JoNova
A science presenter, writer, speaker & former TV host; author of The Skeptic's Handbook (over 200,000 copies distributed & available in 15 languages).
Jo appreciates your support to help her keep doing what she does. This blog is funded by donations. Thanks!
Follow Jo's Tweets
To report "lost" comments or defamatory and offensive remarks, email the moderators at: support.jonova AT proton.me
Statistics
Danish researchers in Nature: ’85 years of glacier growth and stability in East Antarctica’
380
The “Climate Cult” doesn’t care about such things. Being a pseudoreligion, they can still believe it was CO2 what done it.
Nevertheless, costs and environmental concerns are slowing the juggernaut known under various nice sounding names.
370
The climate cult is fundamentally anti-human.
Any lies will do for them to regress humanity to a more primitive state, reduce population numbers and even eliminate humans from the planet altogether.
“Overpopulation” and reducing world population is a common theme among the Left, although in the usual contradictory Leftist fashion they don’t mind importing the entire Third World to Western countries without limits or ability to support them.
The response to “overpopulation” from conservatives and fellow rational thinkers is simply that as a society gets richer through free enterprise, people have fewer children anyway. The population looks after itself.
370
Note: There is also the “Voluntary Human Extinction Movement (VHEMT)”.
120
This has been underway since 1963 when the global fertility rate peaked at 5.3 births per women and it is now down to 2.3.
However in most Western countries it is now below 2 (Australia is 1.6)
Italy is 1.2 and Japan 1.3
In Nigeria it is 5.6 and Niger 6.7
It is Africans who will inherit the Earth!
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.TFRT.IN
130
“It is Africans who will inherit the Earth!”
No. Without Europeans, East Asians and perhaps some others to assist, Africa will prove incapable of supporting more than 50-100m people. Malthus will soon kick in.
121
The African population is already much, much higher than that. Even with famine and wars, many more than your figure already support themselves.
Malthus has been proved wrong along with the Club of Rome.
African population at nearly 1.5 Billion people.
https://www.worldometers.info/population/countries-in-africa-by-population/
30
It’s no great surprise that Nigeria’s population has grown from around 211 million at the start of the pandemic to almost 229 million. Approximately 70% of the most populous nation in Africa do not have access to power. You can’t entertain yourself by watching TV at night so….you can speculate
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/05/how-nigeria-is-tackling-barriers-to-its-green-energy-transition/
20
FIFY
30
Their fellow travellers, the INvoluntary human extinction movement accompany them like Totalitarians among Socialists.
00
I am surprised that a movie named The Happening caused so little reaction from educational, cultural and religious circles.
To me it was a real, honest picture of “green” movement aim: wiping out humans, all humans – bad and noble, guilty and innocent…
I did not say “authorities”, because the state censorship is wrong and useless.
140
The argument for the increase in mass balance and the supposed link to AGW.
‘Here, we use data from firn cores drilled near Vostok station (central East Antarctica) to analyze the surface mass balance variability over the past 2200 years.
‘We show a 24% increase of snow accumulation rate since early 19 century confirmed by the instrumental data for the last 52 years. The mean surface mass balance value in 1970–2021 (2.25 ± 0.064 g cm−2 yr−1) is very likely unprecedented in the pre-industrial era.
‘The surface mass balance growth is accompanied by the air temperature increase with the sensitivity of 11 ± 2% per 1 °C. These results will help to constrain the potential magnitude of Antarctic snowfall mitigation of future sea level rise.’ (Alexey et al 2024)
22
And in today’s most important news… (sorry if this has been posted before)
How climate change is hitting vulnerable Indonesian trans sex workers
https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/indonesian-transgender-climate-change-bandung-b2522422.html
110
Wasn’t-it a headline more than a month ago ?
80
That’s good news Reader. I hope it hits them really good & hard! Hopefully not just the Indonesian either!
130
Most transgender people are people who are trying to make sense of their life like all of us are.
They aren’t pedophile, cross dressing perverts as portrayed in the media. It’s difficult to make a living in some communities eg Muslim, and they should have the ability to work just as everyone else does.
64
Jordan Petersen says real transgenders are extremely rare. Almost all turn out to be simply homosexual. The whole thing is fake and very fashionable. And most of the permanent victims are young women. Sex change is sadistic, absolutely destructive, pointless total loss of sexuality. And very profitable.
211
Yes. The Left are now treating homosexuality (or even a slight hint of homosexuality, or no hint at all) the same way as they do in Iran. Forced sterilisation and mutilation “medical” procedures to pretend to become the opposite gender.
Also, the Left have been telling us for decades that there is no psychological difference between men and women anyway, so why are they so insistent on changing?
90
Yes, in my experience they are very rare. They are adults who have struggled for sometime, undergone counselling for years, lived as the opposite gender for years and finally undergo hormone replacement and surgery.
Many people confuse transgender people with people who wake up one day and decide they are the opposite gender. Then they cross-dress, often grotesquely, get angry at people who don’t accept their changes readily, and pronounce to the world their intersectional status and pronouns. Whilst in their confusion they are often preyed upon by scrupulous medicos.
60
For me that isn’t the issue.
It is how everything gets blamed on “climate change”.
The weathernetwork was blaming a huge increase on “clear air turbulence” on “climate change”. Where are there any studies, never mind proof of any of these claims.
10
Which just goes to show that there is NOTHING “climate change” does not supposedly impact.
And present company excepted, few people, and especially the politicians and the useful idiots (but not the grifters who profit from the scam), see the absurdity of the situation.
160
Where they win is that most politicians dare not say anything. Their rationale is that they would lose their jobs if they spoke out and then they have no influence on anything. It is the core of cancellation, exclusion, being sent to Coventry, labelled a denier.
Like the Referendum, most Australians think it is fake. As they should after 36 years of imminent end of world predictions and the shiver through winter.
The recent PR disaster where the UK MET announced the hottest May in history only to have to explain that only the nights were warmer, the days cooler. It shows the degree of complicity of the public service in boosting the lie of man made Global Warming, a phenomenon so slight that you would not know if you were not told.
The sky is falling. Just give it another hundred years.
181
Inevitably, climate change comes out of the trans climate closet.
00
This article is from 2021 and contains an admission from the head thug of Extinction Rebellion that during a protest he would block an ambulance with a dying patient on board.
These people are anti-human and evil.
They don’t care for human life whatsoever. That sums up the whole “green” movement.
280
Well,well! If you see this individual glued to the road, wherever it may be, run him over, several times if necessary!! He’ll understand your reasoning. Similar to his own religion I believe!
320
A couple of years ago, Graham, I posted a comment on Farcebook suggesting the very same manoeuvre, and was promptly banned for a week… haven’t ‘signed-on’ to Fb since: these cult-bots have no sense of humour, nor fairness, nor humanity. No ‘friend’ of mine.
350
Behold the Monster You Created
You supported every act of violence, censorship, social coercion, government repression, and outright insurrection so long as it was seen as beneficial to advancing your agenda and, more importantly, as long as it never affected you personally. These shock troops are disciples of the secular religion that you — yes, you, traditional liberals — have propagated for decades. With your winks and nods, you have taught them that trampling other people’s rights in pursuit of your cause du jour is both permissible and preferable.
And the entire time, you told us that “this is what democracy looks like.”
You are who Lenin accurately referred to as “useful idiots.”
But I’m not so sure that you still support what democracy “looks like,” now that it “looks like” it has reached your front yard. When they scream that they want to burn the entire country to the ground, they mean exactly that.
The monster that you constructed, animated, fed, riled up, and let roam free to dispatch your political enemies is now peering through your bay window, staring at you with a ravenous look in its eyes that evinces neither “solidary” nor “inclusion” with you.
Frankenstein’s monster always comes home to his castle.
120
FYI – re Boeing’s latest news item –
“What is a Dutch roll”
https://youtu.be/9Gt-IcCBiQ4
Via
https://hotair.com/jazz-shaw/2024/06/15/another-boeing-wild-ride-and-new-production-safety-issues-n3790343
60
Regardless of the reason(s) for that incident, the airline industry is set up for a major disaster due to their diversity, inclusion and equity (DIE) hiring practices whereby people are hired not on merit but on the basis of gender, skin colour or other demographic, not competence for the job.
260
There is no problem recruiting anyone as long as they are competent for the job but if you are a dwarf and can’t see over the dashboard of an aircraft or are blind and cannot see, have an intellectual disability, have epilepsy or have psychiatric problems and are prone to fits of rage (intermittent explosive disorder), that could be a problem for a pilot.
190
“that could be a problem for a pilot.” Clearly David, that’s why they hire them as air traffic controllers.
30
“What is a Dutch roll”
Boeing plane losses three engines due to a Dutch Roll and crashes – 4 survivors.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBVQzzeGKNg
30
“What is a Dutch roll”
If it involves a Dutch oven you already know it smells.
10
When my comment comes out of moderation it will refer this accident. I hadn’t read your post then so failed to acknowledge it. I do now.
10
Is the “m” word like the “n” word?
00
I’ve actually seen a dutch roll, done deliberately, in an F4 Phantom.
At RAAF Amberley while we still had the F4s on lease awaiting the F111, I was walking back from the mess when this plane flew towards me, wallowing terribly, nose high – nose low – corkscrewing, and it was coming straight for me. I was looking for a safe place to hide. He then did a slow dirty pass with hook and gear down – he then sat it on it’s arse, with afterburners, went vertical and punched a hole in the cloud. On his third high speed pass he went supersonic after he passed me, breaking windows in the servo outside the gate. Very few people saw that demo.
That was ’72. Since then I searched regularly to find out what I witnessed, if any other pilot did that [unknown at the time] manoeuvre at a show and always drew a blank. I found the name when I read about a brand new B 707 which crashed with a Boeing instructor and Braniff student at the controls. The instructor put the plane into a dutch roll and the student over-controlled. That tore three engines off. Four on board who were able got down the back survived, four in the cockpit died.
An F4 is much more rugged than a Boeing.
60
FWIW
“The March of Dimes Syndrome
The better things get, the more desperately activists struggle to stay in business.”
“IT EXPLAINS JUST ABOUT EVERY CURRENT “CRISIS” DECLARED BY THE LEFT: The March of Dimes Syndrome. Why have activists declared a “national state of emergency” for LGBT people? Why was the election of the first black president followed by the Black Lives Matter movement? Why, as radical prejudice declined, was there a rise in the number of “hate groups”? Why, as sexual violence declined in America, did academics and the #MeToo movement discover an “epidemic of sexual assault”?”
More at
https://www.city-journal.org/article/the-march-of-dimes-syndrome
140
The same reason why 7 October pogrom happened when huge improvements were made towards peaceful resolution in Arab-Jews enmity.
90
That is more easily explained. EVERY time peace talks look as if they are progressing the Palestinians scuttle them.
70
Dutton edges ahead of Albo in the best PM stakes. I know this won’t suit the more conservative voters but it is a sign that the ALP/Green coalition is not guaranteed a win at the next election. For once, ever since Tony Abbott, voters do have a discernible choice when they vote.
170
It shouldn’t be called the “best PM” but the “least bad PM”.
230
That poll shows not everyone hates the libs the way you do.
14
Dutton is still an anthropogenic global warming true believer.
He only sees nuclear as a backup for wind and solar.
He will not save Australia from “green” energy disaster and economic ruin.
All he’s doing is replacing coal and gas for backup or “firming” as he absurdly calls it with nuclear. He doesn’t see it as a primary energy source.
30
Care to share that email?
The libs have SOME sceptics and MAY do the right thing. There is zero chance the socialists will.
30
Once again this is letting the perfect getting in the way of the good, or as some say thowing the baby out with the bathwater. Why not support someone who at least makes some sense and on this topic help us avert grid disaster?
This is usually moreca lefty style of argument that you must accept 100% of my position or I will block anything you put up.
Given the complete lack of reality in the AlBowen camp, even basic common sense will look like genius, as in Idiocracy.
20
“For once, ever since Tony Abbott, voters do have a discernible choice when they vote.”
There is no discernible difference within the Uniparty. If voting made a difference you wouldn’t be allowed to do it!
Since 1950 the only difference any election made was Roger Douglas and the cabal of four getting power in NZ and collapsing the edifice built up by 40years of Labour and National Govts. They lasted a few months only, fortunately enough time to rescue the moribund economy from strangulation by bureaucracy. The Coalition will NOT do this for Australia!
110
In the Westminster system the radicals are on the fringe, leaving the two majors battling for power.
They appear to be a Uniparty, because that is the middle ground of the electorate and they need those votes.
Our economy is doing fine and with Dutton PM it will be even better.
23
I’m a sceptic and sceptical re the uniparty. The problem is timid politicians who are afraid of the timid electorate who won’t vote for one who might scare the horses. You get what you vote for.
00
Doing fine? If you own your own home and have a solid retirement income maybe, but many are struggling out in the working world.
00
Anthony Pekingese
I’ll bet Johannes enjoyed drawing this one!
120
FWIW
“We Don’t Need No Stinking Giant Mirrors”
Demonstrating their versatility though
https://www.smalldeadanimals.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/greenpeaceindia-600×453.jpg
https://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2024/06/16/we-dont-need-no-stinking-giant-mirrors-32/
90
Cattle sheds – good use for the solar panels. And as they’re mostly not recyclable, it keeps them out of landfill.
If the batteries are lithium, they’re not recyclable either. I wonder what they’ll do with them?
If lead, they can be recycled into starter batteries for ICE vehicles or, as I observed in Nepal, deep cycle batteries for lighting and phone charging during the regular power outages which occur due to bad management by the Nepal Electricity Authority.
120
Practically anything is recyclable,..but wont be if it is not financially worthwhile.!
PV panels and Lithium batteries are currently being recycled in limited quantities, most likely as industry PR exercises to verify “Green “ claims.
This will be another big subsidy farm in the future with Taxpayers money being thrown at uneconomic waste processing.!
30
What grief for a dying planet looks like: Climate scientists on the edge
Desperate climate scientists embrace civil disobedience and specialised therapy to deal with their growing anxiety over global warming.
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/6/16/what-grief-for-a-dying-planet-looks-like-climate-scientists-on-the-edge-2
Read on for the gripping tearful and emotionally charged recount of arrest, exhilaration, ethics investigation, stress and diverticular disease flare up, and feeling letdown by NASA – “since climate activists are clearly on the right side of history”.
I nearly feel sorry for the guy – nearly.
What exactly, is the “right side of history”? Jacinda Ardern used this phrase.
Also,
“Feelings about their data”? – I can see why their therapy needs to be specialized.
160
History as written by the owners of the “rules based order”
Both the history and the rules are whatever suits them and makes them look good at any point in time.
00
FWIW
“Energy notes from the edge: Coal trains vs. high speed rail – guess which is faster (into service); Here’s how big oil can sleep at night”
Two high speed rail networks contrasted – and other things
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/06/16/energy-notes-from-the-edge-coal-trains-vs-high-speed-rail-guess-which-is-faster-into-service-heres-how-big-oil-can-sleep-at-night/
100
>”California, spiritual leader of the Movement To Use Extreme Wealth To Do Wacko Things”
$35 billion unconnected bridge in photo for example.
TL;DR,
Silence from the Green-Left ensues…..
110
28 billion?
The current yahoos in the US can get three recharging stations for that kind of money.
10
Monday funny: the batsh#t loony party
https://x.com/TheMistressRox/status/1801556745191350558
60
China’s first AI hospital town debuts
The concept of an AI hospital town, where virtual patients are treated by AI doctors, holds immense significance for both medical professionals and the general public. The AI hospital aims to train doctor agents through a simulated environment so that it can autonomously evolve and improve its ability to treat disease.
Recently, researchers from Tsinghua University have developed the AI hospital called “Agent Hospital.” In this virtual world, all doctors, nurses and patients are driven by large language model (LLM)-powered intelligent agents, capable of autonomous interaction.
Remarkably, AI doctors can treat 10,000 patients in just a few days. It would take human doctors at least two years to treat that many patients. Furthermore, evolved doctor agents achieved an impressive 93.06 percent accuracy rate on the MedQA dataset (US Medical Licensing Exam questions) covering major respiratory diseases. They simulate the entire process of diagnosing and treating patients, including consultation, examination, diagnosis, treatment and follow-up.
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202405/1313235.shtml
I have a question for the AI doctor – what is a woman?
Didn’t think so. 😉
90
The cholesterol lie: key studies hidden from the public
https://youtu.be/wICtdUuEYZY?si=gysiQzwuiBAX9YET
If your doctor doesn’t ask about diet, exercise, stress, mental health etc, you don’t have a doctor, you have a drug dealer.
180
The drug companies, medical researchers and public health authorities all lied about the clinical trial data used to support the use of widely used pharmaceuticals. Wow, where have I heard that before?
120
https://imgbox.com/zmoCutmZ
60
Ladies and gentlemen, scientists and skeptics alike, today we are thrilled to announce a scientific project that will rock the very foundations of virology.
In an unprecedented effort led by Jamie Andrews and sponsored by The Way Forward, a team of independent biologists are conducting the most exhaustive virological control experiments ever. This brave team of scientists have completely dismantled virology’s so-called “evidence,” rendering the foundational aspects of virology totally pseudoscientific and fraudulent.
https://rumble.com/v512nrn-the-most-important-project-of-the-century-the-end-of-virology-with-jamie-an.html
“Jamie ran a series of elegant and fundamental lab experiments which replicate the conditions you’ll find are always used in the alleged “isolation of viruses”.
Strangely, these always involve adding a sample purporting to contain the alleged virus to cells growing in culture (an absolutely basic lab technique, which I’ve done myself many times).
Some days later, the cells begin to die and characteristic changes in appearance begin. It’s this change that they call the “cytopathic effect” of the alleged virus.
They see small objects which can be visualised using electron microscopy, and these images get printed & an arrowhead is placed pointing at what the authors claim is “the virus”.
With me so far?
Guess what happens when you run this exact same experiment, but you don’t add the clinical sample purporting to contain the alleged virus?
Listen from 53 minutes to find out.”
– Dr Mike Yeadon
50
But, but, but – you can list the sequence of viral amino acids in an Excel spreadsheet. They must be real, surely?
40
Aaawww…no real bites? Ruined my fun!😉
Steve Kirsch has now weighed in. Be sure to read all the comments.
https://kirschsubstack.com/p/alec-zecks-claims-of-the-end-of-virology
21
Did you want me to bite? It makes me sad that people take this seriously.
40
Gee Aye, you may be wrong about many many things, but yes, so right here. I think Jo may bite at this as she has in the past.
https://kirschsubstack.com/p/how-can-millions-of-people-all-exhibiting
and from Jo already…“I know some people want to believe viruses are not real. It would be comforting. I applaud everyone who questions assumptions, but not those who joannenova.com.au/2022/08/sunday-open-t… There are billion observations that can’t be explained with the hypothesis that viruses don’t exist. I just keep pointing at the data. Isn’t that what science is?
Viruses have been isolated genetically, antigenically, with electron microscopes, and in functional plaque assays millions of times. The requirement that someone must also isolate them molecularly is an anachronistic, semantic, expensive and irrelevant point.
We don’t have to isolate a box of pure computer virus to know that computer viruses exist.
We can only make copies of viruses by putting them in cells which use all the same chemical elements and much of the same coding and proteins. Separating out the viruses from 100,000 similar chemicals to get purity is possible but expensive and scientifically pointless.
We isolate them with plaque assays, antibody tests, electron micrographs, PCR analysis, contact tracing, symptoms, blood tests for D-Dimer, Cytokines, blood oxy levels, etc etc etc. We do binding tests on various subparts of the virus with ACE2 TMPRSS2 and nuclear transport proteins, etc etc etc. See joannenova.com.au/2022/08/sunday-open-t… get some idea of how much data they can’t explain. (Mouseover and then double click the dots on Nextstrain to see more data).
There’s a billion observations that already fit the hypothesis that viruses are real. The hypothesis that all viruses are fake explains none of them…”
20
Thanks David, I don’t want to repeat what has already been said. Though if anyone wants to learn about virology I’m happy to help.
But this has not been a productive conversation in the past.
https://joannenova.com.au/2022/08/sunday-open-thread-11/#comment-2575964
https://joannenova.com.au/2022/10/blockbuster-fingerprint-genetic-evidence-strongly-suggests-covid-was-bio-engineered/#comment-2601146
00
Dr Phil interviewed President Trump a few days ago.
https://youtu.be/KkBkgqt_mT0
11
Reviews of this interview paint a picture of two old, white, straight, right-wing men endorsing each other’s jaundiced view of the world.
I think it has improved the ratings of Dr Phil’s new segment but probably not his standing as a public figure.
Anyone who openly sides with Trump exposes themselves to ridicule so they need to be confident that they can withstand the onslaught.
The US media has done a good job of painting Trump as the devil incarnate. Their ABC has taken it all in and repeats the nonsense so most Australians view Trump as a despicable old man as well.
60
Anyone who openly sides with Trump exposes themselves to ridicule so they need to be confident that they can withstand the onslaught.
Which is exactly how cancel culture and bullying work and why it’s so important we side publicly with those who are the targets.
20
Is this article to counter the Melbourne stockpiled EV issue?
https://www.news.com.au/technology/motoring/on-the-road/potential-risks-concerns-as-chinese-evs-flood-australia/news-story/5c8f1fb18d8550a62a3137328468a456
30
I found it to be quite balanced.
10
The comment that tracking devices were found in sealed compartments in UK EVs was interesting.
10
His wicked, wicked ways –
The headline and link (if you like) – Sex, lies and colonisation: Errol Flynn buys a girl for the price of two pigs and some seashells
Author is Dr Robyn Smith, she of the massacre map. There seems to have been little time for building a nation what with all the massacres
Readers are invited to guess which unemployable, rabid feminist did the anecdotal research from the pictures
Sadly I won’t be in the NT on Sunday June 30 for the NT Writer’s Festival, despite the big drawcard of Tan Grant
For those who don’t know about his latest bestseller purchased by libraries and universities –
Not for Tan of course. Tan is a taxpayer funded multi millionaire.
80
Monday political speak
“There isn’t any iceberg.
There was an iceberg but it’s in a totally different ocean.
The iceberg is in this ocean but it will melt very soon.
There is an iceberg but we didn’t hit the iceberg.
We hit the iceberg, but the damage will be repaired very shortly.
The iceberg is a Chinese iceberg.
We are taking on water but every passenger who wants a lifeboat can get a lifeboat, and they are beautiful lifeboats.
Look, passengers need to ask nicely for the lifeboats if they want them.
We don’t have any lifeboats, we’re not lifeboat distributors.
Passengers should have planned for icebergs and brought their own lifeboats.
I really don’t think we need that many lifeboats.
We have lifeboats and they’re supposed to be our lifeboats, not the passengers’ lifeboats.
The lifeboats were left on shore by the last captain of this ship.
Nobody could have foreseen the iceberg.”
40
Monday meat munching
https://va.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_sad7brBDgn1smv61l.mp4
Train ’em young! 😁
60
…and you thought GOF pathogens were bad…
https://va.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_sell3kx1Jr1a8uj3g.mp4
10
This quote is widely attributed to Einstein but I can’t find the original source.
60
Well clearly, all of us here agree with that
30
When did you stop beating your wife?
00
Had a look as I also have a copy of that quote from AZ Quotes. Couldn’t find any original source, and it appears that some are also challenging whether Einstein said the “100 Authors” quote. But at least that quote has a referenced document, in German. Of course, the alarmists claim that he never said it and refer to the Galileo Fallacy or Galileo Gambit. This is often quoted to somehow support the idea by them that scientific consensus is a valid concept.
10
Here’s the team that is leading us into a war with Russia.
Biden – too senile to stand trial
Sunak – about to lose an election
Macron – just lost and election
Ursula Von der Leyen – despised unelected Eurocrat
Trudeau – lowest public approval rating of all time
Sholz – just lost an election.
How do you think this is going to pan out?
130
With his accent, it’s even worse for Pres Xi – he’s never even had an election.
40
The only way to avoid a war with Russia is to run and hide, apparently.
00
They maybe a bumbling bunch of fools, but Putin is delusional and undemocratic.
Which country will sue for peace?
28
Fortunately for us here the US, we have the ‘Democratic’ party, which is about to put the opposition candidate in jail … you know, just in time for the ‘democratic’ election (the most fair and secure ever).
All after prosecuting and jailing hundreds of his supporters.
We also have POTUS Biden, who has not been the least bit delusional since he was driving a semi-truck to law school where he graduated at the top of his class, all while attending shul at the Black church where they were holding Catholic Mass in his Puerto Rican neighborhood.
Poor Russians.
We must stop them, down to the last Ukrainian.
But, we may have a few million new MAMs from around the world to send, after they finish subjugated the MAGA states, which are also UnDemocratic.
May the Rainbow Spangled Banner fly high.
80
Therexare many delusional people in the world, but I doubt Putin registers on that scale.
Undemocratic? Compared to who, Biden? But I guess it matters not, as other countries arent obliged to comply with the wests faux democracy ideals as some sort of worthwhile goal. The hubris is showing.
50
The NSW government joins Labor’s tax assault on the successful
by Peter Switzer – 17 June 2024
Victoria has done it. Queensland tried to do it. Now the NSW Government is joining the ‘tax party’ where landlords, holiday homeowners and businesses will be slugged with a $1.5 billion increase in land taxes.
This will also be inflationary because those with sought after properties will pass on the higher taxes as higher rents.
This comes as most of us were surprised to learn that times are so tough for many Australians that they think the Albanese Labor Government stinks, which has, incredibly, sweetened their attitude towards Peter Dutton!
More on that later.
Although he didn’t say it last might when we attended his show in Sydney, Seinfeld would once ask: what’s the deal with this NSW land tax grab? Courtesy of the AFR’s John Kehoe, this is it in a nutshell:
. Multiple property owners are being targeted.
. The tax-free threshold for land tax would be frozen at the 2024 level of $1.075 million.
. It won’t be indexed annually with property price changes.
. More investment properties, holiday homes and commercial real estate will be captured by land tax.
. Rents will rise as a consequence.
. Some landlords or property owners of second properties will pay more tax.
. Principal places of residence and farms will generally continue to be exempted.
The NSW Government promised not to raise taxes.
It’s arguing that freezing the starting point for land tax isn’t “increasing taxes”. But many landowners will be paying more tax! It’s a Clayton’s tax increase — a tax increase when you’re not having a tax increase!
Kehoe explained that for this year “…the tax-free threshold for the unimproved land value liable for the annual NSW tax increased by $106,000, from $969,000 in 2023 to $1.075 million. “The indexation saved property owners up to $1696 for each property.
More than 165,000 primary or joint taxpayers were issued with land tax assessments by Revenue NSW in 2023. But as property prices rise, the future freezing of the value thresholds means the tax will apply more broadly and gradually ratchet up to collect an estimated $1.5 billion more over four years.”
Kehoe also pointed out that Victoria’s land tax grab is tipped “to raise $4.74 billion over four years by cutting the tax-free threshold for land tax from $300,000 to $50,000, imposing new yearly flat fees and increasing the rate of tax payable on properties over $300,000 by 0.1 percentage point.”
Property experts say this in part explains why Melbourne house price rises have been petering out compared to other states.
By comparison, Queensland’s land tax value threshold is $600,000 for landlords. This hasn’t changed since 2007 but the government did try to group properties in other states owned by individuals who own property in Queensland, but that stunt failed to become law.
With all this added to the rise in the cost of living, 13 interest rate rises and no rate cut in sight right now, it’s no wonder the SMH wrote yesterday: “Voters have given Opposition Leader Peter Dutton an edge over Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on key measures of personal performance at the same time as they turn against the government on the economy, cutting Labor’s primary vote to 28 per cent.”
40
A%$**holes! In Victoria my land tax bill went from $291 to $975 (2022->24) for exactly the same properties and my bill is only small compared to others now in the multi/tens of thousands $.This was justified apparently to ” pay for COVID”. So, not only did we get hit with the needless extended lockdowns, school closures, contact tracers, PCR testing, vax mandates, we (the people) now have to pay for it. Looks like NSW were watching to see the reaction from Victoria. After the public outcry the Victorian SRO have been forced to send out an explanation letter and have quickly organised an instalment payment plan. Gee, thanks a lot- not.
90
In NSW Land Tax have gone from 3 Months, to 6 Months to 9 Months Intsallment now – obviously hurting Landlords and NSW Businesses, as under Commerical Leases in NSW, Businesses are responsible for Rates, Land Tax & Water Rates, whereas Residential Tenants in NSW have no clue how much of their rent is paid to NSW Government in NSW Land Tax
10
NSW government commits $450 million to build more than 400 affordable homes for essential workers
The Minns government will commit $450 million in the upcoming state budget to construct build-to-rent accommodation for frontline workers, including teachers, nurses, police officers and, firefighters.
From the Comments
– So that’s $1,125,000 per house? And where are they building them? Is this treasurer taking advice from Albo and the thousands of homes he claims to build as well? Just another vote catcher exercise where lefties gobble it up and believe lies.
– $1.125m per house…. Not exactly low cost affordable housing.
– The CFMEU are pleased.
Labor are happy
No one else is.
– I obviously didn’t get the memo! I thought, naively, that “affordable” houses were inexpensive to build..
– $450 million! And that’s before the mandatory cost blow out.
Board of consultants wages 12 million . 40 meetings at 5 star resort and 50 business class flights to survey sites . 100 million gone before porta loo on vacant land..
$200mil to unions.
80
NSW, ACT builder collapses into liquidation owing $5.7m
A building company that straddled two different states and territories has collapsed, leading to a “domino effect” impacting 130 projects and 80 staff members.
On Friday, creditors voted to place Cubitt’s Granny Flats and Home Extensions into liquidation.
The builder worked in both NSW and the ACT and been in business for 30 years.
News.com.au previously reported that the family-owned business had been placed into administration earlier this year and had debts of $5.7 million.
Of its substantial debts, $2.6 million of that is owed to 77 tradies.
At an administration meeting at the end of last week, creditors voted to liquidate Cubitt’s.
The appointed administrators Richard Stone and Brett Lord of insolvency firm RSM Australia have now become the liquidators.
“The failure of one business has a domino effect on so many people, from staff, to clients, suppliers and other stakeholders,” Mr Stone said. “Today, these impacts are being compounded by a fragile economy and businesses and households who are doing it tough.”
The collapses has left 130 projects are various stages of completion in limbo and 80 staff members have lost their jobs.
30
Changes to NSW land taxes to impact renters, industry says
There are changes coming to how land taxes are used in NSW as a senior industry figure says it could impact renters.
More landlords and investors could face higher costs under a government plan described by a senior real estate figure as a “tax grab by stealth”, which could exacerbate the strain on an already tight property market.
The NSW government is set to announce the threshold at which its land taxes are triggered will be frozen at $1.075m, meaning more properties will be captured in coming years.
Previously the tax-free threshold moved in line with property prices, with the changes forecast to raise an extra $1.5b for the state budget over the next four years.
Treasurer Daniel Mookhey told the Australian Financial Review the measure brought NSW into step with most other states and would be reviewed as time progresses
But Tim McKibbin, chief executive of Real Estate Institute of NSW, said removing indexation would have “severe ramifications” for commercial tenancies in particular.
“Given the high cost of holding a residential property, adding to the tax burden will only place additional pressure on investment returns, leaving landlords two undesirable options,” he said.
“They can either pass the extra cost onto tenants or sell their investment property, taking more homes out of an undersupplied rental market.
“This move will have the same effect as not indexing the stamp duty brackets. It is a tax grab by stealth and at a time when we desperately need to encourage investment in residential property, increasing tax will have the complete opposite effect.”
50
Fury over wind farm plan for the Illawarra, NSW
An MP took to social media to announce an exciting new project worth $10 billion, but it ended up being labelled “absolute lunacy”.
“Total failure waiting to happen!”
“This is the most stupid idea ever.”
“Absolute lunacy.”
When an MP took to social media to announce the creation of a $10 billion offshore floating wind zone in the Illawarra, located in the NSW South Coast, she was greeted by fierce criticism from the public.
Federal MP Fiona Phillips took to Facebook to keep locals from her seat of Gilmore updated about the change, and detailed what she saw as benefits of the move.
That included the creation of jobs, and the ability of the wind farm to generate an impressive amount of energy.
However, that was not enough to elicit excitement about the idea of having wind turbines planted in our ocean.
Ms Phillip’s post was met with outrage when shared on the local Shoalhaven Incident Updates Facebook group.
“Classic case of destroying the environment to save the environment. Surely there are better options than this unaffordable madness,” one commenter wrote.
Another said: “What about the whale migration? The cost of fixing them and repairs after a huge easterly low pressure system? The cost for roads to get them to the coast? Why are most other countries overseas that have offshore wind farms stopping? Are we that stupid just to look good in front of the world just to cut our emissions?”
While a third commented: “This is ludicrous, I will do everything to oppose this.”
And another wrote: “I heard the other week that it costs 2.5 times more per wind turbine to build on water than on land! And we are all paying for this!”
Others were not happy about the Illawarra being picked as the location instead of Sydney: “If its so … fantastic, put it off Bondi Beach and see how green and environmentally friendly it is then”.
“I am so bloody sick of the Illawarra being used as crash test dummies for the rest of Sydney.”
Others said they would vote out the current government over this decision, writing; “good bye Labour you just lost power”, “cannot wait for the next election” and “demise of the Labor Party”.
110
Coalition will scrap massive wind farm off the coast of NSW if elected at the next election, Nationals leader David Littleproud says
Nationals leader David Littleproud and the Coalition have committed to shutting down the development of a contentious offshore wind farm off the south coast of New South Wales.
From the Comments
– I am amazed there has been no opposition from the Greens on this project given the damage it will do to the ocean bed and the pristine fishing waters, If this had been an oil and gas project they would have been screaming from the roof of Parliament House.
– Fantastic news. They are the ugliest, most useless piece of scrap metal and an absolute blight on the environment
– Don’t worry if labor promised them they will never be built in our lifetime
– Coalitions got my vote. The most stupid idea since Noah removed the life rafts from the Ark, wind farm in the middle of the busiest seaway in Australia, what a joke.
170
Somewhere in the report a comment was made about this wind factorys impact on birds. The politicians response was “the wind farm may be SHUT DOWN at certain times of the year to protect the birds.
Do any of these politicians ever listen to what they say?
So, a wind farm that at best will be 40% efficient may have to shut down to proctect birds. This project that will provide power to 1.8 million homes is simply like a blindfolded darts player expecting to score bullseyes. It may happen but the likelyhood is very remote!
150
This Project seems to have been given the approval at Warp speed. Where is the Environmental review and assessment in all of this?
Tanya P where are you?
Not only that but for 10 billion south pacific pesos you could build a couple of brand new HELE Coal Fired Power Stations on land. Giving everyone electricity 24/7 all year round.
70
Public submissions were called for in 2023 about July.
My very negative submission was dated 24Aug2023.
The approval granted last week is for a reduced area.
10
Leftists in France don’t accept the election of non-Leftists (what they call “far right” (sic)), so are violently protesting. And France hasn’t even had its presidential election yet.
What will the Left do then if they don’t get their way?
Jeff Taylor discusses:
https://youtu.be/_L8oxP9pcq4
Also notice how Jeff Taylor wears a paperclip on his lapel? That has its origins in Norway in WW2 as a symbol that you were opposed to the National Socialists.
81
This happened in 2016 and it’s true according to Snopes.
141
Hopefully you don’t trust Snopes! 😎
Or Warnews 24/7 or disinformationist-for-decades Sorcha Faal.
20
I don’t normally trust Snopes or any other Leftist “fact checkers” (sic) but I thought for this item they would be relatively safe.
31
Humour is no laughing matter.
‘China’s culture police spark fears of overkill as Communist Party steps up ideological drive.
‘Fate of stand-up comic Li Haoshi and overall squeeze on the arts have observers warning of possible ‘excessive use of power’ by cultural law enforcers.
‘Sending a dedicated force to control comedy clubs is an extreme that ‘almost reminds me of the Cultural Revolution’, academic in Toronto says.’ (SCMP)
41
So it’s much like Australia then, where certain comedians are afraid to tell certain jokes or have certain routines lest they be hauled in front of the cultural commissars. E.g. Isaac Butterfield (see below).
They will be replaced with “feminist” “comediennes”. Have you ever seen one of their vomit-worthy performances?
And:
https://www.rebelnews.com/aussie_comedian_faces_human_rights_commission_over_jokes
80
Political correctness has put a muzzle on comedians, with restraint on racial vilification.
I’m sure that if a standup comedian made fun of climate alarmism he would be an outstanding success and not nobbled by the constabulary.
In China anyone who jokes about premier Xi ia likely to vanish.
31
Wow – Go Girl – Italy’s Giorgia Meloni scores a huge direct hit on Macron – right where the tiny guy lives.
Monday, 17 June 2024
If you liked how @GiorgiaMeloni 🇮🇹 looked at the little Macron 🇫🇷 with contempt, you’d love how she roasted him in this interview 👇 pic.twitter.com/ttpvbrUIsx
— Dr. Eli David (@DrEliDavid) June 16, 2024
60
20 August 2023
Former French colonies are still paying a ‘colonial’ tax
Fourteen former French colonies in Africa pay a “colonial tax” amounting to about $500 billion. These countries are Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon.
These countries have a combined population of 174 million and a nominal total GDP of $196 billion, with a purchasing power parity GDP of $411 billion.
France has halted its colonisation policy, but its economic colonisation of these African states persists. A portion of the colonies’ budget continues to flow to the French central bank under various names and categories.
This process allows France to appropriate about 85% of the former colonies’ annual income. As a result, African countries face financial difficulties, and have to borrow back their own money from the French central bank as debts. To reclaim their funds, African countries are limited to applying for no more than 20% of the transferred amount. If they seek a larger sum, it can be vetoed. France argues that it is the money it spent on buildings and infrastructure constructed more than a century ago.
Any refusal by an African ruler to pay the colonial tax often leads to a coup.
Since the coup in Niger took place, many Western and African nations started to voice their concern regarding uranium and other resources imported from Niger, airspace closure and elongated fly time to and from some countries in different parts of Africa, threat of a second Great War in Africa and deterioration of the situation regarding terrorism.
Another concern is about the oil and gas pipeline projects that cross the Nigerien territory or start there. These are the Niger-Benin oil pipeline, the Niger-Chad oil pipeline (that connects to the Chad-Cameroon pipeline) and Trans-Saharan gas pipeline. Ecowas and Western nations were the first to voice their concerns about the fate of these projects. But, just as is the case with uranium — which continues to be exported from Niger and companies like Orano proceed with their work in the republic — the situation with pipelines remains the same no matter the coup.
30
It is indeed a savage remark. It was made Nov 2022. Interesting it is doing the rounds again…
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11448161/Italian-PM-Giorgia-Meloni-slams-France-forcing-Burkina-Faso-hand-50-imports.html
She is excellent.
10
How does France still control 14 Countries? –
The CFA Franc and French Neo-colonialism
Its acronym, “CFA,” initially stood for “Colonies françaises d’Afrique” but was changed to “Communauté Financière Africaine” in West Africa and “Coopération Financière en Afrique centrale” in Central Africa during the 1960s.
From a French perspective, the change was primarily driven by the need to reflect the region’s evolving political and economic landscape and distance the currency from its colonial past. In that view, the renaming was part of a broader effort to redefine the relationships between France and its former African colonies. It was a move towards establishing a partnership based on equality and cooperation rather than colonial subordination. By renaming the CFA franc, both France and the African member countries aimed to demonstrate a shift towards a more collaborative and mutually beneficial relationship. The new names, “Communauté Financière Africaine” and “Coopération Financière en Afrique centrale,” were chosen to emphasize the cooperative and financial aspects of the arrangement, highlighting the economic community and partnership among the member states and the shared goal of financial stability and development within these regions.
Critics, however, argue that while the renaming of the CFA franc and its rebranding were ostensibly about reflecting the post-colonial reality and fostering a sense of partnership, in practice, they did little to alter the fundamental dynamics of the relationship between France and the African CFA countries. The financial and monetary policies continued to be heavily influenced by France, if not directly controlled.
Critics of the CFA franc system contend that the renaming was largely cosmetic, providing a veneer of African unity and cooperation while maintaining a neo-colonial economic structure.
40
The unlikely country that ‘owns’ more seas and oceans than anywhere else in the world
As a result of owning numerous overseas departments and territories all over the world, this unlikely country owns more waters than anywhere else in the world.
By Emily Wright, Sun, Jun 16, 2024
As a result, France has the largest exclusive economic zone in the world (EEZ) – an area of ocean generally extending 200 nautical miles beyond a nation’s territorial sea, within which a coastal nation has jurisdiction.
Within this zone, the sovereign state has exclusive rights regarding exploration and use of marine resources, including the production of energy via water and wind, as prescribed by the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). It also grants special rights to resources such as fishing and mineral extraction.
French overseas territories and departments have an EEZ of 3,791,998 square miles, which accounts for 96.7 percent of France’s EEZ.
The total area is 4,514,000 square miles, about eight percent of the world’s EEZs. As a result, France is a coastal State neighbouring almost all oceans. Due to the extent of its maritime spaces, especially overseas, France shares maritime boundaries with 31 other states.
Meanwhile, the country’s land area represents only 0.45 percent of the world’s land area.
The country with the second largest EEZ is t he United States, which includes area in the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and three oceans.
Areas part of the EEZ, beyond of course the France métropolitaine, also known as European France, include Guadeloupe and Martinique in the Caribbean, Guyane, located on the northern coast of South America and bordered by Brazil, Île Saint-Paul and Île Amsterdam in the Indian Ocean and part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands and the French Polynesia in the South Pacific Ocean.
40
This is a disturbing video.
Obama has to collect and guide a confused Biden off the stage.
https://youtu.be/WHu_T1sSQKs
34 sec
What are the controllers saying?
Perhaps “malfunction in drone 1, send drone 2 to collect”?
60
Climate Change Information is Sanitized for Your Protection
The public is right to be apprehensive of official proclamations whenever qualified professionals are strongly discouraged and even prevented from challenging dubious “settled science.”
By Anthony J. Sadar – June 16, 2024
Climate change information disseminated to the public has a huge political filter. This can be stated with certainty by many of us who have worked in the atmospheric science field for at least a few decades.
Progressing from my undergraduate education in meteorology at Penn State in the 1970s through forty years of professional practice while earning two graduate degrees along the way, I gained a lot of insight into the accumulation and dissemination of atmospheric knowledge.
In the 1970s, besides poor air quality, the three biggest air-related issues were depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer, acid rain, and climate change. The climate change angst was in a state of flux, with a solid leaning toward the coming of the next ice age.
As the 1980s rolled in, progress was underway to limit ozone-depleting chemicals (chlorofluorocarbons) and to curtail acid rain by reducing power plant emissions of sulfur dioxide, among other actions. Climate change concern was veering from cooling to warming and the “greenhouse effect” became the popular nomenclature (later to morph into “global warming,” then “climate change,” and more dire terminology).
Various international agreements and serious limitations on industrial and vehicle emissions apparently helped to limit ozone depletion and reduce the impact of acidic rainfall during the 1990s and 2000s. And even air quality in the U.S. improved dramatically. Atmospheric levels of key pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, lead, and various sizes of particulate matter all measurably decreased, although challenges remained with various toxic air pollutants.
Yet, because of the complex nature of the climate-change challenge, multitudinous prophecies of climate doom came and went without fulfilment, and efforts to control the climate languished.
Nevertheless, the public was subjected to what seemed to be nonstop suppositions of airy Armageddon.
Worse, there didn’t seem to be any balance to the message of misery. No allowance was afforded for alternative viewpoints such as the benefits of increasing carbon dioxide, a plant nutrient, or that warmer climes are generally better for the biosphere than colder climes.
In the 2010s, my final ten years of professional practice were as an air-pollution administrator and air quality meteorologist for a large public health department. My primary focus was on research and keeping track of temperature inversions, which are key to poor air quality conditions.
20
Sleepwalking Toward War
Will America and China Heed the Warnings of Twentieth-Century Catastrophe?
By Odd Arne Westad
July/August 2024
20
An OPEN LETTER
from Herta Muller
She is one of the greatest contemporary German writers. Now, Nobel Prize winner Herta Muller has written a shocking wake-up call to the West – The madness that has gripped parts of Western society since Hamas attacked Israel
They turned into monsters
61
Thanks for that. The situation is unbelievable, monstrous. As if the NAZIs won WWII. And shows how the internet generation have been kept isolated and ignorant. The attack on Israel and in fact on all Western Democracies is unending. Climate Change is the most benign, just shutting down the power supply. The rest is shutting down the ability to tell right from wrong. Those who are ignorant of history are doomed to repeat its mistakes. The leaders of Iran are truly evil. And the influenced are truly ignorant.
111
Don’t fall for Joe Biden’s nice old man act — he’s just lowering expectations
By Miranda Devine
God forbid that we allow our eyes to see what they see when it comes to the Meanderer in Chief’s bizarre behavior.
Rather than be accused of peddling disinformation, best to make no comment about the latest video of Joe Biden freezing up like a zombie and having to be shepherded off stage by Barack Obama Saturday night at the president’s celebrity-studded fundraiser in Los Angeles.
Some things are so obvious they need no commentary.
But Republicans should not fall into the trap of emphasizing Biden’s increasing befuddlement, as viral as such moments are to a world astonished that America now resembles the end stages of Soviet decrepitude.
The strategy risks engendering sympathy for a man who deserves none and lets him off the hook for all the damage he has wrought on this country.
It also plays into Biden’s superpower: being underestimated.
He might act like a doddering incompetent, look like a wax effigy and walk like a robot, but the president has the uncanny ability to exceed all expectations when it counts, politically.
70
He is a geriatric sock puppet for Obama, hoping for a fourth term. The Obama’s guiding hand was not on the back, but up the back.
They pump him full of uppers and put a receiver in his ear. He can barely walk or talk or follow the voice in his head. Confused and angry, he should be in a nursing home for the permanently befuddled but will stagger into the election.
However they must have a fall back plan if he doesn’t even make it to an election. Cackling Kamala will also do exactly what she is told. Same speaker. With Hillary as VP. All female ticket. The electronic voting plan is already in place.
110
“Too much of a good thing? Spain’s green energy can exceed demand”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czkkgnp1d2xo
The Beeb, but not wholly uncritical of the renewable energy in Spain [which is a bit sunnier than the UK!].
Not wholly balanced, but a report that does suggest that not all will be well, even if everything goes electric.
So –
“Mr Rodríguez says that during daylight hours, when solar energy output is particularly strong, the supply-demand balance can be pushed out of kilter, having an impact on prices. “Since the power system always has to have an equilibrium – demand has to equal generation – that has meant there has been excess generation during those hours,” he says. “That has driven prices down, especially during certain hours, when the prices have been zero or even negative. While such low prices are welcome for consumers, they are potentially a problem when it comes to attracting investment to the industry. This can make it more difficult for investors to increase their investment in new electricity based on renewable energies,” says Sara Pizzinato, a renewable energy expert at Greenpeace Spain. “That can be a bottleneck for the energy transition.”
So, even the watermelons at Greenpeas can see there is a problem.
No comment on destroying a system that worked …
No – they’re not wholly in touch with reality …
“Ms Pizzinato agrees that electrification is crucial, but says there are other ways of tackling the supply-demand quandary, including phasing out the use of nuclear plants more quickly, and increasing energy storage capability.”
No mention of importing all the kit, as it’ll be too expensive to make using solar and breezes.
No mention of the lifetime of a nuclear plant – 60 plus years – against the may-fly-like 12 years, if all is well, of a bat buster, and less than that for solar [until ‘a hailstorm comes their way’!].
Not my planet!
Auto
70
Spain has spent so much on renewables subsidies that they are going broke real fast with high unemployment.
I believe that they abandoned the subsidies many years ago.
20
Lots of tourists doing a Dr Moseley.
Heat obviously to blame.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cl550xgnpl3o
10
Yes, BBC fear-porn clickbait.
People are dying all over the globe!
Due to many causes.
However:
And at the bottom of the page another sensationalist clickbait from the Bulltish Broadcaster of Codswallop:
10