JoNova
A science presenter, writer, speaker & former TV host; author of The Skeptic's Handbook (over 200,000 copies distributed & available in 15 languages).
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Statistics
UK domestic energy bills are now expected to be capped typically at £3615 by January 2023, compared to £1200 little more than 2 years ago. I doubt inflation is going to top our at only 13% as recently predicted.
Go green, it’ll make you scream.
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Covid Vaccine Lawsuits Begin In The USA –
“NorthShore University HealthSystem in Chicago was sued by a nonprofit religious organization called Liberty Counsel. The group claims that NorthShore violated workers’ religious autonomy by dismissing religious exemptions and forcing all workers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. NorthShore was in the wrong and decided to settle for $10,337,500.
Over 500 current and past employees will receive a payout, and the group will notify others of the lawsuits and give them the option to submit a claim. “NorthShore will also change its unlawful ‘no religious accommodations’ policy to make it consistent with the law, and to provide religious accommodations in every position across its numerous facilities,” Liberty Counsel stated.
Other groups will follow suit. They may have granted the pharmaceutical companies immunity, but there was a grey area for employers. Countless people lost their jobs due to the vaccine mandate, which likely was a violation of the Constitution.
Lawsuits may begin with large corporations, but if the Republicans regain control, health agencies and government officials may be investigated as well. This lawsuit is a major win for medical autonomy as companies will be less likely to comply with government mandates as they now know they could risk legal retaliation.”
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/international-news/disease/covid-vaccine-lawsuits-begin/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=RSS
Let’s hope the same thing starts to happen here in Australia and other Countries. Time for more “Push Back” IMHO.
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This is about governments, businesses, and agencies overstepping the norms of society — unwarranted severe invasion of people’s rights.
It is not about immunity granted to the pharmaceutical companies.
110
Spectator Australia – Losing trust in ‘the science’
James Allan
I preface this piece in that way because I have to confess to having lost most of my trust in the doctorly caste since the start of the pandemic. I now see cowardice; an unwillingness to stand up to the cancel culture mavens. There are next to no defenders of those who go against the current orthodoxy (and that defending of iconoclasm is even more important coming from those who disagree with the heretics, apostates, and iconoclasts).
Let me trace out my dissatisfaction or disgruntlement with this caste through the lens of Covid vaccines.
Go back a year and a half and recall that virtually all politicians and many public health types were selling vaccination as the near guarantee against infection. Here is a clip of President Biden saying the vaccines would stop everyone from getting infected.
Of late, I have heard a new claim. Various virologists and epidemiologists are saying – maybe they always thought this, though I never heard it at the time – that way back in January 2021 they weren’t sure about the protection the vaccines would provide. ‘Only time will tell’ was the predominant expert view.
If that is true – and here is the core of my grievance – then why did we members of the public not hear any of these sceptical views made openly, publicly, and loudly?
Many attacked dissenters in the field; many tried to suppress counter-views, and many oversold the benefits of their position.
What we are seeing is scientific Stalinism. Censorship in the medical profession will end in disaster, but it appears much of the doctorly and scientific caste are cowards. I’ve said that about the lawyerly caste for ages, but I had long thought doctors would be better. I no longer think that.
Worst of all, there appears to have been a group of knowledgeable medicos who chose to keep their doubts to themselves. If they lack bravery, why should we show them trust? Frankly, I don’t want to hear those retrospective doubts now.
190
Spectator Australia – Empty Space: Silicon Valley’s war against victims
Alexandra Marshall
The third world is full of silent victims. Impoverished nations ruled by dictators, or those left to fend for themselves beneath the smoke of proxy wars, are often targeted by drug companies looking for a lawless testing environment.
Carl Elliott, author of White Coat, Black Hat: Adventures on the Dark Side of Medicine said of similar controversies for small private trials in the West:
There’s a reason large drug trials aren’t done on the rich. In the third world – loose change is used as bait and the consequences for failure are limited to the mourning of a local family. Without global communication, victims cannot alert the world to their situation.
In 2020, the status quo flipped. Wealthy, highly educated Western nations found themselves as the testing ground for mRNA vaccines while the third world remained largely untouched. These trials were conducted without compensation, under duress, and often participation was mandated by governments either through coercive vaccine passport systems, direct fines, or by ‘locking citizens out of the vaccine economy’. This was called ‘an emergency rollout’ but in a strictly technical sense, it was a trial.
It doesn’t take an expert to correctly guess that there would be a range of terrible – and in some cases fatal – side effects from a new vaccine technology with 12.4 billion doses in two years.
Aside from the injuries and deaths inflicted on otherwise healthy young people who had a near-zero risk from a Covid infection, the most striking part of the discussion was the behaviour of Silicon Valley, which routinely suspended and banned accounts belonging to victims.
The empty space created by their deletion sits as a scar on social media.
Silicon Valley does not only remove people who deviate from the ‘safe and effective’ narrative on vaccines. The community guidelines of some sites have expanded to cover ‘Climate Change’, gender, and sexuality in what appears to be an attempt to manipulate the direction of social ethics.
Regardless of your opinion on Covid vaccination itself, deleting victims from the conversation is at best, immoral and at worst – criminal.
210
Quadruple-Vaxxed German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach Catches COVID
Back in December German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach called for mandatory vaccinations of the population as soon as possible.
Lauterbach pushed for a massive booster campaign in the country to get the omicron variant under control.
Apparently, the first two shots did not work. The third time is a charm! Or maybe the fourth!
On Friday German officials announced that the quadruple-vaxxed Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has COVID.
120
What a shame. It’s because of people like him that I’ll never travel back to Germany.
50
Next, he will get German Measles.
50
“What we are seeing is scientific Stalinism. Censorship in the medical profession will end in disaster, but it appears much of the doctorly and scientific caste are cowards. I’ve said that about the lawyerly caste for ages, but I had long thought doctors would be better. I no longer think that.”
You can add engineers to that pathetic list.
140
Yes, the absence of engineers telling the public and Govt that wind and solar will just not work is very noticeable.
I think its a side-effect of social media, anyone who speaks up can be attacked so widely, both from their peers, the licensing bodies and the public, that professionals generally seem to be cowards these days.
20
Further to James Allen’s article …
For quite some time Dr Robert Clancy wrote articles for Quadrant on the subject of Ivermectin, its benefits and the scandalous war against it. I also heard him talking to another expert on YouTube, carefully hedging around the word so that the item wouldn’t be blocked.
I haven’t seen or heard from him lately. I wonder why? Has he been finally silenced.
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Dr Robert Clancy wrote in the May 2022 Quadrant, p34, an article entitled, “The Biomechanics and Efficacy of Covid Vaccines”. It is, as far as I can tell, a critical but carefully argued discussion on the gene technology. At one point he states, “If we accept that Covid is a mucosal compartment infection, we can see why repeated, unspaced vaccination can backfire”.
20
I’m claustrophobic and did my best during the pandemic (in Vermont) to not wear a mask unless it was absolutely necessary. When I wanted to reconnect with my GP earlier this summer and was told I would have to wear a mask the whole time I was in her office, I complained. I said that I already had difficulty spending any time in her tiny examination rooms as soon as the door was closed. She is now under the umbrella of the neighboring hospital and said she would get back to me. Anyway, she found a work-around for me (entering through a back door and only briefly wearing a face shield), and when I was finally sitting in front of her, she told me that she was glad that I had pushed the issue. (And when she saw me with the face shield on, she agreed with me that it probably wasn’t offering either her or myself any more protection than my glasses, and she allowed me to take it off, only asking me to put it back on as I was leaving, for the nurse’s sake.)
So, in my case, it made a difference to speak up. But, I think I also have a unique GP.
30
Why did Pelosi go to China?
As the third most powerful politician in the US and 82 years, she clearly had an objective. And told no one. It was about as provocative as possible and unexpected.
In the fall election, she is guaranteed to lose her job unless something dramatic happens and an invasion of Taiwan would do that.
China is venting fury and the repercussions are starting with chaos in trade and flights. Her husband of 57 years is on DUI charges. And she will vanish into obscurity, so it was a chance to go out on a very big bang and do something to revive Democrat and personal fortunes. Otherwise, why without warning or stated objective or any necessity has she put the US on a collision course with China?
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When they look at the three most powerful politicians in the US, the leaders of China, Russia , Iran and North Korea must be falling about laughing and believe it supports their notion that their system is better than the Democratic west
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Not sure, but the trip might be to shore up the further hemorrhage from the Democrats of Asian Americans ahead of the mid terms. Biden can’t do it because he has no political capital and as puppet president it would be too provacative. First she goes to Taiwan hopefully scoring points with Chinese Americans, but then does make up by going to China to keep the puppet masters happy.
40
Perhaps it suited Xi? He got to look tough and rattle the sabre, helping him domestically. Meanwhile the Bidens could point and say “see we stand up to China” which is nice cover for otherwise doing everything they can to help the CCP. And it helps the military industrial complex raise funds as well. What’s not to like?
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The idiot Pelosi might have nearly started WW3, but she has also made Xi look weak ,after all his threats and huffing and puffing, when it came down to it, he did nothing, thus all the running around shooting off fireworks and generally acting like North Korea, it is mostly for home consumption
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Nearly good timing as today is Hiroshima Day. The A Bomb was dropped on the 6th of August, 1945.
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Pelosi is in a safe district. Nothing she could possibly do will hurt her chances of re-election. I have thought the entire stunt was cooked up to aid the Democrats retain power and help Biden which both China and Pelosi desire; how could Xi be hurt in a nation where news is controlled so carefully, and how could the Democrats be hurt as long as Pelosi promised nothing at all in terms of real support for Taiwan? Parts of it look like a win-win-win for the establishment in multiple nations.
30
“They may have granted the pharmaceutical companies immunity,…”
Immunity from what?
There can be no immunity where improper practice is at play. e.g. lying.
And granting of immunity surely does not extinguish liability. It shifts the liability onto the government.
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Indeed. Actual fraud matters.
60
Onto the long suffering Taxpayer as usual. The Guv’ment has NO money of its own don’t yer’ know……………..
20
Climate Change is making the world spin faster?
Is there nothing a change in a tiny gas cannot do?
All based on pushing the idea mankind’s tiny output of CO2 gives us control of CO2 levels somehow, against all known science. It’s a form of media managed madness, science by fear and repetition. And the only logic is again a very strange one that the slightest correlation equals causation with no proof at all of any connection. Post Modern irrational science pushed by random people who call themselves scientists with all the science skills of writer L. Ron Hubbard or English graduate Tim Flannery. Climate Scientology.
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Why pick on L. Ron?
I recall he was a poorly paid writer who found a way to change his pay scale.
Al Gore and John Kerry are candidates for the Climate Cult Wall of Shame. Both are from rich families, have done nothing substantive, and have harmed the societies that nurtured them.
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Scientology was a cult before anyone thought a Climate Cult was possible, but the principle is the same. Pseudo science as religion. The other two were born rich. And Australian Professor Tim Flannery complains that he is not rich after declaring himself an expert in Climate and Australia’s first and only Chief Climate Commissioner. It just shows that knowing nothing about a subject does not stop you from being an expert.
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NZ’s CCC Czar is ‘legally blind’, an ex-banker, and goes by the name of Rod Carr.
Science? We don’t need no steenking science!
10
After 2 weeks of hot temperature, I had a 5°C temperature this morning. Now the forecast is for 37°C on Monday. [location is central Washington State]
I run neither the AC nor the heater ’cause of good insulation in the house.
The phrase “weird weather” comes to mind.
60
Another 7 mm of rain laast night here, after 50 mm on Thursday, and it’s wet!
That makes 640.6 mm for the year so far. Average is 400.6 to end of August. 525 mm for same period last year. La Nina would seem to be busy.
Temperatures? Remarkably unextreme. Reports have been consistently above average for about six years now, so that intuition tells me that, according to those reports, we may have in those six years used up our allocation of their 1.5 degrees to whenever.
10
Notice the latest trend to change the narrative on Australias indigenous people. These people where refered to as the “oldest continuous culture” on the planet. Now these same peoples have been promoted to “the oldest civilisation ” on the planet. Interesting redefinition of the word ” civilisation”. Our oldest civilisation had no clothing or permanent dwellings, could not boil water, did not discover the needle or wheel, had no interconnected political system where one group could speak for another, pottery and metals not known etc etc.
I wonder how the political chatterers would describe the peoples of the late neolithic and early Bronze Age in many parts of the world. The people who discovered agriculture, writing, permanent housing, complex languages, irrigation, genuine arts, the ability to work stone and wood and metals, the ability to plan for future events like food storage. Clearly these peoples should be relegated to something like “pre civilisation”.
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Civilisation began in the Northern Hemisphere at the end of the Younger Dryas, which had little impact on the Southern Hemisphere. Because of this the people of the south continued to think on the right side of the brain, while the northerners moved to the left.
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Definitely NOT a civilisation, culture maybe.
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I’d tell you but it would get moderated out!
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“did not discover the needle” but could weave a basket that held water. “or wheel” uh – for what? wheels are no use without axles. And something to pull the thing. kangaroo? wombat? No mention of creating unmanned flying objects that utilise the Bernoulli principle, that Da Vinci came close to at Fiesole but did not get right. “No interconnected political system”? Nonsense. The skin name system alone is a masterpiece of simplicity. I suggest you go read “The biggest estate on earth” by Bill Gammage.
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Necessity is the mother of invention and while ingenuity may be the half-sister its bareness ensures no lineage.
31
Unlike spelling where there is often a second generation – “barrenness”.
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Apologist nonsense Martin.
The skin system was not even remotely an interconnected political system, it was a breeding system to prevent in-breeding in a very tiny gene pool. See Habsburgs and Ptolemys.
They might have had a beast of burden in the surviving diprotodon had they domesticated and nurtured them rather than eating them to the last individual. The continental distribution was similar to that of the Eastern Grey Kangaroo, so drought alone cannot explain the ultimate demise of the beasts. They were big and slow and easy to kill. See Maoris and Moas.
Yes they invented the returning boomerang and the woomera. Given the alleged 60,000 years they had in this country in which to achieve their inventing, is that really a surprise? Someone in 60,000 years picks up a bent stick of the right random shape, chucks it: it comes back, they think hey let’s shape another like that. Most boomerangs were only bent sticks in any case, non-returning. Almost no tribes had the bow and arrow, the few that did picked up the idea from northern contact, but treated it as a children’s toy. So much for innovation.
I don’t know about your “basket that held water” since most tribes used hollowed out tree burls as water carriers and I do know that much of the basket weaving that took place was later taught them by missionaries who had previously served in Polynesia where weaving was a major skill with the abundance of palm fronds and rattan. They wanted something useful for the women to do on the missions. I am not a fan-boy of the missionaries by the way.
I don’t know what you think the relevance of Bill Gammage’s book is, but firestick farming is not exactly a high art. It was a convenient necessity for a particular nomadic lifestyle in Australia. You left a burnt trail behind you to re-grow. The system works very well with multiple benefits to humans and wildlife, but hardly ranks alongside inventive achievements from other parts of the world.
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Wheels have many uses. If you imagination only extends to a horse and cart so be it.
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Hungarian Prime Minister Warns the West Against a Communist Takeover
Viktor Orban kicks off CPAC in Dallas
Viktor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister, told hundreds of conservatives in Texas on Thursday that his country defeated communism—and now America must do the same.
Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas, Orban told the crowd that America is fighting for its life against progressives and globalists, which are communists.
“Don’t be afraid to call your enemies by their name,” he said. “They hate me and slander me and my country, as they hate you and slander you and the America you stand for.”
Orban said the Democrats in the United States were not fond of him and wanted Hungary to move away from being a Christian nationalist state.
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So true!
The communists among us hated and slandered and got rid of Tony Abbott, Campbell Newman and Scott Morrison. Only Barnaby Joyce is still standing, and he is badly battered and bruised.
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Let’s take back control of the Bank of England
The experts have failed us – it’s time to democratise economic policy.
‘It’s the economy, stupid!’, goes the old political adage. Indeed, polling across the decades has consistently put the economy as chief among the concerns of voters. And yet in Britain today, many major economic decisions are totally out of the public’s hands.
Take this week’s decision by the Bank of England to hike interest rates from 1.25 per cent to 1.75 per cent – the biggest rate rise in 27 years. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the decision, it is notable that we the people had no say in it.
In fact, since the Bank of England was granted ‘independence’ from elected governments by New Labour in 1997, just nine members of the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee hold the deciding votes. These are nine people who have never been elected and who most people have never heard of. Yet they have the power to shift the economic fortunes of millions of borrowers, savers and businesses.
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What is the role of the globalist’s most important tools in their quest for world domination?
Those tools are the IMF & World Bank. Regularly we hear hints of their objective of creating one WORLD CURRENCY. Yet when interest rates throughout the industrialised world suddenly take off there is not even a whisper of comment that makes it through the media to the public who bear the brunt of paying for the increases.
Both have the power to punish any country financially at the stroke of a pen. (Even PM Morrison hinted that Australia would face severe financial pressures unless he signed up to theCOP 26 terms in Glasgow.)
There must be someone out there who can help fill in the the gaps of information on this subject, unless of course they don’t want to have to face the consequences of “spilling the beans”.
The timing & collective of these rate rises is the proof that there is something sinister going on!
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There’s got to be something we haven’t been told yet. Why did the Nationals roll over on the AGW scene?
My guess is that Scott Morrison had just quietly told the Nats that Joe Biden had just quietly told him that the AUKUS agreement depended on Australia rolling over on the AGW issue.
And why is AUKUS such a big deal when we won’t own any nuclear submarines for ten or fifteen years yet? Because it immediately gives the US and the UK a lot more room to move.
It also gives Australia an early start on development of service facilities.
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Then there was the “interest rate” threat — where Australia would not be given cheap loans if they did not comply with the Glasgow plan. Josh and Scott said that bankers told them interest rates would be 1.5% higher. That’s very specific?
So was it AUKUS or was it the bankers? Was it really pressure from Boris and Biden, and then the interest rates was the excuse, or was it the Money Masters all along?
I do not know, but the timing of the shift at The Australian and the general media flip to Soviet “climate” belief was more around the timing of AUKUS.
10
Viruses cause respiratory illness.
Settled science.
75% of people with positive PCR and antibody tests were asymptomatic and remained symptom free.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33481642/
See ‘Data Synthesis’.
When it comes to respiratory flu-like illness, symptom free used to mean not sick.
So the correlation between virus presence and illness is … ?
Looks like 75% of the puzzle is missing.
But don’t mention it.
The great ‘Pandemic’ has destroyed the Public health/Medical paradigm.
The paradigm doesn’t know it yet.
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Can I sell you another test kit?
Your government will pay!
30
NO. The Taxpayer/Consumer always pays.
30
The conclusion in the paper is that about one third of people who tested positive were asymptomatic.
But, the utterly amazing thing is that asymptomatic illness is the NEW THING! What a boon for Big Pharma and doctor-drug peddlers. Now they can sell us any kind of snake oil and tell us we are all sick and don’t know it.
Perish the thought that anyone should question the real accuracy of the tests or how they are processed, i.e., whether the tests are being routinely contaminated. And how the nocebo effect might result in actual illness following a false-positive test result.
How has science become so utterly stupid these days and why do so many people kneel at its altar???
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“We Now Know Why Plant-Based Food Company “Beyond Meat” Has Crashed and Burned”
https://waynedupree.com/2022/08/beyond-meat-crash-and-burn/
Via https://www.lewrockwell.com/political-theatre/we-now-know-why-plant-based-food-company-beyond-meat-has-crashed-and-burned/
And
“McDonalds Dumps Trial of Plant Meat Because Customers Would Not Purchase – Next up, Bug Meat
August 5, 2022 | Sundance | 151 Comments”
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2022/08/05/mcdonalds-dumps-trial-of-plant-meat-because-customers-would-not-purchase-next-up-bug-meat/#more-236161
What you might call “A market forcing”?
51
Oil is dropping. Brent $94 today, WTI under $90 at $88, Western Canadian Select and lower quality russkie Urals crude both at $74.
The Fed’s interest rate rises will boost the USD, slow economies, and crash the commodity party including oil.
Putin is taking a pay cut.
30
Putin is indeed taking a pay cut. He has to sell to India and China at a discount [20%?] which means that there is no profit on his sales there.
I know there is at least one pipeline into China but I think it is for gas and was working flat out anyway so he can’t increase “easy” sales into the East. Most oil, and any INCREASE in sales, would be by tanker and around the Cape, a long, expensive voyage.
So the Red Army is stuffed [sorry for the technical term] for the foreseeable future. There will be no money to reequip.
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So we know the Russian cost structure, we know their markets and the sale price or we just deem it to be unprofitable. Talk about working backwards from the desired answer.
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Yes, Russia was selling oil happily at $40/bbl a few years back, so it has a long way to drop from $75 before Mr Putin worries. Europe will come to its senses as the cold bites and admit they need Russian energy too.
The Red Army will continue to rotate the 10% of its men into Ukraine to neutralise their army. America and Europe will tire of Zelensky’s demands before Putin gives up. Meanwhile it has all added impetus to the BRICS to get organised and set up a pole separate to the West.
20
Putin is finished.
01
LOL.
Good luck with your forecast as most commodities will keep going higher in price. All to do do with shortages and that annoying supply chain ‘thingy’. Putin isn’t the issue here. The 2 years of most Government ‘Virus’ madness and the impact on the World Economy has though.
40
Don’t fight the Fed.
00
The Fed has run out of ammo’ and Congress is out of control with all of that spending.
00
The Fed has more ammo than Fort Bragg.
00
Statement from Pauline Hanson – the case for ‘NO’ to Indigenous Voice Referendum
70
The poor South Africans.. They left apartheid behind and went to NZ, only to have it instigated there. They moved to Aussie, and once again they are watching it being assembled here.
One man one vote and equality for all…. what did happen to that idea?? Within 15years Aussie will be another NZ, run by a minority racial group that never gets voted in.
Indigenous people’s rights.. pfft!
(There Jo, I never mentioned the A word once!)
31
US Prepares To Send $1 Billion In Latest Ukraine Weapons Package
The Biden administration is reportedly about to send $1 billion more in US taxpayer funded aid to Ukraine, in what will be one of the largest packages so far, Reuters reports.
The aid will include munitions for long-range weapons and armored transport vehicles, according to three anonymous sources, who added that the package had not yet been signed by President Biden, and could change in value and content before it’s a done deal. As it currently stands, the assistance includes munitions for HIMARS, NASAMS surface-to-air-missile system ammunition, and up to 50 M113 armored medical transports.
As Reuters notes, the latest assistance – which could come as early as Monday – would bring the total amount given by the Biden administration to $8.8 billion (or 9 fired Ukrainian prosecutors, if one rounds up), since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.
40
Trust the science – Astronomical version
A French physicist supposedly tweeted an image of a distant star taken by the $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), but it turned out to be fake news and nothing more than a slice of chorizo.
Étienne Klein, a prominent physicist and director at France’s Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission, tweeted an image of a red ball of spicy Spanish sausage last week, asserting it was the closest star to the sun.
“Picture of Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to the Sun, located 4.2 light years away from us. It was taken by the James Webb Space Telescope. This level of detail… A new world is unveiled everyday,” Klein told his more than 92,000 followers on Sunday.
https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/top-physicist-admits-distant-star-photo-was-actually-chorizo
“Follow the
scienceChorizo!”Scientist removes cheese from pizza.
Shows to media saying “we were right about the moon!” 😅
40
0.04% compliance: Israelis wholly reject Pfizer’s baby and toddler mRNA shots campaign
Fewer than 1 in 2000 got their babies and toddlers injected with the gene juice.
Some good news out of Israel.
A stunning 0.048% of the Israeli population, or fewer than 1 in 2000, have accommodated the mRNA mafia’s requests to inject their children with expired gene therapy drugs.
Having once achieved virtually unanimous compliance in Israel (an effort assisted by heavy-handed government coercion), the mRNA shots now face much quiet and overt resistance in the country. Average citizens just aren’t buying Big Pharma’s sales pitch — despite the insistence from government officials that the shots are absolutely necessary — and the numbers are making that reality clear as day.
https://dossier.substack.com/p/004-compliance-israelis-wholly-reject
I guess the “Pharm animals” are finally waking up and rebelling.
But can you unbreak an egg?…
70
New Zealand Judge Declares 12-Year-Old Children Can Consent To Sex With Adults
A New Zealand judge has told a jury that 12-year-old children can consent to sexual intercourse with adults.
The defense used an element of New Zealand’s laws not widely understood by the public – that while the age of consent is broadly 16 years in New Zealand, consent is still a legal defense available to those charged with raping children.
“There definitely needs to be change,” said Kathryn McPhillips, executive director of sexual abuse organisation HELP. McPhillips said it was “immoral to be putting those ideas forward that a child could consent … It’s way out of sync with what the general population thinks our law is.”
Leiataua was found guilty this week of 33 charges of sexual abuse against two girls. The youngest victim was just an 8-year-old child when the abuse began. Both children faced two weeks of grueling cross-examination, and it was the nature of Leiataua’s defense, rather than the trial’s final outcome, that has revealed a shameful chapter in New Zealand legislation.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/verdict-in-man-guilty-on-33-charges-of-sexually-abusing-underage-girls/
…and a 2 year old that doesn’t even know how to tie their own shoelaces has formed an opinion on their own gender (but can’t define gender) and qualifies for “treatment”.
All makes perfect sense…
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Apparently Labor’s 2030 target to save the planet includes 82% of electricity being supplied by “renewables”. The 43% target applies to all emissions, including industry, transport, manufacturing etc.
How is that going to work?
Currently, on average across the AEMO grid, solar provides 13.5%, wind 12%, and hydro 8%, with coal 59.6% and gas 6.9%.
By 2030, to reach 82% renewables, will the generation mix look like this?
Solar 36%, wind 36%, hydro 10%, with coal 11%, gas 7%.
Solar only operates at about 25% capacity factor (or less), so during the day solar would generate 144% of demand, requiring massive storage to reduce output to the grid to say 50% of demand. The balance of daylight generation would be wind 36%, hydro 5%, leaving just 9% for coal and gas.
Is that a viable operation for any coal or gas generators?
Now consider what happens when wind delivers 72% of demand (wind output varies from a capacity factor near zero to 60%, average 30%). At least half would have to go into storage, especially during daylight hours.
On a still, cold night, it would seem that the majority of supply would have to come from massive batteries, unless there are still reliable coal and gas generators just ticking over on standby.
It is not surprising that Albanese and Bowen have quickly backed away from their promise to cut our electricity bills by $275 by 2025, yet still they chant the mantra that “renewables” are cheaper.
Now we must wait for Labor’s costed plan to deliver their targets.
20
Seeing it wont work no matter what they do, I guess the target and the timing of it doesnt really matter much from a technical viewpoint. A short deadline will however be a goldmine for all involved as it always pushes up already inflated costs and creates all kind holes in whatever mediocre controls the government pretends to have in place. Should be quite the feeding frenzy.
40
‘LayBore’ will not be around by 2030 as the lights will have already gone off well before then and they will have been ‘booted out’ of Office at the end of this 3 year term (sometime in early 2025).
Reality, Inflation, Debt, Physics and the Laws of Thermodynamics will hit them hard, as well as the Australian Public and the Economy unfortunately.
32
Shipping’s New ESG Rules Could Starve Millions
A new report found that more than 75% of ships will not meet the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) new Environmental social and corporate governance (ESG) index aimed at decarbonizing the industry. This means that many ship owners will be forced to slow ships down to reduce emissions but doing so could deepen the global food and energy crisis by reducing available ship capacity.
“IMO decarbonization targets will cause ships to slow down delaying food shipments and people will starve,” a global security analyst told gCaptain. “How many people will die as a result of the IMO’s ESG efforts is unknown at this time. I don’t think most shipowners even understand the severity of the EEXI threat but it could be millions of lives.”
“Prior to any efficiency modifications, more than 75% of the fleet — including bulkers, tankers, and containerships — will not be compliant with the Energy Efficiency Existing Index (EEXI) that will enter into force next year,” said cargo analyst Joey Daly, in the new VesselsValue report.
The challenge of decarbonization will extend to all areas of shipping, and EEXI alone will present a myriad of challenges to owners, operators and financiers. Simon Hodgkinson, who heads loss prevention at West P&I, has suggested that the new rule could be one of the most significant new shipping regulations in years. He believes it has the potential to shift the entire industry.
Slow steaming is a technique used by shippers to reduce fuel consumption and emissions by slowing down vessels. The process involves sailing at a slower speed, typically around 50% of the vessel’s maximum speed. This can be done by reducing the revolutions per minute (RPM) of the propellers.
https://gcaptain.com/slow-steaming-the-surest-way-ageing-fleet-to-meet-ever-changing-emissions-standards/
00
Covid Vaccines Are Killing One in Every 800 Over-60s and Should Be Withdrawn Immediately, Says Leading Vaccine Scientist
Dr. Theo Schetters, a vaccinologist based in the Netherlands who has played a leading role in the development of a number of vaccines, has analysed the official data from the Dutch Government and found a very close correlation between when fourth vaccine doses were administered in the country and the number of excess deaths, as shown in the chart below. Importantly, in the Netherlands the booster rollout in different regions was staggered over a number of weeks allowing an analysis by region, which confirms the effect.
Dr. Schetters, who is a recipient of the Medal of Honour of the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Montpellier in France, told Dr. Robert Malone, an inventor of mRNA vaccine technology, that medical doctors are currently seeing “all sorts of symptoms that they do not know what it is” and that “in the Netherlands now it’s very clear that there is a good correlation between the number of vaccinations that are given to people and the number of people that die within a week after that”. It is essential to look at all-cause mortality, he said, as the vaccine “potentially affects all organs”.
https://dailysceptic.org/2022/08/04/covid-vaccines-are-killing-one-in-every-800-over-60s-and-should-be-withdrawn-immediately-says-leading-vaccine-scientist/
40
Water: Do You Really Need 8 Glasses a Day?
You may therefore not be surprised to learn that this so-called “rule” has no basis in science. So where does it come from anyway?
The idea that we should consume large quantities of water can be traced back to Vincent Priessnitz, an Austrian peasant farmer who gained notoriety after getting into a bad accident and healing himself using wet bandages and drinking large quantities of water. He went on to popularize the hydrotherapy “nature-cure” movement in the early 19th century. Cold water — drinking it, bathing in it, using compresses impregnated with it — was recommended to treat a whole host of illnesses. Priessnitz’s patients were advised to drink a whopping 12 to 30 glasses a day.
In principle, you’ll know when you need to hydrate because you’ll feel thirsty. This should happen during the very earliest stages of dehydration, when you’ve lost about 2 percent of your body weight in water (and, actually, most experts define dehydration as starting when you have lost 3 percent or more of your body weight). The more dehydrated you are, the thirstier you will feel.
But there is generally no need to drink when you don’t feel like it. Drinking when you don’t feel thirsty requires greater physical effort than drinking when you do. Brain imaging studies have also shown that drinking more water than you need feels unpleasant. Your brain will do its best to discourage “social polydipsia” — chronic overdrinking due to “the urban myth of consuming eight 8-ounce glasses of water per day for good health” — because this could modify your internal plumbing by distending your bladder or dilating your ureter, or, in the worst-case scenario, cause renal failure.
(Long list of references…)
Simple answer – only drink when you feel thirsty. Skip the silly fad of sipping from sports water bottles every 5 minutes like the yuppies do…
90
It goes along with the same rubbish as that an adult person needs to eat 7 vegetables and 3 fruits every day, or something like that. Where did that come from? Women’s Weekly or the so called ‘Health Eggspurts’ on Commercial TV?
There are people that are alive at 100 years old today who just ate as best they could. No junk food (processed food) for them either.
20
When I was first in the army we used to practice water discipline. – you could drink but don’t waste or over consume. I have continued in that practice and it has always served me well regardless of where and what environment I served in. The army has changed this practice (more to do with heat injuries caused by poor planning and risk mitigation for activities that were not adequate) and soldiers carry camelbacks everywhere and water must always be available and in abundant supply. The issue I have found with this is that we still get heat injuries on both operations and training deployments that are not related to water consumption primarily. Many of the soldiers who succumb to heat in are victims of the excessive load carriage we now use and the constricting effects of body armour and other equipment has on the body and the body’s normal cooling processes. This is magnified when soldiers are not properly conditioned or acclimatised.
60
I met a bloke who was in the WW2 6th Division and in the first big push west against the Italians in North Africa. They were marching up to 40 miles a day. The water ration was a quart, which had to cover shaving as well.
10
Thanks for that.
Feel a sense of relief knowing that my low water intake, relative to dogma, is O.K.
20
I always wondered if the young women bringing water bottles to class were suffering from dry mouth due to ingestion of antidepressant medications.
10
Jaw-dropping video shows massive volcano erupting near airport.
Iceland’s colossal Fagradalsfjall volcano erupted not far from its capital’s airport on Wednesday afternoon — and judging by the photos captured by adventurous onlookers, it was certainly a sight to behold.
According to The Washington Post, the eruption took place roughly ten miles from the Keflavik International Airport and 20 miles from the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik.
Fortunately, no injuries have been reported so far, despite many curious onlookers flocking to the site to witness the awe-inspiring scene, which one volcano enthusiast described as a “dancing fire,” as quoted by the WaPo.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/08/04/iceland-volcano-erupt-airport/
…global rise in volcanic activity on schedule…
30
Ambitious researchers want to use AI to talk to all animals.
A group of researchers are looking to use machine learning to translate animal “languages” into something humans can understand — and they want to apply it to the whole animal kingdom, a highly ambitious plan to say the least.
Despite the seemingly insurmountable challenges the group is facing, the project has made at least some progress, including an experimental algorithm that can purportedly detect which individual in a noisy group of animals is “speaking.”
A second algorithm reportedly can generate mimicked animal calls to “talk” directly to them.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/jul/31/can-artificial-intelligence-really-help-us-talk-to-the-animals
Do I suddenly see a lot of very nervous NZers and Dandenong Ranges people? 😅
20
Hackers loot Blockchain bridge in “frenzied free for all”.
On Monday, hackers exploited a basic vulnerability in the code of Nomad — a crypto “bridge” that allows customers to transfer cryptocurrencies between different blockchains — getting away with roughly $190 million in user investments, CNBC reports.
This hack is just the latest in a string of attacks on crypto bridges, platforms that, according to CNBC, have collectively lost more than $1 billion to hackers in 2022 alone.
Given that Nomad markets itself as a “secure” platform, the company definitely has a lot of explaining to do.
“Nomad just got drained for over $150 million in one of the most chaotic hacks that Web3 has ever seen,” Sam Sun, a researcher at crypto investment firm Paradigm, wrote in a viral Twitter thread.
Sun alleged that the hackers needed very little technical knowledge to execute the heist, which he described in one tweet as a “frenzied free-for-all.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/02/hackers-drain-nearly-200-million-from-crypto-startup-nomad.html
…and your government wants you to go digital for your safety…
Do the pollies even understand what metadata is yet??? 😅
60
North Korean hackers are reportedly going after Gmail accounts
North Korean hackers are using never-before-seen methods to bypass Google’s email security measures to read and download messages and attachments — all without Google detecting it.
They’re using simple browser extensions to steal mail data directly, and are reportedly targeting users in the US, Europe, and South Korea, according to a blog post by cybersecurity firm Volexity — sophisticated attacks that could set a jarring precedent.
While these sorts of attacks, known as “spear phishing,” have required unwitting users to voluntarily download rogue browser extensions in the past, these attacks are different, because the malware involved can download itself onto target computers without the victims knowing.
Worse yet, Google and Microsoft’s browsers are unable to detect that they’ve been infiltrated by bad actors.
The malware has also steadily evolved since its discovery, Volexity notes, and is already in its third version.
https://www.volexity.com/blog/2022/07/28/sharptongue-deploys-clever-mail-stealing-browser-extension-sharpext/
So much for Gmail’s recent changes to security that caused me so much grief.
I still use POP3 rather than IMAP for various reasons, not the least of which is data security. With IMAP all your emails are on the server ripe for hacking.
10
mmmm serverless POP3 , that impressive
00
I said no such thing. 😎
Emails are not RETAINED on the server after retrieval, unlike IMAP…
(assuming of course one has configured Gmail properly)
00
Twitter confirms zero-day used to expose data of 5.4 million accounts
Twitter has confirmed a recent data breach was caused by a now-patched zero-day vulnerability used to link email addresses and phone numbers to users’ accounts, allowing a threat actor to compile a list of 5.4 million user account profiles.
At this time, Twitter tells us that they cannot determine the exact number of people impacted by the breach. However, the threat actor claims to have used the flaw to gather the data of 5,485,636 Twitter users.
While no passwords were exposed in this breach, Twitter is encouraging users to enable 2-factor authentication on their accounts to prevent unauthorized logins as a security measure.
For those using a pseudonymous Twitter account, the social media company suggests you keep your identity as anonymous as possible by not using a publicly known phone number or email address on your Twitter account.
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/twitter-confirms-zero-day-used-to-expose-data-of-54-million-accounts/
10
Majority of Britons expect cost of living crisis to cause energy poverty deaths, riots.
A majority of Britons fear the energy and cost of living crisis will end with people unable to heat their homes in winter dying and riots on the streets.
Polling commissioned by the More in Common group — whose director Luke Tryl said the results should be “a wake-up call to our next Prime Minister” that “people want help now” — found that some almost nine-tenths of Britons believe the crisis will impact their day-to-day lives. Shockingly, around three-quarters believe there will be deaths this winter as people find themselves unable to afford their heating bills and succumb to the cold.
Eighty per cent believe people will resort to shoplifting to keep their heads above water, 70 per cent believe people will simply refuse to pay their bills, and over half — 51 per cent — believe things will degrade to the point that their are riots in the streets, The Sun reports.
“What I’ve been seeing on the doorstep for the last six months is absolute fear in people’s eyes. They are terrified as to what is coming down the line — they don’t know how they’re going to pay it.”
https://www.thesun.co.uk/money/19379752/cost-living-riots-crime-poll-reveals/
…and my fave Samboy BBQ chips went from $3.20 to $4.30 at Woolies overnight!!!!😨
20
Opinion piece from a vaccinated Australian writer.
Those of us who ridiculed and mocked the non-compliant did it because we were embarrassed by their courage and principles and didn’t think the unvaccinated would make it through unbroken and we turned the holdouts into punching bags.
We took pleasure in scapegoating the unvaccinated because after months of engineered lockdowns by political leaders blinded by power, having someone to blame and to burn at the stake felt good.
We believed we had logic, love, and truth on our side so it was easy to wish death upon the unvaccinated.
We should all try and find some inner gratitude for the unvaccinated as we took the bait by hating them because their perseverance and courage bought us the time to see we were wrong.
https://freenz.substack.com/p/opinion-piece-from-a-vaccinated-australian
80
It seems our whales are doing “quite nicely, thank you”.
Daughter went out on a whale watch cruise this morn and came across a pod of whales, including calves, that put on a spectacular show. She is ecstatic.
As I said y’day, I’m not a curmudgeon, I see a world in pretty good shape and wish the malcontents would direct their efforts towards the real problems that we know exist.
60
Hungary’s Orban addresses CPAC: ‘Less drag queens and more Chuck Norris’
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban gave the keynote address at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference conference in Dallas, taking the opportunity to urge conservatives in the United States to unite with those of Hungary.
In a wide-ranging speech, Orban touched on what he said were the dangers of globalism, billionaire liberal investor George Soros, the Hungarian handling of 2015’s migrant crisis, and the culture wars. The theme throughout the address was a focus on a return to the shared Christian values of the U.S. and Hungary as a possible solution to the world’s woes.
“The horrors of Nazis and communists happened because some Western states in continental Europe abandoned that Christian values, and today’s progressives are planning to do the same. They want to give up on Western values and create a new world, a post-Western world. Who is going to stop them if we don’t?” the Hungarian leader said.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/foreign/less-drag-queens-chuck-norris-hungarian-pm-orban-addresses-cpac
Back to the good old days when men were men and women appreciated it.😉
Applause. Applause!!! 😄
61
TIL – Today I Learned
That the human brain has its own microbiome!
Not just the gut and the mouth but even the brain. I thought the BBB (Blood Brain Barrier) effectively stopped pathogen throughput but not so!
This is a new but revolutionary discovery with potentially massive repercussions, no doubt along health & disease lines I’ve covered before.
Bacteria are your friends 😉
20
Wind Turbine Collapses: ‘Leaking Oil Everywhere!’
On Sunday, puzzled Swedish journalist and political commentator Peter Imanuelsen tweeted the news: “A wind power turbine just collapsed in Sweden”, says CNS News.
“People are being warned to keep their distance because…it is now leaking oil everywhere! “Wait, these “green” wind turbines use oil???”
In Sweden, a turbine at one of Europe’s largest and newest onshore wind farms collapsed on Saturday, RECHARGE News reports: “A turbine fell at the 475MW Nysäter project in northern Sweden around midday on Saturday”, said a statement on the project’s website.
[snip]
Patricia Pitsel, Ph.D., Principal at Pitsel & Associates Ltd. estimates that the typical wind farm requires about 12,000 gallons of oil: “Right now the average wind farm is about 150 turbines. Each wind turbine needs 80 gallons of oil as lubricant and we’re not talking about vegetable oil, this is a PAO synthetic oil based on crude… 12,000 gallons of it. That oil needs to be replaced once a year.
“It is estimated that a little over 3,800 turbines would be needed to power a city the size of New York… That’s 304,000 gallons of refined oil for just one city.”
https://www.cnsnews.com/blog/craig-bannister/wind-turbine-collapses-leaking-oil-everywhere
OIL!!!??? In clean green power systems!!!???
I thought they were using pink-Unicorn jelly…😅😅
61
Here, there, everywhere the world relies on fossil fuels, even renewables manufacturing and operations.
China understands.
40
Can’t they use olive or Canola oil?
(Well, there’s no such thing as a Canola, it’s rapeseed oil. But we can’t use possibly mean sounding words.)
Odd how it’s a reflection of Justin Trudeau.
Poisonous in its’ natural state, but processed to be digestible and given a pretty label.
At the WEF processing plant.
20
From another blog – there was a report from a semi-trailer driver who supplied a smallish wind farm. He delivered a semi load of Mobil 1 every fortnight
00
A REAL environmentalist – we’re going to kill ourselves because of stupidity
https://twitter.com/i/status/1555254154763051009
NAILED IT!!!
The free thinkers are the problem solvers…
41
UN Warns Two Largest Reservoirs in US Are Approaching Dangerous ‘Dead Pool’ Status
“Drought and desertification are quickly becoming the new normal everywhere—from the U.S. to Europe and Africa.”
Addressing the root causes of the climate crisis is essential to solving the worsening problem of water shortages in the Colorado River Basin, said a top environmental expert at the United Nations on Tuesday, emphasizing that the aridification of the region is part of a larger global trend.
The two largest reservoirs in the U.S., Lake Powell and Lake Mead, are part of the Colorado River watershed, and are both on the precipice of reaching dangerous “dead pool” status, according to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), with water levels dropping so low that water no longer flows downstream from the reservoirs.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/08/03/un-warns-two-largest-reservoirs-us-are-approaching-dangerous-dead-pool-status
Have no fear. More EV’s, solar and wind farms will fix naturally occuring cyclic climate change. 😅😅
61
Tony Heller mentioned that their levels are rising with the monsoon rain.
01
Crazy woman driver!!
Nicole L. Linton speeding driver leaves 6 dead, including pregnant woman & ejected infant
https://scallywagandvagabond.com/2022/08/windsor-hills-crash-nicole-l-linton-speeding-driver-leaves-6-dead-pregnant-woman-unborn-child/
Latest info suggests she was doing around 160 km/h in a 60 zone..
Just insane…
31
Canada sets new record for largest recorded hailstone
A giant hailstone was found near Markerville, Alberta on Monday, August 1, 2022, setting a new record for the largest recorded hailstone in Canada.
The record-breaker, measuring 123 mm (4.84 inches) in diameter and weighing 292.71 g (10.32 ounces), was found near the hamlet of Markerville by a team from the Northern Hail Project (NHP) led by Francis Lavigne-Theriault.
The previous record holder was 114 mm (4.48 inches) in diameter and weighed 290 g (10.22 ounces). It was found in Cedoux, Saskatchewan on July 31, 1973.
https://watchers.news/2022/08/05/canada-sets-new-record-for-largest-recorded-hailstone/
Why didn’t global warming melt it before it hit the ground? 😄
Didn’t want that solar array anyway…
11
Psays:
August 6, 2022 at 2:20 pm
The U.S. made a breakthrough battery discovery — then gave the technology to China
h/t
https://twitter.com/TheLastRefuge2/status/1555754193956360192
Replying to
@TheLastRefuge2
“First in 2017, as part of a sublicense, and later, in 2021, as part of a license transfer.” Notice the dates. First in 2017 probably refers to BHO’s last day and 2021 is right after Biden got in office.
50
Personal defibrillator gains CE certification
A Sydney-based medical device start-up, Rapid Response Revival (RRR), has secured European regulatory approval for its personal automated external defibrillator (AED), CellAED.
The CE mark is the sign of approval from European regulators, recognised by all Member States of the European Economic Area. When it comes to highly complicated devices that sustain life like an AED, CE certification is validation that the device meets the highest international benchmarks for design, use and safety.
Since the company’s establishment, RRR has revolutionised AED technology, with the culmination of work resulting in the creation of CellAED to improve the chances of survival for people suffering an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Globally, more than six million people die every year from sudden cardiac arrest.
While early defibrillation saves lives, more than 80% of these deaths occur in homes. Currently, the cost of AEDs makes ownership of these life-saving devices prohibitive for most households. This is a major contributor to the low survival rate of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, which has been estimated to be as low as less than 1% globally.
CellAED was created to make AEDs more accessible, portable and easy to use, so that more people have access to an AED in those critical first few minutes following an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. For every minute without defibrillation and CPR, the chances of being revived following a cardiac arrest drops 10%.
Compared to existing AEDs, CellAED is much smaller and lighter, so much so that it can be carried in a handbag or briefcase. Designed to be easy to use under pressure, CellAED’s simple Snap, Peel and Stick instructions allow for fast deployment in an emergency. CellAED is also fully automated, delivering shocks when they’re needed to keep a patient’s heart beating in the moments it takes before emergency first responders arrive.
Most AEDs available today cost more than $2000 each — up to 10 times what it will cost to buy a CellAED device.
https://rapidresponserevival.com/cellaed/
Pre Ordered at $359 – https://cellaed.io/au
00
Spain has controversially banned air conditioning from dropping below 27°C (80.6°F) in the summer.
Responding to Europe’s energy crisis, Spain has controversially banned air conditioning from dropping below 27°C (80.6°F) in the summer.
The new government decree, which applies to a whole host of public buildings as well as shops, hotels and other venues, will also stop heating from being raised above 19°C (66.2°F) during the winter.
“The rules will be mandatory in all public and commercial buildings, including bars, cinemas, theatres, airports and train stations,” reports EuroNews.
Ominously, the report also notes that the action is “extended as a recommendation to Spanish households,” meaning it could one day become mandatory similar to hosepipe bans and be enforced by fines.
The government passed the bill to meet a demand by the European Union to “limit dependency on Russian gas.”
http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=63257
Nothing below 27C in a Spanish summer?
Not even worth turning it on…
01
I’ve just seen that Judith Durham has died in Melbourne. What a wonderful, beautiful voice she had. RIP.
50
A rare voice indeed and a lovely Lady as well.
40
I followed the Seekers from 1964 on and am so sad the Carnival is finally over. Durham had a unique voice and was a major influence in the 60s and subsequent decades. A truly great woman.
40
I’m wondering if there is a video aimed at children of an argument against climate change. If not, one should be made, in fact many should be made. And I might try and produce one. I am sure you would all be keen to give suggestions.
00
dover0beachsays:
August 6, 2022 at 8:16 pm
Pedro L. Gonzalez
@emeriticus
“Like 30% of [military aid] reaches its final destination”
Republicans and Democrats stole billions of dollars from Americans and poured it into the black hole of corruption that is Ukraine, casting critics as “Putin stooges.” Turns out the stooges were the boosters of this war.
Quote Tweet
CBS News
@CBSNews
· 10h
The new CBS Reports documentary, “Arming Ukraine,” explores why much of the billions of dollars of military aid that the U.S. is sending to Ukraine doesn’t make it to the front lines: “Like 30% of it reaches its final destination.” Stream now: https://cbsn.ws/3oV6hz5
21
There are Millions of Cameras Around the World Made by a State-Run Chinese Company. Guess Whose Servers They Tried Connecting To?
The exhaustingly politically correct Brits decided they needed to install cameras made by the Chinese throughout the UK. I’m not suggesting they went with a Chinese company due to “wokeness,” but I will say this: they recently arrested a decorated veteran for “causing anxiety” with a Twitter post.
The UK’s Channel 4 News is reporting that British authorities have installed roughly “one million cameras in every aspect of British life” made by a Chinese company called “Hikvision.” They have been posted in schools, top-secret laboratories, and police buildings. [snip]
The video says that no one knows just how many Hikvision cameras are posted worldwide—that’s about to become very important—though they are believed to own one-third of the market share and produce 36 million cameras per year
Italian news reported last year that there are 140 Hikvision cameras at an Italian airport, and they were caught trying to connect with Chinese servers, making 11,000 unauthorized requests per hour. Hikvision claimed it was due to “outdated codes.”
At least a million CCTV cameras supplied by a Chinese state-owned company are installed in the UK.
Channel 4 News can reveal the government has turned down a request to meet the company amid security concerns, with reports of some cameras trying to connect to Chinese servers.
“I’ve now begun to describe this [Hikvision cameras] as digital asbestos,” said Prof. Fraser Sampson, the UK’s CCTV commissioner.
00
I believe that Hikvision cameras are used in many commercial areas in Australia. They may not have the Hikvision brand on them, as the company supplies their cameras to Australian security systems that have their own brands on the cameras. I’ve worked with them – they are very good cameras.
10
Representatives are Too Invested in Defense Contractors
As Congress considers two monumentally important pieces of legislative business — the annual defense policy bill and a historic reform to congressional ethics rules — it is worth taking some time to consider just how deep the potential for corruption goes in both these areas and how they intersect with one another. In other words, congressional corruption and ethical failings are inextricably linked to the military-industrial-congressional complex — the unhealthy intersection between Congress and the defense sector. This situation calls for serious reforms, and Congress is the only stakeholder that can make that happen.
A Cozy Relationship
There are few examples that better highlight the ethical dysfunction in Congress than the excessively cozy relationship between policymakers and the defense industry. Each year, including this one, members of the House and Senate armed services committees and the House and Senate appropriations committees craft the policy and allocate the hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars that fund the Pentagon. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is the primary vehicle for defense policy. The accompanying appropriations bill allocates the money to operationalize the policy laid out in the NDAA. To put this in perspective, consider that the defense budget now clocks in at more than $800 billion and the Pentagon allocated $420 billion in contracts in fiscal year 2020 — over half the total defense budget and a contract dollar amount larger than every other federal agency combined.
In light of the scale and scope of defense spending, reasonable observers could be forgiven for assuming there might be some prudential rules in place to prevent corruption when it comes to Congress’s work regarding the defense industry. Unfortunately, there are virtually no such rules. In fact, the current framework around congressional conflicts of interest and campaign finance regarding industry relationships is so permissive as to all but guarantee the perversion of the policymaking process in this area.
– A Cash Cow for Congressional Committees
– Solutions
There are related areas that demand reform, including the revolving door between Congress and the defense industry. It is all too common for former members of Congress and staffers on committees related to the defense industry to immediately transition to employment with a defense firm, or to begin work as a lobbyist or consultant for defense firms before returning to Congress again (in the case of staffers, at least). This phenomenon calls into question the incentives and interests of congressional staffers and members on defense-related committees when they may be eyeing more lucrative employment with the sectors and companies they are ostensibly overseeing and regulating. It’s worth considering stronger rules surrounding cooling-off periods — the mandatory wait time between holding official positions and accepting employment with a related industry or company — and restrictions on employment-related communications between officials or staffers and potential future employers.
– Conclusion
30
The US is corrupt to the core but unlike other “more” corrupt nations the 90/10 rule applies. The largesse is very much cornered by the elite. Other corrupt nations are more democratic in as much as low level officials and coppers are entitled to their crumbs. In the US the elite don’t need these to pass money up, they tap directly into the mother-lode: The treasury.
The mafia are more generous.
30
The US is a military industrial complex.
‘The military–industrial complex refers to the relationship between the government, the military, and the businesses that make things for the military. For example, the businesses can give money to politicians in elections. Then, politicians give more money to the military.’ (wiki)
Australia should quit the American Alliance and become a non-aligned state.
31
For Australia to do that, the country would have to go Nuclear and arm itself to the teeth. Can you all see that happening?
31
China will not use nuclear weapons against Australia, nor will they invade us militarily with conventional weapons.
There is nothing to fear but fear itself.
12
Not just defense contractors, but also Big Pharma and Big Green among others.
40
An important update
“It’s the Wrong Kind of Coral”
“As word of the recovery of the Great Barrier Reef spreads, the inevitable rationalization from alarmists appears.”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/08/07/its-the-wrong-kind-of-coral/
10