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
A man who had been a farmer, and also a miner, and who had been ill-used by his landlords, dug a cave for himself by the seaside, at Marsdon Rocks, between Shields and Sunderland, about the year 1780, and the singularity of such a habitation, exciting the curiosity of many to pay him a visit; our author was one of that number. Exulting in the idea of a human being, who had bravely emancipated himself from the iron fangs of aristocracy, to live free from impost, he wrote extempore with chaulk above the fire place of this free man, the following lines:
Ye landlords vile, whose man’s peace mar,
Come levy rents here if you can;
Your stewards and lawyers I defy,
And live with all the RIGHTS OF MAN
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Spence – a ‘radical’ of that time believed in universal suffrage, ‘social guarantee’ extended to provide income for those unable to work; The ‘rights of infants’ [children] to be free from abuse and poverty. – what a madman!
230
How propaganda works. China going great guns, but at what cost?
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2025/01/sowing-doubt-about-china-but-at-what-cost.html#more
40
Not on the list:
– China biolabs – but at what blah
– China’s severe Covid lockdowns – but blah blah
But does feel like subliminal programming – China = Cost
21
In the end, the Chinese people will pay the cost of preserving power in communist hands. What a pity Deng Xiaoping didn’t introduce democracy in his reforms. Mind you, in the west, democracy seems only to be delaying communist rule – but the delay has lasted a few hundred years now and a number of leaders are working hard to extend that.
180
” What a pity Deng Xiaoping didn’t introduce democracy in his reforms. ”
Lol! Western democracy is no shining example of the usefulness of the system! What have we got?? Corrupt politicians, the world’s richest billionaires and the people living their lives in debt! All it has shown is the stupidity of the average voter and the countries being run by those in power behind the scenes. Our propaganda and censorship levels are right there with any dictatorship!
Democracy would do nothing for them, changing the leader has never changed anything.
150
The problem is when politicians discover that they can give “free stuff” to buy votes. At that point the collapse of that society is inevitable.
There needs to be constitutional limits on what Government can spend on which should be restricted to law and order, defence, enforcement of contracts and very little else.
300
Spot On! Exactly why Australia is declining,
140
Total Australian Government Debt, Federal, State and Local.
http://australiandebtclock.com.au/
Over $2 trillion dollars.
$2,000,000,000,000.
And going up at $6,000 per second, last time I checked.
Enjoy!
And it’s not really Government Debt as most of the Sheeple think. This is taxpayer’s money that has to be repaid. And no, the Government can’t just print more money. It doesn’t work like that.
170
When was the last time you heard a Uniparty politician complain about the level of Government debt?
120
If you need a visualisation of $1T:
https://www.labnol.org/internet/visualize-numbers-how-big-is-trillion-dollars/7814/
How much does our clown PM get? 😎
70
Yes John it is an impossibly big number for us mortals to get our head around, another useful measurement is to ask “how long is one trillion seconds expressed in years”. The answer, 31,688 years!!
00
Since most everybody travels, I can best relate to the enormity of a Trillion dollars as follows. Take that stack of $1,000 bills and stand them end to end to equal that trillion and one would need to travel 67 miles to reach the end.
00
$1T / 25M
=$40,000 for every man woman and child in Oz. It doesn’t sound much until you realise that the young and the very old don’t add much income, so their share has to be carried by others. Then subtract those unable to work and those unwilling to work.
In other words, you could drop 35 – 40% of the population.
Meaning that the debt per worker is more like $61,500.
Does anyone think this debt is going to be repaid anytime soon?
It’s time to stop the government from spending on anything but essentials. That also means culling a large part of the PS employment.
120
Which is why the Public Servants will never suggest that to Politicians.
70
Back in 1990, Australia’s debt to GDP ratio was 12%, climbing to 70% in 2022 and back down to around 50% now.
The lowest is Switzerland at around 18%.
20
The Government is importing lots of unproductive people, including terrorists and other parasites, and that artificially boosts the GDP but decreases overall wealth which is why our standard of living is dropping.
170
Russia Government debt accounted for 14.6 % of the country’s Nominal GDP in Mar 2024, compared with the ratio of 14.9 % in the previous quarter.
Russia government debt to GDP ratio data is updated quarterly, available from Dec 2011 to Mar 2024.
The data reached an all-time high of 17.8 % in Mar 2021 and a record low of 8.5 % in Mar 2012.
And this is with there war expenses. The US is currently at about 123 percent
10
They can print money, they did it in 2020 and 2021 … and since that is the easiest way out, I’m sure they will do it again.
People might be disappointed when their dollars don’t buy much anymore, but government will blame the supermarkets and enough people believe that to provide cover. Sad, but there you go.
Before COVID: $180 billion
Peak (Feb 2022): $647 billion
Current: $421 billion
https://tradingeconomics.com/australia/central-bank-balance-sheet
There’s where your inflation comes from … but throwing Brad Banducci under the bus in a special public ceremony makes a better public ceremony.
80
NSW Train drivers receiving a 30%++ pay increase over the next three years. The starting wage is now $17000 pa rising to $250k over the pay period. This economic lunacy will race through the Unionised industries then private by which time it will be time for Unions to renegotiate the next phase and next State election. Coffee will be $10/cup with purveyors of caffeine diminishing like the out going tide at Bondi
100
David,
Another one : Hard times makes strong men , strong men create good times, good times make weak men and weak men create hard times. The speculation I have seen makes the cycle about 70 years . The current madness is about on target….
40
Note that 70 years = 1 lifetime.
20
‘Our propaganda and censorship levels are right there with any dictatorship.’
We are not there yet.
Over the next five years China and Russia will adopt free speech and democracy, the pleasure you already enjoy.
04
I agree with all the replies. Now try making the same comments in cummunist China (or communist anywhere). Yes demcracy is a cr*ppy system, but as Churchill hinted, check out the other systems first. I’ll stick with democracy, thanks, and know that it’s still possible to speak out and vote out. The list of democratic leaders is growing: Donald Trump, Georgia Meloni, Javier Milei, and a few more knocking on the door or already in. All is not yet lost.
140
Those who remember von Daniken and his theories on ancient civilisations will get a sense of deja vu on reading this
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-14045481/Shock-new-theory-Easter-Island-netflix-Ancient-Apocalypse.html
60
Unlike Erich von Däniken, Graham Hancock does not believe in ancient extraterrestrial visitation.
91
But does Graham Hancock, perhaps, have a book to sell?
Auto
60
Auto,
What do you think of the evidence? The science for a lot of his claims is compelling .
30
I agree with him. Ice age civilisations living at the oceans edge drowned by the end of the ice age. Evidence now under 12,000 years of siltation. Probably explains everything. Noah’s flood among other things. Angels in the bible aka an airforce. Aliens may be prediluvian civilisations. They’re certainly not from other planets.
30
Indeed yes. In much of the world.
Not least Doggerland, in (now) the North Sea.
Not sure about isolated oceanic islands, of volcanic origin or otherwise.
Havent read Hancock’s book (or seen his film, ir his …), but if his only evidence is speculation that breadfruit IIRC arrived 9000 years earlier than there is evidence for[IIRC, that was it in the article I saw] it may be hard for him to prove his case.
But publicity may help find other lines of evidence.
Auto
00
I’m not so certain that ancient civilizations were visited by extra terrestrials. There is some evidence of a 6,000 year disaster cycle. The last global disaster was about 6,000 years ago. With the current weakening of the Earth’s magnetic field and the acceleration of the magnetic pole movement, it looks like we could very well beheaded for the next one at some point in the not too distant future – in geological time scales. These disaster events would have decimated the populations at the time and sent the survivors back to a more primitive culture. However, some of the artifacts of the more advanced civilizations would have survived and look out of place to us when we discover them and look back in time. I suppose it’s a bit like having a 1000 piece jigsaw but without a guide picture. Just consider the effects of a Carrington like event on our world today. The electrical grid would be fried, all satellites would be destroyed, no communications, no transport, no food shopping, no distribution of goods, out of control fires from lithium batteries, no emergency services – the list goes on. A great reset all right. Imagine, with no records of our “civilization” for future generations – everything stored on computer would be gone, including your bank accounts – and coming across artifacts years later. 11,000 to 12,000 years ago for Easter Island would probably fit in with this disaster cycle. Whilst it isn’t proven, some aspects of this disaster cycle theory may be worth considering.
50
The myth of a Great Flood is shared by many cultures across the world. It seems likely that the end of the Ice Age was the genesis of the Great Flood. The end of the Ice Age seems to have been precipitated by a meteor strike on the North American ice sheet. Said to be around 2 miles thick, much of that ice would have flash heated to steam and the rest melted very quickly. Global sea level would have risen very quickly. The sudden injection of massive amounts of water vapour into the atmosphere would have altered the climate radically. The sudden loss of ice on land masses would have resulted in seismic activity and would ripple around the world. This theory is known as the Younger Dryas Impact theory.
It’s not hard to imagine such an event wiping out much of humanity. The survivors would have been thrust into survival mode.
41
Others have suggested the flooding on the Black Sea.
Others e.g. Australian aboriginals certainly knew about sea rise cutting off Tasmania (from Victoria) and Kangaroo Island (from SA).
21
How do we know what aboriginals certainly knew about ancient sea level rise? Which ones, how was what they new recorded? What is it they knew?
Sounds like more miraculous attribution
101
They would have noticed sea level fall.
https://rune.une.edu.au/web/handle/1959.11/8039
10
… and sea level rise.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahul#/media/File:Map_of_Sunda_and_Sahul.svg
00
Lloyd,
Another “theory” is that we pass through a region of space with a higher density of matter or rogue planet which could destabilise the asteroid belt . We have been lucky to not have taken a sizable hit and there are plenty of candidates for that .
00
Graeme3,
In my work years I had to interact with some bush aborigines. For 6 years, for example, I was either President or VP of the NT Chambers of Mines and Energy. The biggest agenda item each monthly meeting was usually aboriginal affairs.
Never in my work life did I hear any aboriginal claim about sea level change. It did not appear in any document I saw in several decades of study. But I could have missed it, so I would appreciate a link or two. Geoff S
50
I’m not vouching for this, just saying there are quite a few records if you search for them.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ancient-sea-rise-tale-told-accurately-for-10-000-years/
When there wasn’t exactly a lot of Netflix, and the people knew every single star in the star, I could imagine they would talk around the campfire of things Grandpa and Grandma said. I could also imagine them embellishing the story.
20
Sorry, I lost the academic study examining the separation of Kangaroo Island from the mainland, fairly recent but noted that the Dreaming Story was confirmed by the geological evidence of swallow areas following the same route.
“but the Geological evidence as well as a Ngurunderi Dreaming story both confirm this event”. https://www.tourkangarooisland.com.au/visit/general-information/kangaroo-island-aboriginal-history#:~:text=Rising%20sea%20levels%20and%20the,story%20both%20confirm%20this%20event.
The rise of Bass Strait I don’t have an aboriginal story but https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/separation-of-tasmania might help.
00
A Carrington level event will occur at some point, it’s just a matter of time. However, if you want a real scare read the Ethical Sceptics Exothermic Core-Mantle Decoupling Dzhanibekov Oscillation Hypothesis…
30
Nigel,
Ill see you and raise : Nuclear high-altitude electromagnetic pulse . Everything electronic destroyed along with the grid in seconds . Just pick a fight with a nuclear armed opponent .(Book by Steven Starr)
10
Is the USA Capitol Dome a faraday cage?
10
Mainstream archaeology held that the Easter Island heads (called moai) were just that, only heads. Then someone demonstrated that these heads were attached to bodies buried in the ground.
It’s fair to say that a lot of what we “know” about our ancient past is wrong.
Troy was supposed to be a mythical city until someone found its ruins.
Sumer is supposed to be the first human civilisation beginning somewhere around 6000 BC.
Yet Gobekli Tepe and sites in the same region have been dated to around 11500 BC and argue the existence of civilisations far earlier than Sumer.
Remanants of megalithic structures are scattered across the world on every continent (except Australia). All are currently attributed to known peoples, most whom we can be certain did not possess the technological and engineering know how to construct those structures.
I think it is likely humans once had highly advanced civilisation/s which preceded the end of the Ice Age and may be far older.
80
The special thing about Sumer is not that it was the first civilization, but it was the first place were the written word was a central part of the administration of said civilization. The result is that we have documentation of life in Sumer, which is not available from the people of ancient Asia Minor nor the Caucuses.
100
Indus valley script may be older.
00
I have often expressed my concerns at the headlong race to a digital world which not only has often seemed to make life more complicated but has profound implications for our energy supplies and security
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/2000800/ex-mi6-china-ev-uk-ban-sir-richard-dearlove
141
Shortly before the project was terminated a controller on the CBS evening news said: “It takes me 12 commands to do what I used to do with one.”
https://www.cs.hmc.edu/~markk/SWE_copies/worstever.html
“A young man, recently hired, devotes years to a specification written to the bit level for programs that will never be coded. Another, to a specification that will be replaced. Programmers marry one another, then divorce and marry someone in another subsystem. Program designs are written to severe formats, then forgotten. The formats endure. A man decides to become a woman and succeeds before system testing starts. As testing approaches, she begins a second career on local television, hosting a show on witchcraft. An architect chases a new technology, then another, then changes his mind and goes into management. A veteran programmer writes the same program a dozen times, then transfers. The price of money increases eight times. Programmers sleep in the halls. Committees convene for years to discuss keystroking. An ambitious training manager builds an encyclopedia of manuals no one will ever use. Decisions are scheduled weeks in advance. Workers sit in the hallways. Notions of computing begin in the epoch of A, edge toward B, then come down hard on A + B. Human factors experts achieve Olympian status. The Berlin Wall collapses. The map of Europe is redrawn. Everything is counted. Quality becomes mixed with quantity. Morale is reduced to a quotient, then counted. Dozens of men and women argue for thousands of hours: What is a requirement? A generation of workers retire. The very mission changes and only a few notice. Programming theories come and go. Managers cling to expectations, like a child to a blanket. Presentations are polished to create an impression, then curbed to cut costs. Then they are studied. The work spikes and spikes again. Offices are changed a dozen times. Management retires and returns. The contractor is sold. Software is blamed. Executives are promoted. The years rip by with no end in sight. A company president gets an idea: make large small. Turn methods over to each programmer. Dress down. Count on the inscrutability of programming. Promote good news. Turn a leaf away from the sun. Maybe start over.”
130
That’s how progress is made – trial and error. Anyone who thinks they can design and implement a faultless system has rocks where rocks don’t belong.
80
Thank you for that link.
It illustrates beautifully why so many of us find it blindingly obvious that we’ve taken a wrong turn towards enforced absurdity and it’s scary.
150
haha! Easy for an ex-snivel servant to say “Ban these car and make everyone pay far more for a local brand, or not be able to afford a car and catch a bus..”
However the politicians have to answer for any giant steps they take in driving our standard of living down, they prefer constant small ones so we can’t measure the degradation. Every tariff, every trade war, every import ban makes things more expensive and forces our standard of living down.
70
How would you like one of these incendiary devices near you :
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/01/17/evacuations-road-closures-begin-as-fire-engulfs-worlds-largest-battery-plant-in-california/
and
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/01/17/massive-fire-engulfs-moss-landing-battery-plant-triggers-evacuations/
The power plant that previously operated on that site would never have produced such toxic pollution but would have provided useful power to the grid , which the batteries would never have done .
The leftists got what they voted for , and the other fires in LA . They got it good and hard !
I would rather a nice safe nuclear power station . Or even better , if coal was nearby , a nice safe , wealth generating coal fired power station .
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Here’s one I am involved with as an advisor:
https://www.massfiscal.org/hazard_warning_for_everett_s_lithium_battery_park
700 MW in a big development next to Boston. No thanks!
70
The link makes no mention of the battery capacity.
10
That is not specified but their other projects are 2 hrs and that fits their cost estimate so 1400 MWh is likely. Roughly half the capacity of Moss Landing. But theirs are all together unlike Moss where only the 300 MW/1200 MWh phase 1 burned inside the old power house. Hence a bit bigger than Moss.
20
I think that region is a seismic risk for nuclear power stations. Maybe stick to coal?
50
This seems an increasing demand by those who expect recompense for the past and the hugely improved standard of living conferred on them
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14295201/tony-armstrong-wealth-back.html
Where does it stop? Do the Romans Saxons Vikings and Normans need to pay huge sums to those of us in Britain?
Do the Mongols need to compensate India for the mogul empire. How much should Spain pay out to mexico?
311
Tony,
I identify as a neanderthal and so does my wife . How’s that for a winning hand at victim poker ?
40
We will need to divert 20% of the world’s GDP to you and your wife in recompense.
Bad news, there are another 20 still living you will need to share with and you need to locate them before the money can be released. Good luck.A
00
https://rumble.com/v6al5ky-robert-kaplan-global-weimar-waste-land-and-a-world-in-permanent-crisis.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp Sunday book review interview: The world is becoming more interconnected and claustrophobic as Globalization 2.0 pulls us closer together. All three great powers are in decline, but America has the greatest potential to remake itself, and can see a new burst of dynamism under Trump. Israel stands at the heart of this global geopolitical war. Because of urbanization cities will be the principle world stage going forward where crowds, technology, and history will intersect.
80
Those in the service industries in the cities are about to find out that no one can afford the services they offer and in reality who needed them anyway? It is going to get ugly. At least they will have their Superannuation to carry them through. It is safely invested in renewal energy infrastructure, large office buildings, pieces of paper called securities that were once loans to developing countries, etc. Safe and effective retirement investments!!
140
Put them on the B-Arc
00
We have never found a cave painting of a salad, just animals for meat…
350
All the salads were just to the side(s) of the main course.
No brussel sprouts either.
60
There’s no recording of the fearsome fight and capture of the first carrot. Many lives were lost that day.
150
Mostly all ancient humanity relied on bacteria to ferment things so they would not spoil, like beans, meat, milk, brussel sprouts from Brussels, and of course they fermented grapes.
After the industrial revolution fermenting things was associated with being a poor person who had no fridge, and so many fermented foods like Kinema disappeared, or evaporated, and had to go underground due to the said new social pressure.
The reason there are no cave paintings of our ancestors fermenting things likie carrots etc, and who had a ‘bacterian diet’, is because the bacteria are too small to draw..
It is really quite straight forward.
The bacterian diet is now largely not even acknowledged.
13
“, is because the bacteria are too small to draw..”
You cant be serious
10
We are intrinsically ‘bacterian’. Nature has outsourced bacteria to do most of the nutritional heavy lifting/biosynthesis…
The aboriginal art comprising dots is the closest evidence we have that they were or had advanced technology to see the bacteria.
Today we call this the ‘holobiont’
Holobiont
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Holobiont
A holobiont is an assemblage of a host and the many other species living in or around it, which together form a discrete ecological unit through symbiosis.
01
My comment was slightly dramatised for the purpose of conjury.
Any actual names or likenesses of mitochondria are used in a fictitious and parodic manner
00
What about the “Sprouted seed”, Petroglyph National Monument, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Or “Maize”, Three Rivers petroglyph site, New Mexico.
Or “Fiddlehead fern” (edible), Petit Jean Mountain, Arkansas.
Or “Indian rice grass”, Harvest Scene, Maze District, Canyonlands, Utah.
All ancient rock art.
Vegans have been around a while. 😁
12
Former White House chef shows the patriotic MEAT meal he would prepare for TRUMP’s first meal back in the WH.
Very short video.
200
Did he catch the steer in his bare hands as well?
60
A guy built like that may well have…
40
Did you see TFI’s post on people in the 70’s?
https://theferalirishman.blogspot.com/2025/01/for-most-part-what-do-you-notice.html
Outside not inside, exercising, no phones, limited junk food, MEAT!
30
I thought Obama took his Chef with him.
The Chef has not had any other employment since then.
10
Upping the ante –
“ExxonMobil Is Done Playing Nice—And Rob Bonta Should Be Worried”
“It looks like ExxonMobil has finally had enough of California’s environmentalist clown show. In a move that can only be described as epic, Exxon has filed a defamation lawsuit against California Attorney General Rob Bonta and his merry band of activist accomplices, including the Sierra Club and other virtue-signaling outfits. Their crime? Allegedly smearing Exxon’s reputation with claims that are as baseless as they are self-serving.”
More at
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/01/18/exxonmobil-is-done-playing-nice-and-rob-bonta-should-be-worried/
210
The Democrats have abused the court system for years. En masse their victims are now fighting back, rather than trying to bargain, placate and cower. It is possible Trump has shown them how. Expect lawfare to be reversed and this time with clarity and devastating effect. The days of accommodating the insane are over.
The public do not runaway prices and scarcity and the utter dismantling of the public service from the military to the fire brigade. And in boardrooms across the world, the DEI/ESG/BLM/Climate change destructive fantasies are being tossed out and litigated. At last.
180
“At last.”
Indeed, long overdue, I suggest.
And the hope us the assessed damages will be tremendous.
Exemplary, perhaps!
Auto
80
And in the UK the idea of white privilege has been shattered. After three official ‘inquiries’, the Pakistani mass rape gangs dismissed as ‘grooming’ (implying gentle persuasion) are being called out for what they were. And chief supporter of the Pakistani right to get away with it was none other than Sir Keir Starmer. Was it about racism? No, it’s easier to jail white people for speaking out than to risk losing Pakistani votes.
The same in Australia where having sponsored uncontrolled migration, the Labor party is in the thrall of whole suburbs of anti Israel Muslims in league with the traditional Communist hatred of Jews. And we, like South Africa, are doing our best to destroy Israel while stating that we are not anti Semitic. Which is ridiculous.
The conflict in the old Commonwealth of England, South Africa, Australia, Canada with the incoming Trump government is profound. Forget climate change and AUKUS. Is there any leader of these Commonwealth countries who has not openly called Donald Trump the village idiot?
Watch for the complete rout of the leaders of these countries as they face the reality of defending themselves and trade sanctions.
300
Oh dear. You aren’t allowed to sheet home blame to labor, in the age of political correctness it must be the unaparty.
00
It would be good if insane asylums could be reintroduced throughout the West.
Even though they were abandoned due to high costs, the introduction of anti-psychotic drugs, not to mention the high land value of most of those places, clearly the experiment has not worked.
I’m sure the high cost would be offset by a reduction in crime and policing and life and property damage by reinstitutionalising people who should never have previously been released from those places.
140
Reintroduced?
https://www.appalachianhistory.net/2008/12/125-reasons-youll-get-sent-to-lunatic.html
It didn’t take much in the 1800’s, any excuse would do, even contrived ones which were common.
Given the shocking state of the medical “profession” today, it’s not a fate I would wish on any one.
Like the old joke.
Student to psychiatry professor:” Is there such a thing as a totally sane person?”
Professor: “I don’t know, but if there is we’ll cure him!”
80
“Even though they were abandoned due to high costs,”
Couldn’t be DM! Its cost far far more to put those people in expensive houses spread amongst the middle-class and pay 24/7 care workers in every house. A friend of mine is one of a shift looking after one patient in a 3-beroom house to himself, two carers with him all the time. They take him shopping, take him out for outings, attend to his every whim… Its madness!
Every house needs maintenance, all the lawns have to be mowed, gardens attended to, trees trimmed…times hundreds of houses in every city.
30
I read yesterday that our very own Twiggy Forrest is tipping in $$$ against Exon……Great guy….despise him.
101
Note that in the US a corporation can sue for defamation. In Australia they can’t.
20
DM,
There used to be precedent in Victoria, ca. 1980s when used for another matter. The case law involved the hire of an actor to eat at a famous meat pie restaurant in Melbourne. With a lot of fuss, actor produced a rat tail and claimed it was found cooked in a pie just bought. There were denials, but the reputational damage stuck and the restaurant steadily went broke. I have tried to find this precedent, but failed.
It is of current interest because it is popular (but in my opinion, despicable) to abuse corporations alleged to be not green enough.
So, I thought that in Australia corporations could sue and be sued. Maybe I am out of date. (My wife of 60 years also claims I am). Geoff S
10
GRETA THUNBERG- A FAIRY TALE
(Author unknown.)
Poor Greta. Life without petroleum and petroleum based products.
One crisp winter morning in Sweden, a cute little girl named Greta woke up to a perfect world, one where there were no petroleum products ruining the earth. She tossed aside her cotton sheet and wool blanket and stepped out onto a dirt floor covered with willow bark that had been pulverized with rocks.
“What’s this?” she asked.
“Pulverized willow bark,” replied her fairy godmother.
“What happened to the carpet?” she asked.
“The carpet was nylon, which is made from butadiene and hydrogen cyanide, both made from petroleum,” came the response.
Greta smiled, acknowledging that adjustments are necessary to save the planet, and moved to the sink to brush her teeth where instead of a toothbrush, she found a willow, mangled on one end to expose wood fibre bristles.
“Your old toothbrush?” noted her godmother,
“Also nylon.”
“Where’s the water?” asked Greta.
“Down the road in the canal,” replied her godmother, Just make sure you avoid water with cholera in it.”
“Why’s there no running water?” Greta asked, becoming a little peevish.
“Well,” said her godmother, who happened to teach engineering at MIT, “Where do we begin?”
There followed a long monologue about how sink valves need elastomer seats and how copper pipes contain copper, which has to be mined and how it’s impossible to make all-electric earth-moving equipment with no gear lubrication or tires and how ore has to be smelted to a make metal, and that’s tough to do with only electricity as a source of heat, and even if you use only electricity, the wires need insulation, which is petroleum-based, and though most of Sweden’s energy is produced in an environmentally friendly way because of hydro and nuclear, if you do a mass and energy balance around the whole system, you still need lots of petroleum products like lubricants and nylon and rubber for tires and asphalt for filling potholes and wax and iPhone plastic and elastic to hold your underwear up while operating a copper smelting furnace and . . .
“What’s for breakfast?” interjected Greta, whose head was hurting.
“Fresh, range-fed chicken eggs,” replied her godmother. “Raw.”
“How so, raw?” inquired Greta.
“Well, . . .” And once again, Greta was told about the need for petroleum products like transformer oil and scores of petroleum products essential for producing metals for frying pans and in the end was educated about how you can’t have a petroleum-free world and then cook eggs. Unless you rip your front fence up and start a fire and carefully cook your egg in an orange peel like you do in Boy Scouts. Not that you can find oranges in Sweden anymore.
“But I want poached eggs like my Aunt Tilda makes,” lamented Greta.
“Tilda died this morning,” the godmother explained. “Bacterial pneumonia.”
“What?!” interjected Greta. “No one dies of bacterial pneumonia! We have penicillin.”
“Not anymore,” explained godmother “The production of penicillin requires chemical extraction using isobutyl acetate, which, if you know your organic chemistry, is petroleum-based. Lots of people are dying, which is problematic because there’s not any easy way of disposing of the bodies since backhoes need hydraulic oil and crematoriums can’t really burn many bodies using as fuel Swedish fences and furniture, which are rapidly disappearing – being used on the black market for roasting eggs and staying warm.”
This represents only a fraction of Greta’s day, a day without microphones to exclaim into and a day without much food, and a day without carbon-fibre boats to sail in, but a day that will save the planet.
Tune in tomorrow when Greta needs a root canal and learns how Novocain is synthesized.
Credit goes to author (unknown).
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Spheres aren’t the only three dimensional shapes of constant width.
There are other shapes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_of_constant_width?wprov=sfla1
Video.
https://youtu.be/cUCSSJwO3GU
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Fascinating! Love these Sunday morning diversions.
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This was known decades ago by makers of ball bearings that need to be absolutely spherical. I agree it is fascinating because it is counter-intuitive. I like odd bits, like Australia uses toilet paper at well over the speed of sound for aircraft. Geoff S
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Does anyone here have any good info on how the biggest battery in the world caught fire in California the other day?
And, can viruses infect lithium ion batteries?
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The cause? Well it was certainly global warming. After all, if not for global warming it would not have been built. The cause of all California fires is global warming. Global warming produces stress, and psychological disease, therefore global warming produces more pyromaniacs. Global Warming is caused by racism and gender phobia. The reason for this requires an Ivy league education in idiomatic logic to understand.
As to your last question, well maybe/ I checked with AI…
No, viruses don’t infect lithium-ion batteries, but scientists have used viruses to build lithium-ion batteries.
Explanation
Scientists have genetically modified viruses to build the components of lithium-ion batteries, such as the anode and cathode. These virus-built batteries are called “virus batteries”.
How it works
Scientists modify a virus’s genome to make it latch onto a specific material, like cobalt oxide or iron phosphate.
The virus then coats itself with the material and self-assembles into a nanowire.
The nanowires are used to build the battery’s anode or cathode.
Benefits of virus batteries
Environmental friendliness: Virus batteries are made from non-toxic materials.
Lightweight and flexible: Virus batteries can be woven into fabrics.
Higher conductivity: Virus batteries can be used in portable electronics, medical implants, and aerospace applications.
Biodegradable: Virus batteries can biodegrade.
00
$2 tip for delivering pizza in a snowstorm!
A dedicated Indiana pizza delivery driver walked half a mile (0.8km) through a dangerous snowstorm in a “very affluent” neighborhood before he was met with a $2 tip.
Connor Stephanoff, an employee at Rock Star Pizza, was seen walking in the treacherous conditions in Brownsburg, Ind. as multiple plows filled the street to clear the snow last week, according to footage posted by Avon Police Department Lieutenant Richard Craig.
Stephanoff initially drove to complete the order, but a school bus crash blocked the road.
https://nypost.com/2025/01/18/us-news/indiana-pizza-delivery-driver-connor-stephanoff-hiked-through-snowstorm-and-got-2-tip-on-40-order-before-police-officer-steps-in-to-help
The officer was shocked at the lousy tip, deservedly so, and set up a Gofundme, and as of posting this is at $25,000 USD ($40,000).
I have a lot of respect for the kid and ZERO for the a##hole rich people, who unfortunately weren’t named.
/Whether the pizza had pineapple on it isn’t known.
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A good news story.
I hope the recipients of the pizza are aware of what they did.
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On the topic of pizza delivery guys…
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David, appaerently that guy is Elon Musk, and he has told the story laughing at himself.
00
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Too true!
If you want to grow the tastiest tomatoes ever go get a tomato berry plant.
NOT tomato cherry!
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The real advantage of growing your “own” anything is sharing the knowledge of where things come from with your kids and grandkids. Saw a thing on the box where a group of young U.K. kids were asked if they would like to go fishing, the fear and trepidation of doing something different was quite an eye opener.
We still pursue many of the old ways just so the grand kids understand it doesn’t come from the “shop”. Growing anything in our district is more an act of defiance against nature, the cost or savings somewhat irrelevant.
Vistors, especially from overseas are fascinated that the venison on the barbie comes out of the local forest and we process it our selves, the salami comes from a pig bought locally, our tree ripend fruit “tastes different” but better, the brother in laws home made wine is not the best but the company is excellent. Home produced anything is a way for our family to share and socialise
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Grow your own tomatoes!
Just spend $12 on some seedlings, then devote three months of your life to the care, nourishment, husbandry and protection of the plants and Bingo, you get to harvest $12 worth of tomatoes.
😉
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I find it very easy. Bunnings have very good seedlings. Plant them. Full sun. Water when needed. Pick and eat. No nurturing, school fees, entertainment, clothes, transport, education.
I think the natives of South America had it much easier with corn and capsicum and tomatoes and much more. It is amazing that agriculture started in the Middle East in the semi desert.
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Not so simple here in North Central Victoria. I had a good-looking crop last year but all the local nasties got into them, including caterpillars, magpies and rot from the humid conditions. This season I didn’t bother at all, with going away for a month over Christmas.
It’s an endless battle to keep anything around here. What was that nonsense about the fragile, vulnerable planet? Around here Mother Nature shows a very bullying, nasty side quite a lot of the time. Humans have their work cut out to survive and I’m running out of steam with age catching up. 🙁
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It wasn’t semi desert where agriculture started. It flooded every year, which washed away all the old soil filled with weeds and replaced it with fresh soil, just ready to be planted with cereal saved from the year before. This allowed the farmers to harvest the good seeds to replant the next year, which is how the grains came to be domesticated.
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“Step 1. Devote 3 months of your life to helping them grow.”
Ah, but what else would you do with that 3months? I’m out planting my own carrot seeds and can hear the neighbour’s TV on cricket, or golf, or one of the footballs… Tonight’s veges are spuds, carrots, zuchinni, garlic, chillis and beans, all straight out of the garden. No sprays except pyrethrum daisy and some snailbait.
No hormones, no chemicals to stop potato plants from dividing (to get big spuds) no Roundup to make harvest easy, no insecticides in the soil.. the stuff in supermarkets is just poison.
Annie, you need more wasps if you have caterpillars, they spend all day searching under the leaves for food.
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We have wasps. Too many of them!
00
New research says: Not a meteorite, this is the terrible thing that destroyed the dinosaurs
Something more terrible than the giant space rock Chicxulub may have existed on Earth, becoming a “death sentence” for dinosaurs before the disaster from space.
According to Science Alert, a new analysis from an international team of scientists has added to the evidence that the world before the Chicxulub impact was already a “hell”, with the amount of sulfur in the atmosphere reaching critical levels.
Together with other studies of mercury levels, this research provides evidence of volcanic activity powerful enough to cause significant climate change on Earth 66 million years ago.
The formation of dense sulfur-containing lava here also suited the cool climate of the Cretaceous. As the lava hardened after the eruption, climate-cooling molecules were released into the air.
The chain of catastrophes caused global temperatures to plummet by 10 degrees Celsius over the 100,000 years before Chicxulub delivered the final blow.
Thus, the Earth itself was the primary cause of the end of the “age of monsters “.
https://scienceinfo.net/new-research-says-not-a-meteorite-this-is-the-terrible-thing-that-destroyed-the-dinosaurs.html
REAL climate change!
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Deccan Traps?
Same time and quite large eruptions (about 1/4 of India).
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Trmp’s inauguration will be indoors due to freezing temperature outdoors. This last happened in 1985.
After 40 years of sustained Globull Warming™ you would think that indoor inaugurations would be history.
It will not be the snowiest Inauguration Day but numerous daily snowfall records have already been set in 2025:
https://nypost.com/2025/01/06/us-news/tens-of-millions-of-americans-dig-out-of-years-first-major-snowfall/
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Within two weeks of the death by fire of whole suburbs in Hollywood at night in 6C weather. Global Warming is a terrible thing as it causes deadly fires even when it is very cold. After 37 years of deadly Climate Change, the world’s population keeps going up.
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Slightly late, but a good analysis of failure related to LA fires.
https://mises.org/podcasts/human-action-podcast/lawrence-mcquillan-explains-policy-inferno-behind-california-wildfires
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Thanks Tel.
The analysis regarding the biggest battery fire in the world, fire located on Moss Landing California should be approaching warp speed by now, or shortly after the warp engines are engaged….
20
Californians got what they voted for. Woke, DEI, ESG, illegals’ sanctuary, etc centred incompetence. Some have paid a heavy price.
When you cannot buy home insurance, you know you are living in an inhospitable environment. In California’s case, it is unbridled wokeness.
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Mrs Wife and I are staying near Maleny for a week. I’m loving all the sounds of nature, from the loudest cicadas outside Singapore to the rain-loving crickets and the spooky Catbirds.
But …
I could kill the effin’ Wonga Pigeon that lives across the valley – the ‘Car Alarm Bird’ as we call it. How does he breathe? The damn thing goes at it for hours.
Other than that, it’s great. Does anybody know the identity of a bird that sounds like Aboriginal clapsticks, “twack twack twack”?
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FWIW
“These Are What ‘Experts’ See As The Largest Risks Faced By The World”
“Surprise! ‘misinformation’ and ‘climate change’…”
More at
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/these-are-what-experts-see-largest-risks-faced-world
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There were 900 of them so must be truer than “Hunter Biden’s Russian Disinformation laptop”?
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For the DIY-ers
“What is the best knife sharpener?”
https://youtu.be/xu-0Q3yoo6c
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What time can we expect Biden’s pardons to hit the wires?
00
I am willing to extend a mea culpa to the crew of Jeju Air fatal crash. I, and others, were too quick to say the crew did not react quickly and correctly. We left it open that they may have shut down the wrong engine. Not so.
One undeniable fact is that the aircraft lost all electrical power 4 mins before disaster. It’s hard to fly so close to the ground with NO power. It is also now accepted that there were bird strikes in both engines.
Reports will point to errors in the heat of the moment, none, it appears, egregious.
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