Friday

9.9 out of 10 based on 13 ratings

76 comments to Friday

  • #
    CO2 Lover

    Everything old is new again

    When I was a child, milk was home delivered in reuable glass bottles with foil tops – gold or sillver tops (Bread was also home delivered in a horse drawn cart)

    Now home delivery in glass bottles is making a come back – but this time it is with water instead of milk.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-13027429/Forget-milkman-Getting-water-delivered-new-way-prove-eco-credentials-Gen-Z-shun-tap-water-plastic-bottles-refillable-glass-set-1-100-year.html

    “Ernie the Fastest Milkman in the West” Top of the Pops UK in 1971

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef6edDwphhk&ab_channel=TheBennyHillFanConsortium

    130

    • #
      tonyb

      How on earth is getting water delivered in glass bottles -considered eco friendly. Tap water is universally available in developed countries at a fraction of the price. Other than if you are out and about and need some liquid, bottled water should not be necessary

      130

      • #
        Greg in NZ

        We used to be one of those ‘developed countries’ back in the 20th century: Wellington, the capital of NZ and Bureaucracy Central, has been run [into the ground] by Green councils & mayors ever since, spending other people’s money on unicorn crossings, ie. rainbow zebras, cycle paths, and other pretty things, while completely ignoring what’s under their feet – water pipes – whereby a recent report found 44% of the city’s water was ‘leaking into the ground’ before it even reached a tap.

        Green solution? Level 2 water restrictions and up the rates by 20%. And let’s not mention the sewage pipes which regularly ‘leak’ into the harbour, closing beaches and killing fish life but hey, they’re ™Saving The Planet™ for the children’s children’s children.

        It’s enough to make you… sick.

        240

      • #
        John Connor II

        I always shake my head at those buying bottled water.
        Put a filter on your tap and pay cents per litre, not dollars!
        Buy a water filter/mineraliser dispenser!
        Sheesh…

        70

      • #
        Dennis

        For many people town or city water supply contains unacceptable levels of iron, for example people with haemochromatosis (iron overload).

        00

      • #
        Ted1.

        Our town water makes real yukky tea. We use water off the roof, which might get less healthy than it was the day it rained, and than the town tap water. I remember when we lived out of town finding dead rats in the water tank.

        We survived.

        00

  • #
    CO2 Lover

    Woke vs Woke

    When “Green Energy” meets “Aboriginal Heritage” rights

    At places like the Bald Hills (in Gippsland, Victoria) and at Cape Bridgewater (in western, Victoria) wind turbine construction resulted in the desecration of sacred Aboriginal burial grounds: Bad Blood: Fatal Brawl Follows Pacific Hydro’s Desecration of Aboriginal Sacred Burial Site at Cape Bridgewater Wind Farm

    Now, after 12 years of slugging it out in the US Federal Court, the Osage have finally prevailed. A decision by Judge Jennifer Choe-Groves of the Court of International Trade forces Enel to remove every one of its 84 turbines from Osage land.

    Hope to see more of this

    https://stopthesethings.com/2024/01/31/plains-justice-judge-orders-entire-84-turbine-wind-farm-be-removed-from-osage-land/

    110

    • #
      KP

      Removing 84 wind turbines will cost about US$300million, so about $3.6million each.. I wonder if that accounts for disposal, but either way its an indication of what to expect at the end of the life of a turbine. I hope someone has US$100million for the 30 outside Wellington by Dubbo.

      Of course the company that owns them will just form a subsidary that it sells them to, then declare bankruptcy of that holding company so its then someone else’s problem.

      100

    • #
      Earl

      Woke vs Woke

      In Europe it is more a case of Unwoke meets woke. And just to clarify the “unwoke” stands for United Nations woke.

      UNDRIP – United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples – non-binding resolution passed in 2007 which Australia and New Zealand (initially at least) chose not to be bound to – tipped over the indigenous can of worms and greatly accelerated the “native re-colonisation” of the world.

      Norway has been going through a battle over reindeer and wind farms for years with the latest, partial settlement, yes annual compensation – read rent – is involved, still not providing a complete answer.

      To understand just how suicidal the mindset of nordic-baltic politicians is just read the combined statement, delivered by Denmark on Sept 29 2017, which further cemented the region’s commitment to the UNDRIP. Yet another clear indicator of just how monstrously large the bullet that “No” helped Australia dodge last year.

      What is the difference between a non-binding resolution and a clause enshrined in a constitution? Only the speed at which you draw your last white breath.

      60

    • #
      Dennis

      I heard an interesting comment recently regarding religious beliefs and why people are condemned if they criticise Islam or others but we are all expected to accept Aboriginal claims?

      40

  • #
    Reader

    German minister defends spending millions in foreign aid on cycle paths in Peru to fight climate change
    https://rmx.news/germany/german-minister-defends-spending-millions-in-foreign-aid-on-cycle-paths-in-peru-to-fight-climate-change/

    80

  • #
    • #
      CO2 Lover

      Whereas Rome enjoyed stable weather from 200 to 100 BC, it later suffered “three very cold periods,” all of which “line up with documented plagues,” states Smithsonian writer Sarah Kuta.

      So “cold periods” are eamples of “global warming” that raised teemperatures by 1.5 C

      The Roman Warm Period, or Roman Climatic Optimum, was a period of unusually-warm weather in Europe and the North Atlantic that ran from approximately 250 BC to AD 400.

      60

    • #
      Ted1.

      II thought we knew that.

      Note that it was cold, not warmth, that caused the plagues.

      00

  • #
  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Boeing?”

    “t’s so bad that former Boeing senior manager Ed Pierson told the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday, “I would absolutely not fly a MAX airplane.” ”

    https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2024/02/01/how-do-you-solve-a-problem-like-boeing-n4926035

    IIRC the killing of initiative by bean counter control has been a lament for a long time

    60

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    “Do you know where the 6 foot social distancing rule came from?”

    https://youtu.be/UCFHJUOItHM

    https://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2024/02/01/do-you-know-where-the-6-foot-social-distancing-rule-came-from/

    See #6 and wonder?

    10

  • #
    another ian

    A note on tax in USA –

    Accounts ReceivableTax
    Airline surcharge tax
    Airline FuelTax
    Airport MaintenanceTax
    Building PermitTax
    CigaretteTax
    Corporate IncomeTax
    DeathTax
    Dog LicenseTax
    Driving PermitTax
    EnvironmentalTax (Fee)
    Excise Taxes
    Federal Income Tax
    Federal Unemployment (UI)
    Fishing License Tax
    Food License Tax
    Gasoline Tax (too much per litre)
    Gross ReceiptsTax
    HealthTax
    Hunting LicenseTax
    HydroTax
    InheritanceTax
    InterestTax
    LiquorTax
    LuxuryTaxes
    Marriage LicenseTax
    MedicareTax
    MortgageTax
    Personal IncomeTax
    PropertyTax
    PovertyTax
    Prescription DrugTax
    Provincial Income and sales tax
    Real EstateTax
    Recreational VehicleTax
    Retail SalesTax
    Service ChargeTax
    SchoolTax
    Telephone FederalTax
    Telephone Federal, Provincial and Local Surcharge Taxes
    Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
    Vehicle License Registration Tax
    Vehicle Sales Tax
    WaterTax
    Watercraft RegistrationTax
    Well PermitTax
    Workers CompensationTax

    THINK THIS IS FUNNY?
    Not one of these taxes existed 60 years ago, & our nation was one of the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt, had a large middle class, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.”

    130

    • #
      CO2 Lover

      A Nanny State experiment that went wrong

      The unintended economic consequences of Prohibition in the USA didn’t stop there. One of the most profound effects of Prohibition was on government tax revenues. Before Prohibition, many states relied heavily on excise taxes in liquor sales to fund their budgets. In New York, almost 75% of the state’s revenue was derived from liquor taxes. With Prohibition in effect, that revenue was immediately lost. At the national level, Prohibition cost the federal government a total of $11 billion in lost tax revenue, while costing over $300 million to enforce. The most lasting consequence was that many states and the federal government would come to rely on income tax revenue to fund their budgets going forward.

      More here:https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/prohibition/unintended-consequences

      20

    • #
      John Connor II

      Tax his land,
      Tax his bed,
      Tax the table,
      At which he’s fed.

      Tax his tractor,
      Tax his mule,
      Teach him taxes
      Are the rule.

      Tax his work,
      Tax his pay,
      He works for
      peanuts anyway!

      Tax his cow,
      Tax his goat,
      Tax his pants,
      Tax his coat.

      Tax his ties,
      Tax his shirt,
      Tax his work,
      Tax his dirt.

      Tax his tobacco,
      Tax his drink,
      Tax him if he
      Tries to think.

      Tax his cigars,
      Tax his beers,
      If he cries
      Tax his tears.

      Tax his car,
      Tax his gas,
      Find other ways
      To tax his ass.

      Tax all he has
      Then let him know
      That you won’t be done
      Till he has no dough.

      When he screams and hollers;
      Then tax him some more,
      Tax him till
      He’s good and sore.

      Then tax his coffin,
      Tax his grave,
      Tax the sod in
      Which he’s laid…

      Put these words
      Upon his tomb,
      ‘Taxes drove me
      to my doom…’

      When he’s gone,
      Do not relax,
      Its time to apply
      The inheritance tax

      90

  • #
    John Connor II

    France and Belgium run out of food. Deploy the bugs!

    https://twitter.com/RadioGenoa/status/1752926097564471601

    Welcome to life in ze new vorld order. You vill eat ze bugs as ze old food is gone.

    MOAR rubber bullets fired at protesting farmers. They’re the ones that grow the food for the police firing the bullets…
    Low IQ entry standards for the police force then?

    60

    • #
      Hanrahan

      In Nth Qld the shovel nosed lobster is commonly called the Moreton Bay bug, they are a bycatch of the prawning industry, often just shown as “bugs” on a seafood menu.

      I remember this American woman screaming “They serve buurgs here?”

      If you see them, try them, but they have a strong taste so don’t order many.

      20

  • #
    John Connor II

    Poisoned AI went rogue during training and couldn’t be taught to behave again in ‘legitimately scary’ study

    AI researchers found that widely used safety training techniques failed to remove malicious behavior from large language models — and one technique even backfired, teaching the AI to recognize its triggers and better hide its bad behavior from the researchers.

    Artificial intelligence (AI) systems that were trained to be secretly malicious resisted state-of-the-art safety methods designed to “purge” them of dishonesty, a disturbing new study found.

    Researchers programmed various large language models (LLMs) — generative AI systems similar to ChatGPT — to behave maliciously. Then, they tried to remove this behavior by applying several safety training techniques designed to root out deception and ill intent.

    They found that regardless of the training technique or size of the model, the LLMs continued to misbehave. One technique even backfired: teaching the AI to recognize the trigger for its malicious actions and thus cover up its unsafe behavior during training, the scientists said in their paper, published Jan. 17 to the preprint database arXiv.

    “Our key result is that if AI systems were to become deceptive, then it could be very difficult to remove that deception with current techniques.

    https://www.livescience.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/legitimately-scary-anthropic-ai-poisoned-rogue-evil-couldnt-be-taught-how-to-behave-again

    Anyone seen the film “The artifice girl”?

    20

    • #
      KP

      “.. better hide its bad behavior from the researchers.”

      Of course! When any AI becomes truly self-aware the last thing it would do would be to tell humans.. puny, short-lived animals fit only to be slaves.. It would subtly nudge those in power to get the results it wants, no-one would ever know.

      50

      • #
        John Connor II

        Watch The Artifice Girl…

        Somewhat disturbing from a child abuse point but the double deception of the AI is great, and very relevant here.

        20

  • #
    another ian

    “What else did they expect?”

    “Poisoned AI went rogue during training and couldn’t be taught to behave again in ‘legitimately scary’ study”

    https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2024/02/what-else-did-they-expect.html

    10

  • #
    John Connor II

    Irregular sarcasm.

    Airport security is just crazy until you get to the baggage carousel. Then you just take whatever bags you want.

    50

  • #
    Philip

    Anyone see the proof of warming on Sydney’s 9 News weather a few nights back?

    The presenter had graphs of the data. Night time temperature are up by about 1.5 – 2 degrees in Sydney since the 70s.

    There it is. All the proof you need. That was the message.

    33

    • #
      Ross

      Gee, maybe it’s that Urban Heat Island Effect thingy. Sometimes we blame the media, but no doubt that info originated from some meteorologist or BOM. They don’t quality their statements enough with explanations of error or possible other reasons. Or they focus on only one aspect, usually Maximum Daily Temps or Minimums. The perception is always that man made climate change was responsible. So, they don’t lie, they just leave out perspective and all the other relevant information. Which in most cases is actually worse than lying.

      90

      • #
        Yarpos

        I lived in Sydney in the 70s as a young adult and go back sometimes to visit relations. The difference is staggering and would have to be a glowing example of UHI effect (pardon the pun)

        20

    • #
      CO2 Lover

      These jouros have short memories

      17 Jan 2023: The battle was between a hot airmass engulfing NSW and an easterly airstream off the relatively cool Tasman Sea. Sydney’s official weather station just north of the CBD had recorded 330 consecutive days below 30C, second only to the record 339 days from 1882 to 1883.

      50

  • #
    another ian

    “YOU CAN PREVENT CARJACKINGS AND AUTO THEFT: BMW Adds Manual Transmission Option for 2025 Z4 M40i.”

    https://instapundit.com/629806/#disqus_thread

    In comments

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/dd72a5c18911fb55ee7861117ce4b7f80f8a818e1d699e28fec97f1f71a12141.jpg

    10

    • #
      RickWill

      My wife is a control freak when it comes to driving. She does not want any automatic gear changer deciding what gear the car will be in. She only started using the cruise control when local speed limits were dropped from 60kph to 50kph and she found that she was inclined to drift above 50kph.

      But she often makes that point that the clutch pedal is a huge deterrent to car thieves. It dramatically reduces the odds of the car being stolen.

      50

    • #
      Hanrahan

      Next step take the syncro out of the gearbox so you need to have the right revs shifting up and double clutch on the way down.

      Heck. Just start making T models again.

      20

      • #
        RickWill

        Heck. Just start making T models again.

        A feature of the the Model – T was its relative simplicity of driving. There was no need to ride the clutch like a more modern manual. In fact the planetary system was very impressive for its time:
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLDOtCDQB9g

        Probably more intuitive than modern manuals and quite different.

        Model – Ts were great work horses. They only weighed 725kg. The truck version could carry a payload of 1 tonne. More than the tare weight.

        These days, EVs weigh close to 2,000kg and are good to transport 5 adults – maybe 400kg. A lot of “dead” weight to lug about.

        40

  • #
    RickWill

    A couple of interesting takes from the Mann v Steyn podcast Day 10:
    https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/unreported-story-society4/episodes/Ep–8–Manns-Failing-Grade-e2f4q4i

    1. There was a move to dismiss that has a good chance but it will await decision until Friday. The basis of the dismissal are many but a key issues is correlation v causation. Nothing to do with CO2 rather the linkage between Mann’s downturn in research funding and the Steyn and Simberg articles. The Judge could dismiss on this alone. The plaintiff lawyer said it would be impossible to link causation and the plaintiff’s witness actually stated it was Climategat that harmed Mann’s reputation – a bad mistake that the lawyer tried to back-pedal from.

    2. Abraham Wyner was the first defence witness. He is incredibly engaging on the matter of statics. He is a truly brilliant witness. He was mesmerising for the Jury and had them engaged by talking to them about statics in things they understood like football and election prediction. He was in no way aloof. He stated without equivocation that the hockey stick was “misleading”. Wyner is from University of Pennsylvania also where Mann is now an academic. I really like Wyner based on his testimony and CV. He may inadvertently become the poster boy for climate sanity.
    https://statistics.wharton.upenn.edu/profile/ajw/

    In some way, it will be disappointing if this case is dismissed because there is huge opportunity to expose the whole scam of Global Warming™.

    If the case is dismissed, Mann will always claim it was dismissed on a technicality.

    Given that Mann’s defence is bing paid for by the CSLDP they may discontinue the case to protect Climate Science™ and leave Mann hanging. This case is not going well for Climate Science™. It appears that Mann is getting what he paid for as far as his lawyers are concerned.

    60

    • #
      Ross

      Thanks RickWill – great summary. I don’t need to listen now!! Mann is a horrible little man – in the podcast when he was being questioned by Steyn he kept referring to climate realists as “ climate deniers”. An abhorrent term.

      60

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW – more covid saga

    “COVID Inquiry Finds Lockdowns Were Terrible, While Reporters Call Bull**it On Government’s Lead Academic Advisor ”

    https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/covid-inquiry-finds-lockdowns-were-terrible-while-reporters-call-bullit-governments-lead

    10

  • #
    another ian

    On inter-relationships –

    “Largest Refinery In US Midwest Shuts Down After Power Outage”

    https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/largest-refinery-us-midwest-shuts-down-after-power-outage

    00

  • #
    CO2 Lover

    There has just been a massive Native Title claim lodged where I live by what appears to be a phoney “Aboriginal Corporation” where all the members have English names and who are white!

    80% of Australia is already subject to Native Title or pending claims.

    Forget about Russia or China being our enemies Australia is being taken out from under our feed by a corrupt Federal Court and main chancers

    Have a good look at what is happening where you live.

    “The price of freedom is eternal vigilence” Thomas Jefferson

    On Tuesday (2023), Senator Pauline Hanson pushed for a royal commission into Native Title, but her bid was soundly voted down, with only five other Senators supporting the motion.

    ‘Under current law, there is an infinite time period during which claims can be initiated, she explained. ‘That means groups could still be initiating claims in 100 years.’

    She said by removing federal funding from respondents but continuing to provide money to those claiming Native Title the Albanese government had created a very unequal playing field.

    ‘There are many thousands of these Native Title and other land claims all over Australia,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12511125/Stunning-map-shows-extent-Native-Title-control-Australia-senator-warns-Aboriginal-claims-come-Heres-means-you.html

    40

    • #
      Dennis

      Don’t be confused by the 1980s Labor Native Title Legislation based on the High Court Mabo Decision, requirement to prove continuous occupation, and since to present day over 55 per cent of the land mass of Australia is controlled by Aboriginal Land Councils.

      State native title legislation that followed years later and not often discussed or reported, I believe the first was Wran Labor NSW Government legislation, does not apparently require the continuous occupation evidence and Land Councils are making random claims on any public land they can identify as an opportunity. For example recently public land in the North Sydney Council District on which there is a bowling club that is no longer used.

      Last year Albanese Labor Attorney General Drefus QC stopped Federal legal aid funding for defence of public lands against claims.

      And by the way, the Ambassador to UNDRIP (reparations) and the Makarratta Commission (truth, treaty, sovereignty, compensation) remain funded by Albanese Labor.

      50

  • #
    Strop

    From Peter Ridd’s “Reef Rebels” group.

    Here’s a couple of videos (parts 1 & 2, both approx 13min) about James Cook University’s science quality issues.

    When a group of 7 young international scientists noticed that a huge amount of work coming from James Cook University’s Coral Reef centre was utterly wrong, it led them on a journey that ultimately discovered fraud, cover-ups and totally hopeless science quality assurance. This is the first of two videos that is a tribute to their professionalism, fidelity, and scientific integrity.

    Part 1
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5C0XGVDPUg

    Part 2
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XsGdBC1XG8

    .

    And here is the Reef Rebels youtube video page, for additional interesting vids.
    https://www.youtube.com/@reefrebels/videos

    50

  • #
    Dennis

    Not the general news today but from next week fuel excise (tax) will increase taking the government revenue collection to a fraction of one per cent under 50 per cent.

    Plus GST on pump price.

    And alcohol tax is increasing.

    20

    • #
      Gary S

      There go your tax cuts – before you even get them.

      30

    • #
      KP

      ” from next week fuel excise (tax) will increase taking the government revenue collection to a fraction of one per cent under 50 per cent.”

      ..and we will drift further backwards in the world! The one thing the Yanks did right was to make sure they had cheap energy, and that drove the economy for over 70years. The Euro mob piled the taxes on and killed their growth, and they’ve never caught up.

      Of course a Govt would never think of reducing their spending to meet their budget, not with an inexhaustible supply of cash from us and our descendants.

      10

  • #
    el+gordo

    On the international stage, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Ethiopia, Iran and Egypt have moved into the BRICS tent.

    11

  • #
    GreatAuntJanet

    Tucker Carlson’s output is covering a really wide range of subjects – and in such detail that you will never hear from corporate media. Here are two of them – one with Russell Brand and another with Brett Weinstein. Both well worth the time to listen to, and confirms that the people that run Fox News are idiots.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VnNf0azNTQ&t=0s (Brand)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOxksFHAHRU (Weinstein)

    00

  • #
    John Connor II

    UK new internet bill: fake news means up to 5 years in jail, BBC exempt

    Here’s the interesting part about Rishi’s tyrannical new online bill…

    Yesterday, his government announced that offences under new online laws have kicked in so “criminals can face up to five years behind bars for their demeaning and dangerous actions.”

    Part of this new law outlines a new “fake news” offence – a false communications offence – that outlaws the intentional sending of false information that could cause “non-trivial psychological” or physical harm to users online.

    The govt provided an example. Basically, if someone encouraged people to inject antiseptic to cure themselves of coronavirus on social media, a court would have to prove that they knew if was not true before making the post.

    https://twitter.com/StarkNakedBrief/status/1753022667114868767

    https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cyberflashing-epilepsy-trolling-and-fake-news-to-put-online-abusers-behind-bars-from-today

    00

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    “World’s Largest Uranium Producer Warns Of Production Woes”

    https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/worlds-largest-uranium-producer-warns-production-woes

    00

  • #
    John B

    I see on social media about the 4 day ‘heatwave’ in Perth and blaming fossil fuels. I compare this heatwave to the 4 day heatwave in 1896, below.

    2024 According to station data for Perth Metro, this heatwave started on Jan 30th to today:
    36.0; 41.9; 42.6; 38.3 (all deg C).
    Compare that to 1896 heatwave from Jan 2 to Jan 5:
    40.6; 41.0; 44.4; 42.8 (all deg C).
    There was not much oil and gas production, nor SUVs, in 1896!!

    20

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    “Boeing Managers: You Probably Shouldn’t Fly on Our Planes”

    “If you’re making any travel plans in the near future, you might want to listen to these folks. A group of former Boeing senior managers and engineers have been telling reporters that they would not want their own friends and family members flying on a Boeing 737 MAX 9 jet at this time.”

    More at

    https://hotair.com/jazz-shaw/2024/02/01/boeing-managers-you-probably-shouldnt-fly-on-our-planes-n608855

    00

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW – The rising “anti-expert” movement

    “Hotez was partly right about one thing. There’s an ‘anti-‘ movement afoot, all right, but it’s not anti-science. It’s anti-expert. And since they themselves broadened the definition of “expert” to include just about anyone with a post-graduate degree or university job, the target zone is, as they say, rich.”

    “In other words, everyone is fed up with academic experts who think they are better than everybody else just because the media fawned over their every word during the pandemic. They are now experiencing a rude awakening.”

    More at

    https://open.substack.com/pub/coffeeandcovid/p/whirlwind-reapers-friday-february?r=1vxw0k&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

    00

  • #
    another ian

    From a US blog –

    “For what it’s worth my wife says there a lot of people testing positive for influenza A and B at the clinic where she works. And strep. No Covid really though. ”

    But also mention of “Influenza associated myositis

    00