Monday

9.1 out of 10 based on 10 ratings

183 comments to Monday

  • #

    There are so many people around handwaving because of climate change, why cant they play handwaving music ?

    Handwaving music
    or polyphonic:

    Polyphonic handwaving
    another polyphonic invention

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  • #
    tonyb

    Well done Oz. A great and well deserved win in the Cricket world cup finals. You blew India away

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    • #
      RickWill

      After a month in India, the Australians had a good handle on the conditions. It was a good toss to win and Cummins made the right decision.

      In the first innings, Kohli again showed why he is a great batsman and Cummins a great bowler.

      It was tough for the Australian batsmen until around over 20 when the dew started coming down. The ball no longer gripped on the pitch and was easier to play. The fast bowlers could net get the bounce that the Aussie quicks managed.

      Head joins an elite few who made more than 100 in a ODI World Cup final. It follows his winning knock in England against India in the test match final earlier in the year. Also Head took a brilliant catch.

      Smith should have reviewed his dismissal. The ball struck him outside the line of the stumps.

      It was worth staying up to watch. The Indian crowd was obviously disappointed by the result but the World Cup demonstrated that cricket is India’s game and they have invested heavily throughout the country to create spectacular venues that make for great television. I will be interested to learn the size of the audience that watched the final throughout the world particularly now that cricket will be an Olympic sport in 2028.

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      • #
        Ross

        Certainly a lot of talk about the “dew” factor. Maybe it was a factor, maybe it wasn’t. The Aussies looked steely eyed from the get/go and I have the feeling that if they had batted first, they probably would have scored way more runs than India. Then, I think our bowlers ( with their variety) would still have bowled India out, irrespective of the dew. Crowd attendance was interesting. Commentators etc kept saying 130 k stadium, but this morning I read only 92k actually attended. So, really only a full MCG type crowd. 40k difference is big.

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      • #

        The winner is often the one who turns up. India thought they had already won, and just had to play as they had been. Australia knew they had to lift. 99% against 103%. Game over. Margins at the top are so fine.

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    • #
      Gee Aye

      Captain woke, it turns out, is actually also quite clever.

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      • #
        Strop

        He did what he was told and/or it wasn’t that had to figure out.

        If he’s so smart as a captain, how did he get the bowling changes so wrong at the end of SA’s innings in the semi?

        it turns out

        Suggests he’d done little previously to indicate he is.

        The best Aus has looked tactically in a match since Cummins took over was when Smith stood in for a game as captain when Cummins went home to be with his terminally ill mother.

        He did play a couple of smart innings with the bat, this tournament. Plus he holds the trophy as the tournament winning captain. The latter is what we (Aus) asked him to do. Job done.

        00

    • #
      Mike Jonas

      +1.
      But also, kudos for India for having grown the game of cricket around the world. I think they have done a great job, and cricket is very much the better for it. I note that Hong Kong Women narrowly beat Tanzania Women yesterday, and Nepal Women beat Japan Women. How good is that for cricket, and for the people who now play it?

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    • #

      Thx,Tony.

      ‘n thx also to India.
      Anuther day, anuther game…

      00

  • #
    tonyb

    Yesterday I was asking about the relative cost of energy in OZ, compared to Europe, The UK and the US. Several people mentioned the “service charge”

    This is the Uk’s where even if you don’t use gas or electric the standing charge will still come to £300.

    https://www.express.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/1836684/energy-bills-gas-electricity-standing-charge-suppliers-tariffs

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    • #

      And you have to pay for a TV licence. The radio is at no cost.

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    • #
      RossP

      Same in NZ Tony. Our fixed charge (ie. connection fee) is $61/month –just electricity. If we had gas as well there would be onother charge for that (not sure what that is)

      10

    • #
      RickWill

      In Australia, the gas and electric service fees are separated.

      Gas is 93.5c/d
      Electricity $1.628/d. (It rose to this value after September)

      So works out at $935pa or GBP489.

      Since installing the wood burner, we use very little gas. It is just for water heater and cooktop. Both are probably worth changing to electric to avoid the gas service charge.

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  • #
    tonyb

    I have just finished the book “The Dark Cloud”. Very interesting and a real eye opener as regards the huge amount of energy needed to power our increasingly digital world and where even a tweet will generate measurable amounts of CO2. When the CO2 scare mongers meet in Egypt in the next little while, around 20% of all energy will be diverted to our digital world. Very roughly the amount of CO2 emitted by people jetting there, staying in hotels and jetting back is not so very different if they had stayed at home and did it all by Zoom, email, tweets etc.

    Which got me thinking as to how much CO2 is emitted when you are forced to use an app to pay for your car parking as councils increasingly move to this method citing saving the planet by not having to collect money.

    With the internet of things rapidly becoming reality, when even trees and your toaster will have sensors, more data than ever before will be pulsed down underwater cables and via servers. Even a disruption in electric supply for a second will bring chaos. Good job that renewables are so reliable and work 100% of the time. Hmmm

    Russia China Iran could presumably bring our world crashing down with some determined hacking and as for underwater cables carrying power and data, what could possibly go wrong?

    Incidentally if anyone has ever come across real data as to the CO” cost of using parking apps I would be interested to see it in order to confront an ultra green councilor.

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    • #
      David Maddison

      Russia China Iran could presumably bring our world crashing down with some determined hacking

      That’s why President Trump banned the importation of Chinese power infrastructure such as huge power transformers and similar grid-scale equipment.

      They were suspected to contain malware which could bring the US grid down.

      One of the first things the present White House resident did was to lift the ban.

      https://www.skadden.com/insights/publications/2020/05/trump-administration-limits-acquisition

      https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2020/05/04/trump-pulls-power-grid-into-us-china-battle-015945

      https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-electricity-china/u-s-bans-utilities-supplying-defense-facilities-from-buying-power-grid-items-from-china-idUSKBN28R31R/

      https://www.powertransformernews.com/2021/04/23/us-department-of-energy-reverses-trump-ban-on-chinese-electrical-equipment/

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      • #
        John Connor II

        Boring old DDOS attacks are the easiest and most common though. They barely rate as an attack.
        Truly experienced and skilled (real) hackers exploit vulnerabilities at a core level and may not be detected for months or years after entry.
        Old tech, lack of upgrades and updates, 0days, buffer overflow exploits (STILL!!), phishing, social engineering, and more are the real threats. The level of genius in cyberattacks can be quite impressive but thankfully not common.
        Creating single unified power systems and financial systems is a disaster of unprecedented scale. Coming your way thanks to sycophant dumba$$ politicians.
        When real AI hits the scene, you’d all better have a mountain cabin somewhere.

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    • #
      David Maddison

      Also, under the current de-energisation policies of most Western countries the continued availability of electricity that is affordable and available is by no means guaranteed.

      The Government can’t keep shutting down power stations with no consequences.

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      • #
        Ian

        The government doesn’t keep shutting down power stations as they are owned by private companies.

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        • #
          Gary S

          All of our Australian governments (of all stripes) are complicit in allowing our once cheap and reliable grid to become dangerously compromised. Let’s agree on that shall we?

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    • #

      And what about all the CO2 that comes out of their gobs. And the methane that comes out of their……………

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    • #
      Robert Swan

      tonyb,

      where even a tweet will generate measurable amounts of CO2

      I’m pretty sure this sort of claim relies on similar abuses to the “deaths attributable to coal power station emissions” claims. You can divide the energy consumption of Twitter’s data centres by the number of tweets and come up with a figure, but it’s bogus. The bulk of energy consumed is fixed and doesn’t change when a tweet is sent. It’s pretty obvious that a data centre with way over-specified aircon, routers, etc., will use more energy than a setup that just meets the traffic demands.

      The energy used is largely determined by the peak traffic planned for, not by the actual traffic. The per-tweet energy is *minimised* at times when traffic is at maximum. It’s kind of the inverse of the electricity grid.

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      • #
        Mike Jonas

        Actually, the figures like that are not as bogus as you think. In my working days, I did a fair amount of work on unit costs, and while a simple division of totals isn’t completely accurate, it ends up being not far off the mark. When you add capacity, you have to add a whole chunk at once, not just the amount you need now, but the whole cost doesn’t apply only to the little increase in demand that made you add the chunk. The average unit cost is when there’s about half a spare chunk.

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        • #
          Robert Swan

          Mike Jonas,

          The average unit cost is when there’s about half a spare chunk.

          Yes, but that’s looking at it from the wrong end.

          It’s fine to average away the detail when it’s the people at the data centre wanting to plan for upgrading power, aircon, routers, or whatever, but it is very much bogus to take that figure and guilt trip each user that *his* tweets cost umpteen kWh. I am sure that the vast majority of users’ tweets don’t come within cooee of the mean. A Musk or Trump tweet that rattles around the world many times will use vastly more energy than a nobody’s tweet that dies a lonely death.

          It has the same problem as global surface temperature nonsense. All the information that *might* back up their claims has been lost in the process of averaging.

          10

          • #
            tonyb

            Robert

            The book is worth getting-the Christmas present season is upon us. So many bits of digital information-tweets, emails, pictures of that cute kitten, streaming of that film- are held on so many servers and sent by so many convoluted routes that I think the figures quoted and very well referenced are pretty accurate.

            10

            • #
              Robert Swan

              tonyb,
              Thanks. At $26 or so it’s good value if it gives me hours of enjoyable reading. OTOH, poor value if it just makes me cross.

              The reason I’m worried about it making me cross is that it very much sounds like it’s doing something I don’t like: over-simplifying.

              Sending an e-mail is pretty efficient; it typically goes from A to B in as few hops as possible, and isn’t kept on discs along the way. Where it *might* get power hungry is when places like Gmail decide (a) to keep all e-mails, sent and received, perpetually, and (b) to analyse all those e-mails to build up an advertising personality for each user. That massively increases the required storage space and CPU load, and the power consumption accordingly, but it’s down to Google, not the user sending cute kitten photos. But I guess the author has just apportioned the power consumed by the Gmail servers to the number of e-mails handled.

              IOW, where the real relationship is more or less of the form y = mx + b, he’s ignored the b term (fixed energy costs), which inflates x (the energy per e-mail).

              Another thing that makes me suspect the book would irritate me is that it apparently left you believing this:

              the amount of CO2 emitted by people jetting there, staying in hotels and jetting back is not so very different if they had stayed at home and did it all by Zoom, email, tweets etc.

              Literally incredible. The icing on the cake of this claim is that they may be in conference all day, but don’t you think they might be shooting off e-mails and video calls in the evenings?

              10

    • #
      RickWill

      Optus had a system wide malfunction two weeks ago that caused chaos with the millions of users. In some cases, life literally depends on signal connectivity. There were no indications lives were lost this time but it highlights the vulnerability of dependency.

      All the essential services need back-up power for when the grid collapses.

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      • #
        David Maddison

        All the essential services need back-up power for when the grid collapses.

        True.

        But in practice, with petroleum exploration banned in much of the country, only about two weeks reserve of liquid fuels, limited oil refinery capacity, and no nuclear submarines (and none-likely for at least a decade and probably not even then) to defend shipping lanes, WHERE IS THE FUEL GOING TO COME FROM?

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    • #
      John Hultquist

      This is sort of hear/say, but server farms have emergency back-up generators that get tested for an hour or so every couple of weeks. These have been diesel. Residents of one place objected to the use thereof, and that is why I heard about it.
      Hydrogen fuel cells can be substituted and that raises the question as to how the H2 is produced.

      50

    • #
      Ken

      tonyb
      The CO2 “emissions” you talk about are irrelavent.
      The earth has too little CO2 in the air as it is. We need a lot more to help green the planet with more plant growth.
      The present levels of CO2 in the air are far lower than many eons in the earth’s past.
      Compared to today’s 410ppm,
      200 million years ago it was 1,800ppm,
      440 million years ago – 4,400ppm,
      500 million years ago – 7,000ppm.
      During all these periods plant and animal life flourished and there was no ‘runaway global warming’ at all.
      Forget about CO2, it’s getting the blame without evidence for a problem that doesn’t exist.

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      • #
        tonyb

        Ken

        What you ad I might believe is irrelevant as we are not the ones running the country and putting in measures to trash our lifestyle.

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  • #
    tonyb

    Good letter from Dr Euan Mearns demolishing the CO2 arguments of a fellow letter writer

    https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2023/11/18/has-1984-finally-arrived/

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    • #
      Murray Shaw

      The John Cook paper referred to by Dr Mearns, the one claiming “97% of Climate Scientists……” has never released his workings, but going on the works of Dr Mearns, it could only be 33%, and that is only if all the 33% employed in Cooks workings were 100% positive without equivocation. This work by Dr Mearns showers much more uncertainty on the science of Cooks work.

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  • #
    RicDre

    Just wanted to say thanks to Jo for all that she does to keep this blog interesting and informative. It’s been a while since I’ve purchased some Emergency Chocolates, so I went ahead and did so. With the Thanksgiving holiday coming up here in the US, its important to me to say thanks to people like Jo and all of the people who contribute to this blog for their contributions to keeping us informed.

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    • #
      PeterPetrum

      We all need to buy Jo and her family chocolates for Christmas. She has provided a bumper year news-wise for all her followers. I am saving up to send her an equally bumper box of chocs.

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  • #
    RicDre

    EU Parliamentarian: 15-Minute Cities Will Be “Complete impoverishment”, “Enslavement Of All The People”

    From the NoTricksZone

    By P Gosselin

    The real target isn’t your convenience or climate protection. Instead it will be the ability for them lock people down whenever they want.

    The biggest lie about 15-minute cities is the promise you’ll have access to “everything you need” will be practically right next door. The truth will be, however, “everything you need” will be defined as inly [sic] the bare essentials needed to stay alive: water, 1200 calories a day and a controlled temperature. Anything else will not necessarily be a short distance away, and could involve substantial obstacles to procure – possibly even involving government-issued permits to purchase.

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/11/18/eu-parliamentarian-15-minute-cities-will-be-complete-impoverishment-enslavement-of-all-the-people/

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    • #
      John Connor II

      Behold One Of The World’s Largest Construction Sites, Future ’15-Minute City’

      Xiong’an has been called the “city of the future” and Xi Jinping reportedly has been personally involved in making decisions for its development.

      The massive site is set to be a 15-minute city.

      “They plan to relocate ≈4 million people from Beijing to Xiongan under a mixed system of both voluntary and coercive measures,” Ben Swann writes.

      “Every lamppost in the city will be equipped with facial recognition cameras. Every entrance and exit will be have checkpoints placed on them,” he added.

      Xiong’an is a glimpse of the future living arrangements the globalists dream for the masses.

      https://100percentfedup.com/watch-behold-one-of-the-worlds-largest-construction-sites-future-15-minute-city/

      One of the views out there is that the planned destruction of the economy will result in all the commercial real estate becoming vacant which will then be converted to housing for the masses, with everything controlled and rationed. Ready-made 15 minute cities as it were.
      I say it won’t happen, as there isn’t time left to fully implement it. 2024 starts in 6 weeks. 😎

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      • #
        Tel

        China alread has vast numbers of vacant flats … why build even more, then force people to live in them? Might as well use what they already have.

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  • #
    Liberator

    Seems the latest MS Windows updates forces AI on you, like it or not. My laptop just did an update and I see this new icon on my taskbar called Copilot. No idea what it was or where it came from. Quick Web search indicated it’s an AI tool ( and I use that term loosely) from MS and it can’t be uninstalled.

    There are lots of very unhappy Windows users out there! I found a way to disable it, but you can’t remove it. Why do they think they can forcibly install a program on your computer without asking? I guess that’s what you get when you click agree to the Terms and conditions without really reading and understanding what you just signed your life away for.

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    • #
      RicDre

      Interesting. My PC just updated to “2023-11 Cumulative Update for Windows 11 Version 23H2 for x64-based Systems (KB5032190)”. Is this the same update that installed on your laptop? I didn’t get the Copilot icon on my taskbar (nor is it Settings/Personalization/Taskbar) but it is in Microsoft Edge. [My OS Build Number is 22631.2715].

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      • #
        RicDre

        As a follow-up, I checked the registry on my pc and the key Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\WindowsAI\TurnOffWindowsCopilot has its value set to 0, which is probably why Copilot is not showing up on my PC. The software itself likely got installed anyway, it just doesn’t display on my taskbar.

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        • #
          liberator

          It’s possible that following on from the outcry they’ve (Windows) made it “invisible” for now in the latest updates. In the earlier updates there was no option to have it hidden/disabled. There was no registry key either that you’d edit the Copilot to off. I edited my registry following on from tips on how to do this to disable mine. I’d also added Group Policy editor to my system as well to give me a little more control. We worry about malware and virus getting into our system, yet MS can go and install whatever they like on your computer!

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          • #

            If a builder wandered into our home, demolished a wall, installed a new bathroom in the middle of the lounge and rearranged all the furniture and removed the dining table we would be very upset.

            Yet windows updates, firewalls and others can wander into our computers thoroughly altering things and they seem to think that’s ok

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            • #
              RicDre

              I think Microsoft’s attitude is that its their Operating System so they can do whatever they want with it. They are just letting us use it out of the goodness of their hearts (and a small fee, of course).

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            • #
              RickWill

              A while back, I was out sailing with a friend on his boat and we were negotiation a narrow channel where currents can get over 4kts. Just as we got into the channel, the portable computer running his navigation software went into an automatic update. I always carry my own portable nav GPS on a boat so I went over to that to make certain we stsyed on the right course line. The channel narrows and there are course lines for large vessels that go through at about 16 to 20kts and different courses for smaller vessels that can be doing from 4 to 40kts. So it pays to keep in your designated lane otherwise you can be surprised by a large cargo vessel coming up your stern.

              I showed him how he could disable updates and control when they happen. The computer was not connected to the internet at the time. It had a set update time for the package it had already downloaded when it was connected back at the marina.

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    • #
      David Maddison

      I always fear Windows updates as I know they will remove useful features, add unwanted “features”, make the PC slower, use more RAM and ultimately force you to upgrade hardware even if you are doing the same things as usual. You can’t avoid updates either. If you keep postponing them they will be forced upon you even if you have unsaved work, which you will lose.

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      • #
        KP

        I loaded a little program called “Stop updates10” when I built this computer back in 2018 with Win10. As far as I know it hasn’t updated anything since then.

        I’ve turned off as much of Windows as I can, I’d be quite happy with XP if it ran today’s programs.

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      • #
        Destroyer D69

        Have not updated for about 4 years!!!!! computer still working OK. The secret seems to be do NOT turn on or OFF while still connected to the net(UNPLUG MODEM before turning on and open search engine Before reconnecting ) Stop auto updates and if windows locks your computer and demands that you MUST UPDATE, simply unplug the modem and then tell it to go ahead.

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      • #
        Lance

        Wise users will use Linux for online activity and Windoze for specific functions like Autocad.

        I haven’t used Windoze in 15 years as an online activity. I do use Win for Visual Basic / Access programming, but air-gaped, for custom projects. Win has too many vulnerabilities and security flaws to tolerate it.

        Dual boot: If you must, install Win first on drive 1 and then Linux on drive 2 and select OS on startup.

        Win is like running naked in a crime zone with $100 bills stuck all over you. It attracts bad things.

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    • #
      John Connor II

      …which is why Windows 7 is the best OS ever.
      Failing that, Win 10 rather than W11, because of the telemetry and fake AI junk.
      Copilot can be manually disabled/uninstalled, or via the reg key, or via the group policy editor if you have it.
      As for Linux, show me a distro that fully supports the 200+ Win apps I use, and I’ll switch.
      You can run Linux in a Hypervisored VM though.

      10

  • #
    BartenderUk

    John Clauser won a Nobel Prize. Then he started denying climate change. – The Washington Post

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/11/16/john-clauser-nobel-climate-denial/

    This is what happens when a Scientist doesn’t believe in manmade climate change anymore. They stopped falling asleep in the easy chair.

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    • #
      Greg in NZ

      Den!er! Unbeliever! Heathen! Witch!

      Welcome to the Dark Age of Consensus® as pronounced by the father of lies, Mr M M Hokey Shtick himself [I don’t have to show you my numbers – you’ll only use them against me].

      The Pythons’ Life Of Brian still rings true after all these years.

      NB. I wish our climate would change, I’m sick of this cold, damp, rainy weather – where’s my heatwave!

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  • #
    James Murphy

    A lawsuit against the board of directors of the UK’s energy giant Shell has been thrown out of court, preventing ClientEarth, an environmental law charity, from pursuing derivative action over the alleged failure of the oil major’s board to put in place the right decarbonization and net zero tools to move the energy transition engine into high gear in line with the Paris Agreement.

    https://www.offshore-energy.biz/lawsuit-case-against-shell-directors-ends-with-court-dismissal/

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  • #
    David Maddison

    The other day Gee Aye said in respect to Canberra/ACT:

    #160
    Gee Aye

    November 17, 2023 at 11:24 am · Reply

    We’d do just fine if you cut all the coal stations off the grid. You wouldn’t though.

    Do most Canberra residents think like that?

    No wonder Australia is heading for disaster.

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    • #
      robert rosicka

      The ACT has sometimes been as low as 13% wind and solar so where did the rest come from , look at South Australia has more than enough wind and solar to run the state and pump electrons into Victoriastan but when it’s late in the afternoon into the evening no wind no solar and battery flat they can be running 100% off fossil fuel via coal from Victoriastan, massive diesel generators and gas .

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      • #
        Ross

        Most of Saturday just gone, Victoria on 76% coal/gas electricity generation. Then, towards early evening went to 95% hydrocarbons. No wind, no sun, no electricity. But that’s Ok, Premier Barbie and the Energy Minister just announced the formation of the SEC, to manage all that non-existent renewable energy. Because we need a whole new public service department to manage nothing. A bit like our newly opened jail which has nearly full staff but no prisoners until 2025.

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      • #

        You are forgetting Snowy Hydro…which COULD support the ACT during the night….
        ……but i bet that is not what happens !

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    • #
      Gee Aye

      You made an willfully ignorant comment and I gave you the response it deserved. Stop gaslighting.

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      • #
        David Maddison

        Then please explain what you meant by:

        We’d do just fine if you cut all the coal stations off the grid.

        Where would the 24/7 electricity come from without power stations?

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        • #
          Gee Aye

          Look back at the context and then look up to see the point passing over your head.

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          • #
            John Connor II

            Take the ACT, for example, which has used net 100% renewable electricity since October 2019.

            The ACT government buys renewable energy from generators outside the territory, which is then mostly used in other states, such as Victoria and South Australia. Meanwhile, people living in ACT rely on power from NSW that’s not emissions-free, because it largely comes from coal-fired power stations.

            This way, the ACT government can claim net 100% renewables because it’s offsetting the non-renewable energy its residents use with the clean energy it’s paid for elsewhere.

            https://grattan.edu.au/news/what-does-100-renewables-actually-mean/

            Yes, and Gee goes for another attempt at a successful post.
            Oh no, and so close too.😆😆

            https://va.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_s35any5ge91w5pr9j.mp4

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            • #
              David Maddison

              I still want to know how a civilised country can survive without power stations.

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              • #
                NuThink

                David,

                I still want to know how a civilised country can survive without power stations.

                To start with you need a civilised country!

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              • #
                robert rosicka

                I still want to know how Gee Aye can claim with a straight face that the ACT runs on 100% wind , solar and battery 100% of the time !
                If that’s the case why not cut the extension cords and prove it .

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            • #
              robert rosicka

              Absolutely hilarious John Connor what a find and I notice no response yet .

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              • #
                Gee Aye

                Why is a response needed? Remember all this started with “the ACT has the cheapest energy, why”. Answer, “we only buy renewables”. If you don’t understand how the market works I don’t think I’m the one you need to consult to work it out.

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  • #
    David Maddison

    Now that I’m a licensed amateur radio operator, I’m happy I have a means of off-grid comms, apart from the technical and scientific aspects of the hobby.

    The hobby today is different to the past practice dUe to the many digital modes available.

    The Optus failure in Australia the other day, leaving many individuals and businesses without comms or money for many hours, shows how vulnerable we are.

    We are even more vulnerable due to Government policy to continue to shut down the power stations.

    Of course, in a SHTF scenario I would hope to disappear into the bush somewhere with a board of food and supplies. Appropriate bug out location still being researched.

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    • #
      Ross

      As a licensed amateur radio operator you might want to watch the Netflix series ” All the light we cannot see”. 4 part series. You’ll love the radio stuff.

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    • #
      KP

      First they came for the licensed gun owners, then they turned off all the electronic cars, and THEN they came for the licensed radio operators…

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    • #
      GDX

      David – The GDX in my call sign stands for ‘Good DX’. May you always have good DX and enjoy the hobby.
      If you really want to get prepared for ‘bad times’ – i.e. no internet, get familiar with this.

      https://www.winlink.org/tags/australia

      Get the right equipment; learn to use it and participate weekly, if possible. Use it on the HF bands if properly licensed; and on VHF otherwise.

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  • #
    David Maddison

    “Energy transition” to unreliables is as absurd, as invalid and as impossible as that other “transition” beloved by the Left, “gender transition” (sic).

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    • #
      RicDre

      ““Energy transition” to unreliables is as absurd, as invalid and as impossible …”

      Absurd and invalid, true enough, but not impossible as the resulting destruction caused by the “Energy Transition” is likely a feature and not a bug of the completion of that project. This is probably also true of long term impact of the other transition you mentioned.

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    David Maddison

    You won’t see the Left praising this woman or criticising Saudi Arabia:

    Chess Grandmaster Anna Muzychuk, on refusing to play in Saudi Arabia. We should all be more like Anna.

    ‘In a few days, I’ll lose two world titles, one after another. Because I decided not to go to Saudi Arabia. I refuse to play by special rules, wear abaya, be accompanied by a man so I can get out of the hotel, so I don’t feel like a second-class person.

    ‘I will follow my principles and not compete in the fast chess and blitz world championship where in just 5 days I could have made more money than with dozens of other combined tournaments. This is all very unpleasant but the sad part is that no one seems to care. Bitter feelings, but I can’t go back.’

    Anna Muzychuk

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      Wow !… a strong woman who should be heard by more people
      Other chess players at least should pay attention, but the lure of big $$$s will no doubt cause a lot of localised deafness !

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      The Saudis must be running a great public relations campaign? I’ve recently seen articles saying women are driving, working normally, and definitely not abayad, and funds to the Wahabis overseas madrasas are drying up. Who knows?

      60

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    Hanrahan

    Nothing is as simple as it seems, especially with BEV tyres:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pM9o2Ifcro

    71

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      David Maddison

      Interesting. I wonder how much more EV tyres cost over equivalent regular ones?

      40

    • #

      #
      Hanrahan
      November 20, 2023 at 6:07 am · Reply
      Nothing is as simple as it seems, especially with BEV tyres:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pM9o2Ifcro

      Jeez !.. this is all sales BS to justify a higher price for tyres on expensive vehicles driven by technically/financially ignnorant owners .
      Fundamentally, it is based on the belief that EVs are significantly heavier than an ICE and NEED MORE EFFICIENT , harder wearing tyres !
      Total BS !. Few EVs weigh over 2000kg, most in the 1600-1900kg range.
      That is no different to many existing ICE sedans and LESS than many ICE SUV/4x4s
      (My own mid size 4×4 weighs 2150 kg tare, and is well over 2500 in normal use)
      There are many Much heavier.
      Sure a ice Camry ( 1580 kg) may weigh less than a Tesla Model 3 (1628kg) but is that difference significant ?…..unlikely when there is 50 kg of fuel in the Camry !
      And why is efficiency more important for an EV than a an ICE !
      More torque on an EV ?… more BS !
      I will bet that my diesel in low range , first gear , subjects its tyres to far more torque than any EV !…and it is factory equiped with regular “highway” tyres that can be bought for $200 each.
      ….or i can choose “special “ tyres at any price up to $500+ if i want to have more street cred !
      Special harder compounds ??.. sure, that will improve efficiency and wear rate ( not as much as controlling the driving style though) ..
      …BUT it will also reduce the grip and hence safety in an emergency .
      At times like this , i really start to think we should encourage this “missinformation” bill that is being proposed !

      51

      • #
        Hanrahan

        The young fellow doing that blog is meticulous, not anti BEV. I’m sorry but if given a choice who to believe you come a distant second.

        He said at the beginning that Hankook sponsored the video.

        10

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        Hanrahan

        And why is efficiency more important for an EV than a an ICE !

        In two words “range anxiety”. Why do you think they fit those expensive, dangerous, flush door handles that cost $300 to replace?

        30

      • #
        Graeme No.3

        Here are all of Tesla’s current models sorted heaviest to lightest:
        5,390 lbs – Model X Plaid 2444 Kg
        5,185 lbs – Model X Long Range 2352 Kg
        4,766 lbs – Model S Plaid 2162 Kg
        4,561 lbs – Model S Long Range 2069 Kg
        4,416 lbs – Model Y Long Range/Performance 2004 Kg
        4,065 lbs – Model 3 Long Range/Performance 1844 Kg
        3,582 lbs – Model 3 Standard Range Plus 1625 Kg
        2,723 lbs Gen. 1 Tesla Roadster 1245 Kg

        00

        • #

          G3..
          I dont know what that list of tesla weights was intended to suggest, ..but i would say that the Mod X is in the same class as many 7 seat 4×4 ice’s such as Range Rovers, Lexus 570, Toyota Land Cruiser, Audi Q8, .even Toyota Prado….all of which are 2400+ kg
          Model S equivalent is something like an Audi S8 (2295 kg)
          The top selling vehicles in Au are the Hylux, and Ford Ranger, ..again both of those are 2100 kg , and 2270 kg respectively !
          Point being , there are many more heavy ICEs on the roads than any similar weight EV, and “special “ tyres have not been necessary for efficiency , wear rate, roling resistance , or any other spurious requirement !
          Dont be fooled by the salesman……or the internet experts .!

          20

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            Graeme No.3

            Information only. I was checking on the same subject about EVs weight but didn’t know Camry weights (only Corollas).

            00

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      Lucky

      Notice the example at 47secs of an engine bay- a Subaru flat-four!

      00

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    Reader

    (Canada) Parliamentary Budget Officer: taxpayers to pay $5.8 billion extra in EV corporate welfare
    https://tnc.news/2023/11/19/ev-corporate-welfare/

    30

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    another ian

    Linux happenings

    “IBM / Red Hat Enterprise Linux: Closed Source”

    https://chiefio.wordpress.com/2023/11/19/ibm-red-hat-enterprise-linux-closed-source/

    21

    • #
      RicDre

      One of the comments in your attached article is

      Now I think that is potentially a violation of the GPL on most of Linux, but that’s for lawyers to sort out.

      That was my reaction also, when I read the article’s headline.

      40

  • #
    another ian

    “A Fair Trade?”

    “From Symptoms to Causes- Covid Vaccination in Iceland: A Failed Experiment”

    https://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2023/11/19/a-fair-trade/

    20

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    David Maddison

    YOU are the “carbon” (sic) they want to reduce.

    50

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    another ian

    “The ‘M’ Word”

    “On Britain’s NHS, where pretending is everything:”

    https://thompsonblog.co.uk/2023/11/bad-language.html

    https://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2023/11/19/the-m-word/

    30

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    another ian

    “Climate Enron May Be Heading for a Crash”

    “The modern American version of “the environmental emperor has no clothes” until now has been the rise and fall of Enron. As former Ken Lay speechwriter Robert Bradley, Jr., says, “(T)he cause of Enron’s financial bankruptcy were at root philosophical…. Enron’s leaders were certainly engaged in massive philosophical fraud – an attempt to cheat reality itself.” ”

    More at

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/11/19/climate-enron-may-be-heading-for-a-crash/

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    • #

      From the article…

      EVs may be fine for short-trip urban travel but not for construction equipment, airplanes, or even urban buses, as evidenced by the recent horrific scene in San Francisco when a Google-operated electric bus lost power and slid backwards downhill into nine vehicles.

      Iss that really the most “horrific scene” he can site for EV dangers ?

      42

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    another ian

    FWIW – via email


    TO WHOM DOES THE LAND OF ISRAEL BELONG??

    An Israeli Sense of Humour at United Nations set the record straight.
    An ingenious example of speech and politics occurred recently in the United Nations Assembly and made the world community smile.
    A representative from Israel began: ‘Before beginning my talk I want to tell you something about Moses: When he struck the rock and it brought forth water, he thought, “What a good opportunity to have a bath!”
    Moses removed his clothes, put them aside on the rock and entered the water. When he got out and wanted to dress, his clothes had vanished.
    A Palestinian had stolen them!
    The Palestinian representative at the UN jumped up furiously and shouted, “What are you talking about? The Palestinians weren’t there then.”
    The Israeli representative smiled and said, “And now that we have made that clear, I will begin my speech.” ……………..”

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      GlenM

      That is great and so true.

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      Tel

      The word “Palestinian” is a linguistic corruption of the Philistines who certainly were settled in the Levant about the same time as the story of Moses. The Romans called it “Syria Palaestina”, because after several Jewish uprisings were crushed, they expelled anyone Jewish and required other ethnic groups to adopt Roman law and lifestyle.

      The Caananites were there before both the Philistines and the Jews but their culture was wiped out.

      Accurate connection between any current individual human and these very ancient cultures is tenuous IMHO, but statistically speaking there must be people today somehow descended from all three ethnic groups, as well as Greeks, Romans, Arabs, etc. Very likely there must have been significant intermingling between those groups as well as religious conversions.

      20

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    • #
      David of Cooyal in Oz

      Thanks ToM,
      I hadn’t realised Switzerland had given them all diplomatic immunity.
      No wonder they think they can get away with anything.
      Cheers
      Dave B

      20

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  • #
    David Maddison

    In a dumbed-down society, I guess this explains why so many people are obsessed with constantly listening to ultra-low-quality modern “music”, constantly, including through headphones in public places, played so loud that other people can hear it.

    https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343888106_Intelligence_and_Music_Lower_Intelligent_Quotient_Is_Associated_With_Higher_Use_of_Music_for_Experiencing_Strong_Sensations

    Intelligence and Music: Lower Intelligent Quotient Is Associated With Higher Use of Music for Experiencing Strong Sensations

    August 2020 Empirical Studies of the Arts 39(2):027623742095141
    DOI:10.1177/0276237420951414

    Abstract
    Intelligence is a key psychological feature associated to emotion and perception. Listening to music is often linked to emotional experience and sensation seeking (SS), traits that have been shown overall negatively correlated with intelligence. In a sample of 53 musicians and 54 non-musicians, we assessed the use of music for experiencing strong emotions through the Music in Mood Regulation (MMR) and the intelligence quotient (IQ) by using the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale III (WAIS-III). We found a negative correlation between the full IQ score and the use of music for SS in both musician and non-musician groups. Furthermore, the use of music for SS was negatively correlated with Verbal IQ in musicians, and with Performance IQ in non-musicians. Our findings indicate that less intelligent individuals make a higher use of music for experiencing strong sensations than more intelligent ones. Furthermore, this association is modulated by the individual musical expertise.

    11

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    another ian

    FWIW

    “Leaving Blobtopia”

    Concludes

    ” Which brings us back to our land and our own troubles and our own despondent population watching everything in their lives go south. That’s the reality that can’t be switched out on command anymore. That’s the reality worth “studying.” Everybody sees something like force majeure coming at them. Bad money . . . lawlessness . . . breakdown . . . hunger . . . . You can thank the blob for all of that. It’s possible to manage our affairs plainly, justly, fairly, honestly, prudently. We’ll get there. But you have to give reality the respect it deserves, just as you would if God came before you and asked if you’d behaved decently in this life. Would you try to bullshit God?”

    https://kunstler.com/clusterf*-nation/leaving-blobtopia/

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    Catherine

    a reminder:
    John Campbell, on YouTube:

    ? ‘Cancer after vaccines with Professor Dalgleish’

    12.57
    20.59
    23.26 – 24.58
    34.15- 34.40 “apparently this is due to the vaccine, that is what my oncologist said” when you are report this higher up the chain, you are told to sh..up to not cause panic

    There is no debate possible

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      David Maddison

      He has posted very little lately. I wonder why? Plus, I suspect he is being shadow banned as he rarely appears in my recommendations (on YouTube).

      30

      • #
        John Connor II

        Youtube is almost a dirty word now.
        There’s a lot of “ranking” issues and users are going to other platforms.
        Even Substack is under attack with certain stacks being moved well down the list.
        Notice how “sign in with Google” has appeared on a lot of counter-narrative stacks? Gotta track who sees what…

        10

    • #
      Honk R Smith

      I just watched this one.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UJqhG1I7tY
      Dr. JC
      Post COVID vax syndrome.

      So I guess we live in post Pandemic parallel realities.
      The Safe and Effective reality.
      And the not.
      Which is concerned with ‘Public Health’?
      Which is the conspiracy?

      40

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    David Maddison

    What are the scenarios for future shutdowns of power stations in Australia?

    How many more can be shut down before grid collapse occurs?

    I count wind and solar as contributing nothing to the power grid unless made fully dispatchable with full battery backup to their claimed capacity.

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    • #

      I suspect we are going to live through a “suck it and see” type trial of the limits for minimal coal and gas.
      Unless somebody steps in an takes control, coal plants will continue to be retired ( mothballed hopefully ) , until some major issues , …blackouts, staged demand restrictions, etc,…are encountered that cannot be explained away easily.

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      RickWill

      The planned closure of Erraring in 2025 is looking shaky.

      We realy will not know if Liddell was one closure too many until we get through the coming summer and next winter. Lets see how January goes without Liddell.

      I cannot imagine any of the proposed offshore wind farms getting up unless the duration and level of theft is increased. Roof owners are causing havoc with the grid scale WDGs. Both US and UK are increasing their levels of theft from consumers to WGD operators.

      Distributed PVs averaged 2,287MW in Q3. That resulted in the lowest ever wholesale demand of 11,393MW while the average was 21,270MW – a new average low..

      Wind farm capacity increased by 203MW but average output was down by 9MW due to competition for market share from like wind generators and curtailment due to system constraints and offloading due to negative pricing. Basically wind is close to saturation without substantial storage and its being eroded by rooftops that have priority access to the grid. Rooftop capacity is still growing fast. It has to be unnerving for grid scale operators because they cannot compete with rooftops.

      Snowy 2 completion date is now out to December 2028 so lets call it 2030. I expect there will be significant effort to keep existing coal plants operating till 2030. So Labor will likely not be exposed to the closure of another coal plant. LNP would be crazy to close another coal plant without gas back up.

      10

  • #
    David Maddison

    Here’s an idea.

    Can we use any existing laws to challenge false claims by companies, activists or politicians such as some new wind plantation will “power 260,000 homes” or that “wind power is the cheapest form of electricity production”?

    Both obvious lies.

    In the former case the wind plantation can power zero homes because the only power that counts is dispatcable power and that would only work if the wind plantation has battery backup to provide 24/7 power to its claimed capacity.

    80

    • #

      You might think that the proposed “missinformation act” might help to stop that form of deception…
      …but my unddrstanding is that the act as proposed would exempt Government information from its powers !!

      80

    • #
      Steve of Cornubia

      New laws such as those introduced to ban ‘misinformation’ are not, in themselves, weapons. They only become so when implemented and policed by prejudiced actors, such as leftist activist judges and ‘panels’ created solely for that purpose. And THAT’S the whole objective.

      It is one of strategies newly available to the Left now that The Long Slow March has granted them control of the legal system etc.

      50

    • #
      Mike Jonas

      Given that they don’t deliver more than about 40% of capacity, maybe it should be: “power 260,000 ho”. (Americans may misinterpret that).

      20

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      RickWill

      There are consumers laws regarding false or misleading claims that the ACCC are required to pursue. Generally these operate at a personal impact level so your case may be hard to support. Report false claim starting here:
      https://www.accc.gov.au/about-us/contact-us/report-a-consumer-issue

      I have been working through complaints procedure with CSIRO on false claims regarding climate models. I have not got a satisfactory response so am taking it to the Federal Ombudsman. Depending on what happens there, I will have a chat with the local Federal member who happens to be LNP. I am building a paper trail.

      You could require any claims of number of houses served to be qualified with something like “average” but “guaranteed zero”. Imagine if the claim read that the new wind generator will supply up to 420,000 homes but guaranteed output is zero. If they were required to do that then they might stop making false claims.

      30

  • #
    John Connor II

    Biden Declares National Emergency, Invokes Wartime Powers to Control Heating and Cooling Technology Amidst Growing Opposition

    In a stunning move, President Biden has declared a national emergency and invoked Cold War-era wartime powers to restrict access to heating and cooling technology.

    President Biden invoked a Cold War-era law in a surprising move Friday to pour taxpayer funds into domestic manufacturing of electric heat pumps, an alternative to gas-powered residential furnaces.

    In a joint announcement with the White House, the Department of Energy (DOE) said the federal government would award a “historic” $169 million for nine projects across 15 sites nationwide in an effort to accelerate electric heat pump manufacturing. The significant level of funding was made possible after Biden utilized the 1950 Defense Production Act (DPA) to increase domestic production of green energy technologies.

    https://citizenwatchreport.com/biden-declares-national-emergency-invokes-wartime-powers-to-control-heating-and-cooling-technology-amidst-growing-opposition/

    Everyone totally dependant on one single source of power.
    An intermittent, unreliable one totally incapable of meeting the country’s needs. What could (and will) go wrong.
    Total control over everyone’s usage.

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    • #
      Lance

      Got a Heat Pump? Hope your low temperatures never fall below 0C / 32 F.

      Above 35F, they work well. Below that, you better have another heat source.

      Make sure the outdoor unit expansion valve is set properly for heating. Many are off specification, and that costs a lot. Those 10 KW heat strips are expensive when they kick in.

      40

      • #
        Gee Aye

        Here you go

        https://www.consumerreports.org/heat-pumps/can-heat-pumps-actually-work-in-cold-climates-a4929629430/
        https://harvesthotwater.com.au/do-heat-pumps-work-in-canberra/
        etc etc

        we have quite an old model and it warms up a room when it is minus 5 outside. I don’t believe in miracles

        01

        • #
          Lance

          yeah. warms up a room….

          Try warming up a house. Electric heat is provided by 75% or greater gas/coal/nuclear generation. HP as well.

          You do realize that heating directly with natural gas is much more efficient than using a heat pump. Up to 95% efficient, vs gas fired generation at some 40% thermodynamic efficiency.

          False claims, GA.

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          • #
            Gee Aye

            The neighbours warm up a whole house. You seem to have mixed up the freezing point of water with the properties of a heat pump.

            00

            • #
              Lance

              GA, you are assuming a water source heat pump. I was referring to an air source HP.

              WSHP use boreholes to access ground water for absorbing or rejecting heat. Those boreholes cost about USD 60 per meter. If the water has high calcium content, it will foul the heat transfer surfaces over time.

              Ground source HP use contained circulating water in poly pipes in long trenches or circulating refrigerant in long copper tubing to transfer heat. Neither are inexpensive.

              ASHP transfer heat to/from ambient air into a refrigerant circuit. They stop being efficient around 32F/0C because the refrigerant has to be about 20F/11C below the outdoor air temp to extract heat. That was my reference.

              My fault for not specifying ASHP and your fault for assuming WSHP.

              A WSHP or GSHP system will set you back some USD 15K. An ASHP will cost some USD 5K. It is a matter of preference and cost. The best choice depends on climate, depth of groundwater, frost depth, etc.

              Not everyone can utilize boreholes. In California, I had to bore 100 M through granite to reach groundwater 3 times to find water, some had water wells 300 M deep and tried 4 or more times to find water. Just the cost of the drilling can run USD 8K to 20K per hole. So, “it depends”.

              20

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                Gee Aye

                Not my fault at all for assuming the common retail product that almost everyone understands a heat pump to be. And those warm up air (yes whole houses) or water when the air temperature is well below zero.

                00

              • #
                Lance

                Well, GA, you have appointed yourself the arbiter of what “everyone understands a heat pump to be”.

                Several hundred million people who have air source HPs would disagree.

                Grandiose Arrogance. That’s GA.

                10

            • #
              Peter C

              when the ambient temperature falls below 5 degrees, the HP170 automatically switches to electric boost mode. This is a sensible shift that avoids placing pressure on the heat pump during the infrequent occasions when it would be operating at low temperatures. As for the HP280, when the ambient temperature falls below 20C, it switches to combined heat pump and electric booster operation.

              20

      • #
        Mike Jonas

        We installed a heat pump in our previous house, and it ran underfloor heating brilliantly and cheaply. It had five 30m deep (100ft) holes drilled in the ground outside, though, for it to get the heat from.

        30

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  • #

    Aloha! The Biden DNC suffers from TVX SYNDROME! They watch tv and x and then formulate their foreign policy. A thousand marchers in the street in UK or Ireland or Detroit and they immediately talk proportions and limits. Not on Hamas but Israel. So far the polls here show more support for Israel like the latest Quinnipiac Poll shows 64% sympathize with Israel over Palestine. Yet I think the polls stop too short. A follow up question I would like to see is …

    19A. Do you want to live under 8th century Sharia Law the rest of your life?
    YES 0.1%
    NO 99.9%

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    • #
      Steve of Cornubia

      But the answer to question 19A will depend on whether you follow Islam or not, which is where the huge influx of immigrants from the Middle East starts to have the desired effect.

      20

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    KP

    “The British tested atomic weapons on Alpha and Trimouille islands in a secret personal agreement between the British and Australian prime ministers… The British never shared all their data, nor kept their promise on the size of the blasts. The last Montebello explosion in 1956 was officially 60 kilotons but it was later admitted that it was nearly 100. The fallout contaminated most of northern Australia, and radiation was detected as far away as New Zealand.”

    But slip slop and slap as its sunshine that give you cancer, not the radioactive dust blowing around Australia… and give up smoking because lung cancer won’t be caused by the radioactive dust trapped in your lungs!

    https://www.smh.com.au/traveller/inspiration/these-aussie-islands-were-a-secret-test-site-for-a-bombs-now-you-can-visit-20231106-p5ehz0.html

    31

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    another ian

    Either a training ground for peaker stupidity or serious competition for the leader in such –

    “At The New York Krazy Klimate Konference”

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/11/19/at-the-new-york-krazy-klimate-konference/

    10

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    BartenderUk

    Cornwall rocked by an earthquake as locals describe ‘bang like juggernaut hitting house’

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/cornwall-rocked-by-earthquake-as-locals-describe-bang-like-juggernaut-hitting-house/ar-AA1kaHbF?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=99033875d68c4f7ea4fa14da418ee15b&ei=75

    This event like similar events that we see happening around the world is the result of cosmic ray flux from the Sun hitting the Earth’s core. This is because our Sun is weakening. We will most certainly see another wave of big events happening over the coming years as the solar cosmic ray flux continues to rise to ever greater volumes, inflating the core of the Earth further and further, whereby ever more pressure is being generated from within the Earth’s core. Thus, as the saying goes, we haven’t seen anything yet because we have not experienced very large increases in solar cosmic ray flux in modern times, as we experience now and will experience in the near future, with corresponding consequences.

    The endpoint, of course, is the startup of the full Ice Age. This happens potentially in the 2050s. It happens irreversibly. When the Ice Age begins, everything changes on Earth.

    31

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    another ian

    FWIW

    “Why EV ‘utopia’ has become a living hell – for carmakers and EV owners | Auto Expert John Cadogan”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIpipeUI6zw

    A bit salty in places

    20

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  • #
    Gob

    After a prolonged delay treasurer Dim Jim’s doctoral thesis is at last available for download at https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/10152; enjoy.

    10

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    Hanrahan

    I’m out of my comfort zone on this but I have heard that Optus didn’t have a backup network over which they could run the bios to reboot their main network so guys had to physically fly to the cities housing their routers with USB sticks [or whatever] in their pocket.

    If this sounds wrong, I’m just sayin’ but it partially explains the long delay.

    20

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    Hanrahan

    Argentina to scrap the peso and use the US$?

    Javier Milei has promised to do so. I’m thinking it might be like going onto a gold standard without the gold in that it would force a fiscal discipline, limiting inflation which is a “for ever” problem in Argentina.

    CNN — Libertarian Javier Milei’s victory Sunday in Argentina’s presidential run-off contest has far-reaching consequences for the country’s struggling economy, including the fate of the peso.

    A political outsider who ran on a promise to “break the status quo,” Milei’s economic platform rested on a desire to dollarize the Argentinian economy. Dollarization means the country would give up the Argentine peso and use the US dollar as its currency.

    If enacted, the policy would hurl the nation into unknown territory: No country of Argentina’s size has previously turned over the reins of its own monetary policy to Washington decisionmakers.

    Ecuador and El Salvador have also dollarized their economies to combat inflation.

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    MrGrimNasty

    The National Trust is playing the climate card like many institutions to demand more money, evade responsibility etc.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-67432755
    It’s easy to demolish any one of the examples cited, but take Mullion Harbour and it’s extensive history of storms and damage, especially in the 1930s.
    https://sites.google.com/site/historyofmullioncoveandharbour/home/a-walk-at-mullion-cove
    “There are records which show that when the harbour was taken over by the National Trust in 1945 there had already been a significant collapse to the end of the south pier. Not quite so obvious, the seaward end of the west pier was also in need of attention to stop it from collapsing.”

    00

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    another ian

    In case you need one –

    “SOUTH AFRICA: FLAME THROWING DEVICE TO COMBAT CAR JACKING (V)”

    https://youtu.be/aLhWzMOccTg

    00

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    another ian

    Cake eaters called out –

    “Jet-Powered Hypocrisy: Richest 1% of Global Elites Emit as Much Carbon as Bottom Two-Thirds”

    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2023/11/20/jet-powered-hypocrisy-richest-1-of-global-elites-emit-as-much-carbon-as-bottom-two-thirds/

    00

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    another ian

    “Woke Lancet Warns: ‘Highest Global Temperatures in over 100,000 Years’ ”

    https://www.breitbart.com/environment/2023/11/20/woke-lancet-warns-highest-global-temperatures-in-over-100000-years/

    Greatly increases chances of this being wrong?

    10

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    Faye

    Way back at one of our Liberal Branch monthly meetings, a woman who was vying to win a seat on our Shire Council and who was knee-deep in “sustainability”, prompted me to ?rudely? say, “Sustainability is a dirty word”. And, to see the headline “Sustainability has become a dirty word” chuffs me no end. It was true form for me at our meetings, to blurt out my mind which other members told me, “Faye, you say what we are thinking”.

    00