JoNova
A science presenter, writer, speaker & former TV host; author of The Skeptic's Handbook (over 200,000 copies distributed & available in 15 languages).
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Statistics
No, Media. Hurricane Helene was not Worsened by Climate Change
“Hurricane Helene made landfall on Friday Sept 27th in Florida as a Category 4 storm and then made its way inland, dumping large amounts of rain followed by flooding. Predictably, many media outlets immediately rushed to blame climate change for this particular storm and its damage. These claims are false. Data shows there is no climate signal over the past 50 years of hurricane activity either worsening intensity or creating more frequent hurricanes. Additionally, historical records show that flooding such as was seen from this storm has happened in the same areas before.
This is the second time this week Climate Realism is covering this particular storm, but the claims from the media are extensive and worth debunking more than once. Here’s a sampling of some of the headlines. The Hill wrote, “How climate change is intensifying storms like Hurricane Helene.” Yahoo news claimed, “Helene shows that hurricanes in the age of climate change don’t wreck just coastlines,” while The Guardian opined, “‘Nowhere is safe’: shattered Asheville shows stunning reach of climate crisis“. The Associated Press (AP) chimed in with, “Helene and other storms dumped a whopping 40 trillion gallons of rain on the South.” Even the Mayor of Tampa, Fl, Jane Castor, jumped on the climate alarm bandwagon by declaring in a CNN interview, “I don’t know that there’s anyone that anyone can deny the effects of climate change on the sheer power of the storms we’re seeing now.”
All of these claims ignore actual data and historical records. They also ignore the unique meteorological (not climatological) circumstances that created the potential for more rainfall and flooding.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/10/02/no-media-hurricane-helene-was-not-worsened-by-climate-change/
280
Explosion As Powerful as Five Nuclear Bombs: Hidden Trigger of Hunga Tonga Eruption Revealed
By Australian National University October 3, 2024
Two years after the massive Hunga Tonga underwater volcanic eruption, researchers have uncovered its primary trigger: an explosion likely caused by gas-compressed rock beneath the ocean.
This groundbreaking discovery challenges previous beliefs that such eruptions resulted from magma-seawater interactions and marks a significant advancement in volcanic research.
Hunga Tonga Eruption Trigger
110
Geophysical Research Letters
A Composite Seismic Source Model for the First Major Event During the 2022 Hunga (Tonga) Volcanic Eruption
Jinyin Hu, Thanh-Son Phạm, Hrvoje Tkalčić
First published: 17 September 2024 https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL109442
40
Thanks, ‘possibly due to a gas-compressed rock’ makes sense.
They didn’t say anything about the effect it has had on a spike in temperature around the world.
Nor did they mention that if it was closer to the surface or too deep the 1000 swimming pools worth of H2O would not have reached the stratosphere.
So what was the trigger to crack open the rock? I have my suspicions.
41
40 trillion gallons. US gallons I must presume. How many Sydney Harbours is that?
Five nuclear bombs? Don’t go too close!
This groundbreaking (Tch! Tch!) discovery…
00
Electric vehicles burn down homes after Hurricane Helene
https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/electric-vehicles-with-damaged-batteries-burn-down-florida-homes-after-flood-5734277?utm_source=rtnewsnoe&src_src=rtnewsnoe&utm_campaign=rtbreaking-2024-10-03-1&src_cmp=rtbreaking-2024-10-03-1&utm_medium=email&utm_content=access0&est=AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAc%2B0pdxIewuHB778Bq2EXCLt3OW7V5QyvPCTpdP8FSg8mnw%3D%3D
120
Runaway EV Battery Fire Issues Could Soon Be Extinguished By New Tech
The only thing stopping LG Chem from implementing it now is scaling, but that might only be a temporary delay.
Thermal runaway that could lead to a rare but dangerous EV battery pack fire is not only a scary concept, but it’s also the sort of fire that’s incredibly difficult to put out as each battery cell begins to cascade towards failure and feed more fuel into the fire itself. Right now, there is no direct solution to prevent this cell runaway phenomenon and the only solution to stop an EV fire is to douse the vehicle in hundreds or thousands of gallons of water.
We say “right now” because LG Chem appears to have found a rather simple solution to the threat of runaway EV fires: a thermal fuse, of sorts.
As it published in Nature Communications—a scientific journal—LG Chem claims it has created a “temperature-responsive material” that’s 1/100th the diameter of an average human hair.
This means the material is thin enough to be placed between the cathode layer (the “ground” or negative side) and the current collector (the part that creates the anode or the positive side) of the battery cell without removing any significant amount of energy density. A reduction in energy density has been a major issue with using any sort of internal extinguisher along with reaction time of the suppressant. Considering that thermal runaway is a rare event, the benefits of an internal suppressant were outweighed by the reduction of energy density these safety devices have. With LG Chems thermal “fuse,” that excuse will now hopefully go out the window.
At the early stages of thermal runaway, this material acts as a fuse of sorts and will either stop or significantly reduce the temperature increase by preventing the battery from shorting within itself. The material does this not by suddenly blowing open like a fuse you’re used to, but instead the rise in temperature causes the material to become more resistive to electricity.
32
Thermal runaway prevention through scalable fabrication of safety reinforced layer in practical Li-ion batteries
Abstract
Integrating safety features to cut off excessive current during accidental internal short circuits in Li-ion batteries (LIBs) can reduce the risk of thermal runaway.
However, making this concept practical requires overcoming challenges in both material development and scalable manufacturing.
Here, we demonstrate the roll-to-roll production of a safety reinforced layer (SRL) on current collectors at a rate of 5 km per day.
The SRL, made of molecularly engineered polythiophene (PTh) and carbon additives, interrupts current flow during voltage drops or overheating without adversely affecting battery performance.
Impact testing on 3.4-Ah pouch cells shows that the SRL reduces battery explosions from 63% to 10%. This work underscores the potential of integrating material science with manufacturing technology to enhance battery safety.
32
It is good news, is it not?
I always felt the electric car has future.
Maybe, like some good ideas, it should die first and then be resurrected in more suitable time.
41
Vladimir,
I think it is good news, but to be of benefit would need Nuclear Power.
EVs Still irrelevant outside Australian Cities as
Labor to temporarily exclude the biggest-polluting cars from emissions regime
The Albanese government has told industry figures it would carve out some models from the initial years of the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard – due to begin in January – including the Toyota LandCruiser 70, RAM 1500 TRX, RAM 2500 and Chevrolet Silverado HD.
“Vehicles that have a gross vehicle mass of more than 3.5 tonnes would be exempt,” the consultation paper said.
From The Comments
– Toyota Land Cruiser 70 series is a workhorse that should be exempted from all green regulation and all taxes apart from GST. All other mentioned vehicles are show ponies for cashed up tradies, that are nuisance on the road and should be taxed as haevy as possible.
As Toyota has shown with Toyota Gibraltar – there will always be need for simple vehicles.
Toyota Gibraltar Stockholdings (TGS) is a specialized distributor and outfitter of Toyota vehicles, headquartered in Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory at the western end of the Mediterranean. Established in the 1970s, TGS has been working in partnership with Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) in Japan, providing customized Toyota vehicles to international aid organizations, NGOs, governments, and the United Nations.
40
Let the tradies buy a big truck, they will have to get another in very short time. The modern motors are prone to fail.
UN & NGOs won’t care. Not their money.
Old Ozzie we are dealing with programmed obsolescence in the current vehicles due to emission control standards
50
I was told that by a long established engine reconditioning firm in Queensland specialising in diesel engines, the advice included that relatively small capacity twin turbo diesel engines when worked hard (as in carrying trades equipment at all times) are unlikely to last more than a couple of hundred thousand kilometres, as compared to larger capacity but still four cylinders comfortably exceeding five hundred thousand kilometres.
Of course regular maintenance is important, notably engine oil and filter changes.
My three litre Isuzu four cylinder SUV also has a second diesel fuel filter.
30
Very Good Dennis.
d4dengines.com.au send engines all over Australia.
Got to love Capitalism at its core! Fascism sucks!
10
Thanks, OO
We are happy with our 14 year old SUV but my CFO is priming herself to buy us the last car we will own.
I suspect it will be a smallish EV…
10
What is the logic for that choice ?
Are you living in a city ?
30
Inner suburb, Chad.
2-3 times a week we drive couple of ks, to shops, etc,.. generally we try to walk there.
Very seldom, we go for a 200 ks round trip…
30
OK if you have home charging facility,..
..but be aware of devaluation and resale values as EV prices are dropping fast.
And if its your last car, you may outlive the battery life !
00
Solve a Puzzle
Just about to depart Los Angeles for the flight home after travelling in America for a few weeks.
I found turning on the shower tap was like a Mensa puzzle. So many varieties and they don’t all work the same way!
But here is the thing that puzzled me the most; how does the toilet flush work?
Our toilets fill the bowl when the flush button is pressed, then the water drains away down to the S bend level.
The American toilets work differently.. the bowl empties first, completely, then gently refills.
Does anyone know how that is done!
50
We’re down under, so the water level stays low. They are the other way up. Hence the full bowl to start with.
Or, it could just be that they use a siphen based system. The bowl is full and will only start to empty once the water level achieves the same level as the top of the discharge pipe, (usually at the back of the bowl, behind the back wall of the porcelain bowl). As soon as the water level in the bowl hits that level it starts to go over, this starts a siphen which pulls more water behind it. The initial trickle of flow accelerates until the discharge pipe is full and running as fast as it can. The flow stops when the water level in the bowl drops enough to let air in to end the siphen.
The Oz systems use a flush of water not a siphen flow. A flush works best with an initial low level, the siphen works best with an initial high level.
101
Has to do with the Man on the Moon standing on his head.
I had no problems with plumbing in Australia, but in Europe, one has to generally step up to enter the shower, then it takes a while to figure out temperature and various shower head controls. On top of that, a fee is often required to use a public toilet.
52
You found a public toilet in Europe? Wow!! Where? Used to always head for a Maccas outlet.
70
Pay for Maccas and get code to unlock Toilet Doors – worked well in Spain and when touring France by Eurolease Car with kids, along with French Familes, Maccas best place for Clean Toilets
50
When stopping at the rest stops on the German autobahns, I noticed that the staff often removed the small coins below one Euro in their tray, then said that they didn’t have any change…
30
IIRC the US has had campaigns to reduce the noise of flushing and then for low water use toilets.
So now one sees common mention of the current crop that save water per flush but need multiple flushes to do their job. And might need a “masher” for back up.
And Caroma toilets have an export market there
40
That’s what Donald Trump said! But they scoffed at him, those ‘experts’…
40
This video gives a good comparison of the common US siphon flush and the Caroma overflow flush commonly seen in Australia:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xQxDYD0D5E
The tornado flush is a new variation on the overflow flush and provides some bowl cleaning swirl.
https://thetoiletseatguy.com/toto-drake-ii-review
00
Thanks Rick and Eng-Ian,
I did notice the elaborate scroll “S” bend and the inlet at the base of the bowl to get the siphon going.
10
Modern aircraft facilities seem to have an air draw / vacuum system, maybe space travel uses similar and this has inspired the upgrade at ground level.
00
CO2 capture project that would have involved digging up a lot of countryside cancelled.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4glw4dyw8no.amp
130
Spectator article on the high cost of UK electricity.
https://x.com/NetZeroWatch/status/1841759538124370165
80
I just saw an ad on YouTube for
nogasban.com.au
which resolves to
https://daviddavis.com.au/no-gas-ban/
David Davis is a Liberal member of the Victorian Parliament, the Member for Southern Metropolitan Region.
He is Shadow Minister for Energy, Affordability and Security and Shadow Minister for the Arts and Creative Industries.
What I would like to know is why this isn’t a Liberal Party (fake conservative) site?
The Liberals should be shouting from the rooftops opposing the ban on natural gas in Victoria.
In fact, they continue to support the Green Labor ban on fracking.
The Vic Libs are not much different to Green Labor in their support of the Anthropogenic Global Warming Fraud.
250
Pesutto wants to get elected and is willing to avoid policies he thinks reduce that chance. It seems Climate and CO2 reduction is an area the Vic Libs are convinced the electorate wants action on, and that any policies that don’t support that is a free kick to Labor.
Pesutto is not a conviction politician. He’s a do what I need to do to get elected politician.
Someone I know approached him and expressed a concern about the move to the “left” in a few policy areas. His reply was, We tried conservatism and it didn’t work.
180
“He’s a do what I need to do to get elected politician.”
As they all are! They grease their shoes in the morning for fast about-faces and sliding in both directions at once!
160
The Uniparty out on the hustings.
‘We tried conservatism and it didn’t work.’
56
>Pesutto
Pesutto is another Mat Guy, fully unelectable.
Victorian Liberals are the ALP’s best asset.
50
Yesterday, I saw a reference to the 2 major Australian political parties being the blue socialists (LNP) and the red socialists (ALP). Which I think is quite apt as we know they are just different branches of the Uniparty. The Victorian Liberal Party could be the biggest bunch of nincompoops to ever walk the halls of the state government parliament house.
190
Noooo I won’t have that , there’s Western Australia and New South Wales and Tasmania and South Australia and the ACT liberals not too mention the Lino’s in federal parliament!
Actually it’s a race to the bottom for the Libs when you think of it .
10
FWIW
“It looks like the damage wreaked by Hurricane Helene is going to last a whole lot longer than people might wish. The electrical grid in North Carolina and Georgia looks to have suffered really severe damage.”
More at
https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2024/10/powerless.html
70
I don’t understand how grid scale power transformers are destroyed by a hurricane.
They are massive, immovable and water tight. They are also protected from electrical faults.
So how is it that all these transformers are supposedly destroyed?
40
I guess wireless access to them failed so the Operators need to use some primitive means (maybe even manually plugged..) to see if they are still alive…
00
It doesn’t sound right but a cyclone we had earlier this year that did virtually no physical damage destroyed our electrical system for days. Residents on Magnetic Is said there was a light show of transformers popping in Townsville.
10
Doesn’t matter as they all went to Ukraine anyway.
10
FYI
“The unsung timber product during war time”
Charcoal and producer gas in WW 2
https://www.robertonfray.com/2024/10/04/the-unsung-timber-product-during-war-time/
80
But we aren’t allowed to cut down trees these days -unless you want to build wind turbines when anything incl. native forests is available- so what other source of cheap carbon is available when we cannot get, or buy, petrol from overseas?
How about those brown coal deposits in Victoria? Fischer-Tropf anyone?
100
Thank you Ian, What a great site for history buffs like me. hours of reading pleasure.
40
The inventor of the road train in Australia drove a Chrysler Valiant Station Wagon fitted with a charcoal burner in later life …
https://www.whichcar.com.au/news/kurt-johannsen-road-train-inventor
20
If it ever comes to it I have the blueprints for a charcoal burner courtesy of a commenter here on this site , if you can weld it’s actually doable to knock one up .
00
Saw an improvised political sign on a pickup truck today:
“Life is a *itch, don’t vote for one.”
250
FWIW
“F-around and Find Out: Russia Freezing Western Assets…”
https://chiefio.wordpress.com/2024/10/03/f-around-and-find-out-russia-freezing-western-assets/
40
Fool around and find out; FAFO.
40
FWIW – a tip for the next Oz census
“BRILLIANT: J.K. Rowling and Thousands of Scots Masterfully Protest Gender Cult in National Census”
https://twitchy.com/grateful-calvin/2024/10/03/brilliant-thousands-of-scots-masterfully-protest-gender-ideology-with-religion-response-in-census-n2401719
180
Albosleezy summed up by Today’s The Australian Johannes Leak Cartoon
100
From the Cancer Council of Victoria.
Gosh, who are these “people with a cervix” who aren’t women/female?
Biology must have changed.
Back in the day it was only females who had cervices.
300
“Back in the day it was only females who had cervices.”
Times change and so do out comes.
Remember when police “arrested and convicted arsonists”. Now in Victoriastan the police confirm that the long running list of burning tobacco stores are because of middle eastern crime gangs. So we know who is behind the fires but we don’t arrest any “king pins”
When I went to school corporal punishment was in vogue, brutal yes, administered by sadists, yes, but ADHD didn’t exist. Even the most unruly of us were finally beaten into submission
Local councils used to be in charge of roads, rates and rubbish now they are concerned about sexuality, First Nations, world climate and international affairs.
The list of “changes” in the social fabric is pretty near endless although try as I might I can’t find any truely “positive” outcomes.
Maybe we should follow that old adage
” When getting screwed is inevitable, lay back and enjoy it!
100
This discredits this Screening Program. Why would anyone trust the scientific opinion of someone from this organization, when they don’t even believe the basics.
50
I first posted this yesterday at #14, but got caught in moderation until late last night . Have reproduced it here as I think it’s highly significant.
Cheers
Dave B
160
David, use http://www.tusksearch.com I use this search engine, and it has selectable search references. They are “Left” – “Centre” – “Right”
It is a great search site
Here is the link https://tusksearch.com/search?q=Dr.%20Reiner%20Fuellmich&p=1&l=right to information about Dr. Reiner Fuellmich
Here you will find the latest information.
Cheers
Michael
20
Thanks Michael.
Cheers
Dave B
10
US energy report paints nuclear into the big picture
US government research into nuclear energy presents another warning that Australia risks missing out if we persist with laws that ban consideration of a technology enjoying a global reappraisal.
The Australian Editorial
As the US Department of Energy report makes clear, the issue is not an “either or” proposition between renewables and nuclear.
And the opportunity is not limited to potential large cost savings of putting a portion of nuclear into the grid.
A surge in demand for clean electricity to underpin the rapidly evolving artificial intelligence industry provides a potential new pathway to commercialisation for nuclear. Big tech is in a scramble for emissions-free power globally. As The Wall Street Journal reports, tech companies scouring the US for electricity increasingly are being told the nation’s high-voltage electric wires are running out of room. In some places they are being told they will have to wait for a decade or more to get grid access. The WSJ reports the scramble to build AI data centres that require massive amounts of energy is up-ending the industry’s climate pledges and spurring it to find new sources of clean energy. This includes nuclear. Microsoft has agreed to underwrite the reopening of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant.
It sounds a lot like Peter Dutton’s pitch for nuclear at home.
The US report does not shy from the current high costs and lack of first-time buyers, but in a head-to-head contest on cost with fully firmed renewables and gas with carbon capture and storage, nuclear comes out as the second-cheapest option behind gas on the basis of levelised cost of electricity (LCOE).
Energy Minister Chris Bowen was quick to dismiss the report, declaring “renewables are cheaper than nuclear every time”. But as the US report makes clear, he is not looking at the big picture.
190
The “big picture” means keeping the lights on. If you only want power when the wind is blowing and the sun is shining then WDGs are the lowest cost.
70
Plenty of wind and solar noon today. Rooftops 44%, grid solar 13% grid wind 13%. Coal 25% plus a bit of hydro and gas. Price is minus $38/MWh.
Current LGC theft, $41.50/MWh. So not much margin for the grid scale WDGs.
Average wholesale price for September was $57/MWh. I wonder if any generators can make money with the price at that level?
10
Even Burkina Faso is putting one in (Russian assisted)
30
CSIRO GenCost Report bases nuclear costings on 30 years operating life!!!
20
One of its many failings.
00
FWIW
“Meta smart glasses can be used to dox anyone in seconds, study finds”
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/10/harvard-students-make-auto-doxxing-smart-glasses-to-show-need-for-privacy-regs/
Goes with that
https://www.ray-ban.com/australia/ray-ban-meta-smart-glasses
10
FWIW
“Voyager 2 shuts down science experiment as power stores dwindle”
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/10/02/science/voyager-2-plasma-nasa-experiment-power/index.html
50
Blocked yesterday at #14. Blocked again today, also at #14!!
Not a first I tried for.
[For anyone wondering comments freed from the nasty autofilter.]AD
10
Dr. Reiner Fuellmich
10
https://richardsonpost.com/janet-levy/37501/free-fuellmich-the-unsung-hero-who-called-out-the-plandemic/
30
Bingo! Set the captive [comment] free.
30
David, use http://www.tusksearch.com I use this search engine, and it has selectable search references. They are “Left” – “Centre” – “Right”
It is a great search site
Here is the link https://tusksearch.com/search?q=Dr.%20Reiner%20Fuellmich&p=1&l=right to information about Dr. Reiner Fuellmich
Here you will find the latest information.
Cheers
Michael
10
Source: Dr Simone Gold.
00
Thanks AD
00
FWIW – re the US hurricane scene
“I’m from the government and I’m here to help” (/S)
https://x.com/GraduatedBen/status/1841858630376681872
https://instapundit.com/675962/#disqus_thread
20
Goes with that
“North Carolina Asks Zelensky For $100 Billion In U.S. Funding”
https://babylonbee.com/news/north-carolina-asks-zelensky-for-100-billion-in-us-funding
70
What are the odds a wrong move in the Middle East is going to wreck the World Economy in the coming weeks?
Greater than 50% ?
Imagine it. Oil price shoots up -> price of shipping more expensive -> another jolt to household bills, as if we haven’t had enough inflation recently.
Cost of flying goes up, too. Petrol/gasoline. Toilet paper sells out…. that reminds me, I better get some.
Diddy’s mountain of baby oil starts to make sense. Did he see this coming!
50
I expect people will be hoarding so that pushes the price of food and other household items up.
Travel plans may be scaled down. Australians going to Europe would not want to be flying over anywhere near the Middle East or Ukraine.
Share markets are still doing OK but will be nervous awaiting Israeli retaliation. Expect the form of retaliation to be creative. My expectation is Israel will target Iran’s oil exporting infrastructure.
The UN has accepted the Iranian attack on Israel as being tit-for-tat. I think Israel will now tit Iran’s tat but with interest.
No one outside Israel knows how many nuclear weapons Israel has.
41
The toilet paper shortage is a result of US dock strikes not anticipation of Israeli retaliation.
50
Wasn’t it more the anticipation of the dock strikes?
30
It won’t come to that, the Biden administration is aware that bombing oil infrastructure would not be a wise strategic move.
‘One option would be to hit gasoline refineries that mainly serve Iran’s domestic market, possibly limiting the impact on the global economy. The Persian Gulf Star plant in Bandar Abbas is the most important domestic source of gasoline for Iran, having met about 40% of the country’s needs last year, according to industry analysts.
‘Such a strike would be likely to cause economic upheaval for Iran, which is already struggling to manage a troubled economy squeezed by years of U.S. and international sanctions.’ (NBC)
36
Hunter Biden’s 51 spies who lied are well overdue for their day in court
By Miranda Devine
In the ever-evolving cover-up of the cover-up of the Hunter Biden laptop, it was instructive to hear a recent interchange between Rep. Dan Goldman, the odious New York Democrat, and Texas Republican Rep. August Pfluger, a decorated former fighter pilot, in the House Homeland Security Committee last week.
Pfluger had introduced legislation to block funding for any bogus “intelligence experts” group that border-wrecker Alejandro Mayorkas’ Department of Homeland Security will use to censor Americans and interfere with our elections under the guise of protecting us from “disinformation.”
Judging from past outrages, such as the “Dirty 51” letter from the 51 “spies who lied” about Hunter’s laptop, Pfluger’s bill is well overdue.
But Goldman, a bumbling former prosecutor who has been attempting to run interference in the House whenever whistleblowers or witnesses come forward with damning information about Biden family corruption, had other ideas.
He leaped to the defense of the Dirty 51 former intelligence officials who had been prompted by then-Biden campaign official Antony Blinken, now secretary of state, to write a letter three weeks before the 2020 election rebutting New York Post reporting, and falsely claimed that Hunter’s laptop was Russian disinformation — or, in their weaselly words, “has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”
Four years later, none of the 51 have retracted the statement or apologized.
Some have doubled down on their lie, even though they know that the FBI had possession of the laptop in December 2019, had determined that it belonged to Hunter, that it had not been tampered with in any way and was fit for use as evidence in court.
210
The Ukies are finding out what the Russian’s learnt, that if you only defend the cities then the enemy takes the countryside and surrounds you.
““In an attempt to take control of the city at any cost, (Russian) reserves were directed to carry out flanking attacks, which exhausted the defence of the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. As a result of the enemy’s actions, there arose a threat of encircling the city,” ”
That was Ugledar/Vuhledar falling, the city that a Russian Commander took an armoured column on a long drive to capture 2years ago. He ran into a minefield that was also covered by artillery and lost a lot of very expensive vehicles, resulting in much Western crowing about the second-rate Russian army. The Russians have slowly moved the front forward to the city since.
Patience has its own rewards.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/russian-captures-key-town-in-eastern-ukraine-after-two-years-of-grinding-battle-20241004-p5kft8.html
62
A strategic withdrawal is okay.
‘The tactical significance of the town, situated at the confluence of two major roads, is that dominant heights and proximity to railway lines offer Moscow greater protection for their own logistics routes and a better vantage point for attacks against Ukrainian forces and supply lines.’
Anything travelling on that road or rail line will be sitting ducks for the drones, so not much advantage for the Ruskies.
00
Hotter… Faster… Dryer…
Advert for a new home appliance? Reminder to hang your washing outside on the line? Or the epitome of journalism cum science cum govt funding…
While rivers & valleys around Dunedin flood [hint: reclaimed land] thanks to the same rain storm NSW had last weekend, and almost half-a-metre of snow accumulates on the mountains inland – I’m up north in blissful calm sunshine – NIWA issues their latest updated model of calamity via RadioNZ:
“Hotter, faster… dryer [sic]” than they predicted last time, complete with stock photo of thermometer on 43C, which we’ve never hit, apart from during the Eemian interglacial 125,000ya.
Chief of Atmospheric Hazards, Andrew Tait, said “scientists were still exploring what was behind the added warming [1 degree over 100 years]” and to “reign in pollution … would require carbon emissions to be sucked from the air … It is all about resilience”.
Gobbledegook: this is what their latest (4th so far) $20 million Cray ‘supercomputer’ spits out, only hotter! And dryer! Spin baby spin! Except it’s raining and snowing and I’m about as far away from it as I can possibly be, because I enjoy warmth.
Maybe our variable star has something to do with it – crazy idea I know but, their number-crunching model-machine hasn’t come up with any viable alternatives. Bring on tonight’s aurora – the gods must be crazy.
90
Everybody knows that the snow is both more plentiful and less plentiful, the rain is both wetter and drier, the winds both stronger and weaker, and the seasons both longer and shorter.
The weather here today is warm and sunny which means it will be cold and overcast somewhere else.
And to think I personally caused all of this by driving my car around.
Sorry everybody!
50
Never apologise. Ever.
Only did 15 km today myself yet every k helps: trees look greener, the sky bluer, and on webcams for the mountains, the snow looks whiter. Ugh.
40
DOJ Indicts JD Vance For Brutally Beating 3 Women
NEW YORK, NY — The excited mood among Republicans following last night’s vice presidential debate was quickly squelched by the breaking news that the Department of Justice had indicted Ohio Senator J.D. Vance for brutally beating three women.
A spokesperson for the DOJ confirmed that the federal government received multiple tips last night from people who said they had personally witnessed Vance mercilessly bludgeoning three females on live television.
“Senator Vance allegedly perpetrated a vicious attack last night,” said the DOJ spokesperson. “We were notified by an abundance of eyewitnesses who accused Senator Vance of soundly beating three women, one of whom is elderly and may be ‘special needs’.
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I could not find any evidence on this. Someone referred to him as Trump’s attack dog but I could not find and video showing the beating.
If Vance was brutal then it is contrast to Trump’s acceptance of his fate in the debate with Harris and friends.
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Love the Photo – Asia vs the US on Port Automation!
Dock Workers Union Reaches Tentative Agreement
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US Port Automation is Languishing
US ports are falling behind their European and Asian counterparts when it comes to automation.
The culprits vary, but opposition from organized labor is a key bottleneck.
Everything from self-driving vehicles to automated cranes is being opposed by the dockworkers’ union. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union represents roughly 22,400 dockworkers amongst 29 ports along the West Coast. Some automation had been agreed to in contract negotiations in 2008 and 2014, but in practice, implementation has been slow.
Meanwhile, Singapore now boasts arguably the world’s largest fully automated port.
The Asian giant joins Yangshan and Ningbo, China, Tanjung Pelepas, Malaysia, and Khalifa Port, Abu Dhabi as the most efficient ports in the world. Yangshan’s average container moves per hour is 113.35.
Contrast this with Los Angeles, Long Beach at 57.87, New York and New Jersey at 57.60, and Oakland, California registering 25.21.
Yangshan is 352% more efficient than Oakland.
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Which begs the question. What about the Australian ports? Have the wharfies union also rejected automation? A more cynical person on social media has said that the US ILA ports dispute was manufactured to allow Kamala Harris to sweep in and settle the dispute. She would be portrayed as the hero to gain votes in the election. Sort of the US version of Bob Hawke.
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“What about the Australian ports?”
Down in the 300s of the 400 ports surveyed and ranked for efficiency.. MeAgain posted it up yesterday-
“Port performance dropping: https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099060324114539683/pdf/P17583313892300871be641a5ea7b90e0e6.pdf ”
Wharfies do well in the USA-
“their current hourly base wage of $39.”
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I researched iron making blast furnaces in Taiwan in 2012. I also happened to research iron production in USA about a year earlier. The productivity in Taiwan was an order of magnitude higher due to both scale and level automation. Steel making in the USA reached its zenith in the 1970s. It was soon eclipsed by Japan, then Korea and now China dominates.
Each emerging country has built its steel industry on what the others learnt.
And there is a simple fact in the world of steel making – you have to be prepared to burn coal or a coal derivative to make steel economically. The UK was reminded of that lesson this week as it shut down its last remaining blast furnace. UK iron production peaked in the 1920s so now a century of decline.
Fortunately for Australia, it only take a handful of people to ship iron ore, coal and bauxite. The mines, rail and ports are highly automated with world class productiovity. The operations are either powered by gas or coal so not reliant on high cost power from WDGs like the rest of Australia.
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A 62% wage rise! Who do they think they are, Australian politicians?
Talk about a Mafia style dock union.
Replace ’em all with automated systems like they can and dump these underperforming parasites.
The union head is the one who needs to be afraid.
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The wage demand is in the order of 70% over 10 yrs. According to the rule of 72, 7% pa for 10 yrs is a doubling. All this approx.
But grocery inflation is real. Last night I saw a clip of a chap who found a Costo invoice from a few years ago for $114. He hit reorder out of curiosity and the same order now cost $440. There is no way to prove this authentic, of course, but it may be.
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Kitchen knife control in China.
Knives are engraved with your personal details, you can’t hold the knife before purchase, you have to choose from a catalogue, and purchase of more than three knives requires police approval. And many other restrictions such as on sharpeners and clippers.
It’s so bizarre, we can expect it to come to Australia, especially because many of our politicians and senior public serpents look up to the CCP and are loyal to them (as well as the UN and WEF) and also because Australia has become an extreme Nanny State.
SEE video from 2:45.
https://youtu.be/4Qjjs21Ysv8
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…and you thought the UK was bad…
Will they also ban steel sales, grinders, forges etc?
Wooden skewers and Pointed sticks maybe?
Ban martial arts as per ancient times?
I’d be far more worried about food vendors and restaurants for bad food than a knife, but that’s another story.
There’s a lethal weapon in every house if you’re resourceful enough. 😉
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‘ … we can expect it to come to Australia …’
That would be political suicide, its a CCP thing, the dictator fears an uprising.
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“That would be political suicide, its a CCP thing, the dictator fears an uprising.”
…said every gun owner before the Port Arthur false flag!
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So far this year, the United States has given:
$24,400,000,000 to Ukraine.
$11,300,000,000 to Israel
$1,950,000,000 to Ethiopia
$1,600,000,000 to Jordan
$1,400,000,000 to Egypt
$1,100,000,000 to Afghanistan
$1,100,000,000 to Somalia
$1,000,000,000 to Yemen
$987,000,000 to Congo.
$896,000,000 to Syria.
$9,000 minimum per illegal immigrant that has entered the U.S.
And Americans who have lost everything to Hurricane Helene will be getting $750, courtesy of FEMA.
..and $1,000,000,000 of the FEMA budget went to Ukraine and illegals too..
Vote democrat!
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The US is giving older armaments and replacing the US arsenal with brand new equipment. Its a military industrial complex after all.
‘Here is the best-kept secret about U.S. military aid to Ukraine: Most of the money is being spent here in the United States. That’s right: Funds that lawmakers approve to arm Ukraine are not going directly to Ukraine but are being used stateside to build new weapons or to replace weapons sent to Kyiv from U.S. stockpiles.
‘Of the $68 billion in military and related assistance Congress has approved since Russia invaded Ukraine, almost 90 percent is going to Americans, one analysis found.’ (Washington Post)
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‘Of the $68 billion in military and related assistance Congress has approved since Russia invaded Ukraine, almost 90 percent is going to Americans, one analysis found.’ (Washington Post)
Dude … this mitigates it?
How many ‘Americans’ does that money go too?
A dozen?
Probably the same dozen that cashed in on ‘Pandemic’.
The same dozen that got bailed out in the 2008 crash?
FFS, I’m hoping against hope that Trump gets in and at least tries to dial down the F-ing War Machine.
BTW, none of the elite Administrative State’s children go to the fight.
Does the WP own a mirror or a Court Jester?
Hard to process how Medievally evil that rationalization sounds.
Now all we need is to resurrect human sacrifice to stop the great Carbon Dragon.
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Sorry, correction.
‘Now all we need is to resurrect human sacrifice to stop the great Carbon Dragon’…
if we haven’t already.
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Friday nature: a polar bear trecking across sea ice
https://va.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_skpp3k51Ju1z23obp.mp4
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More self destruction from Once Great Britain who have just given away the Chagos Islands when there was no need or pressure to do so.
https://youtu.be/CJj2aR5VyCE
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“No Time Like the Present for the UK to Give Away *gulp* Diego Garcia…”
“We are in a perilous world now that is the direct result of weak and vacillating leadership in so many high places making momentous decisions based on #feelz, a lack of firm principle and direction, and cowardice.
Not just the Jello-legged, malevolent imbeciles running the White House. The entire G-7, with the exception of Meloni, is a gathering of effeminate, power-tripping squishes.
And now Keir Starmer of England has joined that rarified circle of spineless woke ignominy, possessing his own unique talent for off-putting acts of bad faith in stressful situations. When illegal immigrants riot in England, it’s the British with flags who are berated for their unwelcoming behavior and locked away.”
More at
https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2024/10/03/no-time-like-the-present-for-the-uk-to-give-away-gulp-diego-garcia-n3795360
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Why EVs Are Failing in 2024: The 8 Alarming Realities No One’s Talking About! Electric Dream Failing (video)
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The real-life horror movie our politicians refuse to see
Raw footage, running for about 45 minutes, captures the unspeakable horror of October 7: innocent people being murdered, beheaded, hunted down, r@ped, kicked, bashed, burnt alive.
Here’s what Australia’s leaders had to say when I asked if they had seen it.
JANET ALBRECHTSEN
Roanne Knox is the Liberal candidate for Wentworth in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. She’s describing what she saw when she watched unredacted footage of what happened in southern Israel on October 7 last year.
Given the wilful blindness among many of our politicians to what Israel confronts, I was heartened when I heard Knox recently tell a small group of Australians J@ws that she had watched the footage.
“Seeing that brutality makes you better appreciate why Israel is responding in the way it does, in Gaza in the south and against Hezbollah in the north,” she told Inquirer this week.
The existence of this definitive visual and audio account of the October 7 massacre is well known. Shown in small screenings, it is otherwise tightly held by the Israeli embassy in Canberra for obvious reasons. First and foremost, out of respect for the families of the people in the footage. No one should remember the people they love in this way.
The barbaric footage can be used for propaganda.
As they hunted down innocent people and murdered them, Hamas terrorists can be heard on their body cams saying: “Is the camera on? Make sure we are filming this so we can show everyone what we have done.”
As the world marks one year since those horrific terrorist attacks on October 7, with around 61 hostages still alive, still in captivity, Inquirer asked the Israeli embassy about the footage, and who they had shown it to.
So, Inquirer asked our politicians, including Anthony Albanese, Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, other government ministers, other Labor MPs and senators, Peter Dutton, senior shadow ministers and members of the influential Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, if they have viewed the unredacted 45-minute footage.
The Greens? We didn’t ask them. They are beyond redemption when it comes to distinguishing between good and evil.
The Prime Minister’s office, claiming to answer on behalf of all Labor ministers and Labor MPs, declined to say whether any had seen the footage.
I’ll take that as a no.
[SNIP]
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Paywalled…
Of course I could post pictures of 12 year kids in Israeli hospitals with both legs blown clean off by you-know-whose bombs but that’d upset the redthumbers.
Foreign funding, weapons and intervention won’t affect decades of deep-seating mutual hating, it just makes it worse.
Sorry, but that’s the reality, as much as the redthumbers hate it.
Grow up or go over there and fight for your cause.
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FWIW – a good place to not to be –
“Watch the Terrifying Moment a Couple Driving Through the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina Barely Missed a Huge Mudslide (VIDEO)”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/10/watch-terrifying-moment-couple-driving-through-blue-ridge/
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Hot water tanks.
I got a new hot water heater. With all the modern options available, I ended up getting a plain electric 250L tank. The free heat pump the government handed out 15 years ago was tossed out. Apparently it was one of the last, the tip was full of them about 5 years ago, my electrician told me.
They cost the government $5000 each, and now one cycle later, it was replaced with the old style it replaced. So how’s that for shocking government spending and waste? Drives me nuts these clowns splashing money around on stupid brain fart ideas.
No government grants means I had to pay $5k for another one, No thanks. The electric cost me $1800 installed, the tank cost $1000
Interestingly, I got 3 quotes, the one I accepted from an electrician hot water guy, the others were two plumbers who wanted $2800 PLUS an electrician, to put one in. It took my guy about 1/2 an hour on the job to finish. I’d say another one hour loading and taking the old one to the tip. I couldn’t look someone in the eye and ask them for $1800 plus for that much work. I noticed they both drove big 4WD all kitted out top range models. My guy drove an old Hiace van, and was a very decent man.
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Or just go buy an instant water heater like campers use for $200 and hook it up to your 8.5kg bbq gas bottle.
No wasted cold water, no wasted power keeping 250l of water hot…
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Sounds great! Except I used to use them on the asbestos jobs and if you wanted a hot shower it meant a low flow rate. They just seemed underwhelming compared to an ordinary electric hot water system at home.
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.. Modern insulated tanks and timers for cheap “off peak” power , make that a non issue.
Personally, a gas instant hot water heater ..30 lpm..is the goto solution at under Au$1.0k installed.
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ABC Ratings in Free Fall? (video)
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Surprising. I didnt think they had much of a base to fall from.
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Not a great height to fall from when they’re already at rock bottom Yarpos , was watching their ABC briefly this morning and they played the interview of the current Hamas leader and a BBC journalist.
Amazingly after the interview the ABC newsreader went to great pains to explain why they aired the interview at this time and it was in fairness of giving a balanced view .
This is why I haven’t watched or listened to their garbage for a few years .
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Great to see all those stats, thank you – I had a feeling their ABC wouldn’t let them be public. And you can see why!
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They are advertising a lot on the Internet – YT.
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Toyota gets a wakeup call
Some highlights:
• No more involvement in pride parades, pride events or LGBTQ children’s summer camps.
• They will not participate in the HRC’s woke Corporate Equality Index social credit system.
• All BRG activities must be focused on the core business of Toyota and be open to all.
Toyota employees and dealers were all notified of the changes via email today. It’s worth noting that this is a company with a nearly $300 billion dollar market cap and 381,000 employees. Those employees will no longer be subjected to this divisive stuff. This is a massive win for sanity.
I have to give the executives credit for taking this unifying action. It’s not easy to do but they’re preparing their business for future success by adopting corporate neutrality. The companies who adopt neutrality will win the future because they don’t violate the core beliefs of the consumers they rely on.
Our campaigns are so effective that we’re getting some of the biggest corporations on earth to change their policies. The landscape of corporate America is quickly shifting to sanity and neutrality. We are the trend now, not the anomaly.
https://twitter.com/robbystarbuck/status/1841935838026072338
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Jeez. When trying to verify this story (which is huge IMO), mostly I found that news sites either ignored the story or spun it so fiercely leftwards that I had real trouble understanding what Toyota had actually done. For example, one site said Nascar fans were angry about Toyota’s decision, but worded it in such a way as to suggest that their anger was because Toyota had walked back their support for DEI programs, when in fact fans were pissed at the original decision to kowtow to DEI activism. It genuinely made my head spin trying to follow their proposition, like complex algebra
Bottom line is it seems to be that you’re right. Toyota have indeed backed away from woke obeisance. The MSM and their acolytes would unsurprisingly have us believe otherwise.
Coming after Toyota’s refusal to follow the EV dogma, maybe we should recognise a new champion in the fight against leftist woke.
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Toyota is still a family owned business.
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750 kiloton nuclear missile detonation over London, UK
https://x.com/WeGotsTheMeats/status/1838458109641032137
The west needs to wake up, fast.
Next time it could be real.
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Good propaganda,
The UK is planning to build an iron dome to protect the city in a conventional war.
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Hopefully theirs works better against ballistic missile than the Israeli system has recently. I think that may be a calming statement for the public.
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And you correct.
In my time ( in 70es) one could get few years of camps for losing a Cobalt source we used for testing pipeline welds – a real case I have knowledge of, finished extremely lucky after a huge search party discovered the ampule. That how scared everyone was of radiation…
Nowadays https://english.pravda.ru/news/world/160763-russian-skier-bomb-london/
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“This is not the time for weak leadership. ”
..said someone in the country with no nuclear bombs worth mentioning, and no way to deliver them! I’d say its a time for a very measured leadership that can give up the English fear and hatred of Russia that they have nurtured for 150years.
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Victor Davis Hanson: Mike Rowe: Is America Facing a New Soviet Union? (video)
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I doubt that the bureaucrats will even bother reading the public submissions on the proposed misinformation / disinformation laws as the Australian government had already made the decision. They just signed a United Nations agreement to do exactly that, restrict free speech in Australia.
The public consultation was a con job by a socialist government backing China and the United Nations global agenda.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/un-pact-future-draws-concerns-over-ccp-backing
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Public consultation always is a con job, it gets ignored unless someone important joins in and makes the politicians nervous. Then it gets watered down or put out-of-sight until it can be whipped out at a more suitable time.
Also on that Zerohedge page, anyone with captive birds have to register them this week, so people are registering their frozen chickens, their rubber chickens, their nuggets.. and the Govt website has crashed! As expected, it will be a database for future use when they don’t want self-sufficiency allowed, or the Govt itself wants some chicken.
If an EMP blast went off, how long could I expect to keep my non-electronic old car? The Govt will just look up a database and send around the jackboots to take anything they wanted.
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Consultation is sand on a beach. It absorbs the energy of the waves of concerned citizens.
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Good analogy.
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The Australian government just signed away more Australian sovereignty to the U.N.
Including the control of free speech, misinformation and disinformation.
Last week’s public submissions were just window dressing, the decision was already made. An act of betrayal.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/un-pact-future-draws-concerns-over-ccp-backing
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Tucker Carlson: Medical Ethicist Charlie Camosy Debunks Media Lies (video)
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Poland agreed to train and equip a legion of Ukrainian volunteers from the Ukies who left Unkraine and are living in Europe. That was July.. Now they are finding out that it was the intelligent ones who left, and they have no wish to die for Zelensky.
“The formation of the so-called. “Ukrainian Legion” on the territory of Poland from refugees living in the EU did not start on time. ”
Подробнее: https://eadaily.com/en/news/2024/09/09/there-are-no-fools-the-preparation-of-the-ukrainian-legion-in-poland-failed-but-there-are-nuances
“The number of Ukrainians who wanted to join the Ukrainian Legion in Poland turned out to be “extremely small”….the Minister of Defense of the country Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysh….”We are not responsible for recruitment. However, the number of people who had to volunteer from the Ukrainian side is too small,” he said.”
https://babel.ua/en/news/111349-poland-stated-that-very-few-ukrainians-want-to-join-the-ukrainian-legion
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..and the reality for any Govt trying to force people to die for them is-
“Former deputy commander of Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces, General Sergei Krivonos (pictured) has expressed concern about the forced mobilization of men who do not want to fight. “What is the use of those hundred who were called up, because 30 people of them ran away when they were undergoing training in the training center, 30 when they were traveling from the training center to the front, and another 30 ran away when they were going to the first trench. And 10% remain.” They would very much like to ask the question — why call up those who are absolutely unmotivated? And the motivation system in the country is still absolutely absent.”
If someone doesn’t believe in “The Cause”, they will just be a hindrance to those who do, something far more noticeable these days than back when The State controlled the media. The way Western Govts have estranged their subjects suggests they would struggle to convince people it is necessary to die for their country.
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