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 bunch of blank pardons?
Only a bunch of crooks could dream it!
140
Don’t you have to be guilty of something to be pardoned or at least convicted.
80
Guess who just said this stupidity:
“The increasing frequency and intensity of natural disasters, from the recent flooding in North Carolina to the ongoing fires burning across the Los Angeles area, are stark reminders of the cost, both personal and financial, of climate change.”
The US National Academies of science, engineering and Medicine.
https://mailchi.mp/nationalacademies/climate-at-the-national-academies-4866043?e=c3c03e3b28
What a waste!
140
The National Academies seems to be Non-Governmental Organization. It might be difficult to close this shop down.
“Although many of our activities are requested and funded by Congress and federal agencies, we do not receive direct appropriations from the federal government. Foundations, the private sector, and philanthropy from individuals enable us to address critical issues on behalf of the nation.”
20
? Why close it down? what about free speech and all that?
30
Indeed we need to win it back not close it down.
00
The digital madness continues. The UK is to offer digital driving licenses and other digital documents that can be kept in a digital wallet.
This comes the day after a report saying that is is likely the limits on a bank debit card will be raised from £100 to unlimited. It started off as £10
The possibility of wholesale fraud or of stealing someone’s complete identify either through stolen cards or deliberate hacking, increases every day
Your complete life story will lie in your pocket just waiting to be lost, stolen or hacked.
But many people seem sanguine about the possibilities for harm and lack of privacy as long as they can be in constant contact with social media
212
The weak link will most likely be the password that gains you access to your password.
If your password is simple, then your goods will belong to somebody else in short time.
And when the managers of these facilities also have weak passwords, then you can be assured that not only your data but those of many others will also be changed to suit the needs of others.
Passwords are the weak link and requiring everyone to change to a new one when an old one expires or you forgot it three times is a recipe for disaster. If you couldn’t recall your last password and now you have to find a new one, do you think that your new password will be stronger, (and harder to remember), or weaker, (and often easier to crack)? Or worse still, do you write them down and keep them readily available at your desk?
Two step verification should be a minimum, if that can’t be implemented then at least ensure that the password and username must be entered in one step not two. If a bad actor can guess a username, (and be told that they have it right by being subsequently prompted for a password), then it is just a matter of time before they can guess the password. This is a significant weakness to the security of the system. Why not fix the simple stuff first?
And let me keep my old passwords.
30
To me the simplest and safest answer is to refuse to accept a digital identity.
80
Under the National Energy Emergency declared by Pres. Trump wind and solar are clearly excluded:
“Sec. 8. Definitions. For purposes of this order, the following definitions shall apply:
(a) The term “energy” or “energy resources” means crude oil, natural gas, lease condensates, natural gas liquids, refined petroleum products, uranium, coal, biofuels, geothermal heat, the kinetic movement of flowing water, and critical minerals, as defined by 30 U.S.C. 1606 (a)(3).”
No wind, solar or batteries.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/declaring-a-national-energy-emergency/
200
Donald J Trump Victorious. Promises made promises kept! Not in Australia however! All Albo-tross could say was how he would subvert POTUS 45 by dealing direct with Demorat led States thereby undermining any influence an Australian Government Representative might expect! Get with the program Albo and quickly!
Front page of The Australian
“ALP’s workaround to cope with a new political climate
The Albanese government has raised the prospect of working more closely with Democrat-controlled states in the US on climate change initiatives.”
110
That would be wonderful! Trump burns AUKUS, pulls the Marines out of Darwin and kicks Aussie into touch! We once again have to find our own way in the world instead of riding on the coat tails of America. What a great way to get real independence.
00
Another rock god passes into history. John Sykes RIP. His Whitesnake playing took guitar to a new level. But sometimes a simple Lizzy number hits the spot.
https://youtu.be/DCQR5SdCOsY
30
And there I was thinking of a geologist.
90
Oh look!
Another scary disease.
It must be time for more lockdowns and experimental non-vaccines.
And WHO might be upset that TRUMP has defended them.
50
I’ll let you know when it’s time to panic. 😎
32
Phew! How lucky we all are now the WHO has miraculously changed the nomenclature of diseases so we don’t have to put up with the stigma of having a place name attached to a virus, etc, you know like the Wuhan Virus.
Oh, wait a minute.
Marburg Virus
Spanish Flu
Zika Virus
West Nile Virus
Dengue
Nipah
Ebola
Monkeypox
Huh! even Chickenpox too I guess
and in Australia
Hendra Virus
Ross River Fever
Ah, thank heavens for the WHO, eh!
Tony.
90
(Copied from Farcebook.)
100
All communities proposing to install “Big Batteries” in lieu of traditional fossil fuel electricity generation need to read the attached article stemming from a battery fire at Moss Point, California. USA. The disastrous effects, both financial and economic, which have been superimposed over a similar area of New York where they are contemplating replacing FF generation with a Big Battery. Catastrophe is the only word that goes close to describing the potentially crippling effects.
https://principia-scientific.com/why-california-battery-plant-fires-should-matter-to-ny-city-residents/
70
Given that there will not be many batteries installed on US territory following Trumps inauguration, the UN territory in NYC has become more prospective for batteriy installations. The UN is demanding batteries so let them have a really big on on the UN site in NYC.
10
As of yesterday, the black stuff coming off battery fires in the USA is no longer virtuous. In fact it is a lot nastier than what comes from coal burning.
All residents required to leave their homes should be seeking compensation from the battery owner for the inconvenience, psychological harm, health impacts and loss in property value. Can you imagine anyone wanting a large battery facility within 10km of their residence given the black stuff emanating from the site is no longer virtuous.
30
Think this article was also covered on WUWT recently.
00
Surprise, surprise! Major Error Found In Sea-Level Rise Model Projections.
https://principia-scientific.com/major-error-found-in-sea-level-rise-model-projections/
I suggest we stop attempting to replicate nature and produce inaccurate results for consumption by nerds and naysayers for political purposes and “go with the flow”. Learn to adapt because nature will not be stopped by fretting humans.
70
Understanding Earth’s climate is primarily the study of ice – on land, on water and in the atmosphere. The simple fact that ice forms at 273K in pure water or clean air and a little lower in saltwater is the key to Earth’s habitable environment.
Trying to find simple relationships that can be parameterised for modelling purposes without understanding the physical processes involved in ice formation and melting or sublimating is a waste of time.
40
I agree Rick.
Glacier flow is insufficient to model sea level rise. The rate that new ice gets deposited at the top is equally important.
20
Agreed, Rick.
There is a constancy in estimated surface temperatures from proxies that suggests a machine with a governor. In some man-made machines, there is a mechanical governor with devices to adjust for a “set point”. This is what the system is designed to revert to following perturbations.
I am not sure if there is a set point for Earth, but there is much evidence for it, as well as an absence of evidence of an alternative. It is possible that a physical constant such as the freezing point of water is involved, but it is rather hard to design and execute experiments to prove it.
It is, IMO, a breakthrough point for science to prove it.
Geoff S
00
The thing about this upcoming federal election is that a real possibility is a labor minority government supported by greens and teal “independent”. I put “independent” in quotes because they all have the exact same vague far left (destructive) political agenda, same funding source, same lack of knowledge about running a country, and same voter base. Oh and all were elected on preferences, not highest vote share. Surely there is a law against this loophole? There are about 10 of them that are pretty much their own party.
So I am convinced that a labor green teal government will pretty much be the end of this great country. To name a few things:
1. The electricity grid will collapse because the labor and especially greens and teals don’t seem to think we need base load power, or even know what that is. And when the grid does work, rationing of electricity will come. It’s already started with gov paying smelters to stop on hot days but will surely increase.
2. Further to 1, our once-pristine land and coastlines will be covered in loads more toxic windmills, solar farms and batteries. Destruction of the environment to “save it”.
4. All our land will be locked up in endless beureaucratic red tape and labelled “indigenous land”. So we tax payers won’t be able to do anything on that land, but windmills and solar farms or anything that suits the agenda will be allowed.
5. Carbon taxes on steroids will shut down businesses and send what little is left of our industry overseas
6. Wokeism will accererate to California and Canada levels
140
Blockbuster EO stops all wind permitting!
Here is the meat:
“….the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Energy, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the heads of all other relevant agencies,
shall not issue new or renewed approvals, rights of way, permits, leases, or loans for onshore or offshore wind projects pending the completion of a comprehensive assessment and review of Federal wind leasing and permitting practices.
The Secretary of the Interior shall lead that assessment and review in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Secretary of Energy, and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. The assessment shall consider the environmental impact of onshore and offshore wind projects upon wildlife, including, but not limited to, birds and marine mammals. The assessment shall also consider the economic costs associated with the intermittent generation of electricity and the effect of subsidies on the viability of the wind industry.”
Almost all of the 40 or so active offshore wind projects still require federal permits or other approvals. They are all stopped. Nor is there a time limit on the called for assessment.
For the full EO see https://www.cfact.org/2025/01/21/eo-temporary-withdrawal-of-all-areas-on-the-outer-continental-shelf-from-offshore-wind-leasing-and-review-of-the-federal-governments-leasing-and-permitting-practices-for-wind-projects/
Woohoo!
140
Excellent effort David. Thanks for continuing to oppose these stupid projects.
20
What is a woman?
“Trump’s executive order defines a female as “a person belonging at conception to the sex that produces the large reproductive cell,” which refers to eggs or ovum.
The definition does not distinguish gender and sex based on chromosomes, bypassing the issue of those who may have an irregular combination of chromosomes.”
Sweet…
100
Bye bye Mr. Ma’am
https://youtu.be/EtqCgkOOjYc?si=GzRchKeQlS0UpxJL
10
Good bye. She-It
10
She-it?
A subtle pun there?
Vegan lamb burger anyone?
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=976535887814739&id=100063750090576
I can only hope this isn’t real.
* wtf warning.
10
I don’t understand why sex cannot usefully be defined on the basis of chromosomes as male, female or indeterminate.
20
If your child is born with a chromosome abnormality, the parents or Guardians will generally make a determination, initially at birth and as the child grows as to what may be the most appropriate gender to adopt. Having ‘Indeterminate’ on your birth certificate may not be of benefit to that individual. I do defend the right of that person to describe themselves as ‘Indeterminate’ or whatever when they reach an age where they can be considered responsible for their own existence.
00
Global warming update
https://x.com/accuweather/status/1881780082248929516
And the Gulf of America (next to the anti-EU moat):
https://www.youtube.com/live/A1UD36ucfkc?si=jvLG1Y5Q1sQA3C4S
00
Back in the 1970s as a grommie seaweed (young surfer) I’d purchase US surf magazines to drool over pics of foreign waves and bikini models. Stories and photos of snow-covered beaches in Pensacola, Florida, and howling Santa Ana winds in southern California, were often featured. Fifty years later, non-surfers attempt to persuade me this is ‘change’. Their ignorance knows no bounds: it’s called WINTER.
80
FWIW
“And here we have hard, scientific proof — the debate is over.
Remember, we’ve been told that we’re the hottest we’ve ever been in the Holocene — that is, ignoring the period of the dinosaurs and similar which perhaps is reasonable and perhaps not, but all of the claims that we’re “ruining” the climate rest on the premise that what we’re seeing now has never happened before in the time when the landmass we inhabit today has been where it is, and geologically the Earth has not materially changed.
That’s been a lie and these folks just documented it.”
More at https://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=252702
30
The data and analysis is convincing.
BUT !… i can already hear the alarmists crying out..” its just a local anomaly, compared to the GLOBAL average temperatures”. ?
We should be prepared for that rebuttal.
10
Retro life hack: kindling maker
https://va.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_sqfh3xMWWP1z23obp.mp4
Why does no-one sell these?
30
A blacksmithing opportunity?
20
*non coal furnaces only in nanny country Oz.
00
It would only be useful if you had no access to tree litter.
I gave my 15HP muncher to my son because he does not use his fire places. He uses the muncher for garden mulch.
Rather than mulching branches and twigs, I just cut them up for kindling. I get more than enough kindling off my own property. If there is any leaf litter, I mulch with the mower and distribute over gardens.
00
Wednesday sarcasm
If only the California Democrats had prioritized grooming the under brush over grooming the children.
50
FWIW – around the covid scene –
“Please recognize that this Fauci thing isn’t over, not by a long shot. His pardon has some legal problems. There may be other ways to get at him. But I’m about to make a very unpopular argument, so get ready: I don’t care that much about Fauci’s pardon. He is spry, but he’s eighty-four years old. Even if he were legally and properly charged, he would still be in his nineties by the time the appeals were done and so forth. They’d never lock him up, if he lives that long.
Fauci just involuntarily served his country by helping make the J6 pardons possible. He’ll be looking over his shoulder for the rest of his natural life, and he’ll die in witness protection.
And Fauci’s pardon cleared the way for something arguably more important.
Listen carefully: Fauci did not work alone. For years, Fauci has covered for a small army of co-conspirators, fellow scientists at the NIH and elsewhere, Fauci’s arms and legs, who carried out his evil schemes (and who aren’t 84 years old).
And who did not get pardons.”
More at
https://open.substack.com/pub/coffeeandcovid/p/open-the-drains-tuesday-january-21?
80
Fanbloodytastic.
Thanks.
00
Another look at this –
“About That Fauci Pardon…”
“What we do know beyond doubt is that Fauci’s preemptive pardon’s 2014 date corresponds with the banning of gain-of-function, and that Fauci violated the ban on gain-of-function research and slipped some federal money to Peter Daszak to conduct it.
That, I believe, is why Fauci’s pardon covered 11 years. ”
https://hotair.com/david-strom/2025/01/21/about-that-fauci-pardon-n3799034
20
Call Fauci before Congress, ask him about the details … when he lies about it, you have a whole new crime 😆 and no pardon for that one.
10
FWIW
“Vaccine-Injured Tell UK COVID Inquiry They Are “An Uncomfortable Truth””
https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/vaccine-injured-tell-uk-covid-inquiry-they-are-uncomfortable-truth
00
LEST WE FORGET
Wind droughts will get more attention soon, although recognition has been slow in coming since they made their presence felt in Europe in 2021 when they came as a surprise and started to seriously damage England and Germany.
https://www.flickerpower.com/images/The_endless_wind_drought_crippling_renewables___The_Spectator_Australia.pdf
Lest we forget, it was the Australians Anton Lang and the Paul Miskelly team who first documented the impact on the electricity supply when high pressure systems linger.
And it was Jo Nova’s blog where the work reached a wider audience than Anton’s blog and the journal where Paul’s major paper appeared.
https://papundits.wordpress.com/2019/10/01/australian-daily-wind-power-generation-data-introduction-with-permanent-link-to-daily-posts/
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1260/0958-305X.23.8.1233
The Energy Realists of Australia turned up to help late in the day. More about them tomorrow.
100
When we point out that Australian dunkelflautes occur grid-wide, on average almost once every three days, nobody ever challenges this fact.
I believe that it’s vital that clear date/time references to long dunkelflautes are maintained somewhere, as renewables enthusiasts often dispute the need for long-duration backup storage.
00
Rafe,
I am reasonably certain that our mineral exploration company Geopeko was calculating durations of wind droughts in the mid 1970s. We had discovered the big Ranger Uranium deposits in 1969, some 250 km east of Darwin, so rather unpopulated and underdeveloped. We knew the high costs of the number one candidate for the mine electricity, diesel generation. We had a team of 2-4 scientists work for several weeks on alternatives including solar and wind. The concept of intermittency was a given and we estimated how severe wind droughts might be. It was seriously bad to underestimate intermittency and we eliminated wind fairly early in the project. Some time was spent on tidal energy study of the bigger local tidal rivers, then dismissed. (I was one of the 2-4 people throughout). Electricity was but one factor that was investigated. Different freight methods, truck, boat, aircraft had a look. This was an exciting new discovery that generated huge scientific and engineering interest for those involved, who wanted to get it going with maximum chance of making high profits, including by innovative and inventive inputs. For example, the team spent months on the value of radiometric ore sorting with and without UV fluorescence of secondary U minerals and on the uncertainties of measurement of truck sorters. We studied secondary processes for uranium in Australia, particularly fluoride conversion, then enrichment, then electrical generation and presented top class, deeply researched recommendations to politicians too lazy, too ignorant and too socialistic to be bothered.
These days, all we get is political hindrance and a dying industry. No excitement, little leading edge innovation, just abuse like “dirty miners”. I suspect Trump recognises this in the United States. Geoff S
Geoff S
00
The Guardian reports:
“Trump, during his first day back in the White House, revoked the sanctioning of [West Bank settlers] seen as being involved in [violent activity against palestinians]”.
Why did he do this? … Anyone here willing to defend this move?
10
The cease fire deal.
21
FWIW
“Trump Puts the Air Brakes on Massive Idaho Lava Ridge Wind Project”
And all others in US
https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2025/01/21/trump-puts-the-air-brakes-on-massive-idaho-lava-wind-project-n3799026
40
Under The Palestioan Australian Labor Party Albanese/Wong/Burke et al, Current Multicultural Success
Police urge witnesses to come forward as investigation intensifies into brutal bashing of teenage lifeguard at Melbourne pool
Police are calling for witnesses to come forward as they release photos of a group of at least eight teens believed to have allegedly attacked a lifeguard at a public swimming pool in Melbourne’s south-east.
The group of teenagers are perceived to be of Middle Eastern appearance and Victoria Police has released CCTV images of the group.
[Snip. Exceeds Fair Use Copyright laws. – LVA]
72
Cloudflare mitigated a record-breaking 5.6 Tbps DDoS attack
The largest distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack to date peaked at 5.6 terabits per second and came from a Mirai-based botnet with 13,000 compromised devices.
The UDP-based attack occurred last year on October 29 and targeted an internet service provider (ISP) in Eastern Asia in an attempt to bring its services offline.
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/cloudflare-mitigated-a-record-breaking-56-tbps-ddos-attack/
In a digital world they don’t need to hack in to a system, they can just DDoS it and render it useless, for a while anyway, but that can shutdown everything.
DDoS government agencies, DDoS bank servers, DDoS emergency services.
Just wait until AI gets going.
At least the government will be there to save you.
/sarc
20
Overlooked ocean gas emerges as powerful force against global warming
Scientists have discovered that oceans emit a previously overlooked sulfur gas called methanethiol (MeSH) that increases their cooling effect on Earth’s climate by up to 70% in the Southern Ocean region.
This finding helps explain why climate models have consistently overestimated how much solar radiation reaches the Southern Ocean surface – they weren’t accounting for the additional cooling effect of this marine gas.
The discovery suggests that marine life plays a more significant role in regulating Earth’s temperature than previously understood, with implications for improving climate change predictions and understanding natural cooling mechanisms.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adq2465
The BS is being destroyed by the day.
10
JC II
Shows that when they decided that “The science is settled” the background song should have been
“Little things mean a lot”
00
“Extraordinary One Time Meme Post”
https://accordingtohoyt.com/2025/01/21/extraordinary-one-time-meme-post/
10
“Wish us luck as we wave you goodbye” as the song didn’t quite say
00
“DEI IS A POX UPON OUR HOUSE:”
“This needs to happen more”
“Most of the armed services of the United States falls under the Department of Defense. That means they’ll all likely be answering to Pete Hegseth here in a little while.
The one exception is the United States Coast Guard, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security.”
“More accurately, they were supposed to be “always on.” Instead, leadership opted to focus on DEI initiatives.”
“The ocean is a harsh mistress. She’s a mean, cold-hearted bitch who has claimed countless lives. Just going out is dangerous, and the Coast Guard is the home of the mantra: “You have to go out, you don’t have to come back.” Everyone knows it’s dangerous.
But in a case like that, why would you do anything that could put more lives at risk? Why would you put less capable people in roles they might not be ideal for? That’s asking for people to be killed.”
More at
https://tomknighton.substack.com/p/this-needs-to-happen-more
Via https://instapundit.com/697733/#disqus_thread
00
The headline behind that –
“ANOTHER ONE: Trump Administration Fires Woke Coast Guard Leader Over DEI Obsession, Ignoring Border Security Threats, and Other Significant Failures”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/01/another-one-trump-administration-fires-woke-coast-guard/
00
Another EU Triumph!
https://order-order.com/2025/01/21/new-eu-regulations-cause-olympic-medals-to-crumble/
10