Friday

Comments standing at 999,872

At 1:12AM Queensland time Friday.

UPDATE: Congratulations to Simon Thompson M.B. B.S. for the millionth comment. With Yarpos at 999,999 and Old Ozzie at one million and one. 19.2

9.1 out of 10 based on 19 ratings

113 comments to Friday

  • #
    tonyb

    An attempt to shut down privacy, curtailing free speech claiming many online articles are harmful and should be deleted even if legal, can be read here. There seems to be a distinct Isla*ic perspective from this German news.. Some of this material is worrying similar to that coming out of Australia, Ireland and the EU generally

    https://gatesofvienna.net/2024/10/big-islamic-brother-is-watching-you/

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  • #
    tonyb

    A very interesting article put together by Net Zero watch based on information supplied by an expert in the field can be accessed by this link which serves as a prologue

    https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/the-terrible-fire-risks-of-battery-storage-and-how-we-helped-expose-them/

    Whether underground car parking, the ferries, Tunnels (such as the rail one from England to France) all look worryingly exposed, but no one wants to grasp the nettle and put in sensible measures to curtail the certainty, one day, of a catastrophic electric vehicle fire.

    141

    • #
      StephenP

      There have been 5 fires in the UK/France Channel Tunnel, all involving heavy goods vehicles:

      1996
      2006
      2008
      2012
      2015

      One hates to think what the outcomes would have been if the vehicles had been EVs.

      110

    • #

      Grid scale battery fire threats may be even worse because they are potentially enormous and no one is talking about them.
      https://www.cfact.org/2024/10/01/grid-scale-battery-fires-loom-large/

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      • #
        RickWill

        Big batteries do have big fires but they are installed in open spaces.
        https://www.lcanews.com/en/coolant-leak-likely-sparked-giant-tesla-battery-fire-in-australia/

        A few BEVs in a an underground carpark could collapse an entire building with hundreds of occupants being unable to escape.

        Medical staff are well paid and are commonly owners of BEVs. Wander into the underground carpark of a large hospital and it will have a high proportion of BEVs. Imagine trying to evacuate a large hospital when the structural columns are being exposed to intense heat. Excluding air does not reduce the intensity of BEV fire. Would it be possible to flood the car park fast enough to prevent structural collapse?

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        • #
          StephenP

          My local hospital has a multi-storey car park with the charging points just by the entrance.
          One EV on fire and the whole car park would go up like the Luton airport car park.
          It would be impossible to get cars out and any people on upper floors would have no way of escape.
          The only half-sensible place to charge EVs would be in insulated bays on the roof deck.
          Preferably EVs should have their own car park.

          110

          • #
            Geoff Sherrington

            Ric,
            The lowest level of the Box Hill public hospital underground carpark has been outfitted with (by quick eye estimate) about 12 charge stations for electric vehicles, with new white Chinese SUVs all lined up on the day I went past.
            Someone above wrote about ” grasping the nettle”. My personal opinion is that hospitals have a high population of more intelligent people on staff (we hope!) who should be in leadership roles as new social problems arise.
            I wonder if this hospital did a valid risk:benefit analysis before starting on this project with plausible heightened fire risk from EV batteries. I have been a patient in some of the 9 levels above the carpark, wondering about rapid evacuation plans (for the building, not for my body).
            Geoff S

            100

            • #
              RickWill

              Geoff
              You should compose a letter to the hospital and copy the local State and Federal members asking for the risk assessment.

              The linked advisory note to the building code requires owners of complex buildings to undertake a specialist fire risk assessment:
              https://www.abcb.gov.au/sites/default/files/resources/2023/ABCB%20EV%20Guidance%20Document%20June%202023.pdf

              I could not think of a more complex building then a hospital when it comes to fire risk. There are not many fire risk specialist tuned in to BEV fires so there would be a small field of specialists able to produce such a report. I expect a specialist report for BEVs in an underground hospital car park would have onerous requirements for individual parking space fire isolated;ation. That means fire barriers between cars. Fire barriers are common where the spread of fire through radiant heat or explosion is possible. For example electrical transformers::
              https://www.electricaltechnology.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Screenshot_21.png

              Batteries are fundamentally a low intensity chemical bomb. They have their own oxidiser built in so vastly different to a liquid or gas fuel that gets its oxygen from the air; meaning an intense fire with liquid or gas fuel in an underground carpark can be quickly starved of oxygen by shutting down ventilation.

              When you think about it, calling a BEV battery violent self-discharge a fire is downplaying the risk. It is a melt-down that can lead to explosion and fire.

              70

        • #
          Graeme4

          Recently there was a photo in The Australian of one large battery installation in Australia inside a very large shed. My first thought was what happens if one of the battery banks goes up in that confined space.

          40

        • #
          Ted1

          I have recollection of one of the shipping container sized cells in one of the first big batteries in Victoria catching fire soon after installation. The fire did not spread.

          00

      • #
        Leo G

        There is also the scaled risk of explosion for grid scale batteries.

        Numerous studies have confirmed that the risk of explosion at the single cell scale reduces with the rate of dispersion of combustible gases.

        The risk of a large scale explosion depends on the capacity of an explosion of one cell to sufficiency displace the material of adjacent cells to induce short-circuit in adjacent cells at a rate that prevents dispersion of the combustible gases.

        10

  • #
    tonyb

    A rather cerebral paper that warrants a bit of quiet and a nice cup of tea whilst reading it. It comes as King Charles was abused in OZ although generally the visit seems to have gone quite well. Charles is related to Alfred the Great and the links back to the end of the western Roman Empire covered by reference to a 1500 year old book, now largely forgotten. The article explores the links and history that binds the Anglo Saxon world and other communities together and that we cut the threads at our mutual peril as it will all likely unravel.

    https://dailysceptic.org/2024/10/23/how-a-1500th-anniversary-shows-the-deep-roots-of-western-civilisation/

    50

  • #

    Yellen Says Taxpayers Can Cover the US Deficit
    Posted Oct 24, 2024 by Martin Armstrong |

    “I reported how the US deficit reached the third-highest on record after surpassing $1.83 trillion. Instead of questioning why the deficit rose 8% in a single year, the government believes that the taxpayers should simply pay MORE into the failing system. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen declared that she is not concerned about the widening deficit. Why? The Internal Revenue Service will hunt down citizens to close the gap.

    Yellen said that IRS agents plan to collect $2 trillion in unpaid taxes, surpassing the measly deficit. I do believe some think that statements like this mean the government is going to hunt down major corporations and billionaires. That would not be ethical either, but records show that the main group audited last year was the middle class. This way of thinking is extremely dangerous. The US government is desperate for funds and they MUST shake down their citizens to recover what they can. It’s a canon event in the rise and fall of civilizations – soaring taxes are a guarantee when dealing with the eventually fall of a nation.”

    https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/world-news/taxes/yellen-says-taxpayers-can-cover-the-us-deficit/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=RSS

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    • #
      John in NZ

      I am starting to think the Democrat’s plan is for Harris to lose the election so Trump is in office when the economic consequences of the Inflation Reduction Act begin to bite.

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      • #
        Greg in NZ

        The old ‘fall guy’ trick eh… what else is on Nov 5th, oh yeah, Guy Fawkes – boom boom!

        Lots of Orange Warnings breaking-out here for this Labour Weekend (3-day public holiday): heavy rain, big winds, heavy snow, chaos on the roads and rivers… waiting on the Yellow Snow Warning from NIWA’s expert numpties ⚠️

        100

        • #
          el+gordo

          The high pressure has a kink, chilly winds coming your way.

          http://www.bom.gov.au/fwo/IDY65100.pdf

          01

          • #
            Greg in NZ

            Not me, I’m up north, as far away from the cold southerlies and snowy mountains as I can get, and still do a little part-time work.

            According to BOM-tastic, it’s warmer here than most of Aus, apart from Perth, Brisbane & Darwin: bring on that extra 3 degrees Count von Guterres is wailing & flailing about. According to MetService, this weekend’s predicted heavy snowfall is ‘unseasonal’ – except it happens every year. Maybe they need ANOTHER $20,000,000 super super super-computer. Amateurs.

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      • #
        OldOzzie

        ‘Word Salad City’: Harris Town Hall In Philly Goes As Bad As You’d Expect

        After it was all over, CNN’s leftist and conservative panelists united in giving Harris poor marks. Even Van Jones said “the word salad stuff gets on my nerves,” while Dana Bash sounded like a doctor delivering grave news about a patient,

        and Scott Jennings — far and away the most articulate conservative talking head on network TV — gave her a withering takedown, concluding, “If she were an animal, she’d be a duck-billed platitude”:

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        • #
          OldOzzie

          From the Comments

          This woman is a cackling, unqualified bonehead.

          The fact that tens of millions of people are champing at the bit to vote for her spells certain doom for America.

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          • #
            Steve of Cornubia

            As many others have said, those millions voting for Harris are doing it because they believe the Democrat media’s outrageous lies about Trump, NOT because Harris will make a good president. Then there are the welded-on Democrat supporters plus the immigrants. Then add those hundreds of thousands of deceased voters and …

            All hail President Harris!

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            • #
              GreatAuntJanet

              Jordan Peterson just profiled Donald Trump and his team of X Men, and concluded by a whole-hearted endorsement. It’s detailed, reasoned and quite joyful (!), but you need a spare hour to pay attention.


              <a href="On X, probably elsewhere too “>

              30

            • #
              Hanrahan

              I think the (D)s have overestimated the loyalty of new immigrants. They look to be classic “What have you done for me TODAY.” friends.

              It is the newcomers for the last presidential cycle who voted (D) [illegally] then who now resent the new illegals for THIS cycle competing with them for jobs and handouts.

              Solomon couldn’t solve this. Donald needs your thoughts and prayers if you are that way inclined.

              10

          • #
            OldOzzie

            Kamala Harris Sets New Personal Best for Worst Media Appearance Ever

            In reality, it was otherwise the worst television performance by a candidate for president in my lifetime.

            Every person in that auditorium – the CNN talent, the audience, the crew, every person in that room came out of that experience realizing Kamala Harris is out of her depth in a bathtub.

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            • #
              RickWill

              I stopped clicking on the videos. They are cruel and inhuman punishment.

              No matter the outcome of the election, no one will want to hear from Harris. It would destroy viewer ratings for her to be making regular appearances.

              Can you remember watching Harris before her 2024 campaign? Here are some that I think have been posted before:
              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3bFr97qfqY

              Tough to watch.

              30

            • #
              yarpos

              The people had to be dumb to attend that town hall. After listening to her for an hour, they left even dumber.

              It’s her special power.

              [The 999,999th comment. Check your email! – Jo]

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              • #
                Hanrahan

                If the (D)s had an open primary with all-comers welcome, could they have found a better candidate? There is no one likeable in the wings I know of. Seriously, could Hillary have gotten another go?

                10

            • #

              “Kamala Harris is out of her depth in a bathtub.”
              No wonder Sir Starmer is sending folk to the US to campaign for her – she makes him look, well, maybe not quite passable as a World Statesperson [TM], but at least sentient, if you stay awake after ‘My Dad was a Toolmaker …’

              Auto

              10

          • #
            OldOzzie

            Mel Gibson backs Trump for president, says Harris has ‘the IQ of a fence post’

            The ‘Braveheart’ star panned the Democratic nominee’s ‘miserable record’

            From the Comments

            – “Gibson backs Trump for president, says Harris has ‘the IQ of a fence post’”
            However, fence posts don’t cackle uncontrollably over absolutely nothing. They also at least remain silent and don’t babble mindlessly like a drunken lobotomy patient.

            – Meh, at least a fence post is smart enough to hold up the barb wire, just sticking up for fence post…

            – Fence post, cardboard box both are smarter, more useful, and better looking than the Kamel.

            – At least a fence post is useful.

            – On behalf of fence posts everywhere, shame on your slander of us.

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        • #
          MichaelB

          If she were an animal, she’d be a duck-billed platitude
          That’s just so perfect!

          90

        • #
          OldOzzie

          Back to the future

          The Post endorses Donald Trump for president — the clear choice for a better future

          By Post Editorial Board

          Voters carry a heavy responsibility in this election — one of the most consequential in the history of this great nation.

          The choice will have reverberations for decades, deciding which of two very different paths for the future Americans will take.

          We must choose the following:

          . A secure border and a sensible immigration system.
          . Safer cities and support for law and order.
          . A thriving, low-tax and low-regulation economy for all — fueled by an energy policy that supports, not penalizes, industry and households.
          . Common-sense policies that restore the power of parents to choose what is best for their children on school choice, gender surgery and trans athletes playing in female sports.
          . An America that’s respected on the world stage — feared by our enemies and trusted by our allies.

          Only one candidate can credibly claim to lead us there.

          Donald Trump.

          If history is any guide, the track records of the last two administrations provide a clearly comparable record.

          To borrow from Ronald Reagan’s famous “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?”: Voters should ask themselves if they were better off under Trump or Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

          His opponents focus on how Trump’s administration was marked by a relentless soap opera of high drama and chaos — much of which they fueled.

          And yes, many find him offensive — and we say fair enough: He can be ridiculously hyperbolic.

          But before COVID wreaked havoc across the globe, Trump’s first-term results were paychecks that grew markedly faster than inflation, the lowest unemployment in 50 years, a secure border and peace overseas.

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      • #
        Philip

        Trump will fix it. His tariffs will give a bump to the economy as will his pro business pro oil stance. And if he closes that Ukraine debacle the economy will bump

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  • #
    Skepticynic

    Chris Wray and Chris Krebs Lied to the American Public for 4 Years — They Knew Iranians Breached US Election System, Stole 100,000 Identities, and Then Posted Video Online of the Stolen Data Being Used to Create UOCAVA Ballots — And Hid This From American People!

    For four years, the FBI Director Chris Wray, DOJ Chief Bill Barr, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Chief Chris Krebs, and his agency the CISA hid this information from the American public.

    Krebs famously announced, “The 2020 election was the most secure in US history.”

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/10/chris-wray-chris-krebs-lied-american-public-4/?utm_source=newsletter%20utm_medium=email%20utm_campaign=daily

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    • #
      TdeF

      All the same players will do it again. The CIA/FBI letter for example claiming Hunter Biden’s Laptop was a Russian hoax. 17% of Americans say they would have voted for Trump without that letter. No consequences for the signatories.

      This time even the UK Labor Government has funded 100 Labor party operatives to travel to the US and interfere in election. Interference in an election is illegal. There will be consequences, not least for the UK/US relationship.

      And who knows how much skulduggery is underway with electronic voting machines, illegal vote harvesting, non American citizens voting and outright fake votes?

      What was most significant was the survey this year which revealed that about 70% of Democrats voters thought that cheating was justified. “Whatever it takes.” Only 25% of Republicans thought so. This is typical of the Labor and Green parties around the world. All part of Marx’s internationalization of communism. And obviously China, Venezuela, Iran, North Korea could not agree more.

      However you will find that despite public statements, eternally vilified Russia supports Donald Trump. Trump’s promise to instantly end the wars in the Levant and Ukraine mean a great deal to everyone in both conflicts. It is remarkable that no one else wants to end these very profitable wars. And certainly not the UN. They say the real battle is Climate Change.

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      • #
        jelly34

        You have to wonder about the”Intelligence”of a DemocRAT and Leftard.

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      • #
        el+gordo

        Democracy seems to be working, there is a sharp difference in foreign policy.

        ‘Trump’s criticism of the scale of US military assistance for Ukraine, his apparent reluctance to blame Putin for Russia’s full-scale invasion and, during the presidential debate, his refusal to say whether he wants Ukraine to win the war.

        ‘By contrast, Kamala Harris has argued that support for Ukraine is in America’s “strategic interest” and she has referred to Putin as “a murderous dictator”. (BBC)

        18

        • #
          Philip

          Yep. Trump for peace. Kamala for war.

          50

        • #
          KP

          “Democracy seems to be working,”

          Yes, that’s why I keep telling people its a complete waste of time and human energy! They all bitch about the results of the democratic process, but blame everything except democracy itself.

          The pro-democracy propaganda has been the success of the world! ..well. after global warming … maybe Covid vaccines too..

          11

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  • #
    another ian

    FWIW –

    #14.1.1 yesterday

    “HERE WE GO: The Guardian Drops Hit Piece Alleging Trump Groped Model (Who Became an Activist For Obama) at Trump Tower 31 Years Ago (VIDEO)”

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/10/here-we-go-guardian-drops-hit-piece-alleging/

    That highly reputable source again”

    Today

    “Guardian Hit Piece Alleging Trump Groped Model Rapidly Debunked on Social Media”

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/10/guardian-hit-piece-alleging-trump-groped-model-rapidly/

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    • #
      Forrest Gardener

      Alternative headline: yet another deranged female makes false allegation in the hope of personal gain.

      The good news is that these stunts are helping some to see them for what they are.

      Now to witness the at least attempted steal play out in plain sight.

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  • #
    David Maddison

    Latest video from Dr John Campbell discussing a recent paper about the benefits of correcting Vitamin D deficiency.

    John Campbell speaks: https://youtu.be/ENuGXJB06o0

    Of course, none of this is news to members of the Thinking Community. We’ve known about this pretty well since the start of the Plandemic. Why protect vitamin D deficient people (a very common condition) with a 3c pill when you can falsely claim to protect them with a multi-hundred dollar course of (in Australia) compulsory “vaccinations”?

    You won’t hear this discussed by the Lamestream Media, health “authorities”, the Left, Big Government or Big Pharma because keeping the population in a permanent state of unnecessary sickness and dependent on extremely expensive and often useless or poorly effective drugs is a way to control and enslave the population.

    In my submission against Australian Government (Uniparty, the legislation has its origins with the fake conservative Liberals) censorship legislation I documented how the Australian Government is a major purveyor of misinformation. In the following link they lied about Vitamin supplemention:

    DISINFORMATION #4 Vitamin D and Covid-19 – Government dis- or misinformation

    Another example of Australian Government dis- or misinformation is about the association of Vitamin D and Covid-19. At the following Government link it is stated that vitamin pills cannot protect you from the coronovirus.

    https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/blog/can-you-boost-your-immune-system-against-the-coronavirus-covid-19
    Do vitamin pills protect you from the coronavirus? No.

    This is simply not true for the very large numbers of Australians, especially those in nursing homes who are Vitamin D insufficient or deficient. It has been conclusively proven that appropriate Vitamin D supplementation in such people does have a protective effect against coronavirus. See Pharmaceuticals (Basel). 2023 Jan; 16(1): 130 “Protective Effect of Vitamin D Supplementation on COVID-19-Related Intensive Care Hospitalization and Mortality: Definitive Evidence from Meta-Analysis and Trial Sequential Analysis” “In conclusion, the positive results highlighted again and now validated by TSAs [Trial Sequential Analysis] suggest that an indisputable association between vitamin D supplementation and the protective effect on ICU [Intensive Care Unit] admission can be considered definitive evidence.”

    How many Australians died unnecessarily because the Australian Government said that Vitamin D could not protect against coronavirus disease? A measure as simple as mailing a bottle of Vitamin D with instructions to every household in Australia could have saved countless lives (apart from other measures).

    Handy hint: it takes weeks to correct a Vitamin D deficiency with traditional pills but you can correct a deficiency much more quickly with calcifediol pills (but this is NOT medical advice, please consult your Big Pharma “educated” medical doctor as your sole source of advice). As far as I know calcifediol does not require a prescription in Australia, probably because the TGA thinks it’s useless and it won’t affect Big Pharma pharmaceutical sales of patented but useless products.

    My anti-censorship submission:

    This is my first submission about the censorship bill.

    https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/acma2023-31735-david-s-maddison.pdf

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    • #
      GreatAuntJanet

      Or – unless it is banned by your doctor – go outside with as few clothes on as possible for about 15 minutes in the middle portion of the day. That immediately tops up your circulating VitD.

      60

      • #
        Hanrahan

        Good practical advice is hard to find. I recall reading that the strength of the UV is indirectly proportional to the length of your shadow. But standing upright does not expose much skin to the UV, hence my brown feet.

        If you think about it that’s true, adjusts for both time of day and Lat.

        Having spent my boyhood getting sunburnt it is best I give my back a break now but I have also read that UV can penetrate clothing so I like to wear thin cotton shirts. I have never read about this but I also believe that there is scattered/reflected UV so simply being outdoors in warm weather is better than nothing.

        00

        • #

          “simply being outdoors in warm weather is better than nothing.”
          Yes.
          Even having the Sun on your face and hands will help.
          Fore-arms, perhaps part of the feet – a bit more help.

          Auto

          10

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  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    “Wow…. just… wow…”

    Green Party Logic and Economics!

    “How do we pay for it”

    “Election 2024: Saskatchewan Green Party wants to transition away from fossil fuels, but have fossil fuels pay for their green agenda

    You can’t make this stuff up.”

    https://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2024/10/24/wow-just-wow/

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  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    “Stellantis Will Use Solid State Battery Tech in the New 2027 Dodge Charger Daytona”

    https://www.motortrend.com/news/2027-dodge-charger-daytona-ev-solid-state-battery-facotrial/

    10

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    “BRICS adds 13 partners as UN chief offers surprise praise at Russian summit”

    https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/world/3201518/brics-summit-13-partners-un-guterres-praise/

    10

    • #
      KP

      Lol! Love it!! Now you know the UN is panicking about having some competition!!

      Guterres will be trying to promote the UN as being ‘all anyone needs’ in the world and while BRICS is a great idea they will need the UN for ..something or other… He’s the priest seeing half his congregation joining the church on the other side of the road.

      Couldn’t happen to a more deserving guy!

      10

  • #
    Penguinite

    We shouldn’t laugh and jeer because our Federal Governments are just as guilty!
    Climate Change/wind turbines/solar panels/CO2/Hydrogen/Snowie 2.0/cash for clunkers/pink batts etc etc. And don’t let local councils off the hook they are just multipliers of our financial tragedy. We could and should be be flush with the best free medical services, local transport and dare I say sporting facilities in the entire world. If only we had responsible politicians that cared about us instead of them selves!

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    • #
      Joe

      For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. Timothy 6:10

      Modern society: No money no life.

      All solutions to this problem require the elimination of money.

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  • #
    John Connor II

    Injecting Diamonds Into The Sky Could Cool The Planet, Study Says

    A team of researchers, led by climate scientist Sandro Vattioni from ETH Zurich in Switzerland, have done the math on which materials would be most suitable for a stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) method of global cooling, finding a few hundred trillion dollars’ worth of diamond nanoparticles ought to do the trick.

    Of all the options, sulfur dioxide (SO2) gas has received a significant share of attention, largely because its dominant presence in a long history of volcanic emissions has provided researchers with plenty of natural experiments.

    While dumping tens of millions of tonnes of the gas into the atmosphere would more than likely cut a couple of degrees from average global temperatures, we may not like the side effects. Ozone depletion, stratospheric warming, and a return of acid rain are just a few of the potential consequences we’d need to consider.

    Given a choice between two different kinds of titanium dioxide, alumina, calcite, diamond, silicon carbide, and sulfur dioxide, you couldn’t beat injecting 5 million tons of 150 nanometer-wide bits of bling into the sky to achieve sufficient cooling.

    https://www.sciencealert.com/injecting-diamonds-into-the-sky-could-cool-the-planet-study-says

    As the saying goes, “the mother of stupid is always pregnant”.

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  • #
    John Connor II

    Ireland Passes Hate Crime Legislation with Woke Redefinition of Gender

    The Irish parliament passed hate crime legislation on Wednesday evening, which includes within it a redefinition of gender based on transgender ideology.

    Ireland’s Criminal Justice Bill passed the Dáil Éireann legislature in Dublin on Tuesday by 78 votes to 52, meaning it can now be signed into law, public broadcaster RTE reports.

    The bill will mean that for the first time in Irish history, there will be increased prison sentences for crimes which were found to have involved an element of hatred.

    Under the law, a hate crime element is defined as having been motivated by so-called “protected characteristics” such as race, colour, nationality, religion, national or ethnic origin, descent, gender, sexual characteristics, sexual orientation, or disability.

    The bill defined gender as: “The gender of a person or the gender which a person expresses as the person’s preferred gender or with which the person identifies and includes transgender and a gender other than those of male and female.”

    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2024/10/24/ireland-passes-hate-crime-legislation-with-redefinition-of-gender/

    That’s a Kamala-esque definition.

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  • #
    another ian

    Conniptions in Canberra?

    “Trump Hints at Eliminating Federal Income Tax—Explains How He’d Replace The Tax Revenue”

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/10/trump-hints-eliminating-federal-income-tax-explains-how/

    20

    • #
      Hanrahan

      I heard him say that and it sounded more a thought bubble than a promise but there is no doubt he leans that way.

      It will be interesting to see how far he can take it.

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  • #

    Okay, I’m not sleeping all that well, and I sort of suspect it’s age related. I’m spending eight, nine hours in bed, and I read for forty minutes or so before turning off the light. I’ll sleep in brackets of say an hour to ninety minutes and wake up and then find it hard to get back to sleep. I know I’m having REM sleep, and I seem to wake up right at the end of that, as is pretty usual.

    I was waking up stiff and sore each morning, sometimes tossing and turning most of the night.

    I spent two weeks recently in Canberra, sleeping on a fold out ‘divan’, with a 2 inch memory foam topper, and I slept okay, even in the cold of that place. When I came home, ahhhhh! was expected when I got back into my own bed, only to sleep poorly, and wake stiff and sore.

    So, (as you do) I hit the search engine wondering how long I should keep a mattress, only to find the recommendation was eight to ten years, and this was a reasonably good one when I got it 16 years ago.

    So, I got a new mattress, a really good one this time, and the difference was just amazing really. I didn’t think there would be such a difference.

    No stiffness nor soreness when I roll over during the night, I wake up with no pain etc, but I’m still sleeping in fits and starts.

    I don’t do coffee after 2PM, just one a day, and Earl Grey for Brekky and the evening meal, and nothing after 6PM. I’ll have one perhaps two, light beers from ‘yardarm’ till 6PM, and no snacks before sleep time.

    So, after all that, the question here is this ….. can I perhaps try taking Melatonin, and is it safe.

    Any advice on this would be appreciated, so thanks in advance.

    Tony.

    (Technically, ‘yardarm’ is 11AM, but we in the RAAF used that as slang terminology meaning 4PM.)

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    • #
      Greenas

      According to the sleep experts the bed is for sleeping or , well you know what but not for reading or watching TV .
      Reading a book before bed in the lounge should be a good way to wind down , I’ve been taking sleeping pills for 16 years although not primarily for the first use of the tablet and can say with some experience they don’t help after a while .
      Basically I wait till I’m tired then go to bed but have chronic pain issues which are made worse when lying down .

      20

      • #

        Huh! The reading in bed before turning off the bedside light and falling asleep. I never read like that before. Just got into bed, and went to sleep.

        In 1997, and now back at Forest Hill (Wagga Wagga) with the RAAF and teaching the electrical trade to new people in the RAAF.

        The (required) six Monthly Dental Checkup. I got the Senior Dental Officer, a Squadron Leader, an older guy, long in the job.

        He had the initial check look in my mouth and as he was setting up for the clean, he just casually said ….. “I see you grind your teeth in your sleep.”

        Man, how the hell would he know that just by looking. I had the (expected) astonished look on my face, as he smiled and said ….. “you know, there is a cure for that. Just read for half an hour before you fall off asleep.”

        (a) How would he know I did it in the first place, and (b) How the hell could that be the remedy? and (c) how did he know that remedy would work?

        So, that same night, I asked Bob about it, and she said ….. not grind them in your sleep, more like clack them together, and sometimes it even wakes me up. I even remember a couple of times she actually elbowed me during the night and said stop doing that.

        So, I immediately started reading like he mentioned.

        A month or so later, she told me I had stopped the clacking teeth in the night thing.

        From that day forwards, I have read at night before sleeping. Psychosomatic – Huh! Who knows, but it stopped it dead. Bob never mentioned it in the 16 years we had already been married, because she thought it was just something I did. But it stopped from that time.

        I’m so glad that he brought it up, as it started up my profound love of reading all over again, only this time, more than ever. One of my life’s guilty pleasures.

        Tony.

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        • #
          Greenas

          Better reading before bed than consuming a eh hem – quantity of booze and the medication I’m on before bed .
          Mind you the right combo does get me asleep fairly quick , seriously though I’ve actually hit on writing a book in my mind when I go to bed , the focus and distraction seems to work for me as weird as it sounds .

          20

        • #
          Graeme4

          Lucky you stopped. My brother has ground all his teeth down to nothing, and now is undergoing a lot of painful and expensive dental work to cap or replace all his teeth.

          30

      • #
        another ian

        FWIW – LEDs

        “Blue Light: What It Is and How It Affects Sleep”

        https://www.sleepfoundation.org/bedroom-environment/blue-light

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        • #

          Huh!

          Same time as I bought the new mattress, I got a new clock radio as well. The old one, a Phillips (actually useless as a radio, on AM and FM) had red (LED) numbers which could dim, but still glow red during the night.

          The new one, a Panasonic, (and the FM radio actually works, and I only ever used the radio function for the ABC News at the top of the hour) has a white (almost grey white really) LED display which has two dimmable settings and on the lowest light setting, you can hardly see it at all, even after night vision ‘kicks in’.

          It just seems less ‘glarey’ really.

          And the pillow top mattress is just divine really. I had no idea the difference a mattress would make.

          Tony.

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        • #
          Hanrahan

          I spend too much time on the ‘puter at night so I set the monitor to night shift. That takes the bright white out.

          On a Mac: system settings; displays.

          20

    • #
      John Connor II

      I’ve never slept solidly unless I’m exhausted at the end of a day.
      I used to get maybe 3 hours sleep a night, turning more than a rotisserie chicken but it never impacted on life.
      Maybe the fowl/owl effect or the 9-5 routine?
      ie some people are “owls” and function best at night and sleep during the day.
      Now that I no longer have to follow the 9-5 craziness my sleep cycle is now different, sleeping when I would have been working, and that’s what my body has always wanted but never got, and indeed that’s the case with a lot of people forced into a circadian rhythm breaking 9-5 routine. Aahhh, coffee! 😉
      Everyone’s different so you need to find your best cycle.
      Drugs, Melatonin – no. You’ll just become dependant and they’ll become less effective with time as is always the way.
      Maybe some evening exercise and hot milk…

      30

    • #
      Vicki

      Tony, I guess it is a lot to do with age. I can work really hard on the farm & still have trouble with uneven sleep patterns.

      It may be due to the placebo effect – but I do find a glass of hot milk just before bed often does the trick. If I wake up during the night I will sometimes take a commercial anti-inflammatory and that also works. Husband often has a bout of hip bursitis in the the night – & anti-inflammatory also, of course, is the answer.

      We do not rely on any of these things regularly – so that when required, they usually work. BTW coffee or tea before bed doesn’t seem to have any related effect! Go figure.

      40

    • #
      GreatAuntJanet

      I found the advice in the Hunter-Gatherers’ Guide by Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying useful to know for similar experiences I was having. Particularly about the way our brains are wired to adjust to dimming light levels after dark, perhaps a wood fire’s yellow/red light low down on the ground for a little while before sleeping. Then the bright blue light of morning high up wakes us fully.

      Incandescent bulbs used to provide that yellow light but now the modern lighting is all blue or bright white – same as phone, tablet, tv screens.

      Also, some of Greenas’s “you know what” tends to aid deep sleep, when we can gird our loins, so to speak!

      Good luck, sleep well.

      50

    • #

      And thank you all for the info, all good stuff, and that’s the joy of Joanne’s site here. So many (dare I even say it) well worthwhile opinions from such a wide range of people, and on so many different and wide ranging subjects.

      Tony.

      30

    • #
      Graeme4

      I seem to have found a workable solution as I regularly sleep more than seven hours a night. First a warm shower, followed by a half hour reading with a soft incandescent warm light, half a sleeping tablet and setup the bed for a cool sleep, never warm. And deliberately STOP thinking about things – blank the mind. Yes I know, easier said than done, but it is possible. Most certainly keep the room temperature low – never over 21 degrees.
      And perhaps most important, careful selection of bed and pillow.

      20

      • #
        Honk R Smith

        A fairly easy, with a little practice, way to turn down the thinking mind, is to focus on the peripheral field of vision.
        Eyes open or closed, no matter.
        If you see a leaf fluttering toward your nose, you don’t react because your central predator vision identifies the object.
        If you see the leaf in your peripheral, you flinch because it is connected to the non-verbal brain parts.
        A few seconds can break the mental loop.

        Peripheral vision focus is also good for situational awareness.
        Central vision looks for pre-judged threats, peripheral can function vision as a blank observation state.
        For example, if you get out of your car in a potentially dangerous area, take just a moment and observe your surroundings with peripheral focus.

        So peripheral vision with relaxed complete exhalation.

        You’re welcome – HonkRsan.
        No really, I’m an actual professional martial arts Master.
        🙂

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    • #

      Tony,
      FWIW, my experience is cut out the [regular] alcohol. I now sleep pretty quickly and – sometimes – go through the night, having cut out alcohol except once every few days [week, maybe fortnight].

      But, this works for ME – it may not for you.

      I don’t drink coffee after about 1400 [varied].
      I don’tread in bed, now – used to in my teens, twenties and thirties.

      I have a good mattress, and I try to be warm [Sarf Lunnon – coming through autumn, so a need].
      Mentally, I seek a ‘safe place’ when sleeping – usually a tent, sheltered, with a tarpaulin covering and sheltering.
      Works, usually, for me.

      I hope some of the comments here help!

      Auto

      00

  • #
    Dave in the States

    Obama’s third term has been an unmitigated disaster. One of the worst things to ever happen to America since, well, his first and second terms.

    120

  • #
    John Connor II

    The house of the rising sun, “AI” edition

    https://va.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_slhx3wMDZp1y3dxqw.mp4

    40

  • #
    John Connor II

    When buying a new car, learn how to drive it first

    https://va.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_rjwpzmZbke1w5pr9j.mp4

    10

  • #
    OldOzzie

    Inflation brought to Australia By Jim Chalmers Labor Treasurer & Albolseezy Labor PM

    B’Heck and I thought my House & Contents Insurance renewal was expensive

    My Increases 2022 – 34.1%, 2023 29.1%, 2024 34.1% – as House Insured $2.1 Million unable to get Quotes – so after negotiation dropped $300 and got it down to Premium $4,315.00 (Big Contents Cover) – will move CTP to insurer to get 15% extra discount next year

    Sister-in-law just on the phone re new insurance renewal for their House in Mackay (not in flood zone) – increase by $3,500.00 to $6,800.00 for $770,000 replacement – $900 Excess

    So much for 3.4% Inflation – California Dreaming!

    [Congratulations, OldOzzie, this is comment 1,000,001. Not that that’s much help with the insurance bill. Sorry. – Jo]

    [Congratulations OldOzzie.]AD

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    • #
      Hanrahan

      I guess you need some FU money and a casual attitude but I let my insurances slip a few years ago.

      If the kids are concerned about inheriting the house they can pay the insurance. They haven’t made the offer.

      As for contents I have a very old TV and no home theatre. They wouldn’t be able to pick or sell the good paintings and my car fob and wallet stay in my jeans pocket in a spare room with the security lock snibbed.

      20

    • #
      John Connor II

      1,000,001?
      1st prize – a night out with leaf.
      2nd prize – 2 nights out with leaf.
      😆😆😆

      20

  • #
    OldOzzie

    ‘VW is screwed and all other western ­carmakers are too’

    The mad rush towards an EV world has left the venerable German brand in dire trouble.

    the job I wouldn’t want most of all right now is running Volkswagen. Because everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. And there doesn’t seem to be any simple way of making everything better again.

    The problem began when every politician in Europe decided that climate change would be halted only if the middle classes could be persuaded to drive electric cars. So they all announced that from 2030 it would be illegal to sell cars with petrol or diesel engines. And to get the ball rolling, Nigel and Annabel and all the other early adopters would be given generous government subsidies.

    Understandably VW decided that to capitalise on this seismic shift in how we all move about, it should invest all its money in a new range of electric cars.

    Which came on to the market at pretty much the same time Nigel and ­Annabel realised that electric cars are not terribly convenient because it takes hours to charge them up and there aren’t enough places where this can be done. And to make ­matters worse, various governments decided that, actually, the money set aside to help Nigel and Annabel get the ball rolling would be better spent on hard-working families in the community.

    So VW ended up with a range of new electric cars that were very ­expensive, and that no one really wanted anyway. And there was ­another problem, too. China. For a million obvious reasons, electric cars can be made in China for a lot less than they can in Europe.
    [SNIP]

    70

  • #
    el+gordo

    This will have the tongues wagging.

    ‘More debris has been detected from the Intelsat 33e communications satellite that disintegrated over the Indian Ocean, threatening hundreds of satellites in geostationary orbit, including those operated by China.

    ‘The 6,600kg (14,600lb) satellite – built by Boeing for Virginia-based Intelsat to provide internet and phone services across Europe, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region – broke apart at around noon Beijing time on Saturday, according to the US Space Force.’ (SCMP)

    41

    • #
      KP

      It was the Roooshins!!! Just wait, they will get blamed..

      The first hit of Space Wars, now the fun of disintergrating an old satellite of your own so the debris hits a new satellite of someone you don’t like. Maybe just blowing up someone’s satellite knowing the media can never see it happen.

      This is why we needed a Space Force with Space Marines !

      10

  • #
    el+gordo

    Gender preferences.

    ‘According to a USA Today/Suffolk University poll, Trump is besting Kamala Harris among men by 53% to 37%, while the Democratic candidate is winning among women 53% to 36%.’ (Guardian)

    02

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW – another one

    “NextEra “Evaluating” Restart Of Iowa’s Only Nuclear Plant As ‘Next AI Trade’ Gains Steam”

    https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/nextera-evaluating-restart-iowas-only-nuclear-plant-next-ai-trade-gains-steam

    10

  • #
    Steve of Cornubia

    I spend a lot of my online time looking for something – anything – that might help the love of my life fight her ovarian cancer. She’s reluctant to do anything that her specialist hasn’t sanctioned but, since her chemo and surgery, and with no other treatments or advice offered, she’s slowly coming around to self help options.

    I have her on 5000iu of vit. D and 100 of K2, plus a really healthy diet that still permits yummy stuff. However, her cancer marker (CA125) is slowly rising, stressing us out to the max.

    I was gobsmacked to see a Dr. Campbell video a few days ago promoting the use of Ivermectin – of all things – to supress cancers, including OC. I immediately dived in and found quite a few supporting research papers. Needless to say, I suggested she stary taking it on the basis that, while there might be only a tiny chance of success, there are almost no downsides, Ivermectin being a proven safe medication.

    Thankfully, she has agreed to give it a go. I can find little info so far though on dosage. The FLCCC and a couple of commenters to the Campbell video led me to settle on 12mg daily, a low dose but to be taken indefinitely. She started three days ago, using my own ‘Covid’ stash. I have ordered more.

    If anyof Jo’s science and medical sleuths can assist me in determining the appropriate dose, I would be forever grateful.

    70

    • #
      David of Cooyal in Oz

      G’day Steve,
      Have her recent blood tests included vitamin D and zinc? Get numbers and units for the D.
      I reduced my intake a few months back, from 10,000 IU per day to 8,000 IU per day as I’d exceeded my target. But have hd no adverse reactions to prompt the reduction.
      I also take a zinc tablet each day as I get very little (zero?) in my normal food, and zinc is the element which stops a(all?) protein virus from replicating within cells.
      On your main question I’ve not seen anything official (which is no surprise) but this video may be helpful:
      https://rumble.com/v22ubzw-dr-jackie-stone-zimbabwe-interview.html
      It’s the late Jackie Stone in 2021.
      32 mins
      Best wishes
      Dave B

      30

      • #
        David of Cooyal in Oz

        I now detect two errors in my above comment (#27.1).
        The first a simple miskeying “hd” should be “had”.
        The second, more serious, the word “protein” should not be in “…which stops a(all?) protein virus from…”..

        And I thought I’d checked it before posting!!

        00

    • #
    • #
      Lucky

      Dr Jackie Stone of Zimbabwe prescribed ivermectin to patients with the wuhu. They all recovered, but, the recovery was very fast!
      The explanation was a translation or hearing or understanding issue – the amount prescribed for a period (2 weeks?) was taken all at once.
      The prescribed daily dose was not stated, my guess is 12mg. This anecdote supports other evidence that ivemectin has few if any side-effects and is quite safe.

      This story says nothing about cancer but yes there is other evidence of effectiveness. The competition is expensive treatments and medications.

      See #27.1 David of Cooyal in Oz for ref.

      (What about Dr Stone? Suicide, after being de-registered .. )

      40

    • #
      Ross

      Steve, you need to know that the research of re-purposed drugs in the treatment of cancer has been going on for at least 10 years. This is not some wild thought brought up by some social media commentators. Delve deeper , expand your Google search “ ivermectin ovarian cancer”. etc, and you will come across research papers and blogs. You will also come across fenbendazole/mebendazole, because they also have reported efficacy vs cancers of all sorts. William Makis is an oncologist from Canada. Look him up as he has published general recommendations regarding IVM & F/M. One thing is sure, your wife’s oncologist will not have any knowledge of these alternate treatments.

      40

    • #
      markx

      Hi Steve

      Ivermectin is an efficient and inexpensive drug usually applied to treat parasitic infestations. It has been approved by the FDA for animal and human use and is available worldwide. It has a wide margin of safety with an LD50 of 30 mg/kg in mice and is used in humans as an antiparasitic treatment at a dose of 150–200 µg/kg

      From:
      https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-86679-0

      00

    • #
      markx

      My collection of info links:

      Ivermectin’s anticancer effects have been demonstrated in various cancer types, including:

      . Breast cancer
      . Colorectal cancer
      . Ovarian cancer
      . Glioma
      . Melanoma
      . Nasopharyngeal carcinoma
      . Prostate cancer
      . Lung cancer
      . Leukemia
      . Renal cell carcinoma

      Future Directions

      While ivermectin’s potential as an anticancer drug is promising, further research is needed to fully understand its mechanisms and to explore its efficacy in clinical trials. Additionally, the development of ivermectin derivatives with improved anticancer properties and reduced toxicity may enhance its therapeutic potential.

      Context

      http://www.sciencedirect.com
      Ivermectin, a potential anticancer drug derived from an antiparasitic drug – ScienceDirect

      http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
      Ivermectin, a potential anticancer drug derived from an antiparasitic drug – PMC

      http://www.researchgate.net
      Ivermectin, a potential anticancer drug derived from an antiparasitic drug

      20

  • #
    Ireneusz Palmowski

    Temperature anomalies to the 1981-2010 average have already fallen below -0.5 C in all Nino regions.
    https://i.ibb.co/JHP1n6T/nino4.png

    00

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW – Worth a read – (IMO)

    “How to Accurately Predict What the Democrats Do Next (85.7% of the Time)”

    https://pjmedia.com/scott-pinsker/2024/10/24/the-secret-to-prophecy-how-to-accurately-predict-what-the-democrats-do-next-n4933621

    How about the ALP and the Qld election?

    20

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    “THE UNIVERSITIES ARE KILLING THEMSELVES ALREADY. AT THIS POINT SHUTTING DOWN THE FEDERAL LOAN PROGRAM IS A MINIMUM INJURY SOLUTION: HUH? University President Says ‘We Must No Longer Be Neutral,’ Calls Trump ‘Threat to Higher Education’.

    Most universities at this point are a threat to all education, lower, middle, self. What they’re doing, by and large, particularly universities run by people like this, is not education. Teaching that still goes on is despite this type of administration.”

    https://instapundit.com/679853/#disqus_thread

    40

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    Honk R Smith

    A little more than a week until Election Month here in the US.
    (See what I did there … we’ll be lucky if the we settle on a result before Christmas.)
    Funny, when we counted by hand, we got results overnight.
    Now with the Great Computer, we won’t know for weeks.

    It will be Harris*.
    Which means the US will be run by the same obscure consortium that runs it now and has for at least the last four years.

    *It’s the mail in and electronic voting, all put in place by Democrat states under cover of Plandemic.
    So it is impossible for a Republican to win a Democrat swing state … except by impossibly overwhelming numbers.

    The last time I voted in my Blue as Blue state, the machine changed one of my votes right in front of me.
    I called the election official over.
    He just laughed and said “they do that that sometimes”, fixed it and walked away.

    90

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    “How EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanisms Expose FALSE Cheap Green Energy Claims”

    “If renewables truly were delivering cheap energy to the EU, the EU would not need a border tax to prevent cheap imports from undercutting and wrecking EU based manufacturing. If renewable energy had any capacity to deliver cheap energy, renewable powered manufacturing hubs would be springing up across the EU, flooding the world with low cost energy intensive goods which even China would be unable to undercut.

    Any day now, right? Do I need a /sarc tag?”

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/10/24/how-eu-carbon-border-adjustment-mechanisms-expose-false-cheap-green-energy-claims/

    00

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