Thursday

8.9 out of 10 based on 16 ratings

103 comments to Thursday

  • #
    Strop

    The War On Ivermectin

    Video 12min 50sec
    By Mikki Willis, creator of the Plandemic series.

    https://rumble.com/v41toze-documentary-the-war-on-ivermectin.html

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  • #
    RayS

    Laughing at the deranged Mr Bowen arguing against “nookyalar” power. One would think he could at least learn the language.

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    • #
      Honk R Smith

      Here in America we’ve been pronouncing it ‘nuke-you-ler’ after Jimmy Carter and Bush the Younger.

      It’s been important since the Castilian Lisp, that we not embarrass our leaders by showing them up.
      It would be unwise to unhorse Henry VIII in a joust.

      You wouldn’t want to know the actual CO2 content of the atmosphere when discussing Catastrophic Climate Change with a politician, when She/He/They is just trying to save the planet.

      You wouldn’t want to just say that your country is actually a constitutional republic when your POTUS is trying to save Our Democracy from MAGA extremists.

      So, whatIgoonashmimabob the democramtical resonathin … come on man!
      (I’m being a cooperative citizen by talking like my President, Joe Biden.)

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    • #
      Graham Richards

      You’d also be deranged if your boss turned out to be a “ brown nose “ coward that doesn’t stand up up for any principle of pride, patriotism, or morals.& is a compulsive liar.

      They both are totally devoid of common sense to complete this dismal picture of failure!

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  • #
    Geoff Sherrington

    Radio 3AW is a big one in Melbourne. I listened for a fair while today to talk-back about nuclear, hosted in the 8.30 am to noon spot by the sensible Tom Elliott.
    We had our Premier, some left lady with working class diction, state with a great deal of understanding that there wil be no nuclear in Victoria while she is Premier. So there.
    The callers were more interesting. There seems to be about 30% of the voting population that has Labor no-nuclear dogma rusted on to vital parts of the body. Despite these people knowing next to nothing about anything nuclear, they are not afraid to phone in to object about cost, safety, renewables better, etc., while having no useful experience or education. They just chant.
    I can tell this because I spent 20 years working in the nuclear fuel cycle, hands-on stuff like calculating harm from exposure and assisting with setting limits. Like being part of the team that found Ranger Uranium Mines. Like flying many km in a Nomad at 80 metres over large parts of Iran to find uranium for the Shah before 1979. Like owning a private fast neutron generator.
    There were a few 3AW callers who might had had experience, but there was dogma capture within them as well. One planner chap said that it was possible for us to have nuclear electricity by year 2037, only 13 years away. What the hell type of talk is this? The talk that comes from negotiation with a reluctant bureaucracy and regulatory scheme influenced by green vote buying, but again with little knowledge or experience.
    What is wrong for an Australian government to seek global tenders for the first few builds from people already building? France, South Korea, China, Russia, Canada? It is more important to get going than to be choosy anout political games, surely. Realistically, we are talking about a piece of industrial plant that has already been built 450 times somewhere, that has mostly functioned with a minimum of fuss, has killed far fewer people than alternatives and should be the cheapest way to make electricity.
    It is all so fumbled up with grot that we need to shed past complications and go for the simple core matters. Forget trendy designs like Thorium, liquid salt, etc. We are buying an
    analogue of a vehicle for outback heavy haulage, they exist, not a hi-performance sexy sports car with optional battery power and pink tyres.
    Start the tender process now. Geoff S

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    • #
      TdeF

      Good stuff. I would include small and modular in that edict against trendy. Modular requires highly refined weapons grade uranium. We are not in the ice breaker business. We have to buy this stuff. Enrichment is another real obstacle. It’s another trendy idea with real research and development and transport problems in a nuclear naive mining country. Better to build one or two large proven technology traditional reactors with low grade enrichment required. A copy of one of the 450, American or British. For good or bad we have a Canberra run national grid, at least on the East Coast for the major consumers. And we have experience with French submarines, French desalination, French aircraft. Even though politicians love junkets to France.

      As you say, start the tender process and find the best value and fastest to build. It cannot be as bad or useless or slow or uncertain as Snowy II. In fact stop Snowy II now and redirect the funds. Florence and her three sisters can go home. Put Malcolm’s statue in the tunnel. Use some of the $444million he knocked off.

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      • #
        Geoff Sherrington

        TdeF,
        You are considered among my choice of members of the “know something about nuclear” fan club.
        Do you react as I do when peole sprout that nuclear power generation is unsafe?
        Have you studied hormesis?
        Welcome aboard, friend. Geoff S

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    • #
      Beta Blocker

      Contrary to what Mr. TdeF says, none of the oncoming SMRs will be using weapons grade fissile material as reactor fuel.

      A majority of the proposed SMR reactor designs use high-assay low-enriched uranium, or HALEU for short. HALEU is enriched between 5% and 20% and is required for most U.S. advanced reactors to achieve smaller designs that get more power per unit of volume. HALEU will also allow developers to optimize their systems for longer life cores, increased efficiencies, and better fuel utilization.

      However, the two western SMRs which are now closest to production in terms of their supply chain maturity both use conventional low assay fuel with enrichment less than 5%. These are the NuScale VOYGR 77 MWe design and the GE Hitachi BWRX-300 design, a 300 MWe unit.

      Both of these designs are more effcient at load-following than are the large traditional 1200 MWe reactors. The larger reactors can load follow as well, but they have limitations as to how quickly they can spool up in response to real-time increases in load.

      If the Australian government wants to get started quickly using an SMR-based initial strategy, it could fast track regulatory approvals for the NuScale and the GE Hitachi designs as starting points, using the US-NRC’s work for the NuScale design and the Canadian regulator’s work for the BWRX-300 design as the safety evaluation foundations.

      NuScale’s primary issue is money. Their launch customer must pay the initial cost of creating an SMR industrial infrastructure for the NuScale design. NuScale is working with the South Koreans to supply their SMR reactor vessels. The South Koreans are also in the process of creating a flexible SMR component supply business to support many of the oncoming SMR vendors.

      Finding an initial launch customer with deep pockets isn’t an issue for the GE Hitachi SMR design. The Canadian government is funding the project to construct the first BWRX-300 reactor facility. The BWRX-300 reactor vessel and many of the supporting systems will be fabricated in Ontario.

      It would seem that if Australia’s government is serious about dipping its feet into the nuclear power waters, an SMR strategy based on either the NuScale SMR or the GE-Hitachi SMR would be the way to do it. Start with a less ambitious program based on SMRs and then move on from there.

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      • #
        TdeF

        Good up to date information. Not common knowledge and a great development.

        But the devil is in the detail. Oncoming?

        “At present only Russia and China have the infrastructure to produce HALEU at scale.
        Centrus Energy, in the United States, began producing HALEU from a demonstration-scale cascade in October 2023”

        As suggested , there is no specific need for ‘small’ reactors as such or research programs including ‘safety evaluation’.
        Larger and cheap is a preferable alternative. We do not have the advantages of scale of the US who alone have put people on the moon.
        It is true of a lot of cutting edge technology. Scale matters. And very deep pockets.

        We do not have the national resources or expertise or people or cash to start R&D or time at this stage. What is needed is a balance of speed, cost and safety. Small in this area is novel but not a political or practical consideration. Australia needs a ready to use design, as with nuclear submarines.

        And while we have a lot of the world’s uranium, we have no enrichment at all and enriched uranium is itself a major stumbling block as it must be imported and even in the US there is no scale production. Unless we import from Russia or China.

        At present Australia is the one country in the G20 where nuclear power is illegal. We have a long way to go before we get involved in experimental development.

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        • #
          TdeF

          Further..

          “The current fleet of nuclear reactors runs primarily on uranium fuel enriched up to 5% uranium-235 (U-235). High-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) is defined as uranium enriched to greater than 5% and less than 20% of the U-235 isotope. Applications for HALEU are today limited to research reactors and medical isotope production. However, HALEU will be needed for many advanced power reactor fuels, and more than half of the small modular reactor (SMR) designs in development.

          HALEU is not yet widely available commercially. At present only Russia and China have the infrastructure to produce HALEU at scale. Centrus Energy, in the United States, began producing HALEU from a demonstration-scale cascade in October 2023.

          HALEU can be produced with existing centrifuge technology but requires a specific nuclear fuel cycle infrastructure and the development of new or modified regulations and licensing regimes. Moreover, new or modified transport containers will be required for the movement of the large quantities of HALEU required for the deployment of SMRs and advanced reactors.

          Establishing the supply chain to produce and deliver HALEU to customers will require significant capital investment. Governments will need to play a role initially until demand from the commercial market provides a sufficient signal to support private investment.”

          Australia is looking to purchase working, proven solutions. All the usual requirements. We are not bunnies in the headlights for funding nuclear R&D. Our only toy nuclear reactor is at Lucas Heights in Sydney. And I have heard that the waste is kept in steel barrels. There is no nuclear energy industry at all. And no taste for ‘significant capital investment’ and politically risk averse in every sense. For our purposes 5% enrichment will do.

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          • #
            TdeF

            And in particular for the agreed AUKUS nuclear submarines

            “For the AUKUS submarines, this enrichment level typically falls between 93% and 97%.”

            This is not 5% or the new HALEU 20%. This weapons grade uranium must be created and loaded in the US.

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      • #
        Geoff Sherrington

        Splitting hairs a little perhaps?
        Terminology like HALEU matters less than getting the job done. Does not matter if you name 30% enriched low, medium or high, though some in the industry do.

        Australia has to stop pussyfooting.
        We can satisfy our needs and export material best if we start now to build an enrichment plan to go over 90% enriched, as theexport client or our aplplicatiion says is best enrichment level.
        Sure it costs money, but a lot of the cost is electricity for centrifuges or whatever process is chosen.
        It is not bright to try enrichment in a country powered by wind and solar. Hydro has been popular, but we have little potential for more. Nuclear has been popular for those who started early. We have large coal reserves. People tend to think of thee cost of electricity in retail numbers, but the miknimum production cost of coal or gas is well below the figures tossed around in the press. We do not need to make a government opearting profil if we are using a government plant.

        Not many years ago Australian planning included an enrichment facility here at home.

        Geoff S

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    • #
      John Michelmore

      Putin announced Russia to work on nuclear technology centre with/in Vietnam. Can’t see Russia helping Australia while we are glued to The US coat tails.

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      • #
        Kalm Keith

        Russia has been “connected ” to Vietnam for a very long time.

        After the war “ended” in 1975 it wasn’t long before Russia demanded repayment for all of the “support ” given Vietnam in the same way that Britain was repaid by Australia after World War two.

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    • #
      KP

      SMH carries a few articles slamming the idea, mainly because it came from the coalition of course. This part will sell it as our glorious renewable power gets more and more expensive-

      “According to new details obtained by this masthead, integrated economic development zones near the power plants would be introduced to convince people living near the sites to support the policy. The economic package would give businesses in those zones a separate and direct connection to the power plant, enabling them to receive heavily discounted electricity. Two per cent of each plant’s electricity would be provided at or near cost price to drive the creation of new industrial zones, which could host energy-intensive smelters, high-tech industries such as data centres, or even defence industries.”

      …and funny how the Lamestream media can use ‘unsubstantiated’ when they want to, while filling pages and pages with Leftist speculation-

      “On Wednesday, Dutton made an unsubstantiated claim that the federal government’s plans to supercharge renewable energy would cost more than $1 trillion and said nuclear energy would “cost a fraction of that.””

      https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/cracks-appear-in-dutton-s-nuclear-plans-as-more-details-emerge-about-cheap-power-offer-20240619-p5jn54.html

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      • #
        Graeme#4

        That $1T cost is about correct, if anything not enough. Look at the backup required to just reliably support the “National” grid, for say 48 hours. Now sone folks might say that 48 hours’ backup is too much, but as CO2 Lover and others have pointed out recently, it not be enough. And remember that last Thursday, wind vanished for at least 24 hours, and no doubt not much could be obtained from solar at that time.
        So back to the calcs. If we assume that we only have to backup 82% of the grid, and that 10% backup will be obtained from Snowy 2, then around 860GW backup is required. If using batteries (what else?) at $1bn/GWh, so $860bn now, likely another $1000bn more in 10-15 year’s time. There’s your $1T, just for backup.
        Add the cost of the renewables, plus the cost of replacing them at least twice over the next 60-80 years. Then add another $70bn for the extra 28,000 kms of transmission lines.
        So now we are looking at every household in Australia having to fork out around $100k every 10-20 years.
        And folks are claiming that nuclear is too expensive?

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    • #
      John B

      “……… no nuclear in Victoria.” Not entirely correct. Major hospitals have radiation units to treat cancer patients. BTW, Lucas Heights celebrated 70 years of nuclear service last year.

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    • #
      RickWill

      I was coming back from Geelong in traffic after departing the Spirit of Tasmania and had litterally nothing better to do than listen to 3AW this morning while contemplating the traffic.

      One fellow got on during the breakfast session and tried to make the point that even the far left bent that is the ABC should see merit in the nuclear debate. The host was a little shocked to think he is perceived as far left but did carry on the conversation. The AM program that followed the breakfast session is hosted by a rabid lefty. These clowns embrace “renewable” energy hook line and sinker. They are in desperate need of a clue.

      I think there is a much stronger vote for nuclear than 30%. That is about the ratio on their ABC but that is hardly reflective of Australian population.

      There is great merit in what Dutton has done because it opens the door to remove subsidies for weather dependent generators. Without the prospect of increased subsidies, investment in WDGs is dead.

      It will be interesting to watch if an offshore wind farm actually makes it into operation. Snowy 2 will not be canned because it was initiated by the LNP.

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  • #
    David Maddison

    Mark Levin talks about Biden’s dementia.

    https://youtu.be/hyRtb_QyPLQ

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    • #
      Yarpos

      I am looking foward to the Biden/Trump debate. I guess it comes down to what the voice in Bidens earpiece tell him to say, and if he is infused with enough drugs to allow him to say it over 90 minutes. I am hoping Trump just lets him speak and drops his argumentative style.

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  • #
    David Maddison

    No society ever thrived because it had a large and growing class of parasites living off those who produce.

    — Thomas Sowell

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    • #
      TdeF

      As in biological systems, parasite populations grow exponentially. The ABC chairman has just asked for more funds.

      The government should be looking at selling the ABC/SBS/CSIRO/BOM. All are anachronisms, irrelevant in the modern technicological landscape. The SBS was a creature of the 1970s when half a century later it is completely silly in concept as a publicly funded department. And what has the CSIRO done in the last 100 years? Who needs the BOM when robots collect all the data and in 110 years they have not found the time to summarise the very good 19th century data entrusted by the states?

      For the ABC the scandals are endless, most notably jailing Australia’s most senior Catholic Cardinal for crimes which the High Court said were impossible and with zero evidence. But ABC journalists won awards for this remarkable achievement.

      In fact if the monopoly laws were applied to commercial broadcasting were applied to the ABC, the whole operation would be illegal. This is a real consideration because of reasonable fears by parliament that the political clout of such a huge media outlet is enough to intimidate politicians, as is done perpetually. In other words, it has exempted itself from legal controls.

      So sell the lot. If they are worthless, it’s because they are. If they are valuable, we had debts to pay. Like CSL, Telstra, Autralia Post, the National Banks, let them compete. I would love to see where the CSIRO would make money. And the commercial television stations would cheer as the BAC routinely outbid them for content but with limitless public money.

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    • #
      Gob

      Yes well that’s deep heresy in a spiv led command economy such as we be.

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  • #
    CO2 Lover

    Canada has offered its help to Australia

    The CANDU (Canada Deuterium Uranium) is a Canadian pressurized heavy-water reactor design used to generate electric power. The acronym refers to its deuterium oxide (heavy water) moderator and its use of (originally, natural) uranium fuel. CANDU reactors were first developed in the late 1950s and 1960s by a partnership between Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL), the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario, Canadian General Electric, and other companies.

    There have been two major types of CANDU reactors, the original design of around 500 MWe that was intended to be used in multi-reactor installations in large plants, and the rationalized CANDU 6 in the 600 MWe class that is designed to be used in single stand-alone units or in small multi-unit plants.

    CANDU 6 units were built in Quebec and New Brunswick, as well as Pakistan, Argentina, South Korea, Romania, and China

    CANDU replaces normal “light” water with heavy water. Heavy water’s extra neutron decreases its ability to absorb excess neutrons, resulting in a better neutron economy. This allows CANDU to run on unenriched natural uranium, or uranium mixed with a wide variety of other materials such as plutonium and thorium. This was a major goal of the CANDU design; by operating on natural uranium the cost of enrichment is removed.

    What are the other pros and cons of CANDU reactors vs other designs?

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  • #
    David Maddison

    Rob Braxman talks about the end of end-to-end encryption.

    https://youtu.be/c52pKpYeZ74

    Big Tech and Big Brother are now installing the capability of “client side scanning” using AI chips (such as installed in new iPhones and higher end Android devices and others) which can scan and classify content on your Internet-connected device pre-encryption. For example, they can scan your photos and do image recognition on all the people in your social photos thus generate an association tree of everyone you are friends with. Or scan for political messages saying you disagree with the President/PM’s policies thus know your political affiliations. The possibilities are limitless. This is not about protecting against terrorism or child abuse material as it’s being marketed, but about a global general surveillance of the entire population as in Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty Four.

    And for those Leftists who say “if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to worry about”, that’s like saying you don’t believe in free speech because you have nothing to say (perhaps not a good example because the Left don’t believe in free speech either and rarely have anything worthy to say). If privacy wasn’t an issue you wouldn’t put blinds on windows or doors on bathrooms.

    The speaker in this video is Rob Braxman “The Internet Privacy Guy””. He also points out part of the push for this global universal surveillance came from Australian “authorities”.

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    • #
      John Connor II

      Russia forms war agreement with NK, looking at putting ballistic missiles in Mexico now that they have also sided with Russia, Japan dumps over $600 billion US debt, petrodollar dead, more countries moving away from USA towards financial and strategic alliances with BRICS members.
      The more it falls apart, the more the governments tighten the screws to get all remaining blood out of the stones.
      Australia and its dullard leaders have chosen unwisely…

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  • #
    CO2 Lover

    70% Nuclear Energy in Florida – Let us set a target of 70% Nuclear Energy in the People’s Republic of Victoriastan

    Byron Donalds, the Republican representative from Florida’s 19th Congressional District, is a well-known proponent of nuclear energy. In his latest op-ed, which appeared in The Floridian, Donalds describes himself as “unabashedly pronuclear” and characterizes his state as a supporter of nuclear power, with four operating reactors providing 69.3 percent of Florida’s carbon-free electricity, powering 2.3 million homes. He emphasizes, however, that “there’s so much nuclear potential yet to be realized in the Sunshine State.”

    https://www.ans.org/news/article-6123/donalds-praises-nuclear-urges-microreactor-development-in-florida/

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    • #
      Yarpos

      A big reason why they can recover from hurricanes quickly, there generation doesnt get trashed

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  • #
    David Maddison

    Regardless of the pretend conservative Liberal Party (Australia) claiming they will build nuclear reactors, knowing that such large and “controversial” projects in Australia will be almost possible to implement because of widespread public ignorance and fear, there are many issues.

    1) Australian power prices continue to skyrocket as more wind and solar generation is installed and more power stations are shut down.

    2) The absolute minimum time for a nuclear power station build in Australia, (land of the long weekend, short work week, Monday morning “sickie”, feral unions and massive over-regulation) would be ten years after the Libs could be elected in 2025, so 2035. What is Australia going to do for the next ten years with some of the world’s most expensive electricity? What little industry is left will be totally gone by then and the country will be in greater economic ruin.

    3) Nuclear can only be useful if it lowers the electricity price. This can only happen if it is allowed to bid for electricity sales on the same basis as wind or solar. Of course, if that happens, wind and solar will go out of business overnight. The subsidy harvesters will NOT allow that to happen. (For those that don’t know, in Australia any solar, wind or other “green” production must have first preference at selling their defective product into the grid.)

    4) The Libs, as a whole, are still committed believers in the Anthropogenic Global Warming Fraud and will still maintain “green” policies in other areas. E.g. I bet they don’t remove Liebor’s effective ban on larger cars.

    5) Possibily the only hope Australia and the West have is for Donald Trump to win the Presidency and he will abandon the Paris accords and other insanity associated with the Global Warming Fraud and many others will follow, especially as their seems to be an emerging trend to elect conservative governments around the world.

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    • #
      CO2 Lover

      One positive is that a high degree of Soverign Risk now comes into play for the rent-seekers out to build offshore wind farms.

      Hopefully this means none will ever be built.

      A great win for the whales.

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      • #
        TdeF

        Good point. And I would hope acceptance of nuclear would mean a fresh look at HE coal generators as even an interim solution. All card s on the table, as 90% of our power is coal, why not quickly halve the CO2 while leaving everything else in place, like the mining. And avoid the entire transmission line business.

        There is no hope wind can achieve what HE power stations could achieve.

        My concern is that the hidden 35% tax on ‘big polluters’ will shut down many of the biggest Australian manufacturers, farmers, transport industry long before any political solution is available.

        As with all the other Carbon Dioxide reduction acts by Howard through to Albanese, the press never mention the hidden assault on Australia. It keeps the story on Climate Change and the need to radically reduce CO2. Which is complete nonsense.

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        • #
          David Maddison

          why not quickly halve the CO2

          That should never be a reason to use ultrasupercritical coal technology because it just feeds into the Official Narrative that CO2 is bad.

          USC should be used for reasons of lower fuel consumption and therefore cost savings only.

          The fact that it has lower CO2 emissions is a disadvantage because ideally we want atmospheric CO2 to increase to 800-1000ppm so as to have enough buffer to avoid a mass extinction event. Sadly, as you have pointed out TdeF, anthropogenic CO2 in the atmosphere is only about 3% of 400ppm and that’s quickly absorbed so it won’t contribute much…

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      • #
        Graeme#4

        Based on cost alone, I doubt that we will ever see offshore wind in Australia.

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    • #
      John Connor II

      wind and solar will go out of business overnight.

      Solar “goes out of business” EVERY night! 😆

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    • #
      Strop

      3) Nuclear can only be useful if it lowers the electricity price.

      It’s useful for reliable energy supply.
      It’s useful for cutting the footprint of wind generation plants and solar plants.
      It’s useful for being able to utilise existing infrastructure.

      So even if it doesn’t lower prices, it still has benefits over wind and solar generation.

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    • #
      RickWill

      (For those that don’t know, in Australia any solar, wind or other “green” production must have first preference at selling their defective product into the grid.)

      This is wrong. There is no scheduling priority for grid scale WDGs. In fact, most do not offer bids more negative than the going rate for LGCs. Most coal fired power stations offer lunchtime power at price south of minus $1000/MWh to ensure they remain scheduled at their minimum output.

      So-called “economic offloading” is an emerging issue for WDGs in Australia.

      Rooftops do not participate in the wholesale market so pump out power irrespective of the price. High local voltage is the only thing that causes them to back off during lunch time on a sunny day.

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  • #
    CO2 Lover

    Specs on the Roll-Royce Modular Reactor as of 2019

    The target cost for a 470 MWe Rolls-Royce SMR unit is £1.8 billion for the fifth unit built, or around £3.8 million per GWe. As a comparison the estimated cost for the full-size 3.3 GWe Sizewell C nuclear power station is £22 billion, or around £6.7 million per GWe.

    https://aris.iaea.org/PDF/UK-SMR_2020.pdf

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  • #
    David Maddison

    Given the likely long timelines or impossibility of building nuclear power reactors in Australia, why not pay to build them in Indonesia and run a cable connecting them to the Australian grid?

    Or we could also build coal plant in Indonesia. You could export Aussie coal to Indonesia, burn it there and then import the electricity. Indonesia has no CO2 emissions limits and in Australia exported CO2 doesn’t count. Win-win.

    It would still be cheaper than solar and wind electricity and it could save Australia from economic destruction.

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    • #
      RickWill

      You could export Aussie coal to Indonesia, burn it there and then import the electricity.

      And it would be less carbon intensive than sending coal to China to be converted to solar panels to be returned to Australia for mounting on rooftops. But the solar panel installers would lose their jobs.

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  • #
    David Maddison

    I wish Australia had a Government like this one.

    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/kansas-sues-pfizer-says-company-misled-public-covid-19-vaccine

    WEDNESDAY, JUN 19, 2024 

    Kansas on June 17 sued Pfizer, alleging the pharmaceutical giant “misled” members of the public with various claims about its COVID-19 vaccine.

    Pfizer, for instance, said on April 1, 2021, that there were “no serious safety concerns through up to six months following second dose” of the vaccine it makes with Germany’s BioNTech, the lawsuit notes.

    But documents made public through a lawsuit showed that Pfizer’s adverse events database, which includes reported issues following vaccination from around the world, already contained 158,893 adverse events as of Feb. 28, 2021.

    “Pfizer’s representations that its COVID-19 vaccine did not have any safety concerns was inconsistent with the adverse events data it possessed,” the suit, filed by Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach states. “Pfizer concealed, suppressed, or omitted material facts it possessed showing significant safety concerns associated with Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.”

    SEE LINK FOR REST

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  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    “Finally, a REAL Clean Energy Law”

    “But thanks to a near-unanimous Senate vote Tuesday night — 88-2, and I’ll come back to that in a second — the ADVANCE Act goes to Biden’s desk to be signed into law. The bill will accelerate “the deployment of nuclear energy capacity, including by speeding permitting and creating new incentives for advanced nuclear reactor technologies,” according to Reuters.”

    More at

    https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2024/06/19/finally-a-real-clean-energy-law-n4929994

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  • #
    another ian

    FWIW – how to make NBN look really successful

    “NOT A SINGLE HOME CONNECTED: Americans still waiting on Biden broadband plan; rural high-speed internet stuck in Dems’ red tape.”

    “Residents in rural America are eager to access high-speed internet under a $42.5 billion federal modernization program, but not a single home or business has been connected to new broadband networks nearly three years after President Biden signed the funding into law, and no project will break ground until sometime next year.”

    https://instapundit.com/654098/#disqus_thread

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  • #
    Richard C (NZ)

    Green hypocrisy update from Wellington NZ:

    Greens caught asking to use private carparks after their cycleway impacted parkingLink

    Several Greens members have been caught asking to use the private carparks belonging to Wellington retailers for a party event.

    These retailers were impacted by Green-led cycleway project, which took away on-street parking in the area.

    Independent Business and Residential Group chairwoman Urmila Bhana says this cycleway has negatively impacted several businesses.

    “Businesses are down 60, 80, 100 percent, they’re either moving, closing, or heading into liquidation. And that’s nothing to do with the recession, it’s the carpark removal.”

    Gee, who wooda thunk it?

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    • #
      Graeme#4

      Interesting info. Cheap wholesale power, with most coming from nuclear. Wind not doing very much.

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  • #
    Skepticynic

    In 2023, The LANCET censored & CANCELLED a ground-breaking COVID-19 Vaccine Injury & Autopsy paper within 24hrs after hundreds of thousands of downloads

    It has now just passed peer review & will be published.

    74% of sudden deaths due to COVID-19 Vaccine!

    https://twitter.com/MakisMD/status/1803325043813839049?t=Se4SQrZKWx3FxPyJPShibw&s=19

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      Broadie

      Well knock me down with a feather!

      There are many still running around like headless chickens testing themselves for Covid, while all around them once healthy active members of family and community are having strokes and discovering what were considered relatively benign cancers are no longer in remission.
      I was sitting in Emergency at a local hospital when a trendy thirty-ish healthy looking bloke came in and declared to the Triage Nurse he had already been diagnosed with micro-clots in his lungs and was now admitting himself due to concern about chest pain.

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        John Connor II

        It was appropriate for them to ask about your vaxx status before you could have dinner with them, but now it’s inappropriate for you to ask about their heart problems.😁

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    David Maddison

    Our whole educational system, from the elementary schools to the universities, is increasingly turning out people who have never heard enough conflicting arguments to develop the skills and discipline required to produce a coherent analysis, based on logic and evidence.

    ~ Thomas Sowell

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    Richard C (NZ)

    The Woke Movement Is Actually Corporate Enslavement – The Culture War Is A Fight To Stop It – By Brandon Smith

    https://alt-market.us/the-woke-movement-is-actually-corporate-enslavement-the-culture-war-is-a-fight-to-stop-it/

    Corporations Treating Consumers As Indentured Servants

    At some point along the way (it’s hard to determine exactly when) corporations took on a new mantra, a new way of looking at business. These companies have always sought to influence people to buy products, often through dishonest and manipulative marketing. That’s not what I’m talking about.

    In our new era corporations have decided that products no longer have to appeal to the buyers. They’re no longer beholden to the customer, the customer is beholden to them. In other words, if they put out a product with woke intent then the customer must buy that product and love it unconditionally or that customer is labeled an enemy.

    This is a grotesque juxtaposition of the traditional business/consumer relationship. I have long argued that corporations are not free market entities but socialist constructs chartered and protected by governments. However, they used to at least care about making consumers happy so that they could make a profit and continue to function. This is no longer the case.

    # # #

    Yesterday I opened MS Weather only to be greeted with a PRIDE ad. Check it out – Microsoft celebrates Pride around the world.

    They say – “Sprinkle in Pride in your Microsoft Teams mobile apps with a “Show your Pride” theme.

    I looked but couldn’t find a STRAIGHT PRIDE theme. So much for “A more inclusive, more immersive Pride” – I’ve been excluded.

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      Richard C (NZ)

      One commenter didn’t hold back:

      TheTruthBurns June 18, 2024 at 1:10 pm

      Understand that Woke means Demonic, Perverted, Pedophilic, Anti-White, Anti-Male, Anti-Masculine, Anti-Family, Anti-GOD, Anti-Freedom, Pro-Death – Pure Evil. Go Choke on Woke. All of the Mega Corps are EVIL!

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      Richard C (NZ)

      Realtor Janet Dickson’s refusal to learn Māori values goes to court

      https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/519885/realtor-janet-dickson-s-refusal-to-learn-maori-values-goes-to-court

      In 2023 the Real Estate Agents Authority directed all real estate agents to undertake a course called Te Kākano – which was designed in partnership with Whakatāne-based tertiary institute Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi.

      It was promoted by the Authority as a “practical introduction to Māori culture, language (te reo), custom (tikanga) and Te Tiriti o Waitangi in the real estate context”.

      According to Dickson’s submission, the course was designed and delivered from a “Ngāti Awa perspective on topics”.

      Lawyer Nikki Pender said Dickson felt the training offered minimal benefit to the real estate sector, as she did not deal with Māori land in her area of practice.

      “She would not have objected if a course like Te Kākano had been offered as a voluntary topic for them, so to speak clear on that, this really is about the mandatory nature of the directive, not the decision to offer a course of this kind.”

      Dickson is backed by lobby group Hobson’s Pledge, and in February she appeared in a post on the Hobson’s Pledge Facebook page urging people to “join the fight to end woke madness”.

      Push back against forced indoctrination. Be interesting to see how this turns out.

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      Richard C (NZ)

      X Link Vice President Kamala Harris @VP

      The cast of @QueerEye joined me at the White House to discuss the hard-fought progress the LGBTQI+ community has made in the past 20 years.

      Thank you for a meaningful conversation, for giving my office your stamp of approval, and for being fabulous.

      Inevitably the Replies called Harris out in every way possible. Not the least her proccupation with Woke while women are being raped and murdered by illegal immigrants in her term as Border Czar.

      Some memes are to-the-point in explicit ways – I wont link but take a look at ‘We Will Bring Decency Back To The White House’ meme.

      Others were just simple humour: Common Cent$ – “I miss the days when the only place you saw bearded ladies was at the Circus……”

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  • #
    Skepticynic

    Climate Propaganda Cabals Ramp Up the Heat for Summer
    Kip Hansen 19 June 2024

    Covering Climate Now [CCNow], the Columbia University-based climate propaganda outfit, which claims the ability to reach over 2 billion people worldwide with its ready-to-use, ready-to-share and content-directed climate alarm stories, is ramping up and issuing directives to climate journalists around the world.

    Here are the main points that they insist that journalist around the world make in each and every story about Summer…

    Climate Central’s 2024 Summer Package

    From wattsupwiththat.com

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    • #
      David Maddison

      The fact that it coincides with the ramping up of the US Presidential election is a coincidence, I’m sure….

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  • #
    David Maddison

    Given the obscene non-free-market prices for electricity and gas in Australia, particularly Vicdanistan, at the moment, what do you think is the cheapest heating option?

    Electricity using reverse cycle air conditioning

    or

    natural gas?

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    • #
      Raving

      Use a heat pump. You have the right climate for that technology.

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    • #
      Skepticynic

      Cheapest is no heating at all.
      Insulate free body heat with layers, thermal underwear, merino wool, warm hats, thick wool or possum socks.
      A very cosy bed.
      Helped me appreciate the crisp beauty of winters in the glorious dictatorship of Vicdanistan after 10 winters in the tropics.
      Nothing quite like waking up to icicles on the blanket next to your mouth from the moisture in your breath exhaled while sleeping.

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      • #
        Annie

        Unfortunately some of us, while liking cool air to sleep, don’t thrive on freezing cold air to breathe. A proneness to chest infections is the result of breathing in freezing air for me so some basic warming of the house is needed, as has been the case here this week. Avoidance of the great outdoors in freezing fog is necessary too. It’s sunny out there now so must get out. 🙂

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        • #
          Skepticynic

          That was quite a few years ago.
          I’ve softened as I’ve got older and I notice temperatures more keenly now I’m old.
          I still like cool crisp air but I love the radiance of a fire.
          And I’ve discovered the luxury of the occasional electric blanket.

          10

    • #
      CO2 Lover

      what do you think is the cheapest heating option?

      Firewood using fallen limbs from nearby forests – also reduces fuel load for bushfire season.

      A win-win solution and more plant food ito the air.

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    • #
      John Connor II

      I run a heat pump around 8 hours a day and my average daily energy use is 10kWh going off my last quarterly electricity bill for $350.

      20

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        KP

        However they are pathetic at heating a room when its below 5deg outside! This one excels at blowing coldish air onto me, making the room worse than before I turned it on. Later I’ll turn it off and use a cheap electric fan under the desk. In the morning I run the central gas system, also very good at blowing coldish air around. None of them are a patch on a good fire!

        The stupidity is that air in a insulator, and yet all these heating systems just heat the air. Surely we should be heating surfaces in a room with radiation instead of blowing in warmed air that just leaks out everywhere. I might try a cheap radiant heater on the wall and see if its better.

        20

    • #
      another ian

      An old fashioned kerosene heater?

      20

      • #
        another ian

        Some numbers –

        My ancient Sanyo has uses about 400 ml of kero in about 2 hours and keeps a not well insulated living room of about 7 m x 6 m quite liveable.

        I haven’t bought kero in a while so not up to date on price. So more observations coming on that and outside temperatures vs internal comfort

        10

  • #
    David Maddison

    I’m enjoying cooking with gas until the commies in Vicdanistan turn off the supply or render it unaffordable for non-Elites…

    I wonder if the Vicdanistan pretend-conservative Libs will reverse the Victoria gas bans or will continue them and make them worse? They already support the existing ban on fracking.

    60

  • #
    David Maddison

    It may surprise some people but having what was once an inexpensive and abundant energy supply was once considered a major competitive advantage for Australia, back in the day.

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    • #
      CO2 Lover

      Australia exports 4 times it local CO2 emissions in coal and natural gas exports which gives a competative advantage to others.

      50

  • #
    YYY Guy

    In “your money in ruinables” news, SESTA super fund invested $100,000,000 in Renu Energy a couple of years ago. Now worth $15,000,000. Chair of HESTA? Nicola Roxon.
    But wait, there’s more. HMC Capital appoints well known money manager

    She’s been busy

    Reads like reward for failure. For example

    LeapFrog invests in extraordinary businesses in Asia and Africa, partnering with their leaders to achieve leaps of growth, profitability and impact.

    Such as

    Ensuring the third world remains third world.
    I wonder what her net worth is now.

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  • #
    KP

    “The strain detected in the Hawkesbury…. was probably introduced to the NSW chickens by wild birds.

    Ah, like eating pangolins from a wet market!

    ““The timing of this strain emerging is remarkable given the challenges we’ve faced in Victoria,”” Victorian outbreak, the one by the CSIRO?

    Well, do we suddenly have new birds bringing bird flu all the way down to Aussie, or does our incompetent CSIRO have a range of samples from places in the world where bird flu is being worked on? They never said what was in the samples the Americans bought here from their biolabs in Ukraine.

    Here’s bit of mis-direction…

    “Given the outbreaks in Victoria and WA, the arrival of the disease in NSW was not unexpected, said University of Sydney bird flu expert Professor Michael Ward.”

    Not unexpected because its just over the border in Vic? Hang on, its a completely unrelated strain in NSW!

    “A government spokesperson said there was no threat to consumers and shoppers should not worry about buying eggs from supermarkets.” So, tell me again why we’re killing millions of chickens?

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    • #
      John Connor II

      Or mass killing of bees when there’s no widespread mite problem…
      A human with Covid? Better cull ’em all to be safe. 😆

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      • #
        KP

        Some nasty person pointed out that bees have evolved with mites for millions of years and a healthy bee population won’t have a problem with varroa. Even the Govt have finally realised that-

        “On 19 September 2023, the National Management Group (NMG) – the peak decision-making body for the national varroa mite emergency response – made a decision that eradication of varroa mite was no longer achievable and to shift the focus of the response from eradication to transitioning to management activities.”

        So why don’t we just skip to that stage with bird flu and save all the expense and killing. Of course it may need to have hives spread out and not be stacked on trucks, and the same with chickens, we’d find out who REALLY raises free-range chickens and who has them stacked on top of one another..

        Naturally there will be calls to ban private ownership of chickens without a $10,000/yr licence, we can’t have the plebs growing their own food.

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    • #
      Gee Aye

      Yes. Lots of birds move into and out of Australia. It is how bird flu is spread. This is not new news.

      02

      • #
        John Connor II

        Yes, but…the birds didn’t stop in Tas, SA, n. Qld or n. WA on their way to Vic.
        Strong old birds eh…

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        • #
          Broadie

          Appears to have struck GA’s attention and received a ‘nothing to see here’ comment.

          This is not new news.

          That could mean there is something to hide.

          Give Mr Kawaoka a call and let him know his lost baby may have turned up here again.

          My question is what strains are being tested for?
          When were the test kits for the detected strains included in the kits? We know the fastest way to cure the flu is to not test for the dominant strain. Remember week 13 in 2020?
          What symptoms are the birds displaying?
          Does it affect wild birds in the proximity of the farms?

          You know the sort of questions a concerned scientist or vet would naturally be asking.

          20

    • #
      Broadie

      Kawaoka in 2017

      The H7N9 virus is likely to continue to mutate as it infects humans, resulting in adaptations that enhance the viruses’ pathogenicity or ability to pass from person to person, Kawaoka adds. In other words, nature is already performing its own gain-of-function experiments, with potentially serious consequences.

      It has, however, become a bit easier recently to detect when poultry are infected with H7N9, thereby allowing people to limit their exposure. That’s because the virus has begun to kill birds in China, too. But unlike in the U.S., where farmers cull their flocks to limit the spread of infectious disease, China relies on vaccines. This worries Kawaoka, given how well the virus has been shown to grow.

      2017 was a time of excess deaths in Australia, Go to

      ‘Weekly all-cause mortality: Australia’

      In 2013, an influenza virus that had never before been detected began circulating among poultry in China. It caused several waves of human infection and in late 2016, the number of people to become sick from the H7N9 virus suddenly started to rise. As of late July 2017, nearly 1,600 people had tested positive for avian H7N9. Nearly 40 percent of those infected had died.

      10

  • #
    John Connor II

    ‘Make Europe Great Again’ is Hungary’s EU Presidency Slogan

    Europe is not just leaning to the right, it is positively stampeding. Last months elections caused shockwaves right across the continent as centre-right parties (called ‘far-right’ by the far-left media) took power form many a Marxist party. Now the situation is about to get even worse for the socialist project as Hungary launches their EU presidency with the Trump-esque slogan “Make Europe Great Again.”

    “In Europe, the war in our neighborhood, the disengagement from global competitors, the fragile security situation, illegal migration, opposition politics, the effects of climate change, and the processes of self-protection are all common challenges,” Bóka said.

    https://www.visionnews.online/post/make-europe-great-again-is-hungary-s-eu-presidency-slogan

    FINALLY woken up to the bleeding obvious for the past decade then?
    But change only occurs at the precipice…

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  • #
    John Connor II

    Toyota sunroof issue: The joke that is car design, dealership servicing and repair costs

    I watched the full video (50 mins) and it shows how incredibly stupid car engineering is, the massive headaches it causes for repairers and the mass exodus of techs from the industry.
    Cars “designed by witless w@nkers in white coats” was the term used in an Oz car magazine decades ago. 😁

    You need to watch the entire video to see just how easy it would be to design it properly and how easy it could and should have been to fix.
    Bad Toyota, bad. Shame on you.
    The tech is unbelievably calm throughout though. Amazing guy.
    https://youtu.be/7HyuriUhTSo?si=UU6VuO0YPEmpgQGv

    30

    • #
      Yarpos

      Not really the topic I realise, but I avoid cars with sunroofs. All risk and really not much benefit.

      20

    • #
      another ian

      Of all the cars on which I have worked the only one that looks like the factory gave thought to the mechanics that would have to work on it later is an Alfa Romeo Alfetta.

      Apart from under the dash there is usually just enough room – some will need the workshop manual to point you though.

      10

  • #
    John Connor II

    Thursday “it must be Monday”

    https://imgbox.com/iLXEKICQ

    Not unlike badly installed RV roof solar panels all across Oz. 😆

    30

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    John Connor II

    Thursday (Friday in WA) sarcasm

    I’m from the government and I’m here to help.

    https://imgbox.com/cLpUxqJU

    Or maybe:

    https://imgbox.com/1tPQaep8

    20

  • #
    John Connor II

    Word for the day

    Deja Poo

    Adj. The feeling of having heard this crap before.

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  • #
    el+gordo

    ‘Market operator issues warning on gas supplies.

    ‘Australia’s energy market operator has warned fuel supplies are running tight and without urgent action there could be insufficient reserves for the rest of winter.’ (Oz)

    10

  • #
    KP

    Fascinating article on Georgia and its recent about-face on Russia, and why it came about.

    “Following Tbilisi’s November 2003 election, US-financed exit polling suggested the official result – pointing to the victory of a coalition of pro-Shevardnadze parties – was fraudulent.
    Scores of anti-government activists from across the country then descended upon Tbilisi’s parliament building, ferried on buses paid for by Washington. Nationwide demonstrations led by US-bankrolled NGOs and activist groups raged for weeks, culminating on November 23 with activists storming parliament brandishing roses. The very next day, Shevardnadze resigned. One recipient of Western support remarked in Democracy Rising, “without foreign assistance, I’m not sure we would have been able to achieve what we did without bloodshed.”

    but now, it was all for naught… They have finally realised that the chalice of freedom America offered was poisoned, and have turned away.

    “Since taking office in 2012, the ruling Georgian Dream has struck a delicate balance between strengthening Western ties and maintaining civil coexistence with Moscow. This has become an ever-fraught dance since the outbreak of the Ukraine proxy conflict, with external pressure to impose sanctions on Russia and send arms to Kiev perpetually rising. Against this backdrop, there have been multiple apparent plots to overthrow the government and install a more belligerent administration.

    In order to neutralize the threat of a coup by Georgian Dream’s domestic and international adversaries, legislation compelling foreign-funded NGOs – of which there are unbelievably over 25,000 in Tbilisi – to publicly disclose their sources of income has been passed. Its gestation produced a bitter showdown with the EU and US, ending with lawmakers who voted for the law being sanctioned by Washington and the threat of further action to come. Along the way, average Georgians were confronted with the poisonous reality of their vassalage under Western hegemony. And many didn’t like it one iota.”

    https://www.kitklarenberg.com/p/collapsing-empire-georgia-and-russia

    When you print the dollars that you spend around the world, you can create trouble in so many countries at once! Georgia is lucky they didn’t get ‘supported’ by NATO when Russia invaded in 2008 or they would be in Ukraine’s shoes now, fighting Russia to the last Georgian, for America.

    10

  • #

    “Landmark ruling could threaten future UK oil drilling”
    UK’s [newish] Supreme Court [a Blair innovation] has ruled 3-2 that a County Council should have ‘considered’ the ‘climate impact’ of the oil, potentially produced when it permitted oil exploration drilling in the Weald and South Downs area – a place called Horley, south f London Gatwick airport.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cxwwzmn12g9o

    It’s the BBC. Indeed Justin Rowlett is a co-author.

    “The Supreme Court has ruled that Surrey County Council should have considered the climate impacts of burning oil drilled from new wells in Horley. Under planning law the assumption has always been that only the impacts from constructing the wells and not the use of the final oil products should be considered. The case brought by Sarah Finch, on behalf of campaigners, could threaten new UK fossil fuels projects. The council said it followed planning law.”

    More at the link.
    Supreme Court making up the law as it goes …?
    Does UK Energy Security not count for anything?
    Does the erection and commissioning of bat-busting wind turbines not need a review of the down-wind effects?
    And have these even been researched? Never mind the noise [visual pollution is granted!].
    What of the use of the electricity that these giant bird-choppers produce [sometimes]? Does that not affect the climate too?

    A can of worms – suggesting that the UK is determined to revert to a pre-industrial lifestyle.
    That will ease housing pressures, as 60 million, or more, die from cold, starvation – or mayhem – in the pursuit of the rainbow unicorn called Nut Zero.

    Auto – puzzled, dismayed, and not at all hopeful that the coming election will aid the population in any way whatsoever.

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  • #
    KP

    How long before we have cheap drones fitted with enemy-drone-recognition systems and autonomously destroying each other? It can’t be more than 12months away.

    https://x.com/Blackrussiantv/status/1803118928337473743

    Those SciFi stories of robot wars and humans are just nuisance collateral…

    10