Tuesday Open Thread

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161 comments to Tuesday Open Thread

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    OldOzzie

    Media Buried Lede That Kerry ‘Ratted’ on Israeli Covert Ops to Iran; GOP Demands Action

    As we reported earlier, a leaked audio tape has now revealed that John Kerry, who is a “special envoy” to Joe Biden on climate, allegedly ratted out Israeli covert operations to Iran’s foreign minister, Javad Zarif.

    John Kerry was ratting out Israeli covert operations in Syria directly to the Iranian foreign minister. Let that sink in. Wow. https://t.co/lmzhamTWFf pic.twitter.com/DzMAHAJeGy

    — Noah Pollak (@NoahPollak) April 26, 2021

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      TdeF

      So that’s not a bouffant hair style. It’s a rat’s nest.

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      Dennis

      He has that Slim Shady appearance.

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      OldOzzie

      John Kerry faces calls to resign over allegations of leaking Israeli intel to Iran

      ‘It’s unfathomable that any U.S. diplomat, past or present, would leak intelligence to the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism’

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      OldOzzie

      John Kerry’s Daughter Married Iranian National; Best Man Was Son Of Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs

      If he weren’t a corrupt bureaucrat, John Kerry would have recused himself from all negotiations with Iran and for that matter, Israel. Instead, his leadership has proven an epic disaster of foreign policy for the United States, especially in the Middle East.

      But why?

      Family and personal wealth before country. That mantra has served Sec. of State John Kerry well during his decades of public service.

      Kerry’s daughter Vanessa is married to an Iranian national and physician. His best man at the ceremony was the son of M@hammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs. Zarif was also and Kerry’s chief counterpart in the nuclear deal negotiations. Cozy crew.

      Look no further why Kerry hates Israel and has green lighted billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars to Iran to build its nuclear arsenal. And don’t forget about the millions of dollars paid to Iran in ransoms to get our American hostages back.

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      Harves

      “It was former US Foreign Secretary John Kerry who told me Israel had launched more than 200 attacks on Iranian forces in Syria,” Zarif said (as reported in the NY Times).
      But now the Leftist media is going into overdrive saying that these attacks were all already reported in the media so Kerry did nothing wrong.
      They want you to believe that the Iranian Foreign Minister apparently only thought that John Kerry told him something about 200 attacks when he’d actually read it in the paper. Seriously.
      Kerry has form.
      If this information was found in a Dossier paid for by Democrats the CIA and FBI would be all over it.

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    OldOzzie

    Energy chief Richard Van Breda quits in coal row

    The head of Queensland’s largest power company has quit after facing internal criticism over his comments last week that it was planning to transition from a ­dependence on coal to renewables.

    After almost 10 years as the state-owned Stanwell Corporation’s chief executive officer, Richard Van Breda resigned without explanation on Friday — two days after telling a future energy summit in Gladstone of planning to “retire” the state’s major coal-fired power generators.

    The corporation’s generators — Stanwell, Tarong and Tarong North, with the latter two fed by its own Meandu coalmine — are among the country’s youngest coal-fired power plants and are not scheduled to close for up to two decades.
    Read Next

    Stanwell employs about 1000 people at its plants and mine in central Queensland, where the debate over climate change and risk to jobs in the transition from coal to renewables has been a ­recurring issue across a string of marginal seats at state and federal elections.

    The comments sparked anger within the local community and mining and electrical unions.

    Mr Van Breda quit after a meeting with Stanwell chairman Paul Binsted and before the Palaszczuk Labor government — which has a 2030 target for 50 per cent renewable energy — distanced itself from the comments on Monday.

    Mr Van Breda released a statement last Wednesday before the conference in which he touted Stanwell’s “plans to shift towards renewable energy and storage in the coming years’’.

    “Australia is undergoing a major energy transition and it’s happening at a rapid pace,” he said. “Over the coming years, Stanwell will respond to the ­renewable energy needs of our large commercial and industrial customers through the introduction of new low- or zero-emission generation technologies.

    “Stanwell recognises that over time the changes it has to make to its business, in order to remain relevant to its customers, would ­affect the futures of its people and its asset communities.

    “We are taking early steps to bring our people, communities, unions and government together to put plans in place. These plans will help ensure that as we eventually retire our coal-fired assets from service, our people have choices in relation to retraining, redeployment and — where it is their preference — retirement.’’

    All three of the plants have technical end-of-life dates of ­between 2037 and 2042.

    It was reported last week that Stanwell had issued a statement that “it is likely” the plants would be retired earlier than the scheduled dates. That statement could not be found on Monday.

    When asked if he had been asked to resign over his comments, Mr Van Breda said: “The decision to resign from Stanwell was mine alone.”

    Queensland Energy Minister Mick de Brenni said there were no plans to shut the power stations.

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      RickWill

      It appears the Queensland government is caught between a rock and a hard place. Philosophically wedded to the green agenda but politically tied to their labour roots.

      Keeping coal plants open makes it difficult to respond to the increasing lunchtime generation from rooftop solar. Queensland does not have much wind but there is a growing capacity in rooftop solar that reduces the ability of coal generators to make a living. Inevitably electricity prices will rise.

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        TdeF

        The Greens have nowhere to go. They are absolutely wedded to Labor and cannot support the Conservatives. So why chase them? Similarly with Labor, playing to the Green voters and just empowers them and destroys Labor’s traditional manufacturing workers’ base completely. Closing coal power plants is just nuts and only loses votes. As if it was not obvious, this just drives Labor voters to vote anything but Labor or Liberal, as Palmer and Hansen know.

        Malcolm Turnbull nearly lost an election trying to form his own Turnbull’s Liberals in coalition with the Greens to destory both Labor and the Liberals. It exploded the day before the election when Richard Di Natale reneged and Turnbull nearly lost an overwhelming mandate given to Tony Abbott on the basis that only Turnbull could win an election. Many of the turncoat Liberals lost their jobs that day. Exactly like Gillard, traitor Malcolm held on by only one seat.

        Nationally Labor rarely win a seat without Green preferences where Liberals win mostly by an absolute majority. So it is complete folly for the Liberals and Labor to try to please the Green voters. And completely unnecessary.

        Meanwhile as in so many countries, Labor and Conservatives are suffering under ridiculously high electricity prices, masses of hidden taxes, interference in every project. And now we are building WWII diesel submarines to please the Greens. Perhaps $250Billion. And a pump water uphill project at $12Billion. And where is that $444Million in cash gifted to Turnbull’s friends, without even an application.

        The Federal politicians are throwing away money trying to buy Green votes. It has to stop.

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          TdeF

          My feeling is that most Green voters are traditional Labor voters of the next generation and do not have the working class values of their parents and they are wedded to the idea that Labor is not doing enough to save the planet. A planet which the media tells them every day needs to be saved. And why would anyone lie to them?

          And they believe the Conservatives are just greedy capitalists or extreme right wing nut jobs, Fascists. The reality is that Hitler’s Fascists, like Mussolini’s, were extreme Socialists. They only differed from Stalin’s communists in that they were in bed with the capitalists who funded their parties and the leaders made fortunes from socialism and lived like Princes. WWII was the war against socialists. And all the later wars have been wars against Communists. As the people of East Germany knew, socialist is what totalitarians call themselves.

          I find it amazing after a century of mass murder by Nazis and socialists and communists that anyone believes it is a preferable system which promotes peace and equality. This is why real history is not to be taught at school or university. America is dealing with a flood of Venezuelan refugees today. It was a first world country before socialism. Now food, petrol, medicine are only for the ruling party and the people are sick and starving.

          Personally I am aghast that the Liberals are chasing Green votes. Green leaders are avowed communists. Adam Bandt in Australia in particular. However I do understand on the world stage we have to play the game laid out by Biden’s minions, the UN and EU. And Morrison is doing a great job of playing to that audience while refusing to raise taxes.

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            Dennis

            Remember the group of tennis club players who were referred to as “doctor’s wives”?

            Interviewed at their exclusive eastern suburbs of Sydney tennis courts by a political journalist the majority admitted that they intended to vote for the Greens and asked their reasons all of them said “environmental”.

            An example of “simple folk” in political terms who see the Greens window dressing and hear their propaganda but have no idea that the Greens are on the far-left of the political spectrum, often called “Watermelons” (green outside – red inside).

            Like National Parks & Wildlife, UN Agenda 21 – Sustainability: State lands converted to National Parks to protect them for “future generations”, but what about today? Inside National Parks exploiting minerals and energy reserves is not permitted, no new dams, no sustainable logging for the timber industry and customers, etc.

            Former Coalition Federal Government Treasurer, Howard Government, Peter Costello was once reported in The Weekend Australia after he returned from a visit to Europe commenting on his discussions with a former German Government Minister for Foreign Affairs, a European Green. Costello was not willing to talk about everything they discussed but did say that the German considers that Australian Greens are far left of international greenism.

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              OriginalSteve

              If you read the greens agenda, from a conservatives point if view, its a sump pit of pretty much everything a conservative would find repugnant….

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            Tilba Tilba

            I seriously think you need to read history rather more … your analysis is not correct.

            I am an old-fashioned Labor voter from the 70s-80s – in fact a branch member in a number of places. I have been a Green voter at least since the 1993 federal election – with Labor my second preference every time.

            I do this because I believe in the big-brush stuff that the Greens believe in: global warming caused by fossil-fuel burning, massive pollution, habitat destruction, species extinction, and so much else.

            Personally I don’t understand how anybody who really cares about our country and the planet, can NOT vote for the Greens … but it seems there are plenty who do not.

            I trust you all sleep really well each night.

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        graham dunton

        And the labor root have been supporting that agenda, having a bob both ways.Palychooks, Queensland is governed by unions. yet they are a minuscule percentage of the population. yes friction is now occurring, between the right to work or be controlled, by the two faceless few

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        Robber

        If you look at Qld electricity generation over the last week that averaged 7,100 MW, coal provided 78%, solar 10%, gas 7%, hydro 3%, wind 2%. And 10% was exported to NSW.
        But in the middle of Monday, solar provided 35% of demand, forcing gas to shutdown, and coal to reduce to 64% or 4,500 MW, and then ramp up to 6,700 MW in the evening.

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          Robber

          While in NSW coal provided 78% of demand for the week, and 80% in Vic.
          Do the environmentalists have any idea what keeps the lights on?

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            TdeF

            With environmentalists the lights are on but nobody’s home. Cosy middle class vegan inner city public servants virtue signalling with other people’s money. All concern and no responsibility. Our society is the cleanest, healthiest, least damaging, most environmentally friendly in history. And you can thank coal for that.

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              Hanrahan

              I would think that the least controversial thing anyone could say is that the World has only advanced in the last 100+ years because of cheap energy, without which we could NOT support our population.

              The converse is that the World cannot continue to thrive without cheap, abundant energy and a regression to an agrarian economy would be inevitable and painful for humans and harness animals alike. Horses would have to work all day, every day, not just run fast for a few minutes a few times a year. Surely this too is incontrovertible with the only debate being how far and how fast the collapse occurs.

              What I don’t understand is why some people, professional students among them, think they are exempt from the selection process to get a seat on the lifeboat, think telephone cleaners in “Hitchhikers’ Guide”. “Useful idiots” need not apply.

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          RickWill

          It is the ramping up and down that kills coal. It increases maintenance and forces unit cost up. Eventually another coal power station will fall of the perch to be primarily replaced by gas that is not as costly to swing up and down and uses a more expensive fuel.

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            Hanrahan

            Early this morn SA was burning “liquid fuel” which I assume means diesel generators. Isn’t that the most expensive generation by a big margin?

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    Hanrahan

    The southern states on the eastern grid could NOT afford to have Qld close down its coal plants. None are meeting their own demand ATM and SA is getting 4% of demand from wind.

    If Qld ceased meeting demand of the mendicant states their own govs would have to face the music. As it stands we make a profit selling south which shows as a small discount on my bill.

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      GARETH LEWIS

      Be careful with your “mendicant” insult when the rest of us shall fund half of your Olympics effort and just about all your tourism.

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      yarpos

      QLD power doesnt do much for anything South of Sydney, dont get delusions of grandeur

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        Disco Stu

        Actually Yarpos, QLD power is feed into the NSW grid to allow NSW to export to SA and VIC. South of Sydney might not receive QLD electrons but NSW only produces enough for NSW so effectively SA and VIC are powered by QLD.

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        Hanrahan

        When did electrons cease being fungible? Qld power means all Newcastle power can go south. OK, not “all” but you know what I mean. 🙂

        At 2:35 NSW is 1gW short of their own demand with most of that shortfall coming from Qld. Nothing unusual in this.

        I’ve just noticed that Stu is making this point as well.

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    el gordo

    Uh oh …

    ‘Foreign Minister Marise Payne is reviewing more than 1,000 China-related deals, including a 99-year lease on the Port of Darwin.

    “If it’s not in our national interest, then obviously she’ll act,” Mr Dutton said.’ (ABC)

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      Dennis

      Port of Darwin is owned by the Northern Territory and that Government is responsible for signing the Lease with the Chinese shipping firm.

      What is almost always ignored is other ports around Australia leased to Chinese business interests, and other assets.

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        el gordo

        We should be careful not to interfere with the free market, China is ninth on the list of foreign investors in Australia, but over the past couple of years they have been scaling back because of the souring relation. The energy sector is of concern.

        ‘A number of Australian energy companies, for example, are owned by Chinese firms. EnergyAustralia, despite its name, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hong Kong-based China Light and Power Co Ltd, while Alinta Energy is owned by Chow Tai Fook Enterprises.’ (News.com)

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        TdeF

        Not so sure. It is a Territory, not a state. Even a state, potentially under the Constitution the deal may be illegal.

        There are a few things you can sell though, the physical infrastructure of the port, equipment and buildings, the trading business of the port, the rights to charge fees and the Crown land on which it is situated. So this deal may be considered to be with a foreign Government entity in control of defence critical Australian resources and therefore not within the right of the alleged vendor to sell without Federal permission and perhaps with rights of revocation anyway.

        I expect ultimately if Canberra decides the deal is illegal or dangerous militarily, it will be reversed. Federation ceded such rights to international defence, trade, customs, bonds, currency to the Commonwealth. Like Dictator Dan’s deal, it is likely illegal without passing special laws in Canberra. They might have to give the money back though. Take it off the pumping water uphill deal?

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          TdeF

          And Dear Leader Daniel Andrews claimed that we in Victoriastan would receive billions in his private secret deal with the Chinese Communist Party. So what was he selling exactly? No one gives billions for nothing.

          And his offical reason for the deal was that we in Victoria had no assets. Really? Which is true as he will not allow us to sell coal, gas, timber and he is shutting all manufacturing and tripled the State price of coal. So what was he selling for ‘billions’ and jobs? And what would the CCP be buying? They don’t need the people.

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            el gordo

            Premier Ji wanted to begin the Belt and Road in Melbourne, a 600 kph bullet train to Beijing, but the idea has lost traction.. This was six months ago in the Age, you can see their thinking.

            ‘The Chinese company which won the $2.3 billion contract to build Melbourne’s new train fleet is central to President Xi Jinping’s controversial Belt and Road Initiative and was recently blacklisted by the US government due to the security risks posed by its ties to the Chinese government.

            ‘CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles, which beat local bids in 2016 to win the contract to build 65 new high-capacity metro trains, is a subsidiary of major Chinese state-owned rolling stock manufacturer CRRC and has been identified as a beneficiary of Uighur labour.’

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    David Wojick

    My strategic analysis of the Climate Summit and Biden’s wacky climate agenda:

    https://www.cfact.org/2021/04/24/the-biden-climate-summit-speeding-up-to-hit-the-wall-harder/

    Longer than my usual article but there is so much material. As Will Rogers said “It is easy to be a comedian when you have the whole Government working for you.”

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      This is one of the best climate articles I’ve read so far this year … and I read at least 10 science and energy articles every day of the week.

      I think the article supports my favorite quote about politicians:

      “Politics is the art
      of looking for trouble,
      finding it everywhere,
      diagnosing it incorrectly,
      and applying the
      wrong remedies.”
      Groucho Marx

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        David Wojick

        Thanks! Enjoy the crash. Of course we all have to help make it happen. This blog does a lot of that.

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    MP

    Bidens plan to end Beef by 2030, cause you know climate change https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpX9KyZRqVU

    Another on the same subject https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b98_Ue0sS2A

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    Hanrahan

    The southern states on the eastern grid could NOT afford to have Qld close down its coal plants. None are meeting their own demand ATM and SA is getting 4% of demand from wind.

    If Qld ceased meeting demand of the mendicant states their own govs would have to face the music. As it stands we make a profit selling south which shows as a small discount on my bill.

    An hour later [forgot to post] it’s not so bad, solar has taken over some load but wind has collapsed.

    https://www.windy.com/?-31.097,133.397,4,i:pressure

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    RicDre

    And now for a change of pace:

    First Aerial Color Image of Mars

    From NASA

    Apr 23, 2021

    …the first color image of the Martian surface taken by an aerial vehicle while it was aloft. The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter captured it with its color camera during its second successful flight test on April 22, 2021. At the time this image, Ingenuity was 17 feet (5.2 meters) above the surface and pitching (moving the camera’s field of view upward) so the helicopter could begin its 7-foot (2-meter) translation to the west – away from the rover. The image, as well as the inset showing a closeup of a portion of the tracks the Perseverance Mars rover and Mars surface features, demonstrates the utility of scouting Martian terrain from an aerial perspective.

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/04/25/first-aerial-color-image-of-mars/

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    • #
      hypersonic

      how does a helicopter fly in a very thin atmosphere i wonder?

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      • #
        TdeF

        Lots of blades and 3x the speed of rotation and super light weight.

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          hypersonic

          yes ok but you still need to generate lift and at 0.02KG/m3 you wont get much if any

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            TdeF

            The proof is that it flies at all. And no one was sure that it would. I am sure that many people did the calculations and it’s not too hard to simulate the environment in a vacuum chamber. There are plenty for a trial flight, a least to lift off. The combination of ambient temperature, air pressure, dust and even air chemistry would have been unpredictable factors.

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    graham dunton

    I posted this late, into yesterday topic.

    But This is important to view, how much of these US political shenanigans, has it cost Australia and many other countries?

    And yes, in our case, it gets back too the due diligence by our politicians.
    There were early warning signs, but not reported purposely, by the compliant media.

    John Cullen – CDC Changes Comorbidity Data
    CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION
    CDC Changes Comorbidity Data?
    John Cullen Breaks the Case Wide Open, Again…
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZshpYUwNRY&t=68s

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      Chris

      Thank you Graham, I have sent the link on to family members who think I make this kind of stuff up. Three coroners from three different states explained how the death certificates had been changed. This was about April /May last year and yet nobody in the MSM found this interesting.

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      John R Smith

      Surprised YT is leaving this up.
      Guess it doesn’t matter now since the plan worked.
      100s of thousands of people in the streets of London doesn’t even phase them.

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    MP

    Goes with yesterdays thread, I don’t know where I got the link, it may of been from the comments on this Blog?
    https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1380184753580597249.html

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    graham dunton

    Another beauty this morning,
    see Josh’’20 cartoon, there should be many tee shirts in circulation with this on?

    gwpf-Andrew Montford- Net Zero is a disaster waiting to happen

    https://www.thegwpf.com/net-zero-is-a-disaster-waiting-to-happen/

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      RickWill

      One thing to learn is that it pays to take advantage of any subsidy on offer no matter how ideologically opposed to it. Of course any expenditure needs to provide a return but it does not take much to better interest rates.

      All the money that goes into fossil fuel alternatives reduces the real cost of fossil fuels. But beware government taxes on them.

      It is really, really hard to wean off fossil fuels. It will inevitable take a long time. Their abundance will come under increasing pressure as the 21st century unfolds. Even uranium for nuclear fission has supply limitations if it becomes the fuel of choice.

      By the end of this century there could be a desperate need to have fusion energy on earth.

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        OriginalSteve

        All you have to do is ask this simple question :

        “With what is being proposed – will it collapse or damage our way of life as a 1st world country?”

        Pretty much the globalist agenda is to do away with 95% of humanity…..

        Spotted on a university campus today – a clueeless call to student lead economic hari kiri
        “End fossil fuels”

        Yep…doesnt get much dumber than that….

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    MP

    https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2020/07/phln-guidance-on-nucleic-acid-test-result-interpretation-for-sars-cov-2.pdf

    A PCR reaction amplifies a highly specific target region of the SARS-CoV-2 genome. Each amplification
    reaction is known as a cycle, and usually 35-45 cycles are undertaken. The Ct value of a reaction is the
    cycle number when the fluorescence of a PCR product can be detected above the background signal
    (Figure 1). Whilst extending the number of cycles beyond 40 may increase the sensitivity of the assay, it
    may also increase the risk of false positivity due to non-specific amplification. This may be identified by
    assessing the Ct value (usually high), shape of the amplification curve and/or performing a melt curve
    analysis.

    35-45 cycles of amplification in Aus PCR’s

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      hypersonic

      anything above 15 cycles is rubbish and you dont have the virus its just noise, remember each cycle doubles the amplification eg 1,2,4,8.16 so 15 cycles is amplification by 16,384 times 35 cycles equates to amplification by 17,179,869,184 times hence its just noise

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      • #

        more than 10,000 tests in Australia yesterday. All but 4 were negative therefore 4 must have been rubbish. Weird that all 4 were people in quarantine who were on the same flight from India.

        Ha, random.

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          hypersonic

          What was the total CT count on those 4 positive test………….whats that you dont know?
          Did they test positive after the 15 CT cycle?………….whats that you dont know?

          Take your gibberish elsewhere fool

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            So 10000 other tests that were negative – somehow didn’t have this problem and the linked cases is a coincidence? Got it. I must be a foolish gibberish scientist.

            btw – the issue with >35 cycles (so up until then there is no issue) or so is more to do with enzyme fidelity than with too many cycles. As such false positives due to cycle number can be weeded out in almost all cases as they have a signature that is indicative of the cause. Many labs have a system of real time monitoring of positives so that most reactions don’t need to continue beyond the 20-30 range but will continue of the positive is weak and needs assessment.

            False positives due to contamination are more difficult and when identified (as they will be via assessment of transmission) the contaminant has to be identified and removed before the lab continues.

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            • #

              *sample and system contamination will be evident even with low cycle numbers.

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              hypersonic

              o 10000 other tests that were negative – somehow didn’t have this problem

              What problem? more gibberish from the fool

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                Peter C

                Actually I think Gee Aye is making a reasonable point.
                If there were 10,000 PCR tests performed in Australia and only 4 were positive it means that the false positive rate must be very low.

                The false negative rate could be higher but any real cases should declare themselves with symptoms and would be tested again. I have not heard of any of those.

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                Are you saying that the 4 people recently arrived in hotel Q were not infected with covid? 4 people from India?

                SMH

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              MP

              My comments about corruption in US labs relate to claims that some use 40 cycles to find a positive test. I have not pursued that, as I assume many other people are. If they do 40 cycles +, I assume it is corruption.

              Jonova

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                James

                I enquired about what the cycle count was locally. One independent laboratory uses 40. A large hospital uses 45. I guess they want to keep the positivity rate up to keep the funding coming in.

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              • #

                Lets examine the Australian test rate

                https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert/coronavirus-covid-19-current-situation-and-case-numbers#covid19-summary-statistics

                last 24 hours 71000 tests and 25 positives. 23 of those in people recently returned from overseas, 2 under investigation. Note that “under investigation” cases will be retested and are likely to be traced to previous cases so there is no reason to suspect they are a spurious PCR result.

                What would the rate be if they dropped the number of cycles do you think?

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                MP

                Hey I just copy pasted from a comment by the Blog owner.

                News just in, A gas tanker off the QLD coast is riddled with the Rona, 11 of the 12 crew tested positive to the worlds most deadly disease, the one negative was emergency evacuated to safety.
                None of the crew showed symptoms, a body of one of the crew members washed ashore in Vanuatu, the corpse tested positive to the lethal virus, this body showed all the symptoms of death.
                The disease is now developed into a strain so contagious, so lethal it is now disposing of the bodies.

                We are doomed and no one will ever know!

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        17,179,869,184 assumes 100% efficiency in every cycle. How good is PCR!

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          hypersonic

          This is not a difficult concept to grasp.

          If you have a high viral load and most likely feeling very unwell you will have a positive result from the PCR test by the 15th cycle perhaps even after 20 cycles however if you have to amplify the sample 17,179,869,184 times before you get a positive result then its simply a false positive.

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      Peter C

      It is weird.

      I can well believe that the Capital guard and shooter was a militant. That would explain why he took part in that elaborate pantomime. Lots of other actors also involved including Ashli Babbit herself. All briefed before hand and talking their queues from the video producer – JadenX.

      What I find hard to understand is why everyone is taking the shooting as established fact.

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        hypersonic

        Well the video shows a gun and a bang noise then Ashli gently falls to the ground ensuring her back pack is well positioned to act like a pillow, everyone around her continued to behave like she was lying down having a rest as if she was not shot at all. Its all legit whats there to question?

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    MP

    They are trying to ban pig hunting with dogs in Australia, because its cruel.
    Nature is a far better more gentle form of culling.

    This is a bit brutal, so if you are a bit soft don’t watch.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbfE_VVs1Bw

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      Maptram

      A couple of months ago I watched one of those feel good videos on FB, one of the ones about animal rescue. The one I watched was about an antelope in a river in Africa, being attacked by a crocodile. The crocodile was chased away by hippos, and the antelope ran away, so the antelope was rescued. However, as it ran it was evident that it was limping, with an injury to a back leg. So, while the antelope escaped the crocodile, it would most likely soon have been dinner for lions or hyenas or both.

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      ross

      Comparing pig hunting with dogs to nature is no justification, humans are much better than that otherwise we are just animals. Hunting with dogs can be a long drawn out process in which the pig is panicked and terrified over a period of time often with multiple bales with dogs targeting the ears and testicles. Ive been a hunter for most of my life and every hunter knows about the wounded animals they lose particularly ducks and shotguns. So lets not gloss over the fact thatsome animals do suffer slow deaths in the name of sport. Pig hunting with dogs is the same as fox hunting now banned in the UK.

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    Peter Fitzroy

    Should patents on virus be lifted, allowing a rapid ramp up of antivirals? After all the current antivirals have been the most profitable drugs in history, and their development and sale were and are paid for by taxpayers.

    Or is it better to let companies make those profits?

    Red for fairness, green for capitalism

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      hypersonic

      You are confusing GREED for capitalism and therefore i refuse to pick a color

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      Sceptical Sam

      A patent is a private property right. That’s a fundamental cornerstone of the free, democratic and competitive system where the rule of law takes precedence.

      It’s only in the socialist and communist totalitarian mindset that it’s justified to expropriate private property rights.

      On the other hand, if the government really wants to patent to be free and open slather, let it buy the patent holder out.

      Fairness has nothing to do with it.

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        Peter Fitzroy

        Not quite, but you are right – “Fairness has nothing to do with it”. I’m guessing that you would be rejoicing over the deaths in India, as they, because of patents (which were developed on the government dollar) held by the US Drug firms, prevent the rapid ramp up of vaccine manufacture. By the way it is the US and GB who refuse to release the patents during this pandemic.

        But be selfish, it is one of your endearing characteristics

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      R.B.

      Should a company be forced to give up its work so that public money can be spent on academics studying glaciers within a feminist framework?

      Patent laws are there to encourage sharing of work that a lot was invested in. They need to be fine tuned to work in the best interests of everyone but not voided to appease second rate academics.

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        Peter Fitzroy

        Absolutely – except in this case the USA and GB have embargoed those patents, so your statement is just selfish bilge. You prefer death to maintain profits. Where is your moral compass

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          Sceptical Sam

          So what is SII producing Peter?

          Fairyfloss?

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          R.B.

          Embargoed? Talk about bilge. India and South Africa can afford to pay for a license.

          The US President is Biden. The US said no. You single out GB (not UK) when the EU rejected the idea as well.

          How can I lack a moral compass if I don’t make a quid from adding my two cents worth here? Just maybe it’s that I have foresight that you lack.

          That there are vaccines out there is because of breakthroughs by commercial companies who shared their knowledge. The latter is why we have patent laws.

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            Furiously curious

            “That there are vaccines out there is because of breakthroughs by commercial companies who shared their knowledge.”
            I’ve got to call BS on that. Do some reading on Big Pharma. Almost every breakthrough has come from university research. Pharma just buys the researchers and tries to find ways to coral the breakthrough. They have no interest in any illness that is not chronic, where they don’t get to provide long term medication. I guess that’s how the world works, but it’s very red of tooth and claw.

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      MP

      Think you got that wrong Peta, there can’t be patents on something occurs in nature. Are you suggesting this is “gasp” manmade?

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    OldOzzie

    Which Airlines Are Affected By Boeing 737 MAX Electrical Groundings?

    While the latest potential issue with Boeing’s 737 MAX has nothing to do with the issues that kept it out of the air for some 20 months, it can still wreak significant havoc on airline planning. Many of the airlines with planes affected by the security recommendation issued a couple of weeks ago are located in countries yet to recertify the type. Others have, once more, been forced to ground big parts of their 737 MAX fleets.

    Total of 106 planes on the list

    On April 9th, Boeing announced that it had made a safety recommendation to 16 737 MAX operators due to an electrical issue identified on certain aircraft. Several airlines immediately grounded some of their 737 MAXs for inspection and potential corrections to ensure sufficient ground paths for a component of the electrical system.

    Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) gave notice to international air regulators that a total of 106 airplanes were affected by the potential issue. Seventy-one of those aircraft are registered in the US.

    “All of these airplanes remain on the ground while Boeing continues to develop a proposed fix,” the FAA said, as reported by Reuters.

    The administration further added that according to Boeing’s investigation, the affected parts in question were the standby power control unit, a circuit breaker panel, and the main instrument panel.

    But just what airlines are flying the planes the FAA was referring to?

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    Kevin kilty

    In one way or another about 90% of the commentary on this Tuesday open thread is about ignorance. Joakim Book published an essay just in the past couple of days on the American Institute of Economic Research website entitled “The ignorant world and what to do about it.

    Here is a quote that seems pertinent …

    A spectre is haunting the Western world – the spectre of a grossly mistaken understanding of the world.

    British kids have nightmares about the climate. Half of French respondents think it likely that climate change will cause “the extinction of the human race.” American teachers coddle students who have panic attacks when wildfires rage somewhere on the planet. Eco-anxiety has clearly gripped the Western world, but what’s worse is that most people have a dismal outlook on all of humanity’s progress, not just climate change.

    Because slow changes don’t get noticed, and because humans use mental shortcuts to understand the world, we end up with a grossly misinformed view of what is. The late Hans Rosling, the Swedish professor of international health that most of us know as the excited man on YouTube (the one who explains the progress of the world with bubbles and giant blocks), dedicated his life to dispelling these misperceptions. The Gapminder Foundation that now carries on his legacy writes

    “Our ignorance surveys have shown that the general public is misguided about many basic global facts. Reliable global statistics exist for nearly every aspect of global development, but these numbers are not transformed into popular understanding because using and teaching statistics is still too difficult.”

    If I could force just two changes on the educational system in the U.S., and I imagine many who comment here would propose something similar where they live, it would be to insist on a solid course in statistics and inference as well as a course in something like engineering economics* as requirements for graduation, both from high school and college. Frankly I don’t see how self-government will survive as long as the public remain ignorant about what progress the world has made, the cost of proposals to “improve” our societies further; and are unable to look at a graph or table of data and decipher any meaning.

    *-engineering economics contains a mixture of finance, present value or cost/benefit analysis, cost estimating, equities, public finance, taxes, and evaluating risk and uncertainty.

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      tonyb

      I would also teach History and Geography, context, a sense of perspective and logical thinking.

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      Kalm Keith

      A very interesting piece.

      At the moment the world is dancing on a balloon filled with waffle, hot air and lies.

      We have “experts” used as Trojan horses to manipulate our thinking and as long as there are never any consequences for lying we are doomed to live in ignorance

      Eventually that balloon will burst, if it hasn’t already, and we’ll have to start again from scratch.

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    The old ‘fear and guilt’ ( and keep ’em ignorant) trick, it never fails!

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    For March 2021, the UAH global satellite temperature value was -0.01 deg.C when the Mauna Loa CO2 concentration was 417.1 ppm. 38 years earlier the global satellite temperature was slightly warmer at 0.02 deg.C and the CO2 concentration was 343.1 ppm. That is, no significant change in global satellite temperature over the 38 years during which the CO2 concentration increase by 21.6%. Clearly the temperature was not affected by the change in CO2 concentration.

    The relevant time series shows that it is obvious that the monthly satellite global temperature changes are not reflected in the time series for the monthly CO2 concentration. However the global temperature series closely matches the annual rate of change of CO2 concentration and the cumulative temperature series summed over the 41 years of UAH satellite temperature data closely matches the CO2 concentration time series. This is because the temperature determines the rate of generation of CO2. The reverse is not possible as a time rate of change cannot determine a level. Atmospheric CO2 has not, does not and cannot cause temperature change.

    However the policies enunciated by World leaders at the Biden Climate Conference are aimed to stopping CO2 emissions in a futile attempt to change the World climate. It is proposed that the Nations rely solely on renewable energy. That is, at the next major global temperature minimum, thousands if not millions of people will die from cold and starvation due to a complete lack of energy. The wind mills will freeze up and there will not be enough Sun’s radiation to produce power from solar arrays. We do not know when this will happen. It may be next year, next decade, next century or a millennium away but it has happened before and it will happen again.

    The events of the power supply failure in Texas a few months ago was just a precursor to the devastation that will arise from the policies proposed by our World’s leaders. How is it that we put such bone-heads in charge?

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      Tilba Tilba

      LOL – UAH – the global warming deniers go-to data every time. When are you going to look at real (peer-reviewed) data you people?

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        Tilba, global warming deniers is just namecalling in a science debate unless you can provide some evidence we won’t discuss. So no more posts on anything from you until we resolve this. We’ve discussed peer reviewed papers and observational datasets for 12 years here. Now it’s your turn. Or you can apologize for namecalling and agree not to do it again. OK? – Jo

        Before you join the discussion on climate change here you’ll need to do some reading to catch up.
        Here’s 117 posts tagged “Evidence” and there’s a list of 100 papers on this one post alone. Man made Global Warming disproved.

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        el gordo

        ‘When are you going to look at real (peer-reviewed) data …’

        Fitz and me have chosen CET as fair and balanced.

        https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/hadobs/hadcet/graphs/HadCET_graph_ylybars_uptodate_3.gif

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        Paul Miskelly

        “Tilba Tilba”,
        Just to reinforce what Jo is saying:
        I have told Peter Fitzroy several times now that while ever he indulges in name-calling, he has lost the argument.
        The same applies to you, or anyone else. Got it?
        Calling people “deniers” is name-calling. You therefore have lost any argument.
        Now, wake up, grow up: fight on the issue, NEVER the wo/man.
        If you cannot substantiate your opinions with properly peer-reviewed, scholarly papers,
        then I suggest that you forever remain silent.

        Well said, Jo.

        Regards to all,
        Paul Miskelly

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      Kalm Keith

      Thanks Bevan, a good read.

      And, to your question;

      “How is it that we put such bone-heads in charge?”

      We don’t, they take charge and then charge us.

      🙂

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      Furiously curious

      I’m going to try to bogy a graph together of ‘real’ temperatures, and CO2. You know 0*-40*. I’m pretty sure it will look very different from almost every graph we are fed, which shows CO2 levels, with a degree scale of 2* , and marked in 50ths of a degree?.
      Trying to think how to illustrate the world’s average temperature. Could it be like motion capturing our hand movements for a year, and working out their average position. Maybe the next year we might shade our eyes from the sun more, or dig more, so the average position might be a few hundreds of a millimeter higher of lower? It’s sort of hard to pin down the importance of that average, with the daily, seasonal and geographical swings, and with the extinction of weather.
      Where I’m living we haven’t been below the world average temp -14.9ish for 7-8 months. So a Sunday school question is, how come we are all still alive? Climate Sunday schools are where they talk about the Green House. So a dumb answer should allow a dumb question? But from the Jesuit playbook, when they are questioned, it becomes some thing else – climate forcing.

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    All the news not woke enough to print. Aunty Pravda’s rolling news feed of unacceptable articles for the 27th Apr – https://thepointman.wordpress.com/rolling-headlines/ 

    Pointman

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    David Maddison

    For those interested in some wonderful old CO2 producing steam engines and related machinery, the Lake Goldsmith Steam Rally is back, after two or three cancellations due to C-19. May 1st and 2nd, 2021.

    It’s about 2hrs drive from Melbourne, Victoriastan.

    https://www.lakegoldsmithsteamrally.org.au/

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      Kalm Keith

      Thanks for the reminder.
      Just looked up Maitland Steamfest and it’s on this year; September.

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    David Maddison

    Surprisingly, 80-90% of people in India are Vitamin D deficient, with obvious implications for COVID and other infections and conditions.

    https://youtu.be/1Q_mhJRFtxg

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    Jojodogfacedboy

    Why is the US Coast Guard deployed in the Persian Gulf?
    https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/pentagon-reveals-3-hour-long-irgc-swarming-incident-us-vessels-gulf
    I guess everyone assumed they just were security of the United States Coast…

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    CHRIS

    The Biden Climate Conference was based on the idiotic idea that humans are the main cause of CC. Remember that politicians are not scientists, and wouldn’t know what a graph was if they fell over it. They are imbued with the God Complex. The next CC conference in Glasgow will be interesting…I wonder how many hangers-on and trough-snouts will be there? Should be a good carbon imprint.

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    Hanrahan

    Good ole wind! SA, Vic and Tas are generating a total of 69 mW total.

    Windy tells the story: https://www.windy.com/?-31.097,133.397,4,i:pressure

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      Hanrahan

      Now 54 mW and I won’t say “total” for a third time. 🙂

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      John Dawson

      69 milliwatts eh, now that’s what I call real power! Try MW!

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        Hanrahan

        The convention is to capitalise units named after the discoverer such as Watt ONLY.

        Being a radio tech in a previous life I am aware of the anomaly you speak of but only pedants could get confused.

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          Chad

          Hanrahan
          April 28, 2021 at 8:40 am · Reply
          The convention is to capitalise units named after the discoverer such as Watt ONLY

          Rubbish !
          What “convention” is this you refer to ?
          Physics, Science, and Engineering “convention” defines ..
          ”MW”, as MegaWatts , or Millions of Watts,…(Watts x 1000,000s)
          And. “mW”. As milli Watts,…one Thousandth of a Watt.. (Watts x 0.001)

          And i dont need a reference to confirm that… it is Technical Education 101.. !

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            Hanrahan

            Why then a kWh, a convention I have seen 100% of the time, and not a KWH?

            Every tech/engineer I’ve met knows instinctively whether they at at the hot end of a transmitter or trying to find an elusive milliwatt in a receiver.

            I’ll stick with my convention and only capitalise proper names. Thank you for your kind and thoughtful advice.

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              Chad

              OK, but i would advise you to avoid any serious technical conversations with professionals in the Engineering, science or physics fields.
              Or Education , come to that.

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              Chad

              Hanrahan
              April 28, 2021 at 11:24 am · Reply
              Why then a kWh, a convention I have seen 100% of the time, and not a KWH?
              ………
              I’ll stick with my convention and only capitalise proper names.

              kW, kWh, kg, kJ, km, km/h, etc etc is because “k” is the dictated ISO Metric prefix for 1000 times anything.
              So this is “YOUR” own personal convention, ?
              That is like having your own unique language…very tricky when you want to communicate effectively !.
              Dont try using those units in any professional report, proposal, formal paper, or even an exam……..you will be rejected on lack of basic understanding . !

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                Hanrahan

                it is Technical Education 101.

                Working in my trade I always used your convention. An APS20 RADAR sent 2 MW PP to the dish but I looked for mW, well µW actually, in the receiver. Somehow I was smart enough to know I could touch the receiver [not the receiver diode though, static in my fingers could destroy it] but could draw an arc off the thyratron in the transmitter, even if someone used the “wrong” written units. Since being here where we talk ONLY in multiples of units, never fractions, I asked an electrician and he explained that only proper names were capitalised. I know you are smart enough to correct my errors as necessary.

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                Lucky

                General rules are all very well but,
                M means mega, and
                m means milli.

                Similar, see peta, tera, giga, and others.
                To consider, volts, amps, watts.

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    Hanrahan

    It seems Cali can individually check 1.6 million signatures on the Newsom recall petition

    There. That wasn’t so hard was it?

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    another ian

    “”The Problem Is That Your Ideas Are Stupid” – Bill Maher Blasts “Gullible” Millennials”

    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/problem-your-ideas-are-stupid-bill-maher-blasts-most-gullible-millennials

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    Hanrahan

    You guys have got it wrong, you misunderstand youtube.

    Ironic: YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki receives Free Expression Award from pro-First Amendment group
    The awards ceremony was sponsored by YouTube. 🤡

    https://reclaimthenet.org/youtube-ceo-freedom-of-expression-award/

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    Furiously curious

    How about a petition to change the national anthem to “Another Brick In The Wall Pt 2”? You know the song –

    “We don’t need no education, we don’t need no thought control.
    No sarcasm in the classroom, teacher leave them kids alone.
    Hey, teacher leave them kids alone.
    All in all you’re just another brick in the wall.
    All in all you’re just another brick in the wall.”

    It works for me.

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    Furiously curious

    This was the graph that was bugging me, and thank god someone had already done it. Just showing CO2 and temperature in human scale.

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/149157242@N05/49522969057/in/dateposted-public/

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    Long Silver (@NickUnitt) Tweeted:
    @Conservatives @andy4wm We are being played https://t.co/EuR9NGcDC3 https://twitter.com/NickUnitt/status/1387318592677482499?s=20

    Found this tweet by Long Silver over at tallbloke.wordpress.com

    Photos of people dying on the streets in India. First 11 months ago from poisonous chemicals, second from 24 April from Covid19

    Same people wearing the same clothes.

    Thanks to the sharp eyes who found this. I’ll be asking my local Press if they ‘independently verified’ Indians dying in the streets story before ramming it down our throats.

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      Hanrahan

      I don’t wish to be callous but aren’t people dying in Indian streets at the best of times?

      In spite of being one of the most impoverished nations they still did better than the US per capita for a long time.

      I wish them well and hope ScoMo is as good as his word and helps. How? Not sure. I am a broken off cog from the wheel.

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    robert rosicka

    Despite desperate attempts from the Democrats to stop it the Arizona election audit is now in full swing .

    https://www.oann.com/ariz-audit-underway-officials-finding-signs-of-fraud/?fbclid=IwAR00dZ-EIWpZY_gdZhmN1sqNMan_PZ-7tAu_H2NYW81mGzznr83SbOSAxeU

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    Hanrahan

    Apologies to our caring, thinking American correspondents: You are not part of my rant.
    SO
    I am tired of hearing “We are a nation of laws”, and “Everyone WANTS to come to America, the land of the free and rum and Coca Cola.” I don’t know ANYONE personally who wants to join you.

    A/ The government can and will overwhelm you with legal costs so you CANNOT defend yourself using written law as your defence against any trumped up charge.
    B/ Civil asset forfeiture law is still used and abused in many states and federally. Pulled over for any reason by a County officer you have no defence against that copper taking any money or asset in your possession. If the sum is less than $50k, walk away, you’ve lost already. The cop shop needs a new coffee machine.
    C/ Home equity theft. Counties can and do sell up properties for piddlin sums owed in taxes. Any excess over the tax debt is simply absorbed into county revenue. The owner only has EXPENSIVE and probably futile recourse.

    Reference: Steve Lehto at
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOjwAAEO32M

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