Thursday Open Thread

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169 comments to Thursday Open Thread

  • #
    Glen Livingston

    Tucker Carlson at it again.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7cLxs8fNq8

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    • #
      John R Smith

      There’s been no focus on treatment because the the most important thing to the corrupt leadership of our world is not health, it is political opportunity.
      The WHO cares as much about WH as I care about the WHO.

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    • #
      Hanrahan

      No wonder we the great masses have no idea.

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    • #
      Travis T. Jones

      @21.00 minutes, the doctor talks about the Queensland government banning HCQ, ivermectin.
      Great interview.

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      • #
        OriginalSteve

        The gummint mentioned they would be travelling into the red centre to make sure no one escapes….er…is offered a vaccine.

        Im sorry Ill read that again….

        *cough*

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      • #
        sophocles

        Well.

        Vit-D to keep covid and all the other bugs away … ivermectin to kill/cure Covid if it’s ever contracted. What we need now is a highly accurate and cheap and simple test and there’s the household remedy.

        ivermectin goes into the domestic pharmacopoeia — right next to the aspirin.
        Who needs a dangerous annual `vaccine’?
        Just 35mg twice a week for two weeks.

        I can get a 4 litre container from one of my cousins — the dairy farmer. He could add that to his annual stock next time he goes to do the cows. And the dogs. He asked me if I wanted to be told next time he was doing his herd … he could make room for me easily. That should see me through this pandemic and any others. I declined that offer but pointed him to the results in India, which he thought worth knowing.

        He figured he could stop worrying about it — there’s a cure and a cheap one at that. Maybe that’s why he’s never caught it, so far, and his cows have never had it either.

        He did ask if it was effective against the ‘flu. Then he and the family wouldn’t need an `annual’ for that.

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    • #
      tom0mason

      Thank-you Glen Livingston, a real interesting video.

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  • #
    RicDre

    Get Ready for the Ride of Your Life – Waymo Autonomous Taxi Escapes Handlers

    Guest essay by Eric Worrall

    Citizen reporter Joel Johnson documenting some of his hair raising experiences in San Francisco robot taxicabs. Includes video.

    “Waymo self-driving robotaxi goes rogue with passenger inside, escapes support staff”

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/05/18/get-ready-for-the-ride-of-your-life-waymo-autonomous-taxi-escapes-handlers/

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  • #
    Serp

    Whither Bill Gates following the exposure of his relationship with pimp to slebs Jeffrey Epstein?

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  • #
    David Maddison

    I posted this at tue end of the previous thread so perhaps not many people saw it.

    https://thecovidblog.com/2021/05/16/india-turns-to-ivermectin-and-hydroxychloroquine-covid-cases-drop-significantly/

    India: COVID-19 cases plummet as the country turns to Ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine

    May 16, 20216

    UPDATED May 17, 2021 – State of Tamil Nadu halts use of Ivermectin. Just like that, despite Ivermectin saving lives, The Hindu is reporting that the state health department removed Ivermectin from its case management protocols. This is murder with malice, no matter how you slice it.

    ….

    There are 292 studies (219 are peer-reviewed) proving the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine as both a treatment and prophylaxis against COVID-19. Ivermectin has 93 studies (54 peer-reviewed) showing its effectiveness as treatment and prophylaxis against COVID-19. Despite the now-indisputable fact that these drugs essentially kill COVID-19 within hours or days, the Bill Gates-funded World Health Organization (WHO) and big pharma are having fits over India’s new guidelines and the results.

    WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan tweeted on May 10 that her organization recommends against the use of Ivermectin for COVID-19. She deleted the tweet shortly thereafter. Swaminathan, who happens to be Indian, cited a February press release from Merck, the company that discovered and once owned the long-expired patents on Stromectol (aka Ivermectin). The company wrote that there is “no meaningful evidence” and “no scientific basis” for using Ivermectin to treat and prevent COVID-19. Merck is one of the top donors to the CDC Foundation, as is the now-merged Pfizer/GlaxoSmithKline corporation.

    …..

    See link for full article.

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    • #
      Ian

      The information below from

      https://www.devex.com/news/a-cautionary-tale-after-hydroxychloroquine-attention-turns-to-ivermectin-99650

      provides a note of caution on the increased agitation for the use of ivermectin in cases of Covid-19.

      “In Peru, a randomized clinical trial is recruiting to determine the impact of ivermectin given daily for three consecutive days to nonsevere COVID-19 patients.

      The study could help provide evidence for the drug in a country often touted as a model for ivermectin uptake. Peru is one the earliest adopters of both ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine in 2020, and there were papers linking ivermectin use to decline in mortality in some Peruvian states.

      But Dr. Jaime Miranda, director at the CRONICAS Center of Excellence in Chronic Diseases at Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, expressed caution in these observations, saying they’re at risk of “ecological fallacy” or where assumptions are made on an individual based on group data analyses.

      Lacking social protection and suffering from a weak health system, Peru, seeing a rise in cases in the second quarter of 2020, was under pressure to do something.

      So in May 2020, the Ministry of Health approved the use of ivermectin as COVID-19 treatment. Months later, finding the drug has shown no beneficial effect, the health ministry removed the drug, as well as hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, from the treatment of hospitalized patients for COVID-19, although it appears to still be included for ambulatory cases in Peru, per doctors’ discretion.

      The effect was the drugs caused people to self-medicate, were used as a political tool, and physicians dispensed the treatments without any proper guidelines.

      “I think the story with ivermectin in Peru is an unfortunate story, in an environment with much need, and you can see that need arising from very, very big impacts of the pandemic,” Miranda told Devex.
      “I think that tells us that good science and good intentions need to stick to the evidence,” he said.

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      • #
        greggg

        Question is, what does Ivermectin do? Is it more effective in some than others? Is it more effective in some parts of the world than others? Or is evidence against its use simply bulldust produced by those that benefit from it not being used?

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        • #
          sophocles

          To put a complete block on its use, it only needs a recommendation by President Trump.

          00

  • #
    RicDre

    Add The Wall Street Journal To The People Who Can’t Do Basic Arithmetic

    From the Manhattan Contrarian

    May 17, 2021/ Francis Menton

    Let’s face it, lots of people aren’t very good at math, even rather basic math. On the other hand, some people are quite good at it. If you aren’t very good at math, there are plenty of other things for you to do in life.

    But some big societal decisions require a certain level of math competence. Some of these decisions can involve multi-hundreds of billions of dollars, or even multi-trillions of dollars. For example, consider the question of whether proposed electricity generation system X has the capability to deliver the amount of electricity a state or region needs, and at the times it is needed. Answering this question is just a matter of applied basic arithmetic. Given the dollars involved, you would think that when a question like this is being addressed, it would be time to call in some people who could do the arithmetic, or who at least would be willing to try.

    Yet when the issue is replacing generation of electricity by fossil fuels with generation by “renewables,” it seems that the need to believe that the renewables will work and be cost effective is so powerful that all efforts to do the arithmetic get banished.

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/05/18/add-the-wall-street-journal-to-the-people-who-cant-do-basic-arithmetic/

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    • #
      ColA

      Only out by a factor of 1,000 that’s closer than the ABC and the greens would get IF they bothered to look!!

      40

  • #
  • #
    RicDre

    New Scientist: Bleaching Protects Coral – But Only Up to 2C of Global Warming

    Guest essay by Eric Worrall

    New Scientist has discovered that bleaching is a mechanism by which coral protects itself from abrupt warming (or cooling). But if global warming hits 2C, somehow all the coral will know it is time to die.

    Corals swap in heat-resistant algae to better cope with global warming

    ENVIRONMENT 17 May 2021

    By Karina Shah

    “Some corals can swap out the algae that live inside their tissues for different strains that are more heat tolerant – and these coral species have a better chance of surviving global climate change in the coming decades.

    When sea temperatures are too high, corals expel the microscopic algae living in their tissues. This is what occurs during coral bleaching. Losing algae in this way is harmful for the corals because the algae normally provide oxygen for them and remove their waste products.

    The researchers found that the coral species that are able to swap their algae for more heat-resistant strains are more likely to survive until 2100 by resisting bleaching. But this was only the case in scenarios in which greenhouse gas emissions are kept low and ocean warming is restricted to below 2°C.”

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/05/18/new-scientist-bleaching-protects-coral-but-only-up-to-2c-of-global-warming/

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    • #
      David Maddison

      Some corals are 5,000 years old (the world’s longest lived animals). So are they saying there has never been a temperature excursion in the last 5,000 years? (Not saying there is an abnormal one now.)

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      • #

        seriously? This is primary school biology.

        A coral structure is not alive. It holds colonial animals that only live maybe a few years and these build upon the structure and their buildings stay well beyond the death of the animal. The dead structure might have started to be made 5000 years ago and continually housed/sheltered/supported animals but still there is no animal that has lived that long.

        you’re on fire DM.

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        • #
          David Maddison

          Gee Aye, no long-lived animal is comprised of its original constituents but the age refers to the colony and the structure it creates. By your definition the collective (the coral structure) would simply be the average age of the individual polyps which is ridiculous.

          Nature is a mostly reputable journal and it describes the age of coral as the age of the colony, not individual animals.

          https://www.nature.com/news/2009/090323/full/news.2009.185.html

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          • #
            Gee aye

            Mate. You are the one who wrote “animal “ is 5000 years old so well done backing me up. Also – there is evidence that there is a good chance there is not an unbroken lineage.

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            • #
              Lucky

              “Some species of coral can live for over 4,000 years — longer than any other animal that lives in the ocean”
              From the link, Nature. 23March2009
              Later, some words say – 70 years!

              30

              • #
                David Maddison

                They were reporting previously published results for a certain species. That’s how scientific papers are written and it was completely appropriate for them to do so.

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    • #
      el gordo

      ‘When sea temperatures are too high, corals expel the microscopic algae ….’

      Its a lie.

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  • #
    David Maddison

    The Beatles “Nowhere Man” very much describes President Imposter Biden, except the line that says “Isn’t he a bit like you and me?” which only applies to his brain-dead followers. And “nowhere land” refers to his direct environment surrounded by his controllers and sycophants, not the hopefully soon-to-be-great-again United States of America.

    He’s a real nowhere man
    Sitting in his nowhere land
    Making all his nowhere plans for nobody
    Doesn’t have a point of view
    Knows not where he’s going to
    Isn’t he a bit like you and me?
    Nowhere man please listen
    You don’t know what you’re missing
    Nowhere man, the world is at your command
    He’s as blind as he can be
    Just sees what he wants to see
    Nowhere man, can you see me at all
    Nowhere man don’t worry
    Take your time, don’t hurry
    Leave it all ’til somebody else
    Lends you a hand
    Ah, la, la, la, la
    Doesn’t have a point of view
    Knows not where he’s going to
    Isn’t he a bit like you and me?
    Nowhere man please listen
    You…

    Source: LyricFind

    Song at: https://youtu.be/8scSwaKbE64

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    • #
      Forrest Gardener

      Agreed that Biden is a nowhere man but some of the lyrics don’t fit.

      Making all his nowhere plans for nobody – no apparent cognitive ability to make a plan.
      Nowhere man, the world is at your command – he is not in command of anything.
      Just sees what he wants to see – no apparent cognitive ability to make a choice about what he sees.

      And look who he will be replaced by when the powers that be decide he is past his used by date. I swing between likening the current US malaise to food poisoning which will pass and a complete collapse of any positive influence the US has ever exerted in the world.

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    • #
      Tilba Tilba

      The Beatles “Nowhere Man” very much describes President Imposter Biden

      Good grief … it’s four months since the Inauguration of President Joe Biden … isn’t it high time you got over the “imposter” schtick? It is starting to get really tired.

      And the Biden Administration has done a really good job compared to the clown car circus of the previous mob. You might well disagree of course – that’s your right.

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      • #
        Yarpos

        Really good job? I am pretty sure most with open eyes and a rational mind would indeed disagree.

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      • #
        Tarquin Wombat-Carruthers

        Southern border? Sure he’s doing a great job. Six trillion committed in less than 100 days? That’s 60 billion each day; 2.5 BILLION PER HOUR! Even Scrooge McDuck couldn’t cope with that.

        20

      • #
        Forrest Gardener

        An imposter remains an imposter no matter how many say otherwise.

        10

  • #
    David Maddison

    If Ruinable energy is the cheapest of all electricity now, as the Left keep telling us, why can’t market forces be allowed to apply?

    Remove all subsidies and forced consumption of Ruinables and let market forces do their thing.

    Smart meters will allow consumers to select between Ruinables or proper generation. As Ruinables are supposedly cheaper, they would be the preferred product.

    How say you Lefties?

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    • #
      Klem

      The ruinable energy subsidies remain in place because some of that money returns to the political party that provided the subsidies, in the form of election donations. Its a subsidy that uses taxpayer money to generate election campaign revenue.

      Neat huh?

      50

    • #
      greggg

      Please let it be so. Allow warmists to buy electricity from renewables only. Let us see how many people are willing to pay for the true cost of electricity from intermittent electricity generators without backup from gas peaking plant and go without electricty most of the day. Puleeeeez.

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    • #
      sophocles

      There is a minor problem with the “market-driven” approach you espouse. David. Two minor problems, actually.

      1. The World Bank and it’s lending policies

      2. The International Monetary Fund and it’s lending policies.

      Governments are stuck with building what forms of generation the lending policies of The Twins prescribe, if they need to borrow.

      The WB will not finance any coal, f’instance.

      Governments could try, of course, to internalise the debt to build what they want …

      They are your Short and Curlies so think about it.

      00

  • #
    Neville

    Our silly donkeys are becoming more clueless every day and by their comments we also know they refuse to understand.
    I’ve provided the data and easy to understand graphs from the IEA, NOAA and Wiki uses their data as well for countries’s co2 emissions since 1970 and 1990 etc. IOW COMPARE OECD to NON OECD.
    But they STILL prefer their fantasy world and want to BELIEVE donkeys like Biden, Kerry, the Pope etc to sustain their fairy tales.
    BTW here’s another video from the Bolter as he and Rowan Dean pull apart more of Biden, Kerry and other school kiddies’ nonsense over the last few months.
    Kerry is beyond logic and reason and apparently hasn’t heard of N-U-C-L- E- A- R ENERGY and now even MODULAR Nuclear energy? What a pathetic delusional fool he is, but he is a good climate mitigation EXPERT (?????) for their clueless UNSCIENTIFIC Biden ADMIN.
    And we also know these cretins still prefer TOXIC, UNRELIABLE , RUINABLES like S&W.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-8jkEZp8hk

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  • #
    el gordo

    The masses are now more aware of propaganda and won’t be easily swayed by a clever advertising campaign.

    ‘One of the architects of Australia’s response to HIV/AIDS in the 1980s says governments must learn from that experience in crafting a campaign to tackle COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.’ (SMH)

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  • #
  • #

    I see heads expl0ded when the proposal for a new gas fired power plant was brought up on the news.

    There was talk of the big battery, you know 600MW of new battery.

    Umm, no mention of any other power source to charge that battery each time it gets used, and that the losses involved mean a source larger than the battery, and that you either use the original source of supply for actual consumption ….. OR to charge the battery, but you cannot do both. And remember, however long the battery delivers power is how long it takes to charge plus more time for the losses.

    I’m amazed at the people who refer to batteries as NEW power generation.

    Now I can understand that maths and engineering are not the province of the ordinary man in the street, well, anybody really, but you would think that people who propose ‘stuff’ like this would actually take some advice on the subject, eh!

    Tony.

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    • #
      robert rosicka

      I’m positive that NSW was relying on the extension cord from Qld for most if not all of the summer , get rid of Liddell and don’t build this gas generation they would surely suffer blackouts .

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    • #
      robert rosicka

      Also this argument that no one wanted to build the new Gas fired power plant has to be taken with a grain of salt , any company who did would become a target of the radical left which these days involves litigation after litigation and appeal after appeal and when this doesn’t work they go after the company with threats and intimidation.
      Only the feds can short circuit the system and build what must be built .

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      • #
        Dennis

        And as Cory Bernardi pointed out hosting the Paul Murray Sky programme last night MPs strongly influenced by “lobbyists” including ones with executive roles inside political party headquarters.

        Financed and/or assisted to be selected to be candidates for election MP/MLAs afraid to speak against anything that their lobbyist controllers favour.

        And of course on the left the Union based controllers and influencers.

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        • #
          Dennis

          I should have pointed out that the days of the lobbyist-influencers inside the Liberal Party appear to be ending, not long ago electorate branch members managed to vote to return candidate preselection to electorate by electorate branch membership selection, meeting the applicants and voting for the person selected.

          Previously, and following the infiltration/takeover of the headquarters preselection became HQ centred, no say at branches level.

          And consider how that has turned out, not for the good of our nation or the states.

          One of the organisers had stated his objective to wreck the Liberals. He apparently wants to form an alliance of left leaning people and governments that have no effective opposition. Another objective is based on a republic and re-writing The Australian Constitution to his satisfaction, to remove the sections that must stand in the way of his and like minded people’s ambitions.

          20

      • #
        Richard Owen No.3

        Robert:
        there is the problem that variable supply from renewables, combined with their priority access to the grid, means that a CCGT station would have to switch generation rapidly to OCGT status. Result lower efficiency, higher emissions and higher maintenance (from heat stress cracks) more expensive output and lower income overall.
        The combination was tried in Ireland and Germany and was a failure. In Germany 2 newer CCGT stations were dismantled and moved to other countries. In the UK there has been no enthusiasm at all from companies that the Governments hope will build them.

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        • #
          robert rosicka

          Richard , Gas is for cooking , heating and industry only and power generation should be coal or if your ideology says no to coal go nuclear.
          It has been mentioned many times that gas is too expensive for electricity generation .

          Dennis the Libs need to work out exactly who their base is , I think they’ve forgotten and while this Gas powered generator is a great move they are moving left of centre especially with the vaccine passport brain fart that Scomo is absolutely hell bent on introducing .

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          • #
            Richard Owen No.3

            I agree. The combination doesn’t work and there will be blackouts. That will be a disaster for any party in power State or Federal.
            Perhaps the new MPs will then consider nuclear, but I cannot see it being introduced here for 10 years or more.

            I see Russia has 2 modula reactors on a ship supplying electricity and clean water (from ice) to a town in the Arctic, and a 170MW homogeneous type reactor in a remote area. That type has been in use in a number of countries for up to 60 years with no problems.** Its chances of being used in Australia are Buckley’s.

            **Analitik is the expert, perhaps he would comment.

            30

    • #
      Dennis

      To replace Liddell Power Station and four 500MW generator units?

      And with plans in future for immigration and building the economy with business ventures and others.

      30

    • #
      David Maddison

      Our country is just about totally ruined now anyway. Why not give the Left what they want and let them go all the way with Ruinables?

      Perhaps that’s what’s needed for the rational side of politics to wake up and do something.

      50

      • #
        Forrest Gardener

        No. Our country is far from total ruination. It has so much going for it that can even sustain unsurpassed stupidity and maleficence from the irrational forces currently exerting themselves.

        That said I’d be much happier if the public service was reduced by 80%.

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      • #
        el gordo

        The green left is virtue signalling over this gas plant, but the Morrison government wants to avoid blackouts. This is politically astute and its underwritten by the government because the private sector considered the idea uncommercial.

        The gas will be piped down from Queensland because the untapped Narrabri field would be politically incorrect, for the moment at least.

        51

    • #
      John Hultquist

      I assume you refer to the WSJ article by Katherine Blunt.
      Actually, she is quite nuanced in her reporting.
      She is careful to explain that federal and state incentives, and
      mandates, produce an economic setting to which companies
      are responding. Note – “are” responding.
      There is, thus, a disruption in the energy production situation.
      The Biden administration is proposing massive $$$ for stand-alone
      battery projects. She names companies that are shifting money toward
      wind/solar/battery (green) projects, and away from gas facilities.

      I find nothing in the article to suggest she or the WSJ champion these
      disruptions. Mostly, it is a report of things that are being done.

      The editorial page authors do not support the idea that green projects
      will power the future.
      Many blog commentors should read more comprehensively and learn
      there is a difference between reports and viewpoint of the organization.
      John

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      • #
        Strop

        John, I assume Tony is referring to the gas fired generator proposed in Australia and the angst it’s caused for some who think the power stays on at night because of solar power.

        20

    • #
      tonyb

      Tony

      Clearly if renewables are to have any benefit their excess power in times of plenty need to be stored for the many times the weather gods aren’t smiling, so overall the total power generated and available over time is something approaching that on the nameplate.

      in your opinion, is any battery in the sense we would know it, ever likely to be economically available and failing that, are there other viable cost effective means of storing and then using the power?

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      • #
        John R Smith

        Ah Tonyb,
        in your marvelous and usual understated, gentlemanly (hope you’re not in Wales or Scotland where I understand presuming your GID is a criminal offense) manner, you have come to the core of the issue.

        We once, often coerced, prayed to the “weather gods”.
        We must now pray to the Technology Gods.
        The True Gods.
        Lords of the One Great Truth … Science.
        Worship faithfully, recycle, stop eating meat, and renewable energy battery and storage technology will be provided by our new and True Gods.
        If not in this life, the next one.

        (Hanging out at Jonova is flirting with heresy. Just saying. I won’t tell. Just Googled ‘heresy’ to check spelling and it put me through a security check. Only a heretic would seek a definition of heretic. Wood burns. Wood floats. Witches burn. Ducks float. Therefore, if a woman, I mean person, weighs the same as a duck, that person is a witch. Logic.)

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        • #
          John R Smith

          Damn, left out the most important word …
          “marvelous, understand, gentlemanly BRITISH manner’ …
          which I understand is also on the the verge of becoming heresy in the UK.

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        • #
          tonyb

          John R Smith

          Thank you.

          10

      • #
        John Hultquist

        tonyb @ 13.6 “… is something approaching that on the nameplate.”

        Nameplate Capacity or Rated Output ?
        https://energymag.net/nameplate-capacity-or-rated-output/

        . . . seems it is complicated!
        John

        00

        • #
          tonyb

          John Hultquist

          Thanks for that. Its difficult to know on what basis our local council-one of manty to declare a ‘climate emergency’ are investing in solar panels. I suspect it whatever the sales people have translated into the number of houses that can be powered by the panels. Not in the winter or at night of course!

          I have rarely met any sort of expert in the council, let alone one who looks objectively at the reality of what they are being sold as regards renewables as they are too busy saving the planet to worry about that.

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  • #
    David Maddison

    Evil is currently the dominant force in the world. It’s what happens when good people remain silent.

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    • #
      Forrest Gardener

      Brighten up David. That’s several gloomy posts today. Good people are not being silent, just overwhelmed by stupidity at the moment.

      The truth will remain the truth. Sound thinking remains sound thinking. Just be prepared to be very busy when the populace comes to its senses. Your services will be in great demand.

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      • #
        John R Smith

        Biden just quoted Mao whilst speaking to the US Coast Guard.
        Not an accident.
        It’d be nice to write it off to stupidity.
        Imagine if DJT had quoted a certain German.
        The trouble with sound thinking is who’s doing it, and who ain’t.

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        • #
          Forrest Gardener

          I agree completely with your last line. For clarity I think the stupidity is among those who either follow or facilitate the suppression of good.

          00

  • #
    el gordo

    Global cooling signal spotted in Sydney, blocking highs out of place.

    “It is not exceptionally cold but it is a long run. Normally this time of year you have one cold morning, then it warms up again … but the last week, the cool south to south-westerly winds almost a week since the cold front back on Monday.”

    ‘Sydney temperatures dropped to 8.7C at sunrise this morning marking the city’s coldest run of nights this early in the year in 66 years with temperatures dropping to 9C or lower on five consecutive nights.’ (9News)

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  • #
    David Maddison

    The Chi-comm strategy is brilliant.

    1) Create a viral pandemic by genetically altering a virus and spreading it throughout world.

    2) This forces people to not have face to face meetings.

    3) Create a free or cheap enormously popular App for remote video meetings.

    4) Run data servers for the meeting App from the same place that created the virus or be able to access other data servers for the App.

    5) Continue government, business and dissident espionage plus ongoing long-established intellectual property theft program by listening to and watching all the remote video meetings.

    6) Continue pursuit of world dominance and destruction of the West. The installation of a Useful Idiot for US President also helped.

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    • #

      I am continually impressed with your bravery revealing these thoughts.

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    • #
      Dennis

      Correction: useless not useful.

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    • #
      Flok

      website today – tomorrow – world domination

      10

    • #
      Forrest Gardener

      I see the Chinese government more like South Park’s underpants gnomes. Stage 1 collect underpants. Stage 3 profit.

      Above all you would think the Chinese government would know a thing or two about how empires rise and fall. Maybe they reckon they’ve got it all figured out this time. My crystal ball says they are wrong.

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      • #
        el gordo

        ‘Maybe they reckon they’ve got it all figured out this time.’

        They will take over the world commercially, not militarily. Pushing ahead with the Belt and Road, uplifting the masses in the process of creating new markets for their goods and services. These communists are fully fledged capitalists and they play hard ball, which means the US will have to duplicate or risk being isolated.

        Beijing is myopic, but will let Australia keep its democracy if it makes us happy.

        11

        • #
          tom0mason

          “Belt and Road”???

          The belt will not fit and the road will be full of potholes.

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          • #
            el gordo

            You’re dreaming, wake up.

            05

          • #
            Graeme#4

            Hmm. They seem to be driving ahead with dual-track high-speed rail freight lines all the way into Europe.

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            • #
              el gordo

              Costa Rica is now in Beijing’s embrace and they get to borrow monies from the AIIB at a decent rate. Beijing is also handing out billions to other countries in the region, as an incentive to join the BRI.

              ‘Costa Rica joined the Belt and Road Initiative in 2018 and has a good location in Central America. With big ports in the Pacific coast, the country enjoys trade with China.

              ‘It has also signed free trade agreements with all the countries of Central America, the ambassador said. To provide opportunities for manufacturers from China, Costa Rica is paving the way to establish free trade zones and rolling out tax-free policies.’

              11

  • #
    PeterS

    Now that they have moved from a civil investigation to a criminal one on Trump and his organisation I wonder if he will change his tune and stop acting like a dealer and more like an attacker. The one thing I am very disappointed with him is he focused too much on finding the best deal rather than going on the attack and doing his level best to drain the swamp before it had the chance to throw him out of the oval office. Message to Trump: stop seeking and negotiating for the best deal all the time and start going on the attack, if not in the interests of the American people then at least for yourself. Otherwise, you might as well surrender and suffer at the hands of those who are desperately seeking to send you to prison.

    52

    • #
      el gordo

      From the start he should have said CO2 doesn’t cause global warming, but he is only a businessman with half a brain.

      ‘The Biden administration has reinstalled the director of the federal climate program that produces the U.S. government’s definitive reports on climate change, after the Trump administration removed him in November.

      ‘Michael Kuperberg, the climate scientist who ran the program for six years during Democratic and Republican administrations, was reinstated Monday, the White House confirmed.’ (Washington Post)

      11

      • #
        PeterS

        Yes that would have be nice but words mean nothing to those pushing the CAGW agenda. He should have flushed out the scam artists. We should do the same here in Australia but here too we have next to useless leaders. We are surrounded by Western politicians who are clueless, don’t give a damn, or both. Appeasers like the current crop of conservatives are letting us down very badly. We need ministers who have true conviction. Good luck finding them.

        30

        • #
          el gordo

          The Westminster System cultivates group think and in that milieu a charismatic person cannot emerge. Its still preferable to a dictatorship.

          12

          • #
            PeterS

            Yes, our system is far from perfect but it’s better than the alternative, at least for a while. Eventually though it decays to the same sort of ending; crash and burn, just as in all past empires, then the next cycle begins.

            10

  • #
    David Maddison

    While Chi-comm children are being taught basic literacy (including in English), numeracy and science (but no “climate change” nonsense, which is not actual science anyway), Western children are being taught about the supposed “climate emergency”, “gender diversity” and how bad Western Civilisation supposedly is.

    Furthermore, almost no Western leaders actually believe in Western Civilisation or it’s Judeo-Christian moral foundation. President Trump did but look how the Left destroyed him. And the West no longer has Trump as a leader, and no leader in fact, just a demented fool in the White House controlled by some very evil people.

    Who do you think will be dominating the world in 10 to 20 years?

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    • #
      Forrest Gardener

      Who will dominate? Me if I live that long. I have a cunning plan which cannot fail.

      40

    • #
      Kalm Keith

      As I noted earlier;

      France is being run by a 53 year old woman through a 43 year old male puppet and Britain is being run by a 35 year old girl through a 53 year old male puppet.

      WHO’s in charge.

      180

    • #
      RickWill

      David asked:

      Who do you think will be dominating the world in 10 to 20 years?

      Answer
      The same people as now or their replacements.
      The people who arranged the US presidency for Biden.
      The same people who control the UN and its WHO.
      The same people who have been outraged by ScoMos heavy handed approach to slashing Victoria’s belt and road funding and desire to get to the cause of the Covid-19 release.
      The same peaple responsible for the worst pandemic in living memory and largest fall in economic output in decades.

      40

  • #
    Richard Owen No.3

    Off topic but 2 days ago I got a Statement from ANZ about a charge to my credit card.
    I rang their “help” line and didn’t seem to get anywhere. They kept claiming it might be a periodic payment.

    There were 2 problems
    1. I hadn’t authorised the payment, and in any case a 14 -15 month periodic?
    2. I had cancelled the credit card 14 months previously (at the Branch) and hadn’t used it for a least a month previously.

    They have closed all 3 branches within 40 km. although 2 show up as still open on their web location guide (plus another one which I know has also closed and the building demolished). Has CoVid infected their computer?

    80

    • #
      Kalm Keith

      I had a problem with wespack over 7 illegal transactions on my card.

      They were done overseas and were obviously outside my notified travel time in that country.

      There was no interest from wesp and it was more than frustrating; their lack of action just encouraged further criminal activity and messed me around no end.

      I can’t speak lowly enough of them.

      No doubt everything has been fixed by the Banking industry royle :k’mission.

      Hahaha hahaha.

      50

  • #
    Dave in the States

    Russian collusion?

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/bidens-gift-to-putin-on-nord-stream-2-11621452707

    And how did Iran find the funding to supply Hamas? These comments by Ron Dermer puts the Dem’s energy/climate policies into better focus:

    https://www.foxnews.com/transcript/mark-levin-discusses-mideast-violence-with-former-israeli-amb-ron-dermer

    Beyond that, when the — in 2015, when the international community removed all the sanctions against Iran, money poured into Iran’s coffers. I’m talking about hundreds of billions of dollars. People talked, if you remember, whether it was $50 billion or $100 billion or $150 billion that would go to Iran, that’s the small money of the deal. The big deal was the ability of Iran to sell oil on the financial markets.

    And at some point, about two and a half years ago, Iran was selling about 2.8 million barrels a day. And because of the policies of the previous administration, because they took a very strong stance against Iran, because they ratcheted up all those pressures in the sanctions.

    Iran, last year, was already selling about a few hundred thousand barrels a day, that’s about a two and a half million barrels a day difference. And at a price of $60.00 to $70.00 a barrel. That means, it starved the Iranian regime of about $150 million a day, about $4.5 billion a month, about $50 billion a year.

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  • #
    Kalm Keith

    How things are hard to change.

    Almost ten years ago my great grandmother wrote about the unscientific proposition of man made global warming via CO2.

    It’s incredible that it’s still a political hot potato and making lots of money for the Elites and taxing the rest of us heavily.
    Go figure

    https://joannenova.com.au/2011/10/unthreaded-oct-22-2011/#comment-622658

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  • #
    David Maddison

    COVID is a handy excuse upon which all malfunctions can be blamed.

    20

    • #
      Forrest Gardener

      It is certainly a great opportunity for the powers that be to control individuals in order to save humanity. The good news is that there are just enough subversives to provide meaningful resistance.

      As the child in Fahrenheit 451 asked, mummy is it true that firemen used to put out fires?

      10

  • #
    TdeF

    On the power supply questions, shutting Liddell, more windmills, pumping water uphill, installing gas turbines in the Hunter Valley ‘ready for hydrogen’ (a new one), the press have stopped, the politicians have stopped and even the energy companies have stopped even mentioning the Climate. Whole articles have no mention of warming, cooling, climate, weather.

    They only talk now about when we will achieve ‘carbon neutrality’. Carbon Neutrality is the final step, the holy grail in the strategy of those people in the energy industry who are loving the world’s highest electricity prices, a complete shut out of any logic. The only question is whether we are shut down by 2030 or 2050 and all driving wind driven electric cars.

    So now pipelines are being shut in the US, solar farms and windmills still funded by robbing our electricity bills and handing the cash to others and the whole electricity grid of our country is being threatened by the shutdown of cheap, reliable, clean power for imported power. And Germany is now going to be utterly dependent on Russian gas through the pipeline Trump opposed, courtesy of Joe Biden. It’s a weekend at Bidens feeling.

    All at our expense and even though everyone knows wind and solar are dangerously unreliable, super expensive and make profitable manufacturing impossible. Aluminium smelting is a joke. All smelting is quietly subsidized by State and Federal governments, our cash. Which means we the taxpayers are being told to make massive sacrifices for ‘carbon neutrality’. No mention of who is receiving all this money and why?

    Why? That is no longer important. Carbon Neutrality is the end game. Our end.

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    • #
      TdeF

      And I guess it is also the end for blogs which attempt to present reason, fact and science to bear on this insane idea.

      Just try and find any scientific justification for ‘carbon neutrality’ in the press articles.

      Science, facts, logic are just irrelevant when the US Congress and the United Nations and the Davos set are being advised by an uneducated teenager and they are all applauding. And not a word to China, Russia, India, Africa. Only racist, White supremacist, Imperialist, slave running, male patriachal, Christian Western democracies need to ‘do the right thing’ and fall on their swords. For the good of the planet.

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    • #
      sophocles

      Even carbon neutrality is a myth. It’s scheduled for when the Geomagnetic Excursion is scheduled.

      Geomagnetic Excursions tend towards low temperatures. (Think of: 1. Peak Cosmic Rays -> Peak cloud cover (from the Svensmark Effect)
      Peak Cloud Cover -> Really cool Temperatures). I don’t think it will be long for -T > 2° .

      But the climastrologists (term stolen with joy from Willis at WUWT. His article (The 1.5° Hysteria. May 21-2021) is, as usual, a great read) have no answers for his questions.

      After having no answers for 40 years — yes, it’s been that long — then obviously human interference in the climate is, well, pretty much non-existant. I’m concerned about the Geomagnetic Excursion we’re being threatened with.

      When will it arrive?
      How strong will it be?
      Will it cool and if so, by how much?
      How many centuries will it last?

      If it does cool and hard, then Zero Carbon will be abandoned so fast, you’ll only hear the sonic boom as it goes out the window ….

      10

  • #
    David Maddison

    This article looks at the proposition of hydro “battery” storage in the US. The numbers don’t look good and there are many more suitable sites in the US for the type of storage described than in Australia because the US has more high mountainous areas than Australia.

    https://dothemath.ucsd.edu/2011/11/pump-up-the-storage/

    As for Turnbull’s insane Snowy Hydro 2, that wasn’t a new idea at all. The particular scheme was always known as an option for part of the original Snowy Scheme but was never previously built because of its economic non-viability.

    It is of course, still not economically viable and will be an economic disaster like all Green schemes but that’s the price you pay when you let Leftist virtue-signaling politicians make engineering decisions.

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  • #

    Who’s got the best explanation for these observations:
    http://phzoe.com/2021/05/19/land-drought-index-trend/

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    • #
      Dave in the States

      I’m including this link as a handy way of presenting the 200 year drought graph just down page from the opening paragraph.

      20th century western North America was wetter than the long term normal. Dryer is the long term normal. If we just look at the period of time since the 49ers then we mistakenly assume that the abnormal is normal and any deviation must be abnormal.

      https://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/09/29/claim-cause-of-california-drought-linked-to-climate-change-not-one-mention-of-enso-or-el-nino/

      10

    • #
      sophocles

      Thats a fascinating chart, Zoe.

      The 1930s were a warm period and were remarkable for the open two-seater “sports cars” (eg: Wolseley Hornets, MG TFs etc.
      Precipitation appears not as intense then.

      1939 – 1940 winter was a bitter one, and it gently cooled from there through to about the mid-1970s. There was a headline about going into “a new Ice Age.” (Newsweek 1975 & Time June 1974) It warmed again in the early 1980s through to 2000 when the Pause appeared.
      There’s a light correlation between those and your charts with warming times being dryer and less extreme.

      Like your code, too. There are other parameters you can use it with to what weather was doing where 😀

      00

  • #
    David Maddison

    In Vicdanistan I am finding that electric heating via a reverse cycle air conditioning system is cheaper than gas, even with paying some of the world’s most expensive electricity prices as we do in Australia (which used to be among the cheapest before Ruinables took over).

    Traditionally natural gas was the cheaper heating system. Of course, the true cost of both energy sources is hidden because of market distortions caused by government policies in favour of Ruinables.

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    • #
      TdeF

      A distortion? No, whatever you pay for fossil fuels, an equal amount is given gratis to owners of windmills and solar farms. Not for electricity at all. So about $6Billion year is pulled out of electricity accounts to give to friends of the Greens, speculators, business types and their friends. For nothing. As I have said for years, it is illegal, it is theft, government legislated theft. No government has the right to do more than raise taxes which go into general revenue, even fines. Nothing like this has happened since King John. Except this time the Barons are the beneficiaries so there will be no review of Magna Carta.

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      • #
        Kalm Keith

        🙂 🙂

        50

      • #
        Kalm Keith

        It’s good to pull back and gain perspective.

        The whole basis of the British empire is there.

        Government must be accountable for the money it collects as taxes through the ridiculously complex electricity manufacturing, distribution and costing system that closely resembles Wall Street in its implementation.

        At the end of the day, It’s illegal!

        Corrupt collection of funds for dodgy purposes must incur punishment.

        20

    • #
      GD

      In Vicdanistan I am finding that electric heating via a reverse cycle air conditioning system is cheaper than gas

      The ‘compare energy’ websites agree with that. Gas is no longer the cheapest form of heating, (in Vicdanistan.)

      10

  • #
    TedM

    South Australian wind power producing at 30mw at the time of posting this comment. That’s about 1.6% of nameplate. How the blue blazes are we ever going to run a country on this stuff. Has anyone ever brought this to the attention of our pollies, or do they just turn a blind eye.

    50

    • #
      TedM

      I see they have cranked up those non-polluting diesels as 49mw being produced from liquid fuel.

      20

    • #
      tonyb

      Ted

      Good news. We can create an algorithm which will work out how much power the greenies will get at any one time according to how the renewables are performing. So that 1.6% will translate to around 34minutes per day of electricity for them.

      The question now is should we allow them to take it as one big snort of 34 minutes consecutively, or feed it in to them at say 2 minutes a time 17 times in the day?

      I favour the latter provided I can control when those 2 minute bursts will be….I will then be selling on the open market the opportunity for climate realists to in turn decide which greenies get the power and for how long.

      50

  • #
    TedM

    “A new study shows a correlation between the end of solar cycles and a switch from El Nino to La Nina conditions in the Pacific Ocean, suggesting that solar variability can drive seasonal weather variability on Earth.”

    https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-04/ncfa-nst040221.php

    30

  • #
    OriginalSteve

    And the “Stating the Bleeding Obvious” award goes to…..

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-20/covid-surging-in-seychelles-worlds-most-vaccinated-country-why/100151306

    “COVID is surging in Seychelles, the world’s most vaccinated country. Why?

    Um…coz its not a vaccine …its a DNA bodgy….

    and another byline –
    …..

    “Vaccinating the world is the only way to end the pandemic

    Um….HCQ users in India would prove that incorrect…..

    50

  • #
    RickWill

    The linked chart shows how much ocean surface area is less than a particular surface temperature in August 2020:
    https://1drv.ms/u/s!Aq1iAj8Yo7jNhD-PUcB8L5viw8Wj
    August has the warmest average temperature of the year but 99% of the surface is still less than 30C. One little patch gets to 34C.

    I used this warm patch to check how well climate models cope with a warm spot:
    https://1drv.ms/u/s!Aq1iAj8Yo7jNhECTftEfBbn00k1w
    Climate models usually hindcast cold to get a warming trend but the CSIRO/ACCESS model is cold by 3.5C for the present time.

    The Persian Gulf is the only part of the ocean surface that rarely experiences convective instability so no high level cloud to reflect sunlight like most of the tropical oceans. Cloud parameterisation do not work! Climate models are complex weather models not fit for purpose.

    30

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    Dave

    There has been a recent surge in cases, with 37 per cent of new active cases and 20 per cent of hospital cases being fully vaccinated.

    But the small archipelago nation of Seychelles, northeast of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, has emerged as the world’s most vaccinated country for COVID-19.
    Why is this?
    Their reasons?
    1. The herd immunity threshold has not been reached — 62 per cent vaccination is likely not adequate with the vaccines being used

    2. Herd immunity is unreachable due to inadequate efficacy of the two vaccines being used

    3. Variants that escape vaccine protection are dominant in Seychelles

    4. The B.1.617 Indian variant is spreading, which appears to be more infectious than other variants

    5. Mass failures of the cold-chain logistics needed for transport and storage, which rendered the vaccines ineffective.

    The why the FRAK are we using these vaccines?

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-20/covid-surging-in-seychelles-worlds-most-vaccinated-country-why/100151306

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    • #
      Scissor

      The majority of the vaccines in the Seychelles were from Sinopharm, which as seen in other countries, do not to be very effective.

      Israel is next down on the list of most vaccinated (Pfizer) and their cases and deaths are down dramatically. I keep looking for problems there, but other that a few deaths and severe reactions from the jabs, the problems don’t appear to be major, at least not yet.

      Keep an eye on it.

      31

  • #

    Aunty Pravda’s rolling news feed of unacceptable articles for the 20th May – https://thepointman.wordpress.com/rolling-headlines/  #freepointy

    Pointy

    20

  • #
  • #
    David Wojick

    OMB taking comments on the “social cost” of GHGs
    By David Wojick

    The beginning: Biden’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in OMB is taking public comments on the regulatory use of the world’s strangest numbers. These are the so-called Social Cost of Carbon and other Greenhouse Gases (GHG). The Social Cost is the supposed future climate change economic damage due to our near-term emissions. The numbers are huge because the Biden government projects endless damages for the next 300 years, from every ton of carbon dioxide, methane, etc., emitted now. Yes they have to go out 300 years to get the damages.

    This opportunity to comment is important because the issue is the use of these looney SC-GHG numbers to justify massive climate change regulations that will govern our lives. Preventing these huge SC damages is presented as the benefits that justify the regulations in the required cost-benefit analysis. That SC-GHG is junk needs to be made clear, and stopped. It may be up to the courts to do this. One of the rules of the regulatory game is that if you want to ask the court to stop a regulation, you must have first put your objection on the record, in the comments. When the Agency ignores your objection, then you can sue them. This is called exhausting your administrative remedies.

    So here are some objections that people might use. The more comments the better.

    To begin with, the SC-GHG computer models are obsolete. The Feds use the results from three different “integrated assessment models” or IAMs. These models are now about 20 years old. The US alone has done something like $30 billion in climate change research since they were developed. The major climate models have been steadily upgraded, with a new generation every five years or so, but not the IAMs. Thus one could ask the Court to require the Agencies that want to use SCs in their cost benefit analyses to build new IAMs.

    But it gets deeper than that, because some of the research calls into question the very feasibility of calculating a likely SC.

    There is a lot more in the article. See https://www.cfact.org/author/dwojick/

    You do not have to be a US citizen or organization to comment. This is about the science.

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    • #
      Dave in the States

      The social cost carbon is anything they want it to be. In my experience public comments is a way legitimizing what they are going to do anyway.

      40

      • #
        David Wojick

        Yes indeed, OMB is covering itself. But as I allude to, folks are gearing up to sue based on the comments. In fact a group of states have already sued to block SC being used as policy. The fat lady is just warming up to sing. (Can I still say that?)

        41

  • #
    RicDre

    The 1.5°C Hysteria

    Guest Post by Willis Eschenbach

    Lots of folks are up in arms about some rumored “CLIMATE CRISIS!!!” or “CLIMATE EMERGENCY!!!” These terms refer to all the terrible things that are supposed to happen when we get 2°C warmer, or 1.5°C warmer, than the “pre-industrial” temperature.

    So I thought I’d see how far we are from the 2°C or the 1.5°C cliff that we’re supposedly going to go over with disastrous results. Let me start with a long-term look:

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/05/20/the-1-5c-hysteria/

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    RicDre

    Maybe there is still some small hope for journalism in the US:

    Chicago Tribune Cancels Lori Lightfoot Interview over Anti-white Policy

    The Chicago Tribune canceled an interview with Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Wednesday in protest at her decision to exclude white reporters from one-on-one interviews on the occasion of her second anniversary in office, reporter Gregory Pratt noted.

    https://www.breitbart.com/the-media/2021/05/20/chicago-tribune-cancels-lori-lightfoot-interview-over-anti-white-policy/

    40

  • #
    RicDre

    The consequences of policies based on emotion instead of logic:

    ‘Out of Control’ Shoplifting in Democrat-Run San Francisco Closes 17 Walgreens


    By a margin of 60 to 40 percent, the idiots of California basically legalized shoplifting. Proposition 47, which passed in 2014, no longer made it a felony to steal if the value of what you steal doesn’t exceed $950. It’s also no longer a felony to receive stolen property valued at less than $950. And so…

    Instead of being punished as a felon, you are hit with a misdemeanor, and in many cases not even that.

    As you can imagine, this has turned into a free-for-all for shoplifters and a stone cold nightmare for retailers.

    The result?

    According to this headline in the far-left San Francisco Chronicle… “Out of control’: Organized crime drives S.F. shoplifting, closing 17 Walgreens in five years.”

    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/05/20/nolte-out-of-control-shoplifting-in-democrat-run-san-francisco-closes-17-walgreens/

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    • #
      yarpos

      Very useful stores Walgreens , sort of a chemist /small supermarket hybrid. I guess the “food desert” stories will come next.

      10

  • #
    Raving

    Got to love the new Ford F150 EV Lightening pickup. This soon to be, real world product demonstrates the good, bad and sideways of green engineering

    Some key features:

    – 230 mi range
    – Enough power to run a typical house for 3 days
    – 6,500 lbs heavy

    https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2021/05/f-150-lightning-fords-first-electric-truck/618932/

    Imagine charging this truck each night at 3 times a house’s daily electric consumption to travel 230 miles. Think of the battery storage potential in a dynamic grid. Think of the road damage and rural recharge times of this beast.

    It truly demonstrates what is right wrong and unexpected about our EV future.

    Maybe using hydrocarbons for ‘some’ light weight, infrequent usage, fast refill situations isn’t such a bad idea, for now, given all things considered

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    • #
      RicDre

      I noticed the article doesn’t mention its load or towing capacity or how many miles it can go with its rated load.

      I did find another article that says “The F-150 Lightning will tow up to 10,000 pounds when equipped with the Extended Range battery, and it has a max payload of 2000 pounds with the smaller battery pack” and also says “Drivers can see how much they have loaded in the truck with Ford’s onboard scales, which display on the touchscreen, and the estimated driving range when hauling and towing adjusts based on tongue weight.” but it doesn’t give any actual data on the how the range is affected when under load. It does say “The battery’s status can be checked in the FordPass app, and it’ll send an alert when the charge dips below 33 percent. You can set it up to automatically stop supplying power when there isn’t enough range to make it to the nearest charging station.” though if you are going to be running devices off of its battery at a job site, it may be wise to tow a diesel generator to re-charge the battery if you want to get back home at night.

      ( https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a36433090/2022-ford-f-150-lightning-specs-revealed/ )

      50

      • #
        yarpos

        Good grief, my 500,000 klm 12 year old LPG powered Hi Lux has a payload of over 2000lb. Such is progress. I have an app to show my range status , its FuelGauge V1.0 downloaded and installed in 2009 to my dashboard. Its really cool , it emulates an analogue gauge.

        20

      • #
        Hanrahan

        This guy has dropped off my youtube suggestions but I found this. It explains why Evs are bad at towing. He knows his stuff.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4W-P5aCWJs

        00

    • #
      Forrest Gardener

      So why the name Lightning? Because Edsel was taken.

      30

    • #
      Hanrahan

      And it comes with a second steering wheel for when the driver is non compos mentis.

      Did a search on Biden + not driving and the top 5 search results were about the RIGHT WING CONSPIRACY™. DDG os becoming a disappointment.

      When will people stop pandering this fool?

      10

  • #
    robert rosicka

    Dominion now admits to an error on some machines but insist the error wouldn’t effect the actual vote ! Yeah right .

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/dominion-responds-after-pennsylvania-election-officials-blame-coding-error-with-voting-machines_3823734.html

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    • #
      Forrest Gardener

      My cynicism tells me that Dominion are running out the clock leading up to the next set of elections when they will prove how accurate their machines can be.

      00

    • #
      Hanrahan

      The argument: Yea, there was a little cheating but not enough the effect the result is patently absurd. Cheating in elections carries jail time, why would anyone do it [in collusion with others] if they didn’t expect to effect the result?

      10

  • #
    William

    Tomago aluminium smelter powers down three times in a week due to electricity shortages

    A massive 35,000 per cent spike in wholesale power prices due to supply shortages has forced a NSW aluminium smelter to shut down three times in the past week to keep the lights on in Sydney.

    The Tomago smelter, which supports more than 1800 local jobs, has had to power down multiple times since May 12 to ensure households across the state have enough power for heating as winter sets in.

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    • #
      robert rosicka

      There is no shortage of electricity! Just ask the economists .

      20

      • #
        Forrest Gardener

        I always enjoy the story about the two economists out on a hike. One asks where they are. The other responds that according to the map they are right on top of that mountain over there.

        50

    • #
      yarpos

      I remember the good old days when power shortages happened in summer.

      20

  • #
    Ronin

    New reports that the premier Pluckaduk and chief medical officer, Jeanette Young have not had their flu or covid jabs yet, after telling all of us to get them asap. Too busy maybe.

    31

    • #
      Forrest Gardener

      As a recent climate change refugee from Cairns to Melbourne I must ask whether there is any public official who inspires less confidence than Jeanette Young.

      And I like the moniker Premier Pluckaduk. Writing Palace Chook gets comments censored far too frequently.

      Oh and speaking of climate refugees I might just have overdone the migration south.

      20

      • #
        yarpos

        Mildura is nice this time of year

        10

        • #
          Hanrahan

          The best climate in Oz is the Bundaberg/Maryborough district, but both are a little up river. To avoid frosty mornings see if there is any room left in Town Of 1770.

          00

          • #
            robert rosicka

            Avoid the frost nice home for sale in Wyndham in the far north west of WA for $100K .

            00

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    • #
      William

      One was a great President, the other will never be anything more than President Carter’s favourite President, the one that makes him look competent.

      20

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      Serp

      It helps having the Reagan lead in to the Biden clip by making it clear that Joe was attempting to do that same gag but without any enunciation and articulation whatsoever — and then he bags his mystified audience for not getting it!? I guess he’s an acquired taste and soon he’ll be disparaging the wit of peoples world wide for not understanding his connecticut tongue and we’ll be loving it.

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    el gordo

    Big Pharma Overload Finds Resistance.

    ‘Health experts are urging the community to get vaccinated against influenza after authorities recorded a significant drop in people presenting for the flu jab amid COVID-19 concerns.’ (Oz)

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    Steven Marshall

    Scientists Discover Anti-Maskers Are Very Good At Science!

    https://principia-scientific.com/scientists-discover-anti-maskers-are-very-good-at-science/

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    another ian

    Finally a definition

    https://www.ihatethemedia.com/finally-a-description-of-dr-fauci-has-been-discovered

    (originally posted on last unthreaded)

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    CHRIS

    As far as COVID is concerned…I don’t give rat’s posterior. My GP will (eventually, I hope) text me to make a booking for the Astra Zeneca jab. When this happens, I will book in, although I really don’t care. The whole COVID Saga has been a joke from start to finish. Who knows just how many variations of the original virus are floating about, and how many future variations will make the current vaccinations ancient history?? It is called EVOLUTION; Charles Darwin must be stirring in his grave.

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    Hanrahan

    Is bitcoin dead? It is 40% off recent highs, 11% tonight. Blockchain technology is inherently slow so it can never be currency doing millions of transactions per day.

    It may revert to its inherent value – zero.

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    another ian

    More rewriting data and history

    “EPA “Disappears” the 1930s Drought and Heat Wave Climate Data”

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/05/21/epa-disappears-the-1930s-drought-and-heat-wave-climate-data/

    Next trick after revising the wildfire data

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    OriginalSteve

    WHO now shrieking that covid deaths are undercounted by 2-3 times…

    Yawn…..

    Presumably the 96% of “covid deaths” according to the CDC that arent covid deaths still applies….

    But step up and get your experimental mRNA gene modification….

    What could possibly go wrong…?

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