JoNova
A science presenter, writer, speaker & former TV host; author of The Skeptic's Handbook (over 200,000 copies distributed & available in 15 languages).
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Statistics
Some have asked..
Why do engineers not say anything?
OK, If I write a report or paper, it is classed as the IP of the organisation I work for.
They are the curator. They own it. They can action it, shelve it, release it or bury it.
So why don’t I speak out publicly?………..
Well, I am subject to their “Professional standards and conduct policy”. I am not allowed to breach the policy.
And If I did?
Ok, I am the one, paying a mortgage. The organisation I work for is the gov with unlimlted taxpayer funds, You all know how that would work out.
So what would one do?
Choose career oblivion, financial destitution or work inside trying to educate…
An example of education I can provide:
Imho..
In my occupation, I and others have known for years, that HF gas is extremely toxic.
HF in a confined space.. is a nightmare.
An EV battery in thermal runaway, produces enough HF to end your life within 10 mins of continous exposure.
HF exposure is extremely dangerous because you can absorb it through your skin…… etc. etc.
The media and gov, are/were never interested in this, despite our concerns.
An industry union and others have now woken to this fact via “outside” reports that have been submitted.
Understand it takes time.. We are not silent.
400
He who pays the piper calls the tune.
50
In Russia, it’s
“He who pays the poisoner calls the tune.”
Auto
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Activists setting fire to Teslas
This requires no further comment!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkGaR_Yhs_E&ab_channel=TheElectricViking
70
But how do you tell the difference between a Tesla that was set alight by an activist and one that spontaneously combusted because of a faulty battery?
If I was wanting people to believe that EV battery fires are a rare event I might persuade some activists to claim they were setting fire to Teslas. Or even better, simply put out a rumour that activists were responsible for the fires and then claim that all EV fires were the work of activists.
170
The chared remains of the activist will be glued to the bonnet. (hood)
31
LOL.
00
It’s not OK to be white in the UK
Coming soon to Australia – expect the People’s Republic of Victoriastan to be the first to introduce similar legislation.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/british-man-jailed-2-years-over-stickers-pm-whines-about-democracy
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Free speech is under attack by the Left throughout Western society, many of our rights to free speech have already been taken away.
Free speech is about allowing the expression of all legal* speech, even what most thinking people would consider objectionable speech.
Back in the day, the Left used to support free speech. Now they are in power, everywhere, they are showing their true colours.
* Legitimate exceptions have always existed such as the classic “calling fire in a picture theatre” or calls to violence or the portrayl of actual crimes such as child abuse material or malicious libel and slander.
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Many on the Left use their contrived ‘yelling fire in a theatre’ argument as justification for their desire to censor people they disagree with. But ‘yelling fire in a theatre’ is not a free speech issue. The crime — if there is one — is not the speech itself. The wrongdoing is to recklessly cause the damage and injuries that may follow.
There is a distinction between the speech itself and the consequences of the speech.
For example, if you light a fire on your property and you don’t tend to it and the wind picks up and blows embers onto a neighbor’s property, starting a fire there, the wrongdoing is not that you lit a fire on your property, but that you negligently allowed your fire to damage his or her property.
The fire, or speech, itself is not the wrongdoing; the resulting harm is. So, you regulate to prevent the harm rather than the speech. But then we get into the territory of what ‘harm’ is. As we all know, to many on the Left speech is ‘violence’ … so you can’t win, can you!
50
(Canada) Justice Minister defends house arrest power for people feared to commit a hate crime in future
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-justice-minister-defends-house-arrest-power-for-people-feared-to/
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it’s quite clear that the laws on freedom of expression are indeed in danger. If they weren’t, Momika wouldn’t be facing deportation; he would be being feted and lionized as a hero in Sweden.
https://pjmedia.com/robert-spencer/2024/03/04/the-future-of-europe-as-a-free-society-could-hang-on-the-fate-of-this-man-n4926999
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“owners of older EV Nissans will discover that the app which helps control remote functionality will stop working on August 1st 2024. That’s because these cars use only 2G technology”
https://dailysceptic.org/2024/03/04/nissan-ev-cars-to-lose-functionality-due-to-2g-switch-off/
The news just keeps getting better and better.
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really? IS that meant to be 3G? 2G was shut down, in Australia at least, in 2020. 3G is currently being shut down.
10
from wiki
2G, understood as GSM and CdmaOne, has been superseded by newer technologies such as 3G (UMTS / CDMA2000), 4G (LTE / WiMAX) and 5G (5G NR). However, 2G networks were still available as of 2023 in most parts of the world, while notably excluding the majority of carriers in North America, East Asia, and Australasia.[5][6][7]
which means that this must have happened to some cars a long time ago.
00
The SCOTUS overturned the Colorado removal of Trump from the Repubican primary ballot by a 9-0 majority.
Copy of the ruling is here – https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/03/SCOTUStrump.pdf – for those interested in reading it.
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After the act.
So what now? A rerun?
30
Nope. Biden will be chucked under the bus slowly and swapped for another candidate in a last minute switch. They will hope the honeymoon period is long enough to get them elected or to at least tilt the poll numbers close enough so cheating is viable.
30
Overcharging wind farm will pay back millions
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c51lpgv7l4yo
It’s on the BBC, so it might be true.
BBC’s text –
“A wind farm in north-east Scotland is to pay £5.5m into a fund to help vulnerable customers after regulators found it had overcharged for a subsidy. Ofgem found EDF subsidiary Dorenell Windfarm Limited (DWL) charged “excessive prices” when it was asked to reduce its output. The firm, which majority owns the 59-turbine wind farm near Dufftown, said it accepted it had made an “unintentional breach” of licence conditions and had changed its policy to avoid future breaches.
“Ofgem said its enforcement work should send a clear message that such breaches would not be tolerated. Wind farms are normally paid for the electricity they produce but, when the grid is too full to take it on, they can be paid to turn turbines off. Ofgem found DWL charged excessive prices when it was asked to reduce its output, pushing up costs for consumers.”
End of the BBC text.
So – DWL has “changed its policy to avoid future breaches.”
Its new policy is to obey the law of the land.
Wowsers!!
What civic-minded beasts they now are!
Now its been caught out – in a wholly “unintentional breach” of licence conditions – and had to repay a bit of cash.
If I stray into Mr Khan’s ULEZ in a non-compliant car – in an “unintentional breach” of the conditions – I’ll get clobbered for the charge – AND a fat fine.
DWL – no mention of the fine.
Odd, that!
No director being pursued.
Certainly no dismissal [so far, at least].
And – “Wind farms are normally paid for the electricity they produce but, when the grid is too full to take it on, they can be paid to turn turbines off.”
Try that with a coal-powered [or gas, or oil or nuclear] power station.
Level playing fields are like unicorn farts it seems.
But wind – and probably solar, too – gets a special name for a subsidy direct from the rate-payer and the tax-payer.
They think we don’t notice!
And . . . the media doesn’t.
Very carefully, most of the time.
Auto
100
Where have I heard this one before?
Sea levels around NYC could surge up to 13 inches in 2030s due to climate change: state study
https://nypost.com/2024/03/03/us-news/sea-levels-in-nyc-could-surge-up-to-13-inches-in-2030s-due-to-climate-change-state-study/
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Much of the North American continent is still undergoing isostatic rebound having been depressed under a 2km-3km ice sheet back in the days of the last Ice Age. (When I was in primary school back in the day they used to teach about Ice Ages not the supposed 72 or whatever genders.)
Any way, to compensate for some of the continent rising, other parts have to fall due to the principle of the earth maintaining constant volume. Some of the falls are interpreted as sea level rise.
The thirteen inches by 2030’s quoted seems utterly absurd and not realistic. It’s made up.
I wonder how many climate “scientists” (sic) or activists even know about isostatic rebound?
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1981: Scientists (including Steven Schneider) warn global warming would see Buckingham Palace 7 feet underwater (Thames TV)
1983: The seas could rise anywhere from a few feet to more than 10 feet in the next few decades.
1986: EPA predicts 2 feet of sea level rise for Florida by 2020.
1988: UN — world will be 4℃ warmer and Antarctica 5.5℃ by 2030
1988: Maldives completely under water in 30 years
1989: Rising temperatures and seas by 2030 A Commonwealth Expert Group estimated that there was a 90% chance of the planet warming 1-2℃ and sea levels would rise between 1 and 4 metres by 2030.
1989 The director of the New York office of the U.N. Environment Program (UNEP) says entire nations could be wiped off the face of the Earth by rising sea levels if the global warming trend is not reversed by the year 2000.
1995 Some Experts say that most beaches on the East coast of the USA will be gone by 2020
2009 Underwater Cabinet Meeting – The government of the Maldives has held a cabinet meeting underwater to highlight the threat of global warming to the low-lying Indian Ocean nation. BBC News:
2010: Greenland Ice Sheet has less than 10 years “What is going on in the Arctic now is the biggest and fastest thing that nature has ever done”. The entire mass of Greenland will disappear if temperatures rise as little as 2℃.… unleashing a sea level rise of 7 metres by 2020.
So it looks like they are going to repeat all their scares again!
200
We’ve got 5 years to save world says Australia’s chief scientist Professor Penny Sackett. (December 4, 2009)
“ The planet has just five years to avoid disastrous global warming”, says the Federal Government’s chief scientist. Prof Penny Sackett yesterday urged all Australians to reduce their carbon footprint. Australians- among the world’s biggest producers of carbon dioxide-were “ better placed than others to do something about it”, she said. “Australians can make an enormous contribution, so why would we not rise to this challenge and this opportunity” she told a business conference in Melbourne. (Herald Sun 4/12/09). Which means this year is the 10th anniversary since supposedly the world ended? It’s amazing we’re all still here.
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Over the last decade Australia reduced its “local” CO2 emissions by 4.9& {at the cost of doubling electricity prices).
Meanwhile, China and India increased their combined CO2 emissions by 118 times the amount of Australia’s reducution.
Nevertheless the Climate Gods must be please with Australia’s efforts.
120
Mr. Lover,
“Nevertheless the Climate Gods must be please with Australia’s efforts.”
Oh, of course they are dead happy with your efforts – and the Climate Gods have rewarded you!
Look at the lovely pollies they have sent you!
Auto
20
The good thing about these absurd predictions by so-called “scientists” is that we can safely ignore anything they might say in the future. I wonder if they realise they put their reputations on the line with these stupid predictions.
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Sandwich Board sign says – “The End is Nigh” – Or Near – LOL
https://dustoffthebible.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/EndIsNear-907×1024.jpg
10
Who’s that man who stands on his tractor shouting the end is nigh?
Oh yeah Farmer Geddon.
30
FWIW on investing –
“My oldest, best friend runs a large, contrarian investment fund. One of his favorite techniques to identify his short-sale targets (i.e., betting the stock price will fall) is counting up the minutes of investor calls devoted to DEI. He swears there is an inverse relationship between the proportion of DEI chatter and future stock performance.
In other words, the more corporate officials talk about their awesome DEI programs, the more it seems like they’re trying to distract investors from problems with their fundamentals. I would add that the more time and attention top management devotes to DEI, the less time and attention it has to give its real mission, which should be delivering a superior product or service.
Let’s test the theory. Victoria’s Secret, Moderna, and ConocoPhillips all significantly expanded their DEI teams last year. But even though the market as a whole is up, the jab company and the now body-positive lingerie firm are down year-over-year. Only the oil and gas company is up, and only about +1%. So.”
https://open.substack.com/pub/coffeeandcovid/p/the-abolition-of-woke-monday-march?r=1vxw0k&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
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Might apply to educational establishments and their standards too on reflection
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What about when we comment and insist on using acronyms, on the first instance we fully identify the subject then subsequently we can use the acronym. This would greatly assist we stupid mortals to understand what the hell you are talking about. Using acronyms throughout a piece is akin to some kind of elitism, and benefits no one except those in the know.
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True
00
Sometimes I think this and sometimes I think if a topic has been beaten to death in the media and in this blog,and similar blogs, for at least the last year it really doesnt need defining. Someimes the onus is on us to keep up.
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New arguments I think.
CFACT says offshore wind violates Clean Air and Clean Water Acts
By David Wojick
https://www.cfact.org/2024/03/04/cfact-says-offshore-wind-threatens-air-and-water-quality/
The beginning: “In formal comments, CFACT has asked EPA to assess the adverse impact of the giant Virginia offshore wind project on air and water quality. The issue is far-reaching because all big offshore wind facilities could have these adverse effects. CFACT points to three specific impacts, two of which come from what are called the “wake effects” of operational offshore wind facilities. Both effects have been observed and modeled in large European offshore operations. I discuss these wake effects in my article HERE.
The first effect CFACT calls the reduced energy air plume. They explain it this way: “The wake effect is the well-established fact that the air flow downwind of an operating wind turbine has significantly less energy than the air flow upwind. This is because the turbine’s job is to remove energy from the air flow, converting it into electricity. By some estimates, 50% of the energy is removed.
The Virginia offshore wind facility is removing energy from a 150-square-mile area, thus creating a massive reduced energy plume. The adverse impact is that this plume could increase the ozone levels in nearby urban areas. Ozone flourishes in low energy air. Immediately onshore from the Virginia wind facility lies the city of Virginia Beach. This sounds like a little tourist town, but it is, in fact, Virginia’s biggest city. It is half again bigger than Pittsburgh.”
Lots more inthe article. Please share it.
EPA needs to take a hard look at offshore wind.
David
101
FWIW
“Plastic makers lied about recycling for decades. What do we do next?
The plastic industry pushed recycling as a solution to waste, while internally dismissing it as technically and economically unviable.”
https://www.popsci.com/environment/recycling-lies/
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To some extent, the use of plastics, particularly for food wrapping, does reduce waste. And of course, if we used high-temp furnaces to dispose of our plastic waste instead of stupidly sorting it then sending it overseas, or simply dumping it on local tips after paying for it to be sorted, we might be better off.
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What can be made can be unmade.
We have produced more plastic in the last ten years than we did in the whole of the last century. Plastic takes 100 years to degrade, which means that every single piece we have not recycled still exists. Many of the plastic items we throw away can be recycled into new products — but some types, known as ‘end-of-life’ plastics, currently have no second life and end up in landfill, where they can release hazardous chemicals into the environment. How to deal with these plastics is one of the most pressing questions for businesses and local authorities. Technology company Cynar is giving these waste plastics one more life by turning them into synthetic fuel at their plant in Portlaoise, Ireland. Using a process called pyrolysis, plastics are heated in an oxygen-free environment to prevent them from burning, and then broken into their component hydrocarbons to create the equivalent of a petroleum distillate. This can then be separated into different fuels. The end products are cleaner, lower in sulphur and in the case of the diesel, higher quality than regular diesel fuel. Cynar is currently able to produce 19,000 litres of fuel from 20 tonnes of waste plastic. The company plans to set up more plants across the UK, and with 15 million tonnes of plastics still going into landfill in Europe every year, they have plenty of raw materials at their disposal. Oliver Steeds of the earthrise team visits the Cynar plant in Ireland, to find out how the process works.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ6Rv6hERfY&list=PLyv0yXw8MSrH_5AhWrJVaPRw9Er8ij9JQ&index=2
Or DYI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQdGTritwwc
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DIY
10
If you look into this process for a bit, you have to ask why is this not being done, and as always follow the money.
1000 ltrs of oil will make 1 tonne of plastic.
PE (the most commonly used) is trading at US$1620 tonne.
Crude trades at about $0.80 per liter, $800 for 1000 ltrs, 100% mark up, and why there will never be an end to plastic.
It takes 1kw of energy to convert 1kg plastic to 900ml of fuel and the same to make it back into plastic again.
These plastic reactors make their own fuel for the heating process, the liquid or gas can be used for power generation.
Used plastic is a valuable product, it’s a solid carbon source, and its value is the same as crude.
If the people of the third world could get 80 cents a kilo for waste plastic, no more plastic waste, it’s a solid fuel.
If it’s viable to ship liquid fuel all over the world, shipping it as a solid could only be better in every way, no special ships normal bulk carriers, but now with back loads.
Anyone know an unwoke billionaire.
20
” Plastic takes 100 years to degrade, ”
Nope! Those supermarket bags have disintegrated to dust within a decade, the dust is in my workshop around car parts! Heavy plastic items left outside have done the same.
Now, about the 30+ species of bacteria they found in the sea that eat plastic…
Like rubber and paper, plastic recycles very badly, giving poor quality products. Pyrolysis sounds a much better idea!
30
FWIW
“A plan to save coal, power generation, and the oil industry in SE Sask”
https://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2024/03/04/a-plan-to-save-coal-power-generation-and-the-oil-industry-in-se-sask/
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A reminder –
“Monday Mirthiness, A Tale of Fail”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/03/04/monday-mirthiness-a-tale-of-fail/
10
I guess that could be labeled “The Climate Catastrophist Punter’s Guide”?
20
FWIW
“Six Warning Signs Climate Scientists Are Lying About Wildfires”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/03/04/six-warning-signs-climate-scientists-are-lying-about-wildfires/
30
Judith Curry who has achieved some more notieriety after the Mann vs Steyn case certainly has a lovely way with words. (She could sue the pants off Michael Mann for some of his comments, but I suppose like Steyn it would be a very expensive and time consuming exercise). I’d class Curry as a bit of a warmist, that is someone who believes somewhat in AGW/CO2 radiative theory but believes all our policies regarding the “crisis” are wrong. Here’s her latest comment. Climatologist Dr. Judith Curry on the ‘climate crisis’: “It’s been characterized as a very simple issue: As if carbon dioxide emitted from fossil fuels is some sort of a control knob on the climate. Well, it just flat out isn’t. Sure, humans are influencing the climate to some extent, but natural climate variability is far and away the dominant factor. And they’re seizing on extreme weather events as motivating the elimination of fossil fuels, which is fairly ludicrous because a warming climate…there’s no evidence that this is leading to worse extreme weather events. We’ve always had extreme weather. We’re currently having extreme weather, and we will have extreme weather in the future no matter what we do regarding fossil fuels. And, and so the urgency that is put forward that we have to deal with this issue with all these made-up targets 1.5 degrees centigrade, or whatever, is leading us to make hasty decisions that are bad.” Whether it’s COVID or Climate change, these days I try a pink pill rather than a full on red pill type reaction to family and friends when these subjects come up and this is a good example.
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Judith is recognised around the traps as a ‘lukewarmer’.
00
The AI wars heat up with Claude 3, claimed to have “near-human” abilities
On Monday, Anthropic released Claude 3, a family of three AI language models similar to those that power ChatGPT. Anthropic claims the models set new industry benchmarks across a range of cognitive tasks, even approaching “near-human” capability in some cases. It’s available now through Anthropic’s website, with the most powerful model being subscription-only. It’s also available via API for developers.
Claude 3 reportedly demonstrates advanced performance across various cognitive tasks, including reasoning, expert knowledge, mathematics, and language fluency. (Despite the lack of consensus over whether large language models “know” or “reason,” the AI research community commonly uses those terms.) The company claims that the Opus model, the most capable of the three, exhibits “near-human levels of comprehension and fluency on complex tasks.”
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/03/the-ai-wars-heat-up-with-claude-3-claimed-to-have-near-human-abilities/
Another talkie-toaster.
https://youtu.be/LRq_SAuQDec?si=aD4RBTyBP1M75v1W
Classic. 😆
31
Crimean bridge attacked?
https://twitter.com/IntelCrab/status/1764775555746935211
Must. Stop. Trump.😎
00
Were the British responsible again?
22 June 2023 — Ukraine has attacked a bridge linking southern Ukraine to the Crimean peninsula with long-range British missiles, Russian officials say.
I was Boris Johnson who blocked a peace settlement between Russia and the Ukraine
20
Biden administration ADMITS flying 320,000 migrants secretly into the U.S. to reduce the number of crossings at the border has national security ‘vulnerabilities’
Joe Biden’s administration has admitted transporting migrants on secret flights into the U.S. and lawyers for its immigration agencies claim revealing the locations could create national security ‘vulnerabilities’.
Customs and Border Protection has refused to disclose information about a program last year secretly chartering flights for thousands of undocumented immigrants from foreign airports directly to U.S. cities.
It means that while record numbers of migrants were flowing over the southern border last year, the Biden White House was also directly transporting them into the country.
Use of a cell phone app has allowed for the near undetected arrival by air of 320,000 aliens with no legal rights to enter the United States.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13155765/biden-illegal-migrant-flying-program-national-security-vulnerability.html#article-13155765
Vote Demonrat, reap the “rewards”, then realise the sh#thole you came from was better, then go back.
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Scientists may have finally found the cause of long Covid: Low iron levels after infection ‘might be trigger of poorly-understood illness’
Experts may have found the cause of long Covid after discovering that low iron levels following an infection could be a key trigger.
An estimated 1.9 million people in the UK alone say they experience symptoms of long Covid.
These can include fatigue, shortness of breath, muscle aches and problems with memory and concentration – and last long after the initial Covid infection has subsided.
Now scientists believe that problems with iron levels in the blood – and the body’s ability to regulate this important nutrient – could be a key driver of ongoing issues.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-13154907/Scientists-finally-cause-long-Covid-Low-iron-levels-infection-trigger-poorly-understood-illness.html
What’s high in Iron? Beef!
What’s also high in Iron? Edible insects! But don’t mention that bugs don’t have Heme, so low bioavailability.
50
This study is doing the rounds on social media. Unfortunately, most people reading the headlines will then believe taking iron tablets may be a preventative for COVID and other respiratory infections. Whereas it’s more due to the virus interfering with Fe regulation. For me , long COVID is a result of the banning of cheap anti- virals that we all should have had access to. Thanks big pharma.
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You are right, Ross.
The claim re a lack of iron is absolute nonsense. We eat spinach out of our garden on an almost daily basis – plus regular broccoli and other greens plus regular red meat consumption. Yet a middle ear problem which began with Covid is still hanging around.
And what is meant by “an inability to regulate iron”?
50
Thanks John,
Interesting article, which unfortunately doesn’t mention two items which I consider relevant and important:
Firstly, iron is a cofactor of vitamin D, and is used in the normal functioning of the immune system, so it’s no surprise that a decrease in its blood level following infection occurs; and
Secondly, the article doesn’t even mention vitamin D which is central to correct functioning of the immune system.
Adequate levels of both should be maintained. Always.
Cheers
Dave B
30
My conclusion is that the cause of “Long Covid” is late delivery of inadequate treatments and could have been avoided by adoption of, for example, the Zelenko protocol.
But what might work for the poor suffers is beyond my knowledge unfortunately.
(Calcifidiol, cofactors and vitamin A might work, or assist.)
20
Russia has no borders, Medvedev declared, showing a map
00
From a Australian Defense perspective an interesting idea – from an attack perspective, distance limited!
To compensate for its lack of a navy, Ukraine has sought to develop what it calls “the world’s first fleet of naval drones.”
That effort is centered around an uncrewed surface vessel, or USV, called Sea Baby.
Kyiv is attempting to build up an arsenal of these systems and recently launched a fundraising initiative to secure donations to purchase dozens of additional Sea Babies for the SBU.
These drones have been deployed in numerous operations around the Black Sea, damaging and destroying Russian warships — including one just a few weeks ago — and even hitting a key bridge that links the occupied Crimean peninsula with mainland Russia.
Experts have said the cheap and remotely operated Sea Babies give Ukraine an asymmetric advantage against Russia, which has been unable to consistently stop them. And while that hasn’t stopped Moscow from trying to adapt to this threat, Kyiv is staying ahead by giving the drones upgrades.
The first modification to the Sea Babies that Lukashevych presented was an increase in warhead size; according to the Ukrainian government, the drones are capable of delivering a heavy explosive payload of nearly 1,900 pounds.
The next notable upgrade was “an improvement in seaworthiness,” ensuring they could sail in waves of nearly five feet.
The third improvement was making sure the Sea Babies could travel a distance twice as far as that between Odesa, a port city in southern Ukraine, and Sevastopol on Crimea’s southwestern coast. In a straight line across the Black Sea, it is roughly 190 miles between the two cities.
The drones now have a range of over 600 miles, putting a lot more Russian targets in reach.
Ukraine also “wanted to make them reusable, to be both cheaper and more efficient,” Lukashevych said.
https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2023/09/rand-corporation-offers-insights-on-kamikaze-usvs/
Naval News: We’re into the “quantity over quality” issue with kamikaze USV swarms, and yet kamikaze USVs seem to be getting more complex, expensive, and sophisticated. How can kamikaze USVs contribute to the overall defense of an island nation without absorbing too much cost and budget?
They don’t need to be very expensive;
Ukraine has repeatedly said that each of its USVs costs about $250,000.
Acquiring a thousand similar ones would cost just over 1% of what Taiwan currently spends on defense annually. That’s equivalent to about three F-35s, but with maintenance, support, and training costs that are multiple orders of magnitude lower.
While acquisition processes can readily result in cost escalation, that doesn’t need to happen with good program management and sufficient competition.
30
RAN Ghost Shark Project
https://www.defence.gov.au/news-events/news/2022-12-14/ghost-shark-stealthy-game-changer
20
RAAF Ghost Bat
https://www.airforce.gov.au/our-work/projects-and-programs/ghost-bat
20
Die DEI, die
Wall Street scrambles to ABANDON DEI as “Legal Assaults” mount.
We’ve been stating for months that both the DEI and ESG gravy trains on Wall Street are finally coming to an unceremonious end. Who would have guessed the profit motive would be incompatible with mindless, unproductive virtue signaling and reverse racism?
The pushback on DEI has been immense, with entire universities and corporations slashing their DEI departments. Subha Barry, former head of diversity at Merrill Lynch, told Bloomberg this weekend: “We’re past the peak.”
The report highlighted yet another shift on Wall Street, wherein programs open to people of color and women are “now open to all”. Imagine that…
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/wall-street-officially-abandoning-dei
Aaaawwww…soon you’ll actually have to be qualified and competent to get a job in your chosen profession.
What’s the world coming to?
Its senses!! 😆😆
80
This has never applied to the job of “politician” and except in very rare circumstance I doubt that it ever will.
And even it you do get a job by being qualified and competent – if you work for a large organisation, private or government, you will find that “The Peter Principle” operates to your disadvantage unless you master the art of being incompetent.
https://www.amazon.com.au/Peter-Principle-Laurence-J/dp/0062092065
20
Bolt urges govt to ‘say no to Leila Khaled’ speaking at climate conference
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xqUY1n0kyM
51
North eastern China temps going back to 1787 using tree growth as a proxy.
https://notrickszone.com/2024/03/04/a-new-1787-2005-temperature-reconstruction-determines-the-coldest-50-year-period-was-1940-1993/
No hockey stick.
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“Great to know the Aussie sense of humour is alive and well!!!!”
https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2024/03/great-to-know-the-aussie-sense-of-humour-is-alive-and-well.html#comments
In comments – “Malice in Wonderland”
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Niall Ferguson: After the Treason of the Intellectuals
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FWIW
“”Nothing Will Make Sense To You Unless You Accept That The 2020 Election Was Stolen…” ”
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/nothing-will-make-sense-you-unless-you-accept-2020-election-was-stolen
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China scientists warn of global cooling trick up nature’s sleeve
Research sheds light on 500-year Chinese weather cycle and suggests a cool change could be on the way
Findings leave no room for complacency or inaction
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1 BTC 102740.27 AUD
Who’d a thunk it!
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Whilst I am sure that a bit more insulation, sensibly applied, will help homes in the UK, which are amongst the oldest housing stocks in Europe, there is – of course – a gravy train now being readied to set off from the station.
It’s big – and it’s an expensive gravy train. Lots of solar power at 51 degrees north [with clouds, sometimes!] Etc.
This link came to me today: –
https://retrofitskills.org
It’s for South London [not even the whole capital] and is to spend £17 billion, for 635,000 homes [so comfortably north of £25,000 per home, on average!], within 10 years.
The site is not clear – but I assume this is to be paid for by taxpayers, for the greater part. Partners include the ‘Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’
Look at the ‘jobs’, the ‘qualifications’, the training ‘needed’ [at someone’s expense]; and, I am sure, the bureaucracy.
This is under a “Conservative” government.
In name.
Imagine how the Socialists will be able to spend other people’s money!
And I imagine this sort of thing will be coming – real soon – to a municipality near your house – and your cash!
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£17,000,000,000 to be spent in South London, probably the biggest Urban Heat Island in Western Europe, with a population of perhaps 5-6 million.
Yes, over ten years.
So, for the UK – ten, or perhaps twenty times that, if we’re to do the crofts and bothies of Scotland and all.
Mostly further north than London, and none anywhere near the size of UHI ….
So – somewhere between £170,000,000,000 and £340,000,000,000, [Arm-waving numbers] to insulate [and perhaps fit better heat-pumps!] to houses in the UK.
We haven’t looked at transport, or where the electricity will come from, let alone agriculture and food security.
And it’s still comparable with the UK’s Education budget ….
That’s USD $215,000,000,000 to $430,000,000,000 at current exchange rates, for the UK, to be clear.
Or, AUD $332,000,000,000 to $664,000,000,000 for Australian delectation, for the UK.
Sometimes, including all the zeroes is, I think, necessary, and even eye-opening.
I have asked my elected representative about this – and also the likeliest opposition candidate in this constituency for the 2024 General Election.
I am not holding my breath for a substantive reply.
From either Ben or Chris.
One of them has a party leader, who is all for ‘clean energy to help cut people’s bills’ – Honestly!! Leaflet delivered this afternoon.
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