Lady Gaga was male. Now I don’t think that Lady Gaga is male. I am just aware of the gas lighting that we are being subject too. Too gaslight us by making a boy the most popular female recording artist in the world is a much bigger project then making one deceptive concert video. But the point is its irrational and illogical to maintain that there is nothing to see here. And that ignoring the data is just being skeptical. They have you house trained Gee Aye, if you already have a pattern of thought that makes you feel that ignoring data makes you skeptical. It makes you stupid is what it makes you. You have been house trained very well. And I think the left particularly has been fantastically well house-trained in this sense. But conservatives aren’t out of the woods in this department. How many of them still ignore the impossibility of two planes destroying three (actually six) buildings?

          So gas lighting is one of their control mechanisms. Another one is forcing people within various institutions, to believe things that cannot possibly be true. That is one of the biggest control measures the powerful elites have.

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            Klem

            Nadia, I think what most readers are saying here is that it’s hard to understand the points you are attempting to convey.

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            • #

              leave him alone. He has been convinced of something (as you say, it is unclear what) by some poorly made image processing he saw on the internet and he is sticking to it.

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      OldOzzie

      Biden gets flirty with nurse running vaccine site: ‘You look like a freshman!’

      Maybe it’s a good thing he was 2,000 miles away.

      President Biden had an awkward, flirty moment Monday during a video conference event with health care workers in Arizona, during which he stopped to compliment one nurse for her youthful appearance — even gushing that she looks “like a freshman.”

      Biden got up to some of his “creepy” old antics when he responded to the nursing supervisor’s detailed description of giving COVID-19 shots by asking her about her age.

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      OldOzzie

      Joe Biden’s latest foreign-policy joke

      By Post Editorial Board

      Barely a month into his presidency and Joe Biden’s foreign policy already looks like a joke.

      On Sunday, 48 hours after removing Yemen’s Houthi rebels from a State Department terrorist blacklist and ordering an end to US support for the Saudi-led military effort against the Houthis, the Biden administration turned around and asked the Iran-backed group to stop committing acts of terrorism on civilians and cease military operations.

      The State Department considers it a master plan to end the war. It got the Saudis to endorse the idea of a negotiated settlement, then called on the Houthis to stop inflicting suffering — which would indeed be a big step.

      But there’s no hint of any penalty if they don’t (maybe put them back on the blacklist?) — and they surely now think they’re closer than ever to winning. After all, Biden won’t return to backing the Saudis.

      It’s beyond naive.

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        Nadia bin Du Natan

        “On Sunday, 48 hours after removing Yemen’s Houthi rebels from a State Department terrorist blacklist and ordering an end to US support for the Saudi-led military effort against the Houthis, the Biden administration turned around and asked the Iran-backed group to stop committing acts of terrorism on civilians and cease military operations.”

        I don’t see the logic of the tone of opprobrium here. When Nelson Mandela was asked what he would do about some group of recalcitrant Boers his answer was “We can start by talking to them.” Nothing wrong with talking. Of course alleged-Biden is a criminal usurper, but putting that aside, there is no diplomatic faux pas, with making it clear that you don’t approve of the horrific abuse of the Yemenis. Like it or not the Saudis are thought to be Americas allies, and have (on the official level) been so since Roosevelt. Usually you don’t start talking to allies by making a lot of well-defined threats all at once. On the other side of the balance sheet, the antipathy that the Americans have for the Iranians, at this stage of the game, is a media created bugbear. Same story with the Russians. Since most major terrorist attacks are false flags the State Department request towards the Iranian allies could be the State Department doubling down on fake claims. But I’m not in the position to judge that one except in terms of setting what the bias ought to be because false flags are the general case.

        Americas incredible cruelty towards Iran isn’t in the interests of Americans. Reagan was in favour of rebuilding the relationship between America and Iran after the Iran/Iraq war, but he was swamped by all his “advisors” (minders?). The nastiness towards Iran is a smoke from another fire.

        I see Obama’s agreement with Iran as maybe the only worthy thing he did in 8 years. So alleged-Biden may seek to restore that agreement. And rightly so if it means easing up on the mindless anti-humanitarian punishment of the Iranian people.

        Not long ago Obama was on a famous comedians television program. And he may have let out some aspect of what is really going on in the post-coup administration. Lets just say that Obama may be a very big wheel in post-coup America. He may be quite literally “The man who walks behind the man. The man who whispers in his ear” (Millers Crossing.)

        Almost everything else the alleged-Biden administration is doing is a catastrophe. But they claim to be souping up the governmental spending side of pro-Manufacturing policy. So that looks like a good initiative. I wanted to give the bad guys all the credit I could possibly find for them. So now I’m tapped out. Because the colour revolution in the United States, is at least as much of a disaster for us, as it was for the Ukrainians, when the Bolsheviks took control of Russia.

        Particularly ending the disgusting and almost inexplicable treatment of the people of Yemen; if the post-Coup administration can pull it off, may be a kind of quest for faux-legitimacy. As well as a way of further demonising Trump, when so much of Trumps foreign policy appeared to be out of his hands.

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      OldOzzie

      The Betrayal of the American People by Biden and the Ruling Oligarchy

      The Biden Administration is willfully and permanently undermining the economy and the future well-being of the citizenry as well as trampling on the Constitution with an unprecedented avalanche of executive orders, proposed legislation and untenable regulations. The current leader of the United States, safe in his plush bunker, is without a clue as he and his confederates in the ruling oligarchy are more interested in consolidating power and enriching themselves than they are in the long-term welfare of the nation and its citizenry.

      In their mad and childish dash to purge the nation of all things associated with Donald Trump, this cabal is deliberately being oblivious to the fact that there is but one major responsibility of the leaders of a Constitutional Republic. That is to be certain their country is capable, in the both the short and long-term, of successfully weathering a worst-case scenario such as global war, a massive economic downturn, or a catastrophic natural disaster.

      Those currently entrenched in the ruling oligarchy are pursuing policies that will leave no margin for error in the event of an apocalyptic natural or man-made disaster. As their fixation on climate change, purported systemic racism, unfettered immigration and the pursuit of fictitious and unattainable societal equity will permanently damage the economy and destroy any meaningful growth in the standard of living of the nearly all Americans.

      The Chinese Communists can now deal with an American administration filled with compromised Sinophiles who, in order to protect their personal interests, have signaled to China, that they will be more accommodating and will restore this nation’s dependence on the emerging Chinese manufacturing monopoly. China, thus, will be emboldened to flex their economic and military power throughout the globe as they are more determined than ever to dominate a world nearly brought to its knees by the coronavirus. In order to do so they will, in due course, initiate an inevitable military confrontation with the United States. Will this country be able to afford a dominant military and have the manufacturing capability necessary to deal with a belligerent China?

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      OldOzzie

      THE BIDEN FAMILY BUSINESS

      Now, Hunter Biden has written a book about his addiction. Joe Biden is touting the work. Yesterday, he told CBS:

      The honesty with which he stepped forward and talked about the problem. And the hope that, it gave me hope reading it. My boy’s back. I’m sorry to get so personal.

      The last sentence is a lie. Biden went on television precisely to get personal (and to promote his son’s book). This was a publicity stunt.

      Miranda Devine at the New York Post wasn’t taken in. Of the Joe Biden interview, she writes:

      This is a practiced move by Biden to use sympathy as a shield to protect his family’s corrupt business dealings in foreign countries.

      He cunningly has framed the narrative so that anyone who dares poke into Hunter’s business is crucifying a heroic recovered addict who already has suffered enough.

      Biden probably has suffered over the years watching his son descend into addiction, but his campaign knew Hunter was a liability, so they strategically prevented the dirty family business from becoming a campaign issue by turning scrutiny of Hunter into a no-go zone.

      Team Biden could only have accomplished this with the complicity of the mainstream media and Big Tech. Biden’s team could take the former’s complicity for granted. Apparently, it had to work a little to ensure the latter’s.

      Devine says:

      Big Tech censorship [of the Biden-China], we now discover, thanks to an extraordinary exposé by Time, was part of the “conspiracy to save the 2020 election . . . a well-funded cabal of powerful people, ranging across industries and ideologies, working together behind the scenes to influence perceptions, change rules and laws, steer media coverage and control the flow of information. They were not rigging the election; they were fortifying it.”

      Vanita Gupta, Biden’s nominee for the number three job at the Department of Justice, played a central role, or claims to have done.

      Civil-rights attorney Vanita Gupta told Time, “It took pushing, urging, conversations, brainstorming, all of that to get to a place where we ended up with more rigorous rules and enforcement.”

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      OldOzzie

      Biden’s Early Returns Aren’t Getting Any Better – Most Americans Expect It Will Get Worse

      President Biden has 36 executive orders under his belt, so Americans have had a quick glimpse into what’s in store for the next four years. However, even without a full understanding of how these policy changes will roll out, American adults’ mood does not seem all that rosy.

      Biden has yet to break into positive territory on the Daily Presidential Tracking Poll by Rasmussen Reports. Today it stands at a net -5, and it has dipped as low as -7 since his inauguration. These scores are astonishing given all of the nearly reverent coverage the administration and Biden family are getting from the corporate media. Biden had an interview before the Super Bowl and during halftime. White House press briefings have been no more challenging than the Super Bowl puff pieces.

      Despite the fawning press, late-night show hosts, and cultural elites, Americans do not seem to be convinced. In a new poll, 54% of American adults think the economy will worsen over the next 12 months or remain the same. Only 37% believe it will get stronger. Following President Trump’s inauguration, 50% reported thinking the economy would be better in a year, which was the highest number recorded by Rasmussen since they started asking the question in 2009. Americans were correct four years ago. We can all hope they are wrong now.

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    David Wojick

    CLINTEL endorses climate adaptation, saying emission cutting mitigation is stupid (my latest article):

    https://www.cfact.org/2021/02/06/climate-adaptation-summit-turns-out-to-be-a-fundraising-event/

    Of course at the UN it is just about their getting more money.

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      OldOzzie

      Not much different to our “Woke Banks”

      ANZ gives key port the coal shoulder

      ANZ has abandoned the world’s largest coal export port at Newcastle after refusing to keep funding the mega-facility under its new climate change policy that all but bans loans to the coal sector.

      The resources industry is viewing the bank’s move to ditch the major economic hub north of Sydney as a test case of the new anti-coal and net zero emissions policies of the big four banks.

      It has also triggered a strategic contest between the major lenders over the future of the coal industry, with the NSW Hunter Valley economy relying heavily on jobs in coal mines and at the Port of Newcastle.

      Rival lender National Australia Bank, which has also adopted an aggressive climate change strategy, will now step in to help underwrite the port, which contributes $1.5bn to GDP and supports 9000 jobs, on the promise of a transition program to “diversified” and sustainable operations.

      The ramping up of corporate lending threats against high emissions industries comes as the Morrison government is set to consider exempting trade exposed sectors from its net zero emissions goals.

      Although the port could have gone to its Chinese backers — which co-own the facility — sources said this might have triggered national security concerns around the ownership of critical infrastructure. The Port of Newcastle on Monday warned that without “competitive funding” to support its diversification plans, the resilience of the Hunter Valley economy would be damaged.

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    RicDre

    And so it begins: UK Government mulls emergency measures that would enable networks to switch off your electricity without warning or compensation

    A series of ‘modifications’ to the Smart Energy Code have been proposed by officials and look set to pass into law by next spring.

    These include giving networks the right to decide when they consider the grid to be in a state of ’emergency’ and the power to switch off high usage electrical devices such as electric vehicle chargers and central heating systems in British homes.

    Under the plans all homes would need to have a third generation smart meter installed, to include a function that allows meters in the home to receive and carry out orders made by the energy networks.

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/02/08/and-so-it-begins-uk-government-mulls-emergency-measures-that-would-enable-networks-to-switch-off-your-electricity-without-warning-or-compensation/

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      David Wojick

      Another “emergency” trick. Activists want Biden to declare a climate emergency, to give him emergency powers. Not a symbolic emergency, a totalitarian one.

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        OldOzzie

        David you mean like Dictator Dan in VictoriaStan?

        Coronavirus Victoria: Dan Andrews to introduce bill to extend state of emergency

        NCA NEWSWIRE
        4:17PM FEBRUARY 2, 2021

        The Victorian Opposition has come out swinging as they attempt to thwart Daniel Andrews’ plan to extend the state of emergency until the end of the year.

        Mr Andrews confirmed on Tuesday the government would introduce a bill into parliament to extend Victoria’s state of emergency past its maximum legislated period of 12 months.

        Leader of the Opposition in the Upper House, David Davis, labelled it “another grab for power” by the Premier.

        “Daniel Andrews, he is drunk on power,” Mr Davis said on Tuesday afternoon.

        “He is determined to take huge power to himself and his government and I say with that power comes enormous responsibility.”

        The Premier declared a state of emergency in Victoria on March 16, 2020 in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

        It has been extended in four-week periods since that date, but the government will need to pass new laws in order to extend it for longer than 12 months.

        The bill will attempt to extend the state of emergency until December 15 this year.

        The state of emergency allows the chief health officer to legally introduce directions to help stop the spread of coronavirus, such as mask wearing and stay-at-home restrictions.

        But Mr Davis said the Opposition would oppose the bill as they believed a nine-month extension was too long.

        “That is a grab for power – month-to-month or three monthly extensions are much more justified and they should be accompanied by the full release of information on each of the orders that are made under those provisions through that period,” he said.

        “The house has repeatedly sought documents from the government relating to each and every one of its health orders.

        “The Premier has always said he is relying on health advice, well, none of us have ever seen that health advice because he won’t release it.

        “Victorians are entitled to see that information, it’s their life that is being altered, it’s their lives that are being restricted, and it’s their movement that’s being impeded.

        “If your business has been closed, if your lifestyle has been restricted, it may be for good reason but the onus falls on government to show that reason and prove the reason, to show the information and the scientific material on which that’s based.”

        Under a state of emergency, authorised officers, at the direction of the chief health officer, can act to eliminate or reduce a serious risk to public health by detaining people, restricting movement, preventing entry to premises, or providing any other direction an authorised officer considers reasonable to protect public health.

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          Ian1946

          What are the Victorian opposition doing? They should be exposing the Andrews government every time the parliament is in session. They are allowing the abuse of citizens, and an out of control police force.

          Or are my worst fears confirmed that the majority of the are LIno’s and secretly support the ALP and their despotic rule.

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    • #
      RooDog

      So they UK Govt. considers this move while at the same time claiming that green energy is better, cheaper and reliable.

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      • #
        David Wojick

        Yes and the UK Government will not supply a cost estimate, much less a cost benefit estimate. According to the greens these are “inappropriate”. Our very future is at risk, they claim, making total totalitarianism justified. These people are truly dangerous.

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    • #
      Jojodogfacedboy

      You can direct power your house by unscrew the clasp and yanking off that meter. Then run a heavier wire past where the meter was. Plastic wrapped wires means you don’t need rubber gloves if you don’t have any. Bare wire you do. Island key would come in handy too.
      No need to freeze to death.

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    • #
      Ted1

      That has been built into our system for a very long time, quite sophisticated, too. So what is new in this?

      I have never read the small print in our supply contract, but there have been days when it appeared that the water didn’t heat or the floor didn’t heat overnight.

      It’s for sure and certain that if they start plugging cars in they will have to regulate the demand.

      It is also for sure and certain that if battery powered cars come into wide usage batteries will be swapped. i.e. The number of batteries will be greater than the number of cars to enable simultaneous charging and usage.

      Subject to the cost of the batteries. Swapping would be no more difficult than changing the batteries in a camera.

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      • #
        Chad

        Ted1
        February 9, 2021 at 9:40 am · Reply
        That has been built into our system for a very long time, quite sophisticated, too. So what is new in this?
        …………….
        It’s for sure and certain that if they start plugging cars in they will have to regulate the demand.

        It is also for sure and certain that if battery powered cars come into wide usage batteries will be swapped. i.e. The number of batteries will be greater than the number of cars to enable simultaneous charging and usage.

        Subject to the cost of the batteries. Swapping would be no more difficult than changing the batteries in a camera.

        Ted,
        Accepting that EVs will slowly infiltrate the car (and commercial) transport system,…but being realistic , it will be a very long time ,..(20+yrs), ..before they even get to 30-40% of the total, ..the extra supply capacity required will be minimal ..+10% at most !
        Any disruption to supply is more likely to be from intermittent RE generation than increased demand, but eventually i expect reality will force a move to more dispatchable generation (Nuke ?)
        Battery swapping on EVs has been attempted several times already (Tesla, Renault, +others),. And has been abandoned for numerous obvious reasons..
        Over the likely 20yr timescale , both generation and Battery technology will evolve and change significantly, 15 min EV recharge times are possible already, and 5 min charge times are proposed for the near future.

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        • #
          bobl

          This is where you are wrong battery and Solar tech are ready near their theoretical physical limits. All you have is blind faith – and it shows. I and Jo’s other half are EEs, what you regard on faith is science to us …. No batteries will not get significantly better. We are limited by the number of valence electron on an atom of certain weight, the limit is effectively 4.

          Aluminium air batteries are the probable theoretical best but the energy/mass equation is still similar as for lithium.

          Storing energy is easy but storing electricity is hard, and generally inefficient. After generation and delivery losses the energy to the wheels of an EV is just 14 – 16% of the energy in the carbon fuel source. Compared to modern diesel engines EV’s cause the emission of almost three times the CO2 and cost almost twice as much to run.

          The problem is your BLIND faith. Your reliance on faith rather than Maths and science.

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          • #
            Chad

            Bob, .
            Of course i do not think solar or wind are going to be the future, just as i do believe EVs are inevitable to replace “some” of the current ICE transport fleet,…but never all of it.
            you are blinkered by your own knowledge base..
            Your vision of a “Battery” seems to be limited to current concepts with no imagination of what may be coming down the pipe.
            Do yopu not even accept that current technologies, ..Lithium, Aluminium, silicon, Zinc, etc will become better ?, more energy dense ?, cheaper, ? Etc.. after all they are already suitable enough for many situations and sell millions of EVs each year., so any improvement will boost sales !
            The main thing limiting their uptake is purchace price,..due to battery costs
            We went through these efficiency comparisons last week i believe,..
            The energy efficiency of an EV ..”Tank to Road” .. (Battery to Wheel)… is 70+ %
            Much higher than any ICE..
            …..and so what if the “Carbon Footprint”. Is bigger or smaller ?…since when did you change your mind on that subject ??
            Cost to run ?? How do you figure ?
            The only significant cost to EV ownership is the Depreciation on its initial purchace price.
            ..Fuel (kWhs) wont cost as much as Diesel,
            Servicing is likely similar,
            other running costs, are also unlikely to be different to a similar sized ICE.
            I dont own an EV, and certainly wont until they are cost comparable with ICE’s
            ….and i like the economy of my Diesel,.
            I also dont have blind faith in anything (beyond a certain death !), but at least i do realise that EV’s , (BEV’s, PHEV’s, Hybrids, and even Fuel cell EV’s) .. are here already and are going to get more common. ..
            its a natural evolution of transport.

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            • #
              Chad

              And Bob,….
              remember John Goodenough, inventor of the original lithium battery, ?
              He has a buyer and a plan to commercialize his new batteries..

              https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/03/0 … s_battery/
              That is 1000Wh/kg..or practically 4 times current best practice !

              And if you really want to consider future possibilities…..
              https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/self-charging-thousand-year-battery-startup-ndb-aces-key-tests-and-lands-first-beta-customers/ar-BB18mrO3

              . Their goal is to ultimately commercialize a version of their battery that can self-charge for up to a maximum lifespan of 28,000 years, created from artificial diamond-encased carbon-14 nuclear waste.
              This battery only requires access to open air to work. And while they’re technically batteries, because they contain a charge which will eventually be expended, they provide their own charge for much longer than the lifetime of any specific device or individual user, making them effectively a charge-free solution.
              NDB ultimately hopes to turn their battery into a viable source of power for just about anything that consumes it — including aircraft, EVs, trains and more, . The company is currently now at work creating a prototype of its first commercial battery in order to make that available sometime later this year.

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              • #
                Graeme#4

                Char, even if a new battery is four times better, surely that’s still around 10 times less energy density than fossil fuels? It appears to me that batteries have a long, long way to go before they can match the performance of fossil fuels.

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                Chad

                G4..
                What “performance” metric are you refering to ?
                EG:-..EVs already dominate in the classic quarter mile performance .
                A 4x increase in energy density would give the typical current 400+km range EV, a 1600+ km range !
                ….Or much less weight, resulting in even more “performance” !
                An ICE averaging 10 L/100k is using over 1kWh per km.
                ( 1litre of petrol contains 13 kWh energy equivalent.)
                So yes a 60 litre tank will contain much more energy (700+ kW ) than even a enhanced 400kWh battery ..BUT
                ……a typical EV will only use 0.250 kWh per km ( Battery consumption), and hence travel that 1600km on one charge.
                So what “ performance” measure are you gauging them on ?

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              • #
                Hanrahan

                A bigger battery just means longer charge times.

                A 3 phase, 24A power outlet [very rare maybe nonexistent in Qld] will charge a Tesla 3 at a rate of 75 km/h ergo 12 hrs to charge for 1,000 km travel with your new big battery. It would take 60 hrs charging from a 10 A wall socket at home. The car is not available while charging.

                Let’s take a real life trip I’ve done to visit my SIL and she does regularly to visit her family here. Figures from a Tesla site. The trip is 507 km on the map. To do it in the longest range EV available I would need to park it in the garage for 2 days to charge it. I could not do the trip in one leg, at highway speed and without aircon. Couldn’t even open the windows or drag would cost distance. So I drive 120K to the only major town on the way, top up overnight and take off next day. I barely get to my destination having driven at 110 or above. I then have to park in SIL’s garage and charge the car for two days. Notice that I would need to borrow Pete’s car or hire one for this time. I would again have to stop on the way home and park the car for a day before I have enough charge to use it again once home.

                In my ICE it is a five hour trip, I leave after breakfast and arrive gentleman’s hours in the afternoon. Add half an hour for a comfort stop at Belyando Crossing. It’s an easy trip in a used Corolla even, at a fraction of the cost. Note: Belyando Crossing uses a diesel generator so would not welcome EVs charging. Another note: No one advertises EV charging in Charters Towers so this trip may be impossible. The Qld Gov site does not show any charge stations off Highway 1.

                https://teslike.com/

                https://www.tesla.com/en_AU/support/home-charging-installation/wall-connector?redirect=no

                What EV do you drive Chad?

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              bobl

              Tank to road is not a fair comparison the only way is to compare the thermal efficiency between the fuel source Diesel/Coal and the wheels.

              Also in terms of cost my 1.6 Turbo diesel gets about 1000km out of $60 of fuel. That’s about 3 refills of a 100kWh EV, taking your round trip efficiency of 70% that’s 100/.7=142kWh or at 30c per kW Hour about $127 to go the same distance. Taking into account the higher Capex EVs are a poor competitor to my diesel. Not only that I can tow a 1.5 Tonne load in my diesel.

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              • #
                robert rosicka

                Take an EV on the Canning Stock route or from Myrtleford to Wonnangatta loaded up with gear and see how far you get .
                Most of Australia is classed as remote or extremely remote , I have no doubt one day way off in the never never our cars may run on something other than fossil fuel and hell might even fly but it won’t be for a very very long time .
                The tech has to come first .

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                Chad

                bobl
                February 9, 2021 at 7:41 pm · Reply
                Tank to road is not a fair comparison the only way is to compare the thermal efficiency between the fuel source Diesel/Coal and the wheels.

                NO bob !.. a fair comparison would need to include the OIL Well and refinery energy also !

                Also in terms of cost my 1.6 Turbo diesel gets about 1000km out of $60 of fuel. That’s about 3 refills of a 100kWh EV, taking your round trip efficiency of 70% that’s 100/.7=142kWh or at 30c per kW Hour about $127 to go the same distance. …..l

                You need a better data source….
                And better analytical maths also ..
                A 82kWh M3 Tesla has an EPA verified range of 568kms ..(and that includes all those efficiency & drive line losses )
                So for your 1000kn trip that EV would use 145 kWh Total, or $44 at your 30c electricity cost !
                But yes,..you would need a 30 min charge midway.
                The 64 kWh KonaEV also has a 450+ km range verified in reviews, so again, similar 140kWh energy use for 1000km trip !

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              • #
                Dennis

                Battery range. We all know fun is only fun if it isn’t over too quickly…

                The claimed range based on NEDC standard testing for this spec of Model 3 is 560 kilometres – that’s 100km more than the entry-grade car because this model has a bigger battery pack. According to the Green Vehicle Guide, it will use an average of 20.7kWh/100km.

                So what sort of range have we seen on test? Well based on my driving – which included some, ahem, rigorous testing of the acceleration and a few jaunts up and down a hilly, twisty section (and more than 150km of highway driving), I calculated a real-world range of 387 kilometres based on covering 309km and using 56kWh to do so.

                You can use the brand’s Supercharger network, at a cost of $0.42 per kWh. (image: Matt Campbell)You can use the brand’s Supercharger network, at a cost of $0.42 per kWh. (image: Matt Campbell)

                Charging is dependent on your circumstance. Most people will get a home charger installed, and you can choose between different outputs (single phase, three phase) which will change the rate of charge. If you’re going to buy a Tesla, be sure to speak to the company about your options to recharge it at home.

                You can use the brand’s Supercharger network, at a cost of $0.42 per kWh (about $25 and a bit over an hour from empty to full – or about a quarter of tank of 98RON premium unleaded in a similarly sized luxury performance car).

                Cars Guide 2020

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                Chad

                Dennis
                February 10, 2021 at 9:52 am…
                ? Well based on my driving – which included some, ahem, rigorous testing of the acceleration and a few jaunts up and down a hilly, twisty section (and more than 150km of highway driving), I calculated a real-world range of 387 kilometres based on covering 309km and using 56kWh to do so.

                Dennis, you know the old saying about opinions being like ar5h0les ..?
                Well, you picked a good one to get that opinion from.
                In summary “Cars Guide , are a bunch of D1k heads !
                This is demonstrated here by both including performance tests with “a few jaunts” hill climbing , then using the data to give a typical “Range” assesment….
                …….and then to properly cap it they fail in their maths calc..
                Using 56 kWh over 309 kms, would give a “Real world” range of 452 km from the Teslas 82 kWh (useable) capacity !
                You should follow “OldOzzie” advice and check out John Codogan“s reviews…he is a much more independent reviewer who hates Tesla, loves ICE’s ..but also realises that EV’s are a happening thing.
                He talk’s common sense ( at least about cars….even if he is a CAGW “Alarmist though !)

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              OldOzzie

              Chad,

              you would probably appreciate this article by Auto Expert John Cadogan particularly his assessment at the end of the article.

              12 things I’ve learned after driving an electric car 9000km

              I’ve clocked 9000kms in the Hyundai Kona Electric, despite a pandemic and wearing pyjamas 24/7. Here’s what I’ve learned about using an EV as primary transport…

              I’ve learned not to worry about range or recharging – especially if you have off-street parking. Like, I know last year was fairly unique in terms of personal mobility. But still, it’s rare for me to drive more than 430 kays in a day, and that’s what the Kona EV delivers, fully charged. The onboard range estimation algorithm is dead accurate, too, so I know you can trust it.

              I got a single-phase 32-amp charger installed. It’s weather-proof, and it’ll re-charge the Kona at its maximum 7.7kW AC recharging rating in about eight or nine hours – so even if you come home dead flat, you just sleep on it, and you’re fully charged again in the morning, using the cheapest electricity.

              A three-phase charger – three-phase power – would not be an asset in this situation. And even without a solar array on the roof this is a dirt-cheap vehicle to run. At – let’s ballpark it – 26 cents per kilowatt-hour, a full charge costs about $17. So it’s about $3.70 for 100 kays of mobility, versus (ballpark) $12 for internal combustion.

              So – provided you’ve got off-street parking and you live in a city – operating an EV is mainly super-convenient. It’s just one more thing to remember to recharge, right? Like phone, laptop, tablet, camera, car – check.

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        Yarpos

        And tomorrow we will have stories from Adventureland

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        Dennis

        Rapid or fast charging only provides about 80 per cent of battery capacity, to reach 100 per cent requires hours longer than the 40 minutes average.

        And note that 10 per cent cannot be used because the EV battery management system stops complete discharge. So travelling an EV driver can only rely on a theoretical 70 percent of energy available.

        Then deduct variable energy losses, air conditioning/heating system, other accessories, average speed, how many hills, loading – number of people and luggage aboard, headwinds on highways, etc. I have read that 30 per cent deduction from 100 per cent full charge is required for peace of mind, same from 80 per cent. Range limitations apply and for the most expensive and therefore best theoretical range EV the safe distance is well below an equivalent ICEV.

        And then consider the difference in retail price, that’s a lot of liquid fuel and vehicle services to achieve break even for an EV owner.

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        • #
          Chad

          Dennis,
          How often do you run your petrol/Diesel tank Dry ?? .. Never i guess !
          You do realise the A/c , heated seats, speed, hills , number of passengers , etc etc…all affect the performance and fuel consumption of an ICE also ??
          So what is the point here ?
          That last 10% the BMS limits use of is often not included in the “useable capacity” of an EV.
          So if you had an GolfE with a nameplate 50kWh , you may well find it is infact a 55kWh capacity pack ! That is common with many EV makers who are suitably vague with hard details of the specifications.

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          • #
            Analitik

            I regularly run my diesel down to the ‘E’ symbol of my fuel gauge but that’s not the point.

            A petrol/diesel/LPG tank CAN be run down to any level before refuelling and the refuel can be any level (between current and full, of course) and at pretty much any rate (see the hi-flow pumps for diesels) with no effect on lifespan of the fuel system.

            Contrast this with the care needed for charge and discharge levels and charge rates needed to prevent early deterioration of the battery packs in EVs (yes, they have battery management systems to prevent some abuse but it can still happen).

            bobl is totally correct in his earlier replies to you on the limits of battery technology – lithium ion batteries advanced rapidly like any new successful technology but the hard limits were reached close to a decade ago and now performance traits must be traded off against each other when formulating new chemistries for a “new” cell.

            And the other examples you give of potential new technologies are for lab experiments that almost always fail for real world deployments. The vanadium redox flow battery is a case in point here – looked great in university studies and even a couple of little pilots but try searching for any successful commercial deployments. Successful new battery technologies are far and few between – the they have been trying for military and space purposes for decades and lead acid cells are still the benchmark for many applications.

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            • #
              Chad

              Yes, i also run my diesel down to “E”,,and then some,.. but that is not a “dry tank”.,
              ..but I suspect most people just refil at a “convenient time , way before E is illuminated..especially on highways or in the country..
              As i said. If an EV claims to have 50kWh battery, that will be the “useable” capacity to meet the claimed range .
              But range and capacity are trivial arguments to most drivers who , on average cover less than 40 km a day commuting, shopping , school runs etc ..including country dwellers.
              So, Excluding your “outlier use examples” the vast majority of drivers could get a weeks worth of use from most current EVs even without an overnight recharge.
              If you think the “Hard limits” of battery tech were reached long ago, you must know better than John Goodenough, who has demonstrated otherwise.
              Your comment about Lead Acid being a “Benchmark” reveals the depth of your knowledge in this area..
              .. a “benchmark” in what way , other than cost, and that is not even a realistic argument in most applications today when you look at the full picture.

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              • #
                Analitik

                Please advise Hydro Tasmania of your superior option to lead acid for the King Island Renewable Integration Project’s storage. Also the various submarine makers that still use lead acid batteries for their diesel electric subs.

                And in any real world deployment, cost is a absolutely a metric in evaluating an optimal solution.

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              • #
                Chad

                Analitik
                February 9, 2021 at 9:44 pm
                Please advise Hydro Tasmania of your superior option to lead acid for the King Island Renewable Integration Project’s storage. Also the various submarine makers that still use lead acid batteries for their diesel electric subs.
                .

                KIREP is an outstanding example of how bad RE is.despite at least 2 different battery systems being installed,
                The Island still sources most of its electricity from the Diesel back up generators.
                Hardly an example to use as a reference .
                Most subs do still uuse LA cells mostly as a result of safety concerns (apparently fire is more deadly than chlorine gas poisoning ?) and the inertia of Military command to move from established technology skills.
                However some new sub builds are now moving to Lithium storage. (Korea and Japan ) having been convinced by the significant benefits of the newer technology and the ability to manage any fire risk.
                Sadly, it seems our Australian Diesel powered ,“joker” class ,Attack subs of the 2030’s will still be using Lead !!!
                Now there is some forward thinking in action !

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              • #
                Dennis

                Same design as Collins Class submarines, copper expanded core design batteries, well proven reliability and I understand that the RAN are concerned about Lithium ion and shock conditions as in depth charge or other weapon attack, or even bumping the ground.

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          • #
            OldOzzie

            Chad,

            How often do you run your petrol/Diesel tank Dry ??

            Once – doing a 17,000km 4WD trip from Sydney to Perth in a 4.2l Diesel Toyota Troopy 2 x 90l Tanks – having ascertained fuel consumption across Simpson at 16.7l per 100km (years later in 4.5l V8 Turbo Diesel Toyota Troopy achieved 12.5l per 100Km in Simpson Desert QAA Line then Hay River Track), as we planned to do Canning Stock Route wanted to find out exactly how much Diesel was available from 180l in the 2 Tanks – we were on black top run to Darwin and had filled with Clean Diesel – tank ran out at 82.5l – refilled and used manual pump under hood to restart and did the same for the second tank – 82.5l again – as we were getting service from supplier in Darwin collected 4 Rheem 20l (Then Black Plastic) Containers for extra Diesel.

            Consumption CSR was 16.9L per 100Km

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            • #
              Dennis

              You could of course have a “road train” of battery trailers and an EV SUV worth far more than a Land Cruiser diesel 4WD and with far less range when fully charged.

              A Tesla EV SUV road test comparison with a Land Cruiser diesel limited to Penrith NSW to Bathurst, EV towing range limit. The Land Cruiser could have continued towing much further west without refuelling.

              However, as we remote area travellers know, roadhouse fuel supplies use diesel generator power supply, so recharging EV to lower emissions is silly.

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              • #
                Hanrahan

                A couple of years ago the coast road, Cairns to Townsville was flooded so I drove via The Lynd to rescue my daughter and her friends. Getting a bite at Lynd Junction the generator tripped, being busy, it couldn’t pump the gas and cook the food. What sort of answer would you get if you asked if you could plug in your EV?

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              • #
                Chad

                Hanrahan.
                As i have said many times…
                it’s “Horses for courses”…pick a vehicle /Fuel that suits your use.
                Some of the country Australia is a “No Go” zone for any petrol vehicle also.
                . You would not want to be doing the daily city commute in a Troopie set up for the desert. It would not even get into many city car parks.
                Remember the majority of Australians live in built up areas and drive on average less than 40km per day.
                As usual, australia is slow to accept change,
                It is ironic really, 10 years ago Holden had an advanced EV package developed locally, based on the Commodore ,..but dropped it in favour of a redesigned ICE version . !

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              • #
                Dennis

                City carparks, that’s the silly argument often used by the NGO Pedestrian Council of Australia based in Sydney.

                The fact is that kerb parking spaces will accommodate a Land Cruiser and so will most carparks.

                But this is a diversion subject.

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              • #
                Chad

                Maybe you have not been to a City recently Dennis,. ?
                Curbside parking is rare, and expensive when you do find it. Bike lanes, tram ways, GO GET parks, “Green” zones (flower beds ) , etc etc ,.have eliminated many previously available parking spots , pushing parking into the multistories and underground. My local Wollies is underground only parking, and i would love to see a full size Land Crusier get in there without ripping its roof off ! ( aTarago wont even fit )
                Some other parking facilities require the turning circle of a Fork lift to get into !
                Jus saying, not all vehicles are suitable for all situations.

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            • #
              OldOzzie

              Just on running dry

              End Nov 1999 – arrive Birdsville with local mate plus Ex-Chairman from UK (Irish) for 3 Up Solo trip across Simpson in my 1994 Toyota Series 80 4.5l Petrol EFI – said will be no one here and we can stay in the Birdsville Hotel – Wrong, Eyre Creek Conservation Meeting in Birdsville – so ended up in Camping Ground but were invited to Evening Dinner in Hotel

              Had planned on QAA-K1-Rig Road to Mount Dare for Petrol – National Parks Lady who had come up K1 to Poeppel Corner then QAA to Birdsville said “do you know Mount Dare is Closed for Season?”

              Nope – carrying extra 60l Petrol in 3x20l Rheem Plastic containers filled with Dunlop Mil-Spec foam from SA, torn into pieces and stuffed into 3 containers (just like Ant Ansted with his Alfa F1 build Fuel Tank) tied with straps with carpet on both sides to Milford Barrier

              Changed track to QAA-Poeppel Corner-French Line (1100 Sand Dunes) to Oodnadatta – 588 Km

              4 days from Birdsville to Oodnadatta – as the days got hotter, the sand dunes got softer – even with dual ARB Diff Locks had troubles getting over dunes with reduced air pressure in tyres – lost 1 wheel

              From Birdsville to Oodnadatta saw not one vehicle or human – even no one at Dalhousie Springs

              Carrying 210L 145l in series 80 tank and 65l in 3 x20l Rheem Containers, used 205l to Oodnadatta

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            Dennis

            With a diesel or petrol fuelled vehicle the driver can run the tank dry if stupid, but nobody can run an EV battery system flat, 10 per cent is always retained by the management system to protect the batteries.

            Range therefore less 10 per cent of theoretical maximum range, always.

            Do you realise that an internal combustion engine vehicle performs best fuel consumption on highway cycle, worst in built up areas at lower speeds, and that EV is the opposite and therefore not a long range touring best choice?

            And don’t get me started on lack of recharging stations, and inconvenience of recharge waiting time, and the enormous cost of providing recharging stations enough to cope with even a 25 per cent EV fleet of total fleet. And then lack of electricity baseload supply and therefore peak demand supply without adding EV.

            Also, with over 70 per cent of electricity generated with fossil fuels EV is an exercise in futility if lowering essential for life CO2 is the target as our governments and others claim. Burning petrol or diesel in an internal combustion engine is far more efficient.

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              Chad

              Dennis
              February 9, 2021 at 3:25 pm ·
              ….nobody can run an EV battery system flat, 10 per cent is always retained by the management system to protect the batteries.
              Range therefore less 10 per cent of theoretical maximum range, always.

              Lessthan YOUR theoretical range maybe,..
              …but not the manufacturers official declared range (which allows for not using that 10%)

              Do you realise that an internal combustion engine vehicle performs best fuel consumption on highway cycle, worst in built up areas at lower speeds, and that EV is the opposite and therefore not a long range touring best choice?

              And consequently YOU realise that the the ICE is not a “built up area” use best choice. ?
              It is “horses for corses” as with any vehicle choice,..
              If you plan on climing sand dunes towing a camp trailer, then you are better off in a jacked up Trooper, ..
              ..but if. …Like the vast majority of drivers”… you just do short commuter runs around town, school runs, etc, then an EV would be a much more suitable vehicle… if cost were comparable ( actually, you could buy 2 EVs for the price of a decent spec LandCruiser !)

              with over 70 per cent of electricity generated with fossil fuels EV is an exercise in futility if lowering essential for life CO2 is the target as our governments and others claim. Burning petrol or diesel in an internal combustion engine is far more efficient.

              Sorry Dennis, but you have forgotten the energy and Co2 expended in producing the petrol before it is burnt in the engine. !
              We have gone over this before , and the electric drive train is a much more efficient converter of energy into motion.
              Debate on which generation method is used for producing that energy is a different subject.
              And anyway , this is not relevant to this ICE /EV discussion as initiated by Ted1, and his assertion that grid supply could not cope with EV usage…
              …..nothing to do with CO2 !
              I repeat, ..
              I understand the limitations and issues with EVs, especially in country areas like Australia’s, but i do not understand why you seem to resist the inevitable growth of EVs as the technology improves and costs reduce.
              Arguing with false data and trivial points ( 10% battery minimum !), is pointless , shows your lack of foresight, and does nothing for your credibility .

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                Dennis

                Manufacturer’s declared (theoretical based on brand new battery pack in perfect driving conditions ignoring variable energy factors) range.

                The many road tests I have read clearly indicate that real world EV driving does not achieve the theoretical range of sales and marketing.

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      • #
        Hanrahan

        Swapping would be no more difficult than changing the batteries in a camera. engine in your ICE. They are heavier and more dangerous because of HIGH voltage. A spanner across the terminals would be spectacular.

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        • #
          Analitik

          Plus they are HEAVY so not only are there multiple fasteners holding the battery in location but these need to be properly aligned and then torqued when installing the replacement pack but you also need something very strong to hold the pack in place while it is loosened and tightened and also to move the pack out of the way and bring the new pack in place. Then factor in the cooling system for the pack that needs to be attached/reattached and drained/refilled as another part of this.

          Tesla used a pit with a hydraulic cradle, pre-loosened bolts and didn’t bother with properly torquing up the bolts when they scammed California for bonus ZEV credits with their demonstration of battery replacement. The fact that the cooling system wasn’t connected before or after the pack replacement plainly showed it was a scam

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    • #
      wokebuster

      The Great Switch Off – all part of our journey to the Great Reset.

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    • #
      Lucky

      No More Power Outages

      The UK government is working with climate-changed scientists and electricity suppliers to eliminate electricity black-outs. This stunning advance will use of smart-meters transmitting instructions to switch-off power guzzling devices in the home in emergencies.

      Now, again, Britain responds to the global crisis, and is at the cutting edge of technological progress. Consumers may install any and all power devices knowing that responsababal government will achieve “Net Zero” on the road to full sustainability.

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  • #
    RicDre

    Green Groups Object to Swedish Climate Geoengineering Experiment

    If geoengineering was ever attempted on a significant scale, it would likely lead to crop failure and global famine. As a 2018 study discovered, plants need sunlight. But despite this rather disturbing drawback, scientists are pushing ahead with their experiments.

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/02/08/green-groups-object-to-swedish-climate-geoengineering-experiment/

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  • #
    Peter Fitzroy

    the Americans have now killed nearly half a million of their own. At least they are still number one in something

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      ColA

      Your a PUTZ fitzroy – go troll your hate speack somewhere else

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    • #
      David Maddison

      And many of those who genuinely died of COVID (I believe the numbers are inflated) would have been saved had not Leftists acted to have HCQ (used per Zelenko protocol) banned just so they could “prove” Orange Man Bad.

      The fact that HCQ was banned just because Trump’s experts suggested it again proves how the modern Left, consistent with their predecessors the National Socialists and International Socialists are prepared to murder unlimited numbers of people for political gain.

      Because, for the Left, they “do whatever it takes”, up to, and including murder.

      Leftists will never be ashamed of what they’ve done because they have no shame and no decent morals.

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        Peter Fitzroy

        The Zelenko protocol is not better than a placebo

        But you miss my point, USA is happy to have two to three thousand people die every day, there is no politician who escapes from this, they have failed, all of them, and for over a year

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          Kalm Keith

          In the USA up to 2018-2019 there were an average of 7,560.4 deaths per day.

          How many of your CV19 “deaths” really died of CV19 rather than “with it”.

          Politics stinks.

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          Great Aunt Janet

          “the USA is happy to have two to three thousand people die every day”

          – are you saying ‘USA’ the land, the country? That ain’t a thing, inanimate objects don’t have emotions. Maybe you mean the population is happy? What, all of the population? Or perhaps the administration (bureaucrats, pollies et al) is happy?

          Totally meaningless phrase, which serves to weaken everything else you say – why would anyone rely on any data you quote or take note of your opinion.

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          Analitik

          The Zelenko protocol is not better than a placebo

          Where’s the evidence to back up your claim?

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          RooDog

          ” the work of the Left to ban HCQ is what killed most of these people.”100% correct David.

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        • #
          RooDog

          “The Zelenko protocol is not better than a placebo”.

          Documentation please.

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      • #
        FarmerDoug2

        You might be right but I am going with “follow the money”. Big pharma are doing well out of this.

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        • #
          Hanrahan

          Big pharma are doing well out of this.

          They are indeed.

          But putting HCQ to one side, ivermectin has been highly effective in many studies and trials and this has been known for many months. I think Jo first wrote on this a year ago. The results of Peru’s widespread use of ivermectin show a 75% reduction in deaths in those counties [whatever] where it was distributed widely. Lima didn’t distribute it so it can be used as a control group and the difference is massive.

          In NY you need to go to the appeals court to get approval to use it, so Fitz’s implied criticism of Trump is baseless.

          I distracted myself, I was going to say that, in the interests of profit, Merck has slammed ivermectin as unsafe in spite of having donated billions of doses of it to fight river blindness. Are they saying they knowingly distributed an unsafe drug in the developing world?

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        OldOzzie

        NYT Runs Fascinating Piece: Why Are Right Wing Governments Doing Better at Getting Vaccinations Done?

        Guy Benson over at Townhall picked up on an interesting New York Times piece by David Leonhardt which basically seems to conclude conservative governments on a national and state level are generally doing much better at vaccine distribution than are more leftist ones.

        That’s not just here, but looking generally around the world.

        Over the last few weeks, as vaccination has become a top priority, the pattern has changed. Progressive leaders in much of the world are now struggling to distribute coronavirus vaccines quickly and efficiently: Europe’s vaccination rollout “has descended into chaos,” as Sylvie Kauffmann of Le Monde, the French newspaper, has written. One of the worst performers is the Netherlands, which has given a shot to less than 2 percent of residents. Canada (at less than 3 percent) is far behind the U.S. (about 8.4 percent). Within the U.S., many Democratic states — like California, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York and tiny Rhode Island — are below the national average. “The parts of the country that pride themselves on taking Covid seriously and believing in government are not covering themselves in glory,” The Times’s Ezra Klein has written.

        As opposed to actually getting it done with conservative governments.

        At the same time, there are clear success stories in places that few people would describe as progressive. Alaska and West Virginia have the two highest vaccination rates among U.S. states, with Oklahoma and the Dakotas also above average. Globally, Israel and the United Arab Emirates have the highest rates. Britain — run by Boris Johnson, a populist Conservative — has vaccinated more than 15 percent of residents. International patterns are rarely perfect, and this one has plenty of exceptions…So far, though, it’s hard to find many progressive governments that are vaccination role models.

        Leonhardt’s rationale for the difference was fascinating.

        According to him, “some progressive leaders are effectively sacrificing efficiency for what they consider to be equity.” In other words, they’re spending all their time talking about rules and who should get it and preventing others from getting it. As Benson observes, they’re more concerned with “fairness” than actually “getting the job done.” That delay could be killing those more at risk.

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        OldOzzie

        Washington Post Flips on Coronavirus Origin; When Does Tom Cotton Get His Apology?

        But now, over a year after the coronavirus first emerged from Wuhan, China, The Washington Post seems to be backtracking on its year-long anti-Cotton campaign calling him a conspiracy theorist. In its February 5, 2021, opinion piece, the Post‘s Editorial Board now agrees with nearly all of Sen. Cotton’s statements from last winter.

        But there is another pathway, also plausible, that must be investigated. That is the possibility of a laboratory accident or leak. It could have involved a virus that was improperly disposed of or perhaps infected a laboratory worker who then passed it to others. Wuhan, with a population of 11 million, is a major transportation hub and a center of virus studies in China, with at least six facilities with BSL-3 laboratories for handling infectious agents. Published papers show that some of these institutions have been very active in coronavirus research. The most active is the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where Shi Zhengli leads a research team that has extensively studied and experimented on bat coronaviruses that are very similar to the one that ignited the global pandemic.

        China actively covered up the early stages of the pandemic, concealed the transmissibility of the virus from its own people and the world, and punished Wuhan doctors who expressed worry about it in late December 2019. President Xi Jinping did not warn the public in China or abroad until mid-January.

        Since then, Chinese officials and scientists have advanced a host of dubious theories to suggest the origin of the virus was beyond China’s borders: perhaps brought to China by contaminated packaging of frozen food from abroad or from the U.S. military biodefense laboratory at Fort Detrick, Md., or from mink farms. The disinformation only heightens suspicions that China is trying to distract from or conceal something.

        We don’t know where the pandemic began. But a major step toward finding the answer is to examine all the relevant databases and laboratory records, including those at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and elsewhere, and the clues they may hold.

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        OldOzzie

        Corona Cash: Financial Disclosures Reveal Biden Surgeon General Made Millions off Pandemic ‘Consulting’

        Vivek Murthy, President Biden’s pick for surgeon general, cashed in last year as the Chinese coronavirus pandemic gripped the nation, making more than two million dollars off pandemic “consulting.”

        Several of Biden’s nominees have filed financial disclosures, including Murthy, who according to Politico made millions by consulting various companies, including those in industries severely impacted by the pandemic, such as Carnival Cruise Line. Such consulting gigs have raised eyebrows due to concerns of bias.

        The outlet estimated that Murthy, who served as U.S surgeon general from 2014-2017, made nearly one million last year consulting for Netflix, Airbnb, and Carnival Cruise Line alone:

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          OldOzzie

          Fitton: Judicial Watch Sues for Solyndra Records of Biden’s Chief of Staff

          Solyndra is one of the worst scandals of the Obama era – and Ron Klain, President Biden’s chief of staff, is right in the middle of it. The issue is fresh again given the new administration’s plans to fund more Solyndra-type companies with countless tax dollars.

          Solyndra is the solar power company that accepted a loan of half a billion of your taxpayer dollars that were most lost. An Energy Department investigation found that “the actions of certain Solyndra officials were, at best, reckless and irresponsible or, at worst, an orchestrated effort to knowingly and intentionally deceive and mislead the Department.”

          In December 2011, we filed separate FOIA lawsuits against the Obama Department of Energy and the Office of Management and Budget to obtain records regarding the taxpayer funded government loan provided to Solyndra.

          We have now filed a FOIA suit against the Office of Management and Budget and the U.S. Department of Energy to obtain records of communications between Klain, who is now President Biden’s chief of staff, and the agencies about Solyndra (Judicial Watch v. Office of Management and Budget et al. (No. 1:21-cv-00303)).

          We sued after the agencies failed to respond to December 2020 FOIA requests seeking “communications between Klain and any official of the Office of Management and Budget/Department of Energy regarding the solar company Solyndra.” We requested records from January 20, 2009, to January 1, 2011, when Klain was chief of staff to then-Vice President Biden.

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    • #
      David Maddison

      Notice how Leftists almost gloat over the deaths which they falsely attribute to Orange Man.

      Like everything to do with the Left, the truth is the exact opposite of what they claim.

      As per my other comment, the work of the Left to ban HCQ is what killed most of these people.

      Notice how now Biden has been “elected” that the American Medical Association has withdrawn opposition to it?

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        Sceptical Sam

        Yes.

        I noticed.

        I also noticed that the American Journal of Medicine recently published a research paper that was favourable to the use of HCQ, Zinc and Azithromycin.

        Go figure.

        https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002934320306732#bib0025

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          Sceptical Sam

          And, in the same vein, the Israelis are doing great work. This may be the breakthrough for that time when the vaccine fails:

          https://www.israel21c.org/has-israel-just-found-the-cure-for-covid/

          We can but hope.

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            OldOzzie

            We can but hope.Sam looks promising

            EXO-CD24, an experimental inhaled medication developed at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, cured all 30 moderate-to-severe cases in a Phase I clinical trial.

            Developed over the past six months at the hospital, EXOCD24 stops the “cytokine storm” – where the immune system goes out of control and starts attacking healthy cells – that occurs in the lungs of 5-7% of Covid-19 patients.

            “To date, the preparation has been tried with great success on 30 severe patients, in 29 of whom the medical condition improved within two to three days and most of them were discharged home within three to five days. The 30th patient also recovered but after a longer time,” the hospital reports.

            “The preparation is given by inhalation, once a day, for only a few minutes, for five days,” Shapira said.

            She said the experimental treatment has two unique characteristics. The first is that it inhibits the over-secretion of cytokines. The second is that it is delivered directly to the lungs and therefore has no systemic side effects that injected or oral drugs can cause.

            “Even if the vaccines perform their function, and even if no new mutations are produced then still in one way or another the corona will remain with us,”

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      wokebuster

      Almost 700k die annually due to heart disease. Its the biggest killer.

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  • #
    Neville

    More data about the S&W dirty, expensive, unreliable energy disaster.
    Of course these expensive toxic disasters won’t change the weather or climate but ensure that we have to clean up this mess every 20 years and start again.

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/02/07/what-does-offshore-wind-power-really-cost/

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    • #
      OldOzzie

      Question to Jo Bloggers – is the Ocean off Sydney a higher Salt Content than in Europe?

      I say this because Wind Turbines built in the Ocean here would rust very quickly

      Manly Parish had to replace the Aluminium Window Frames in the School Building because they had been corroded by Salt Spray and the School is one block back from the beach

      A friend whose apartment is on the beachfront in Manly and in a building 5 years old.. is already seeing severe pitting in anodised aluminium railing

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        OldOzzie

        Oceanlinx wave generator

        The Oceanlinx wave energy convertor device was originally moored in its current location in 2009 under a licence agreement between Roads and Maritime Services and Oceanlinx Limited. Moored off the northern breakwater at Port Kembla, the device has not been operational for over seven years, now rusting and impacted by ocean waves. Following Oceanlinx Ltd being placed into administration in March 2014, Roads and Maritime has developed a plan to remove the structure.

        and

        Andrew Bolt – Green duds will continue to sink

        So another mad green energy idea has sunk, this time off the coast of WA. This is just the latest disaster involving taxpayer-backed green schemes and wave energy generators, in particular. We seem addicted to wasting money, writes Andrew Bolt.

        The money we’ve wasted on mad green schemes! Now another one drowns in the seas off Albany.

        Yes, scrapping 12 coal-fired electricity generators in seven years was easy. Finding the fabled cheap and reliable green power to replace them is what’s killing us. This time, it’s another wave-powered generator that’s sunk.

        Carnegie Clean Energy planned to power Albany, in WA, with a generator made up of buoys which used passing waves to drive pumps to create electricity.

        This is just the latest disaster involving taxpayer-backed green schemes and wave energy generators, in particular.

        An Oceanlinx system off Port Kembla was ripped from its mooring by heavy seas in 2010 and left to rust.

        Never mind! Two years later, the Rudd government awarded a $4 million grant to another Oceanlinx generator, south of Adelaide.

        That also sank and so did Oceanlinx, which went broke despite the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation listing it as one of the world’s top 10 renewable energy investment opportunities.

        But it’s not just wave energy generators that have flopped.

        Tim Flannery, our former chief climate commissioner, once spruiked geothermal power, which uses heat from rocks deep underground to create steam for generators.

        But that “relatively straightforward” technology wasn’t. Wells collapsed and Geodynamics walked away.

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          RicDre

          Luckily, Australians avoided a Cresent Dunes type of fiasco:

          When Crescent Dunes, the world’s biggest solar-thermal power plant went bankrupt, US taxpayers were left to pick up the tab, with their liability running into hundreds of $millions.

          South Australians can count themselves lucky that they didn’t end up with a carbon copy of the Crescent Dunes debacle.

          Back in August 2017, STT reported on efforts by the Weatherill Labor government to build a solar-thermal plant at Port Augusta with the ‘help’ of the characters behind Crescent Dunes. It was designed with a trivial 150 MW (notional) capacity, but came with an absolutely staggering $1.2bn pricetag.

          Fortunately for South Australians that big, shiny white elephant never did get off the ground and Jay Weatherill’s Labor government was ditched at the election held in March 2018. The solar-thermal plant hasn’t rated a mention since.

          https://stopthesethings.com/2020/06/02/history-repeats-taxpayers-fork-out-another-billion-on-another-giant-solar-white-elephant/

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            Analitik

            It was a close run thing – they had 3 bidders at one point for a Port Augusta project when heavy subsidies appeared to be available. Dr John Hewson headed one of these, showing that Turncoat and his gang are not the only “conservatives” willing to feed at the renewable subsidies trough.

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        robert rosicka

        Old Aussie it’s because the oceans are becoming more acidic .

        Sarc

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        RickWill

        Certain grades of aluminium are not made with corrosion resistance in mind.

        Corrosion is a serious risk in an salt air or water environment. It does not much mater on the salt concentration. Submerged structure like piles below the water level can be well protected using impressed current cathodic protection. Stainless steel tends to stand up well. For ordinary carbon steel, it needs to be very well painted.

        Many years ago when I was the owners’ representative for accepting the plant and equipment for a large shipploading terminal, it did not surprise me that 30% of the cost of the steel erected was in the paint. Well painted steel that is properly prepared and covered with primer then high build epoxy paint will stand for 20 to 30 years with only minor coating repairs. The story is told that the Sydney Harbour Bridge has a continuous repainting program in place.

        Bulk carriers have relatively short life primarily due to corrosion issues. Back in around 2012, as China was into stride with steel production, the global bulk transport fleet had an average age around 10 years. It is probably considerably higher now and that makes them more prone to breaking up while at sea. Insurers are wary of old ships.

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  • #
    RicDre

    In a previous thread I mentioned that that along with the benefits of raising the US minimum wage to $15/hour there is always a price to pay; according to the US Congressional Budget Office, 900,000 people would be lifted out of poverty and 1,400,000 people would loose their jobs. Also, they say that higher wages would increase the cost to employers of producing goods and services and that employers would pass some of those increased costs on to consumers in the form of higher prices. For the 1.4 million people that loose their jobs they will just need to take Mr. Biden’s advice and simply “learn to code” to transition to “jobs of the future”.

    https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/08/raising-minimum-wage-to-15-would-cost-1point4-million-jobs-cbo-says.html

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    David Maddison

    Susan posted this at the end of the previous topic so not many people might notice it.

    It is an outstanding 16.5 min video on the US election fraud.

    The original linked to YouTube so will likely soon disappear. https://youtu.be/jsOXMi1E0tQ

    Here is a free speech BitChute link. https://www.bitchute.com/video/nskOC1a6YnST/

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    • #
      Kalm Keith

      Thanks Susan and David.

      It went fast but it was designed mainly as a refresher and log of all the background material available.

      Deep state indeed.

      America is not alone in this collapse of democratic process; Australia can list names like Trumble, Gillard, Shorten, Albanese, and our globetrotting UNIPCCC high heeled functionary, Julie B which would all cause us to doubt the level of good intentions present in our elected representatives.

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      OldOzzie

      How to Keep America Polarized

      Democrats are happy to throw over any rule, custom or convention that gets in their way.

      As the Senate convenes Tuesday to try Donald Trump for “inciting violence against the Government of the United States,” the big question isn’t whether he’s guilty. It’s whether the Senate has the right to try him at all.

      Questions about the constitutional legitimacy of this impeachment are a good hint why the nation is moving further away from the healing and unity Joe Biden called for in his victory speech. Certainly the policies of the Biden administration will take the country in a new direction. But if divisions between Americans deepen, it will be less because of the policies themselves than the means used to ram them through.

      Start with impeachment. Given the Constitution’s lack of clear-cut language on the issue, there are legitimate arguments for impeaching and trying a president who’s already left office. Surely, however, an honest debate would begin by at least conceding that one reason there are so many unresolved questions is that what we have in this case is so outside the norm.

      It wasn’t until 1868, 79 years after George Washington’s first inaugural, that the nation had its first presidential impeachment, of Andrew Johnson. It took another 130 years until President Bill Clinton’s impeachment in 1998. But in the space of 13 months, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has managed to impeach Mr. Trump twice, equaling all the previous presidential impeachments in U.S. history.

      today’s Democratic majority has no patience for any rule, practice or convention that stands in its way.

      This is especially true for rules designed to encourage compromise and ensure that a majority cannot simply run roughshod over the minority. Even the losers can accept the outcome of a fight in which they have been fairly voted down after being allowed to make their case. But when people believe they lost because the rules of the game were changed, it makes them start looking for revenge, and the tit-for-tat can turn our parties into Hatfields and McCoys.

      The Byrd Rule, for example, limits the process to measures such as taxes and spending, which have a direct effect on budget outlays or spending. This is to prevent senators from using reconciliation to sneak through extraneous items they’d otherwise find difficult to pass.

      Some Democrats now find the Byrd Rule too confining, and they want to throw it overboard because some of the measures they hope to include in the relief package—e.g., a $15 hourly minimum wage—would likely fall afoul of it. So some are calling on Ms. Harris to overrule the Senate parliamentarian, opening the door to using reconciliation to pass all manner of legislation unrelated to the budget process.

      The real hope for unity isn’t that one side will surrender to the other’s policy agenda but that both will work within a clear, fair and honest process.

      But it can’t work if the majority gets the outcomes it wants by changing all the rules of the game.

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        OldOzzie

        Richard Grenell: “They Want to Cancel Trump”

        Posted on February 8, 2021 by Sundance

        Former acting Director of National Intelligence, Richard “Ric” Grenell, appears on NewsMax to discuss the current status of JoeBama and DC’s effort to cancel the Trump administration.

        Grenell first talks of the refusal to provide classified intelligence briefings to the former president as it is traditionally handled. Grenell also notes the overall goal of the leftists behind JoeBama is to completely cancel the prior president. WATCH:

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        OldOzzie

        Schumer and McConnell Agree to Senate Impeachment Trial Rules

        Posted on February 8, 2021 by Sundance

        The Senate trial of former President Donald Trump should be an exercise in futility; there is no constitutional framework to impeach a former president. However , that said, when both wings of the UniParty bird are working in mutually beneficial alignment, anything can happen. [Senate Trial Rules – Impeachment #2 HERE]

        enators Schumer and McConnell have agreed to a set of rules for the impeachment trial. The rules will be voted on tomorrow, along with an initial set of four hours of arguments on the constitutionality of the entire fiasco beginning… and then a vote.

        Assuming the trial goes forward… Then beginning Wednesday, each side will have up to 16 hours to lay out their case, spread out over two days per side. Senators will then have four hours to pose questions to the House managers and Trump’s attorneys.

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          OldOzzie

          Debasing the Constitution: Why Chief Justice Roberts is Not Presiding over Trump’s Impeachment Trial

          As Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial begins today, not enough attention has been paid to the fact that Chief Justice Roberts will not be presiding.

          Senate Democrat Richard Blumenthal, a lawyer, former federal prosecutor and member of the Judiciary Committee, believes the Chief Justice should preside.

          Elizabeth Warren adopts the far more aggressive position that the Chief Justice must preside as part of “his constitutional duty.” For good measure, she adds, “I can’t imagine why a Supreme Court justice would not do his duty.”

          Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer presents yet a third constitutional argument. He claims that the Constitution commits the decision as a matter of choice to the Chief Justice

          All of these assertions are manifestly incorrect and for reasons of considerable bearing on the proceeding.

          Working in order, Blumenthal does not pretend to a legal argument. He wants the Chief Justice to preside for its beneficial public relations impact

          Warren presents a claim shared by exactly no one.

          Schumer is a different story. His statement is the reasons people despise the oiliness of politicians, saying just enough to sound reasonable, for unwarranted ends. Schumer intimates that he directly contacted Roberts and was told by Roberts that he would not preside. Schumer’s office conveniently won’t confirm or deny. Right on cue, the headlines read “Roberts doesn’t want to preside over Trump’s second impeachment trial: Schumer.”

          In matters of the Constitution, not wanting to preside is a world apart from not presiding. Schumer’s construction is remarkably self-serving.

          These are serial untruths. The Supreme Court’s position is crystal clear. It has no comment on the absence of Justice Roberts from the second impeachment trial. “No comment” means far more that it seems. It precludes any assertion that Roberts was ever formally requested to preside. Absent the request, no claim can be made, a la Schumer’s strategically misleading statement, that Justice Roberts chose not to preside.

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            Tilba Tilba

            Debasing the Constitution: Why Chief Justice Roberts is Not Presiding over Trump’s Impeachment Trial

            The Founders made clear that when an impeachment trial concerns a sitting president, “the Chief Justice shall preside.” However the Constitution does not have any such requirement for other officers facing impeachment, or for a private citizen – which Trump now is.

            I think it’s reasonable that Chief Justice Roberts not preside when the sitting president isn’t on trial. The political “optics” of his absence might be another matter.

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              Nadia bin Du Natan

              Mossad agent Jeffrey (who is still at large by the way) need never so much as get you doing illegal acts to compromise your position. He just needs to make friends with you. A scumbag like Mossad agent Jeffrey could compromise the chief Justice just be suckering him into hanging out at the beach with him.

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              • #
                Chris

                Jeffery obtained and sold two children to Roberts. Then through a convoluted system Roberts was able to legally adopt the children through Ireland, which apparently has the laxest adoption procedures in the world. No one is inferring anything other than the adoption of two siblings.

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              • #
                Nadia bin Du Natan

                No-one hey? And you are sure of that? No other allegations? I don’t think you can make that claim but anyway I’ll take it seriously.

                You might be right and if you turn out to be right you are making my point for me. Having any dealings with Mossad agent Jeffrey, means that he has you blackmailed. Doesn’t matter what you say Chris. Mossad still has blackmail pressure over the Chief Justice no matter what the truth is. Jeffrey is still at large. The pictured corpse did not belong to him. Anyone can check that out for themselves. Actually the corpse looked a lot more like the brother of one Mrs Clinton. How about that hey?

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          OldOzzie

          If Impeaching Trump Is About Preventing Him From Holding Future Office, Why Is Democrat Alcee Hastings So Powerful in the House?

          But it’s not even altogether clear that if they did convict, they could hold Trump from holding federal office again.

          As evidence, I give you Alcee Hastings.

          Hastings was appointed to be a federal judge in 1979. In 1981, he was accused of soliciting bribes and obstructing justice in the trial of an associate.

          He was impeached by the United States House of Representatives and convicted by the Senate. He was kicked out of his judgeship in 1989.

          So what happened after Hastings’ shameful episode in which he was convicted of serious criminal corruption in office? Was he tossed out of polite society never to be heard from again? Did the Democrats shun him and prevent him from ever holding federal office again?

          Sadly, no. Four years later he ran for the U.S. House — a federal office — from Florida and he won. He joined the House Democratic caucus and is still in the House to this very day.

          So to recap, Hastings had a federal office — he was a federal judge, appointed by President Jimmy Carter and confirmed by the Senate. He was impeached and convicted on serious and substantiated charges of public corruption, and he was removed from that office.

          Nobody is forcing the Democrats to make Hastings — a convicted and impeached federal judge — so powerful and influential.

          Well, you might say, Hastings’ ethical problems were a long time ago. Perhaps he’s reformed.

          Or, perhaps he’s the same corruptocrat he always was. This story is from the dark ages of…2019.

          Patricia Williams, Hastings’ girlfriend of at least 25 years, has been a congressional staffer in his office for 27 years, Hastings has said in press reports. Library of Congress records show that Williams was an aide to Hastings from 2002 to 2006, before transitioning into her role as deputy district director, which she held from 2006 to 2018. She is now the district director.

          Hastings, who makes $174,000 a year as a congressman, paid Williams $168,411 in 2018, the maximum congressional staff salary. That was more than Hastings’ chief of staff at the time, Arthur W. Kennedy, made despite being Williams’ boss. Kennedy received a salary of $166,978 that year.

          There’s more.

          Hastings also employs Williams’ daughter in his Broward County, Florida, office, according to the Washington Free Beacon.

          Who does this guy think he is, Ilhan Omar?

          Going by the evidence, the Pelosi Democrats really don’t care about public corruption at all. They don’t even care about keeping up the appearance of a tight ethical ship.

          They care about power. And they still fear Donald Trump. They’ve impeached — twice! — because they’re scared of him.

          They’re probably not self-aware enough to know that their fear, manifested in this show trial they’re putting the country through, is likely to make him stronger — especially after that TIME article.

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        OldOzzie

        IN PROCEEDINGS BEFORE
        THE UNITED STATES SENATE
        ____________________________________
        IMPEACHMENT OF :
        FORMER PRESIDENT :
        DONALD J. TRUMP :

        ____________________________________:
        TRIAL MEMORANDUM OF DONALD J. TRUMP, 45TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

        70 Page PDF

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    David Maddison

    It’s amazing the things Leftists believe. E.g. that Biden was the true winner of the US election, that there is anthropogenic global warming, that cheap anti-virals such as HCQ and Ivermectin when used appropriately don’t work to treat C-19, and that Marxism cures all society’s problems.

    Note how a belief in and implementation of any or all of the above is designed to weaken or destroy Westen Civilisation.

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      David Maddison

      I forgot. There are more than two genders.

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        Kalm Keith

        That’s a big issue; the truth of this matter is known but not widely publicised, and the people most damaged by this failure to inform are tragically those who are affected.

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        OldOzzie

        Daily Telegraph editorial: Abandoning Mother of the Year award makes little sense

        As an issue, motherhood is almost completely uncontroversial. Until now.

        The etymology of the term lies in the obvious fact of motherhood’s near-universal approval. As an issue, therefore, motherhood is almost completely uncontroversial.

        Until now. Gender activists have campaigned recently to diminish motherhood by demanding greater recognition for same-sex and trans parents.

        It’s part of a broader push to change language and perceptions, sometimes leading to unexpected outcomes.

        Rowling responded online: “I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?

        For this, Rowling copped months of furious backlash.

        And now Australian charity Barnardo’s has axed its Mother Of The Year award because the title does not sufficiently recognise diversity.

        Abandoning an award for mothers because the award doesn’t celebrate people who are not mothers appears to make very little sense.

        It’s like abolishing the NRL grand final because table tennis teams are ineligible.

        This is not in any way to undermine the parenting efforts of those who do not fit the traditional notion of motherhood. Not by any means.

        It just seems a little unfair to chop down mothers in order to promote others.

        We await the charity’s plans for a replacement parenting award. The list of eligibility categories may end up being longer than the list of nominees.

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      Tilba Tilba

      Being sceptical that there was election fraud (which no-one has proved), being convinced that anthropogenic global warming is a reality (the evidence is pretty clear), believing that cheap and simple “cures” for Covid-19 are in plain sight (which no-one has proved) … I don’t see how these positions necessarily make one a “Leftist”.

      A lot of naturally quite conservative people believe at least one of these.

      I don’t think many people these days believe that “Marxism” cures society’s ills … but a lot of people (not just “Leftists”) understand that Marx was a very good analytical historian, and many of the things that have occurred under capitalism over the past 150 years he predicted with some precision – even without knowing about modern technology and especially media.

      In fact many of the things that most concern posters on here are precisely what he foresaw – relating to monopoly power, a corrupt ruling elite that subverts “democracy”, the growth of the corporate state, the alienation and commodification of workers, and globalism. He knew where capitalism was going.

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        David-of-Cooyal-in-Oz

        Seems you didn’t watch the 16.5 min clip Daid M posted earlier, at #9:
        https://joannenova.com.au/2021/02/tuesday-open-thread-43/#comment-2404159

        Pretty good evidence in my view, and well presented.

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          Tilba Tilba

          I watched the first minute or two … with the greatest respect to DM and everyone else, I have seen that stuff and similar stuff over and over. Many of us have.

          The whole point is that people can make videos or post on blogs for ever and a day – but it was totally incumbent on the Trump campaign to have material evidence, present it professionally at the various appeal tribunals in each state, and then if necessary to the appropriate courts.

          None of this happened successfully. Trump (a) had a truly woeful legal team, and (b) had very little support from the broader Republican Party. I think a lot of Republicans wanted Trump to lose as well.

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        Harry Passfield

        Seems you have conflicting standards: you want absolute proof to accept there was election fraud, yet you’re happy to just accept some rather dodgy ‘evidence’ of man-made global warming.
        Now, why can’t you just accept the ‘evidence’ of election fraud and allow it to be tested (which is something that can’t be done with AGW theory)?

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    David Maddison

    https://m.theepochtimes.com/evidence-mounts-that-capitol-breach-was-pre-planned-eroding-incitement-allegation-in-trump-impeachment-trial_3689106.html

    “There’s mounting evidence that the people who came to Washington preplanned the attack before the president ever spoke.”

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    • #

      So more than 4 3 months ago when he started speaking?

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      Nadia bin Du Natan

      It’s nothing to do with anything Trump said Gee Aye. At least try not to be a twit.

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      Tilba Tilba

      “There’s mounting evidence that … “

      So many posts start with this sort of statement, however they never seem burdened with any actual evidence of anything much.

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        Nadia bin Du Natan

        You are not talking about the stolen election are you? If you didn’t know that it had happened on the night, you are never going to notice that football team, going in and out of your wifes bedroom, in a month of Sundays. The problem is with you. Not with the understanding that this was a coup.

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        Nadia bin Du Natan

        See what I want to know is why did you not know it was a coup ON ELECTION NIGHT. What is the problem with you that you didn’t see that. Or at least when you woke up the next morning, if you were on American time?

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    OldOzzie

    Tom Brady Called ‘Racist’ on Social Media for Winning Super Bowl During Black History Month

    Many watched Tom Brady lead the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Super Bowl victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. The game marked the franchise’s second Super Bowl victory and Tom Brady’s seventh. Brady’s epic accomplishment has earned him the title of the greatest quarterback of all time, but many on Twitter appeared to have been triggered by Brady’s victory.

    Brady is no stranger to criticism, of course. Last week, Nancy Armour attacked him in USA Today for not only being white, but for his apparent support for Donald Trump. Now, Twitter users are calling his victory over Patrick Mahomes “racist” … because it happened during Black History Month.

    Tom Brady beating a black QB during black history month just feels racist

    Aint no way Tom Brady winning 7 Super Bowls during black history month aint racist

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      David Maddison

      Apparently he has never made any political statements in public. His sole Trump-related “crime” was that someone allegedly saw a MAGA hat in his locker.

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      Wet Mountains

      Haven’t watch football in years. Reruns of “Never Rake Again” is a better use of time. But I did hear the score. Brady didn’t just win, he wiped the field with’um.

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      OldOzzie

      Political football

      Only once a year do I watch an American football game and that is for the Superbowl which was yesterday. That is Tom Brady, the quarterback for the winning team which has disappointed everyone on the left, including this: Tom Brady Called ‘Racist’ on Social Media for Winning Super Bowl During Black History Month. I also thought this was funny in its own sad way:

      Well that Super Bowl was a throwback to the lopsided boring games of the 1980s. But it might not be over. Even though the NFL stopped counting points when the clock ran out, I am reliably informed that there will be 12 mail-in touchdowns for the Chiefs coming in tomorrow morning at 4 am, putting the Chiefs over the top.

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    OldOzzie

    FLASHBACK: Kamala Harris Joked About Killing Trump, Pence, and Jeff Sessions

    Seeing as Trump has been impeached because his rhetoric allegedly incited the riot on the U.S. Capitol in January, it seems appropriate to point out instances where Democrats have used violent rhetoric and demand equal justice for it.

    In 2018, Senator Kamala Harris appeared on The Ellen Degeneres Show, during which DeGeneres asked Harris a series of random questions from cards. It was upbeat and all in the name of humor, but things got seriously dark when DeGeneres asked, “If you had to be stuck in an elevator with either President Trump, Mike Pence, or Jeff Sessions, who would it be?”

    “Does one of us have to come out alive?” Harris asked, then laughed hysterically.

    Kamala Harris made a joke of killing the president of the United States, the vice president of the United States, and the attorney general of the United States. She laughed. She thought it was funny. Ellen DeGeneres also laughed, as did the audience. Kamala’s joke normalized and trivialized political violence. But Donald Trump, who told his supporters to march peacefully to the Capitol, was impeached for “inciting violence.”

    Last summer, Kamala Harris also even gleefully predicted that the BLM protests, during which rioting, looting, and murder occurred, wouldn’t end. In fact, she told Stephen Colbert, host of The Late Show, that they shouldn’t end. “They’re not going to stop. They’re not going to stop,” she told him. “This is a movement, I’m telling you. They’re not gonna stop. And everyone beware because they’re not gonna stop. They’re not gonna stop before Election Day and they’re not going to stop after Election Day. And everyone should take note of that. They’re not gonna let up and they should not.”

    By this standard, Kamala Harris should be impeached.

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    tom0mason

    Demented doggerel …

    These politicos like children play,
    With whirly things on a dreary day.
    And sunshine catchers destroy the futures
    Of generations lost to crony looters.
    Unpower tomorrow, “batteries not included”
    Just pay ‘The Greens’ and stay deluded.

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    David Maddison

    It’s amazing what you can achieve in the Third World when you have unlimited cheap skilled labour and absolutely no concern about workplace safety or conditions.

    I found a video channel on YouTube (sadly not on a free speech platform but this is technical, not political) called Pakistani Truck.

    This is one of many videos where they show the rebuild of a crashed truck, which would be a write-off in a Western country but their rebuild is extensive, including full disassembly of the chassis which includes removing all rivets.

    It is quite amazing.

    https://youtu.be/jL01beie_KIp700

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      Graeme#4

      Incredible. Thanks David.

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      Greg Cavanagh

      When recourses are scarce, it’s easier to fix and rebuild what already exists than to create a new thing wholesale.

      In this case the resource is the chassis, body and cabin. All you’ve got to do it straighten it all out and your away.

      Hotrodders effetely do the same thing. As well as aircraft, trains, even toys, any enthusiast would rebuild their favorite object.

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        OldOzzie

        Greg,

        it’s easier to fix and rebuild what already exists than to create a new thing wholesale.

        I would recommend you watch

        Watch Wheeler Dealer’s Ant Anstead Build His Dream Car

        Anstead’s project is to recreate his favorite classic race car, the Alfa Romeo 158 or “Alfetta”, one of the most successful race cars ever made.

        Anstead’s new project is a build it from scratch recreation of an Alfa Romeo 158 Grand Prix car.

        In the second video of the series Anstead returns home to the UK to cast a body for the car from a mold. The underpinnings are donated by an MG-TD that Anstead is trimming and stretching in order to recreate the Alfa Romeo. While he’ll be using period suspension he does plan on disk brakes for the car and he uses an alfa romeo spider that he went originally to just get the motor but bought the car and uses it as donor vehicle

        Ant Drives His Custom Build For The First Time! | Ant Anstead Master Mechanic

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          Greg Cavanagh

          You missed the point of my post entirely. It’s not that it can’t be done. You’re comparing Pakistani mechanics to a “Ant Anstead Master Mechanic”. Even then “He uses pare parts, improvised components, and any other raw material at hand…”.

          I’m pretty sure what I said is not contradicted by this article you linked to.

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            OldOzzie

            Greg – apologies it was meant as a compliment that your statement was correct it’s easier to fix and rebuild what already exists than to create a new thing wholesale.

            The Pakistani mechanics did an amazing job and I was using Ant Anstead and his Alfa F1 recreation as something similar happening in the western world

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      OldOzzie

      David, that was Great – fix rather than throw away Western Approach

      Amazing what you can do with a Panel Beaters Hammer and a Panel Beaters Hand Held Dolly on the Cab Restoration – as for the Chassis Rails being transported by Motorbike – Great Pedestrian Killer there, let alone would pierce through a car

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        Great Aunt Janet

        And after the grate re-set, mad max type vehicle constructions will be popular and all that is available for us proles!

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          Hanrahan

          If ever you meet an old, retired Kiwi, ask him about how they kept old things running. It developed an ingenuity largely missing in the West today.

          It is no coincidence that America was such an ingenious country in the second half of the last century. It started with the hot-rodders and some have never grown up. Today they build V8 chain saws, motorised sofas or ice boxes, competitive tractor pulls, drag racing and many other “useless” activities. I think this is one of the Yank’s endearing features but, unlike David’s example it is relative wealth that enables it, not necessity.

          Here’s another example:

          https://arstechnica.com/cars/2018/08/one-man-designed-and-built-the-ultimate-bush-plane/

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            David Maddison

            Thanks Hanrahan. I am familiar with that Bush plane, there are a number of YouTube videos about it. The owner has sunk well over US$1 million into it.

            And here are some US V8 chain saws.
            https://youtu.be/2nIbyezOUP0

            Here is an Aussie V8 chainsaw.
            https://youtu.be/T5WO9nulOXc

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              Hanrahan

              Fun fact: Ever thought how many revs a top fuel dragster would do in the 1,000 ft.

              Let’s assume 9,500 rpm, that’s 160 revs/sec and they do the journey in 4 secs, that’s 640 revs under full power and they are rebuilt after every pass.

              Did I use the term “relative wealth” in the post above?

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            OldOzzie

            Hanrahan thanks

            I had watched the Draco Build by Mike Patey a couple of years ago – same sort of approach as I referenced in Ant Anstead Master Mechanic above

            An amazing STOL Aircraft and Bush Plane

            I was distraught when Mike Crashed Draco

            OUCH —
            The world’s best bush plane is destroyed on takeoff in Reno

            Mike Patey and his two passengers were unharmed, but the plane wasn’t so lucky.

            But the good news – Super STOL “Draco” to be Revived
            Mike Patey announces major restoration of turbine Wilga after devastating crash.

            https://www.flyingmag.com/mike-patey-reviving-draco/

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              OldOzzie

              SCRAPPY BUILD BEGINS! – Patey Twins Talk Plane Designs + First Cut On Scrappy (Scrappy Bush Plane 1)

              Scrappy started life as a Carbon Cub, a modernized kit version of the venerable Piper Super Cub. The only thing left of the original plane is a part of the fuselage frame, with almost everything else being custom. The engine is a 780 cubic inch (13 liter) horizontally opposed 8-cylinder, scavenged from one of [Mike]’s racing planes, and fitting it required extensive structural changes to the fuselage. The paddle-like propeller was intended for an airboat, and is designed for high thrust at low speeds. The skin of the aircraft is all carbon fiber, and the suspension almost looks like it’s borrowed from an off-road racing truck. [Mike] also added (and test fired) a ballistic recovery parachute. The cockpit instruments are also over-the-top for an aircraft like this, with seven Garmin multi-function displays.

              Scrappy is still missing its wings, which will also be heavily modified. From the oil-cooling system to the door latch and gust-lock for the stick, everything was designed and made by [Mike]. We’re enjoying the in-depth build videos that show how he tackles all the little challenges that pop-up in such an ambitious project.

              [Mike] made a name for himself with his previous monster bush plane Draco, which was sadly destroyed during an ill-considered take-off last year. Fortunately nobody was harmed in the incident, and Draco became a part donor for Scrappy.

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      tom0mason

      The older way which I was brought-up on, was called ‘make-do and mend’.
      I view of the main attitude of today’s throw away and buy more society with disdain. As my family knows I rarely buy new things (‘pre-owned’ and seconds mostly) and I rate function over form — does it work for well in it’s primary task, and is it repairable (spare parts and common tools required).
      It must be in my genes I suppose, as my father was an Irish itinerant tinker (mobile handyman, knife sharpener and pot-fixer) before he moved to England and married my mother. Back in the days when all too often shop signs said “No Blacks, no Irish, no dogs” on the door.

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    OldOzzie

    Takeover of Taiwan by China ‘likely’

    Will Glasgow
    China correspondent

    The Australian defence department has been warned Xi Jinping’s administration is “highly likely” to attempt to take over Taiwan using “all means short of war” as early as 2024.

    Linda Jakobson, a specialist on the fraught Taiwan Straits situation, delivered that assessment in a report handed to the Morrison government last May, weeks after the China-Australian relationship plunged to historic lows following Foreign Minister Marise Payne’s call — without forewarning Beijing — for an inquiry into the origins of COVID-19.

    A likely trigger would be the election of a more pro-independence candidate in Taiwan’s 2024 election, which will decide President Tsai Ing-wen’s successor.

    “If a strongly pro-independence person is elected in 2024 as president of Taiwan it would be a slap in the face for Beijing’s leadership,” Ms Jakobson told The Australian. “I think that’s really crunch time.”

    “The potential for war would loom large,” she wrote.

    She also argued that Australian decision-makers need to prepare for an “all means short of war” scenario that she assesses as “highly likely” to begin in the next three to eight years.

    “Xi Jinping has put a timetable on himself,” she told The Australian on Monday.

    The briefing presents a host of unpalatable options for Canberra in such a scenario, including banning trade to China of iron ore, Australia’s most lucrative export.

    A Defence spokesperson said the views expressed in the report do not necessarily represent the views of the Department or the Australian Government.

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      OldOzzie

      US Hosts Pacific War Games With Australia & Japan Aimed At Countering Russia, China Attack

      The United States military has kicked off joint war games with Australian and Japan on the Western Pacific island of Guam which will specifically focus on countering a theoretical future aerial attack from Russia or China.

      The joint exercises, dubbed ‘Cope North 2021’ began last Wednesday and are scheduled to run all the way to February 19. Crucially the exercises will included F-35A joint strike fighters, marking the first time the advanced stealth jets are deployed to Andersen Air Force Base at Guam.

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    David Maddison

    If the US survives the present coup d’état, there will have to be a series of trials like Nuremberg to try, and if found guilty, severely punish all those who participated in the coup or who knowingly suppressed information about election fraud when they were legally required to disclose it (e.g. election officials). Also, Big Tech should have their Section 230 protections removed as they are obviously publishers and not platforms.

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    John R Smith

    “the present coup d’état”

    David, is it just us?
    I feel like some tsunami of authoritarianism is sweeping the entire Western World.
    Trump was the focus of their last offensive.
    There must be a cabal, a ‘they’, a new political structure that we don’t understand yet.
    Has to be.

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    David Maddison

    Notice how now that President Trump has been illegally removed from office, that the Left still have Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS). TDS, the gift that keeps on giving…

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    graham dunton

    On the subject of corona virus + more the interview was by Ivor Cummins • Jul 29, 2020-The date is important, as this was generally know prior to that point in time.
    Many other points were known also, it did not affect the younger generation as H1N1 does, this family of viruses have been in play for a very long time.
    And yes, there is fraud at play in fudging statistics.

    Dr. Stadler’ Emeritus Professor of Immunology – Reveals Crucial Viral Immunity Reality
    Now THIS is a special one – a full debrief on everything important in this Covid19 issue – with one of the world’s top immunologists explaining the real situation, including “Herd Immunity” realities, and much, much more.

    https://thefatemperor.com/ep91-emeritus-professor-of-immunology-reveals-crucial-viral-immunity-reality/

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    el gordo

    Forget the dollar and yuan, there is a new kid on the block promoting a universal currency.

    https://www.9news.com.au/world/tesla-buys-15b-in-bitcoin-will-accept-as-payment-soon/06f56fa9-4d00-499d-8d50-b0e838c5ad1e

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      David Maddison

      As worthless as paper-based fiat currencies are, I have even less faith in currencies that have no physical presence and only exist in cyberspace.

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      OldOzzie

      Is Apple About To Announce A $5 Billion Bitcoin Purchase? One Bank Thinks So

      once Tesla breaks the seal on major companies converting cash (and equivalents, including buybacks) into bitcoin, other companies would quickly follow suit. This prompted us to inquire the general public which company would be next.

      Conveniently, just as we were scratching out heads over this critical question – which also answers how Bitcoin will hit $100,000 next – RBC published an initiating coverage report on AAPL (with a street-high price target of $171), in which analyst Mitch Steves explained why he believes that AAPL should focus on developing an “Apple Wallet” concept first (and leave the Apple car for later), in order to leverage its 1.5 billion installed user base and to unveil a Coinbase-like Apple Exchange later which allows bitcoin transactions and which would add about $50 billion in value.

      More importantly, the RBC analyst then says that should Apple purchase just $1 billion in bitcoin, or “4 days of cash flow”, it would send even more users to “Apple Exchange”. To be sure, in the aftermath of Tesla’s announcement today, which validates the so-called “use case” and confirms that rising adoption of bitcoin among some of the most advanced companies is just a matter of time, such an outcome is even more likely.

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    robert rosicka

    Just in case you were looking for something to be outraged about and couldn’t find anything on the ABC, I have come to your rescue !
    Tom Brady being the winning quarterback of the Super Bowl is being racist !

    https://summit.news/2021/02/08/tom-brady-called-racist-for-winning-super-bowl-during-black-history-month/?fbclid=IwAR36gNIN8Zl8p57Rb9FmDpm3OphLlwpDWiYDt2NOGOyY5HLIyGKxbFPpjd4

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    el gordo

    Judith Curry supports the nuclear option, which she considers head shoulders above renewables.

    ‘ … with respect to both spatial requirements (area of land required) and costs of electricity, nuclear power offers substantial advantages over renewable power (any combination of wind and solar). The cost advantage of nuclear power increases once system costs are added to the equation, and increases further with higher penetration rates of wind and solar.’

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    OldOzzie

    WSJ NEWS EXCLUSIVE – Capitol Riot Warnings Weren’t Acted On as System Failed

    The federal security apparatus retooled after 9/11 fielded intelligence on the Jan. 6 rally but didn’t mobilize to prevent the violence

    The elaborate national security network set up after the 9/11 terrorist attacks to identify and thwart threats failed ahead of last month’s Capitol riot, as law enforcement didn’t act on intelligence about potential violence and prevent the assault.

    Offices spread across the country that share intelligence among federal, state and local law enforcement pointed out alarming online discussions about weapons in the days before the Jan. 6 rally in Washington. A Federal Bureau of Investigation field office reported a rallying call for war and the sharing of maps of the Capitol. The Department of Homeland Security warned about the heightened potential for violence in the rally’s run-up, though mentioned no specific threat for Jan. 6.

    While the information was shared, this multipoint warning system broke down, failing to generate sufficient follow-up, as officials spotted and dismissed these signals while missing others entirely, according to interviews with current and former officials and a review of internal government documents.

    The result: The extensive local and federal law-enforcement network that protects Washington was never fully prepared, leaving the usually heavily guarded city center vulnerable to attack. That assault came Jan. 6 when a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol as Congress was preparing to certify President Biden’s election victory.

    “Nothing significant to report,” read a Jan. 5 national summary from DHS’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis that was sent to law enforcement across the country, according to a copy reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The office is responsible for monitoring threats online and sharing them with federal, state and local law enforcement.

    Four government watchdogs and several congressional committees are now scrutinizing a response that amounts to one of the biggest lapses since the federal security apparatus was overhauled following the Sept. 11 attacks nearly two decades ago. That restructuring created DHS and its intelligence branch, among other changes, to better pinpoint threats and coordinate responses.

    The chief of the Capitol Police, Steven A. Sund, who has since resigned, said the department lacked intelligence, including from DHS and the FBI, that suggested a coordinated attack on the Capitol was being planned, according to a letter he sent to congressional leaders this month.

    From the Comments

    This should give every American a real sense of “confidence” in DHS and FBI…..maybe we should call in the Keystones cops

    How come what happened in U.S. capitol was condemned but the riots in U.S. cities were not? Don’t these politicians work for the citizens? The safety of citizens should be much more important than these politicians’. Why we need government if this is not the case?

    Anybody else get dizzy reading about the bureaucratic buck passing described here?

    The constant drumbeat calling the protest an attack is disgusting and un-American. It was clearly a protest that got out of hand because there was almost zero security at the capitol. If this was an attack, with the thousands of people outside and the hundreds inside, there would have been way more damage and casualties than what we saw. Insurrectionists and domestic terrorists don’t walk between velvet ropes taking selfies while looking up at the capitol dome.

    Why there was no security is what needs to be answered.

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    OldOzzie

    Why Democrats Want a Trump Trial

    They already know the result, but they think it will hurt the GOP.

    By The WSJ Editorial Board

    The Senate on Tuesday begins the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump, now the former President. Democrats say the trial is crucial to punishing Mr. Trump for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, but it seems more likely to do the opposite by acquitting him. It also looks like a needless partisan exercise that will further polarize America’s political factions.

    In their single and sloppy impeachment article, they accuse Mr. Trump of “incitement of insurrection.” This is a stretch, not least because Mr. Trump called on the marchers to behave “peacefully.” The House managers mention this only in passing in their trial brief. It is doubtful that Mr. Trump’s Jan. 6 remarks would qualify as incitement under the criminal code.

    So why hold this trial? The answer is transparently political. Hatred for Donald Trump is the Democratic Party’s single most unifying principle. Democrats have prospered politically since Mr. Trump was elected, and they’d like to keep him as a foil for as long as they can.

    They know he divides Republicans, and they hope a trial will cross-pressure the GOP in 2022. Witness the state party censures of Rep. Liz Cheney and Sen. Ben Sasse for their criticism of Mr. Trump’s post-election conduct. If GOP Senators vote to convict, they will face Mr. Trump’s wrath in future campaigns. If they vote to acquit, Democrats will run against them as apologists for the Capitol riot.

    Perhaps the trial will turn up some new evidence that moves the Senate toward conviction. But don’t count on it. The House rushed impeachment without hearings, and the only witness the managers have called is Mr. Trump—an obvious political stunt. The irony of this trial is that Republicans would like to move on to debating Mr. Biden’s agenda, but Democrats can’t let Mr. Trump go.

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    OldOzzie

    Boeing Board Failed to Challenge CEO on 737 MAX Safety, Lawsuit Says

    Then-CEO Dennis Muilenburg focused on negative press following crashes, according to newly revealed communications

    Boeing Co. ’s board failed to challenge then-Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg on the safety of the 737 MAX or his campaign to counter negative news reports between two fatal crashes that claimed 346 lives, according to newly released portions of a shareholders’ lawsuit that cites internal company documents.

    About two weeks after the initial crash in late 2018, Mr. Muilenburg devised “a public relations, investor relations and lobbying campaign,” according to the lawsuit, partly designed to push back against the bad publicity and criticism by U.S. airline-pilot groups attacking Boeing’s disclosures regarding the jet’s design. He discussed the plan with then-lead director Kenneth Duberstein and board member David Calhoun, now Boeing’s CEO, according to internal emails cited in the suit.

    Around the same time, Boeing was publicly pointing to pilot and maintenance errors as important factors in the fatal plunge of Lion Air Flight 610 in Indonesia, even as it was privately beginning work on a fix to an automated flight-control system implicated in that crash. The system, called MCAS, later also led to a second MAX crash in early 2019 in Ethiopia.

    The new details, contained in a recently amended version of a shareholder lawsuit filed against Boeing’s board in Delaware’s Court of Chancery, included inner-workings at the highest levels of the company as it became embroiled in one of the biggest corporate crises in modern American history. U.S. regulators late last year allowed the MAX to resume passenger flights, ending a nearly two-year grounding.

    The Wall Street Journal previously reported on an earlier version of the suit that had been heavily blacked-out. The suit, which relies on a trove of internal Boeing documents, includes communications such as emails among executives and directors during the nearly five-month period between the two crashes and their aftermath. Previously redacted portions of the earlier version of the suit became public Monday, after the Journal asked the court to release the information.

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    Richard Jenkins

    EV and renewable power storage.
    A MIRACLE discovery is always moments away as without a huge improvement in batteries reliable power and sensible EV are for the gullible.
    Following some comments on Saturday I checked the latest. Graphine is apparently the answer. However they have been experimenting with it for 2 decades.
    Musk rejected it for his recent release. 20 yers and nothing.
    Another MIRACLE IS HENSLITE found in a cave in South Africa. It is not on the periodic table so must be a natural amalgam. 1000 years supply is available.
    I feel these ‘miracles’ only prove the gullible zealots actually deep down know that renewable energy and EV are impractical without viable batteries.
    Artices often address safety. Fire and explosions are a problem with batteries.
    At the ime, records get broken, the worst ever warehouse fire in Europe was started by a solar panel.
    Rooves, power, sparks and water is a recipe. Firemen cannot get water through panels.

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      Hanrahan

      My bedrooms are above my garage. I don’t want no sparky car.

      And Walmart has had problems. From a year ago:

      Walmart is suing Elon Musk’s electric vehicle and clean energy company after Tesla solar panels atop seven of the retailer’s stores allegedly caught fire, according a court filing.

      The Walmart suit alleges breach of contract, gross negligence and failure to live up to industry standards. Walmart is asking Tesla to remove solar panels from more than 240 Walmart locations where they have been installed, and to pay damages related to all the fires Walmart says that Tesla caused.

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    David Maddison

    The reason Leftists are against nuclear power or further proper hydro (not like Snowy Hydro 2) is because the power is cheap and reliable.

    It doesn’t fit with their goal of Western civilisational destruction.

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    OldOzzie

    Where do they find these people?

    Posted on 1:19 pm, February 9, 2021 by Sinclair Davidson – Catallaxy Files

    My attention has been drawn to this fascinating piece in The Guardian:

    Clothing is inherently political in its ability to represent the values of our culture, and the necktie is one of the most politically charged items of body adornment. For those unfamiliar, the necktie is derived from the codpiece, a fabric flap or pouch designed 500 years ago to emphasise a European nobleman’s importance through his large phallic size. Today, the necktie retains its connection with the codpiece through its arrow shaped design and length that directs the eye of an onlooker down towards a man’s groin.

    The modern tie’s origins lie in the cravat, the mark of a fashionable man in the 18th century, and following that a sign of a man’s social status and class in Victorian England. Today it remains one of the enduring symbols of white male supremacy, silently serving to maintain white male values and standards as the norm.

    Sigh.

    I understand that lefties are obsessed by race and sex and what-not, but seriously why is it that they can write any crap and nobody fact checks it or queries what they write?

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    RoHa

    Jo, are you ever going to get back to dealing with climate science vs. “Settled Climate Science”?

    That is what you are good at.

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      Kalm Keith

      RoHa,

      What’s being assessed here; mass manipulation of human kind by distortion of truth, messaging, information gathering and consequent decision making is The Key.

      The Key to seeing what caused Bush fires world wide, Global Warming, Covid 19 Lockdowns, The collapse of Europe thru the EEU and most recently the Presidential Election which has brought the USA into line with democracy in Britain and the EU.

      The understanding of the collapse of democracy and Rule of all Nations by the United Bloody Nations will lead to the disclosure of the truth of the part CO2 does not play in CAGW.

      The Non Science of CO2 is well understood by scientists but is hidden for the same reason that people in Hong Kong sensibly avoid being caught protesting about their government being taken over by China.

      When we see the clear picture, some of it on display now in the US, we may be inclined to collective push our betters to Restore Democracy.

      KK

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        Hold on. I thought all of that was from space lasers.

        I need to revise my fear and loathing.

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          Nadia bin Du Natan

          Dude you need to revise everything. You need to go for a full mental makeover. South American drugs ought not be excluded from this potential personal reformation. You are a serial abuser when it comes to the mentally deficient bad habit of excluding the data, and calling this three monkeys act “skepticism.”

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          Nadia bin Du Natan

          What are your thoughts on SPACE LASERS Gee Aye? Is it your claim that they don’t exist or that they are not used for anything?

          You may have to understand that you are not that bright.

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              Nadia bin Du Natan

              See exactly. You are just clueless. The skeptics movement was another psy. op. It was preceded by an Israeli who was manipulating kids all over the world to bend spoons in front of their parents and pretending they were doing it with their minds. So that international radio campaign became a set up for the Amazing Randi and others to get the completely clueless skeptics movement to get started. Randi wasn’t even a scientist. Didn’t have a scientific bone in his body. He was instead a professional conjurer. In retrospect it was almost definitely another Deep State operation. Randi would go around picking up all this staged low-hanging fruit. Like the time he exposed a supposed Kung Fu artist who made claims to telekinesis. Thereafter his movement set itself up to promote all the mainstream junk science, junk economics and bad health advice they could get their hands on.

              So in fact you have not made a study of space lasers, or the fires that some people think were created by them. The Skeptics movement hates evidence or reason and will ignore both any chance they can get.

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      el gordo

      RoHa I can report with some confidence that this marine heatwave is caused by geothermal heat.

      https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/ocean/surface/currents/overlay=sea_surface_temp_anomaly/orthographic=-150.04,-32.06,265

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      RoHa
      Don’t say that here. It angers certain important people.

      I agree with you — I enjoy reading about leftists misleading, lying, censoring, and manipulating climate data too.

      They behaved the same way before and during the 2020 US election, but that was over on December 16, 2020 — their “CO2 is the devil in the sky” boogeyman seems permanent.

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    David Maddison

    In NZ, the lunatics are in charge of the asylum.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2021/feb/08/the-phallic-necktie-is-an-outdated-symbol-of-white-male-rule-in-new-zealands-parliament

    The phallic necktie is an outdated symbol of white male rule in New Zealand’s parliament

    Claire Robinson

    A piece of clothing that descends from the codpiece and is designed to promulgate white male power should be optional

    Mon 8 Feb 2021 12.00 EST

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      RossP

      No arguments from this Kiwi, David.

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      Saighdear

      …”on giving … “maiden” (another anachronistic term that requires interrogation) speech in parliament, …..”

      Furr guidniss saek ! Maiden voyage, maiden china, …… zwaye wi speke or ow ewe rite it doun

      The Guardian … not a fan of it nor will I be keen to read further….. but then the tantalising part – one needs to keep a finger on the pulse. But WHY? If I’m healthy, do I REALLY need to feel my Pulse all the time? Just because we can, doesn’t / SHOULDN’T mean that I HAVE to …..

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      Len

      Trend Micro blocks this website. Principia etc. It said it is a dangerous site so you need to click on to get to it. 🙂

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        Saighdear

        Oh ? I’ve just clicked on link and also right clicked – all OK in windows10 a good read “…… Any reasonable person performing a point-by-point appraisal of the list provided herein will likely conclude our governments and media are producers of fake news. ……”

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    Susan Fraser

    https://mobile.twitter.com/disclosetv?prefetchtimestamp=1612845544244

    Dr Stella Immanuel demands an apology from Joe Biden for not believing that Hydroxychloroquinine works. (Now that studies are out showing it does)

    Found on this on citizenfreepress.com.

    In another tweet she writes …”put the country on Hydrochloroqunine and I erecting prophylaxis and early treatment and bring this Pandemic to an end. Somebody hear me”

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    Saighdear

    Anyone noticed that some wordpress sites seem to be down? eg pointman, Talbloke, Chefio…….for the past 7-8 hrs at least.

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    Nadia bin Du Natan

    Here is a song that was composed by refugees of the Deep States policy of the relentless gas lighting of the public. I reserve the right to not elaborate, because nothing can be gained by simply going out there, getting in peoples face, and upsetting them all the time. Great song. He’s convincing the other three to stop grieving.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qrDlRsARwk

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      Saighdear

      Them? Hmm, was never a fan of that kinda music. THIS “GASLIGHTING” thing … ‘thanks in part to the popularity of reality TV programmes. To ‘gaslight’ someone is to make them constantly doubt themselves, their actions……’ Well, i have better things to do than watch such “rubbish” – their lifestyle is so not applicable to my way of life …. but unfortunately we end up in a situation of basically speaking a different language….. AND it seems that the Politico ELites speak something compleely different – of Opposites, even. Huuh, talk of getting one’s mind warped. screwed, maybe – or in an engineering context which never occured to me: as in Screwed Rod = Threaded rod – unless it was the wrong Threaded Nutter working on it – in which case it became truly screwed. Talk about ALice thru’ the Looking Glass. – Just for a bit of Needle! haaah!

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        Nadia bin Du Natan

        Saighdear the big reveal came with the fab fours best song. The extended version of my guitar gently weeps really gives the whole game away. But you’d never guess it unless you knew the game. The normal version is there for all of us to listen to at any time of the day or the night. But the extended version can be very difficult to find.

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        el gordo

        ‘ … unless it was the wrong Threaded Nutter working on it …’

        That would be the nut behind the bolt.

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          Saighdear

          Och mann! this whole gaslighting thread looking thru’ the Glass… doesn’t help me – looking thru the wrong end or that someone has already been at it and turned the lenses around: lost the objective and so then dependendent upon your POV is it Right-handed or Lefthanded, never mind if ACME products was ( not were ) involved or just a bastard job. There is a metric for these cases but blow me, I can’t find it.
          Now there are Snowflakes again: whilst SE England has stupid “beastie from the easting”, we have a regular ( though irregular) wintry spell with Foot nalf of sow behind us and at around sea-level it’s only a couple of inches over 2 days; the salt keeps it in check.
          Yes Foot nalf reminds me of aconversation when guy bought eggs from a BHS store in Aberdeen, YEARS ago – thought hey were affy cheap bought 1 +half a dozen no wonder they were so cheap and the funny look from the Counterstaff for that request ( eggs were sold loose at the time !) ( Answer: he bought how many?) Alice! get out of here!

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    Nadia bin Du Natan

    Here is another song that came out of Deep State gas lighting. Here Paul II seems to be doing some compositional doodling inspired by annoying upper class twits showing up … they could be from the BBC, or the Tavistock institute or MI6 or the foreign office …. It doesn’t really matter. Just these upper class troglodytes coming around, and trying to get their assets working for goals that would have seemed insane.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DupyAkOZLYA

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      David Maddison

      https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/covid-cases-plummet-after-who-changes-testing-protocol-on-bidens-inauguration-day

      COVID cases plummet after WHO changes testing protocol on Biden’s Inauguration Day

      On January 20, the day of Joe Biden’s inauguration and entrance into the White House, the World Health Organization (WHO) quietly issued new guidance on the manner in which polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests were to be conducted and reported.

      February 8, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – Days after the World Health Organization changed the protocol for confirming a positive COVID-19 test, the number of positive cases across the world have dropped dramatically, leaving the mainstream media confused and leading people to suggest that the timing of the change in testing protocol was political.

      On January 20, the day of Joe Biden’s inauguration and entrance into the White House, the World Health Organization (WHO) quietly issued new guidance on the manner in which polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests were to be conducted and reported. It warned against reporting someone as having COVID-19, just because the test had been positive, when they did not actually present with any symptoms. The WHO also raised concerns about the “risk of false positive” tests.

      In a surprising statement, the WHO described PCR tests merely as an “aid for diagnosis” without placing any greater weight upon the results of PCR tests, pointing the testers to examine real life evidence, such as symptoms.

      “Most PCR assays are indicated as an aid for diagnosis, therefore, health care providers must consider any result in combination with timing of sampling, specimen type, assay specifics, clinical observations, patient history, confirmed status of any contacts, and epidemiological information,”the WHO stated.

      Reporting on the news at the time, theU.K. based website Lockdown Sceptics, wrote that the news vindicated the warnings of likeminded “sceptics,” who had been “ridiculed for questioning the accuracy of the PCR test, referring to the risk of false positives when prevalence is low and urging the Government to carry out confirmatory second tests on those that test positive.”

      See link for rest.

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        Saighdear

        so was there gaslighting there, too? I am sure I was aware of that: and in anycase from what I’ve been reading and UNDERSTAND, I too would say that the “results”are political.

        Aye, Protocols. ….. when it suits. Now what clothes, or should I be asking, which ( or what) Suit is the king wearing ( when / today) ?
        Between he MSM and social media, talking in the vernacular causes more confusion and squirm room.

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        Anton

        Tedros, the lead singer of the WHO.

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      Hanrahan

      My parents raised a polite son so I will politely step aside and allow someone else to take my place in the queue.

      Blindness and brain injury [stroke]!!!! Ya kiddin me. And how is “sudden death” a “side” effect?

      Over the years many billions of doses of HCQ and ivermectin have been administered, I’m sure they are safer than this even when supplied over the counter. I genuinely believe my reading tells me that IVM prophylactic protection equals or exceeds “the jab”. I would be happy to take it monthly instead of the vax.

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    John of Cloverdale, WA, Australia

    My friend from Houston sent me this.
    The popular fake President.

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      Len

      Hello John. Is it possible to access that link without going to Facebook? I have not visited Facebook or Twitter since the 3rd of November 2020. I look forward to your reply.

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      Saighdear

      This content isn’t available at the moment
      When this happens, it’s usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people or changed who can see it, or it’s been deleted.
      Go Back
      Visit Help Centre

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    RicDre

    Delingpole: Green Jobs Collapse in Germany and Go to China Instead. What a Surprise!

    ‘Green jobs’ in the German renewables sector have collapsed by 50 per cent in less than a decade. No prizes for guessing where they’ve gone instead – but here’s a clue: it begins with ‘C’ and ends with ‘-hina’.

    There are two key points to be made here. First, China is not remotely interested in green issues — or ‘clean’ energy — except insofar as it enables it to gain a competitive advantage over the West while it continues full steam ahead with its fossil fuel-powered industries.

    Second, the ‘green jobs’ promised by everyone from President Joe Biden to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson as one of the benefits of their proposed Net Zero revolutions are a myth. Or, if you prefer, a blatant lie.

    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2021/02/09/delingpole-green-jobs-collapse-in-germany-and-go-to-china-instead-what-a-surprise/

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    another ian

    “Delingpole: Green Jobs Collapse in Germany and Go to China Instead. What a Surprise!”

    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2021/02/09/delingpole-green-jobs-collapse-in-germany-and-go-to-china-instead-what-a-surprise/

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    Anton

    Is it the case that a hand recount confirmed the election results in Georgia, so that all of the claims of hacking counting machines visa the internet and of dubious adjudications are false, at least in that state? The election might still have been stolen by getting voting slips into the count that ought not to have been there, but those maps of internet hackery into Georgia from the outside world – where did they come from and should that claim now be discounted form the same source in other states? Information please!

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      Chad

      A “hand count” could be anything.
      It could be a simple check of the “quantity” of slips (Or at leat of those given to the counters, !)….through a range of sampling methods to verify validity of the vote.
      BUT. It is very unlikely to have been a detailed inspection of each vote ballot slip to verify its validity in any one of multiple possible ways.
      A simple hand count would at best just confirm the FINAL quantity of votes for each party.
      It would not detect a interjection of invalid votes from fake sources.
      Only a full detailed inspection of each vote slip , by an independent party,. . Could do that.
      But, as you have demonstrated, it would throw smokescreen of validity over what could still be a croc of 5h1t. !

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    Dennis

    EV on highway – Goulburn NSW a couple of years ago, as I drove my 4WD diesel onto the Hume Highway heading south a Tesla S sedan pulled in behind me, my vehicle travelling at a real (speed adjusted for speedo error) of 110 KMH on cruise control. The Tesla was a little too close for comfort and legal distancing, obviously using my vehicles slipstream to conserve energy.

    At a road repair site the Tesla was blocked by several cars through the slow zones and when back to highway speed limit quickly caught up and tailgated again.

    But when we reached a heavy transport vehicle on a long hill the Tesla pulled out to overtake my vehicle, actually the idiot pulled alongside my vehicle and went no faster. Over the hill the Tesla dropped back, I overtook the truck and again the tailgating recommenced.

    Travelling again at a real 110 KMH with the Tesla “trailer” behind after about 20 minutes the Tesla began to fall back and I soon realised that the driver was worried about the battery energy level and was slowing to the under 80 KMH which is apparently the most economical speed to maximise range.

    I felt somewhat sorry for the two people in the Tesla S who were no doubt suffering range anxiety and hoping that they reached a recharge station.

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    CHRIS

    Sign of cooling = more El Nina’s and less El Nino’s. However the cooling trend is more noticeable, the jet stream behaviour being an important (but not the only) factor. Coupled with solar activity and cyclical climate (ie: end of the Modern Warming Period), the trend for the rest of the 21st Century is a slow cooling (no matter how much CO2 is present in the atmosphere).

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