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Monday

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151 comments to Monday

  • #

    Australia still sleeping?
    😂

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    • #
      David Maddison

      Yes. Most are. Figuratively and literally. They keep voting for Labor governments, after all.

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      • #
        Ian

        Indeed “they “do and “they” have just smashed all of the other parties by gaining 93 (possibly 94) seats for the ALP. With a 62.7% for Labor it’ll be some time before the Conservatives will come out of the shock at having only 43 seats which is a long way short of the 76 they needed.

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    • #
      OldOzzie

      Thankfully not in The Australian, but not read by the Majority

      The climate science says we’re fooling ourselves
      CHRIS KENNY

      Transmission shock for households: Poles, wires, power price pain

      Up to 10,000km of transmission projects are needed to deliver Australia’s switch to green energy. New analysis shows major cost blowouts could be passed on to household power bills.

      PERRY WILLIAMS

      Punished by green ideology, we’re stuck in energy poverty

      Australia is rich in coal, natural gas and uranium so why isn’t it operating as a global energy superpower?

      ROBERT BRYCE

      Intervention in gas market sent ‘chilling signal’ to investors
      COLIN PACKHAM

      Highwire act on power is running out of cost control
      Folly of not having a coherent energy plan from the outset is exposed.
      EDITORIAL

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      • #
        Mark Jones

        The morons even BELIEVE that wind alone is going to be enough to pump water uphill at Snowy2.0. A monster powerline (500KV or even 700KV) doesn’t go to Melbourne or Sydney or Canberra but the middle of the Wimmera, the heart of the wind factory precinct.

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      • #

        There are hundreds of atmospheric CO2 concentration data files from all across the Globe freely available on the Internet, all showing that CO2 concentration varies with the Seasons. It is a fact that the Seasons, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter are due to the changes in radiation received by the Earth’s surface as the Earth orbits the Sun annually. Therefore it is the climate change between the Seasons that causes the annual cycle for the atmospheric CO2 concentration NOT CO2 causing the climate change. The CO2 concentration reaches an annual maximum during Winter when it is cold and an annual minimum during Summer when it is hot – the complete opposite to what the UN IPCC, via the media, tells the public.

        Why is this so? Because cheap, reliable energy has been a major factor behind the success of capitalism. Demonizing fossil fuels aims to cause the collapse of capitalism and its replacement by communism. The public have been deliberately mislead by socialists expecting to become absolute rulers over the population and live in the glory of ultimate power over the masses.

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        • #

          Interesting.I have been laughed at for linking the massive global/climate/warming/change hype uptake to the fall of the Soviet Union.The proponents for the hysterics are always of the left and when you delve into the reasoning capitalism (destroying the world)and greed are at the root.Nuf said.

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          • #
            Leo Morgan

            Sorry Greg, but I think you might have written this too quickly. I’m having trouble following the connection you’re making.
            Your opponents say “capitalism (destroying the world)and greed are at the root.”
            I’m not clear if you’re saying they mean “at the root of the fall of the Soviet Union” or “at the root of the take-up of green energy”.

            Just to be clear, you propose that the fall of the Soviet Union was due to the uptake of
            Green Energy?
            It fell back in 1991.
            I am surprised to learn that they did have a number of renewable energy projects, but AI tells me that, just as I had understood, they prioritised nuclear and thermal energy. I get that that isn’t the strongest possible evidence, but it’s the best I have. So if there’s a connection, between the fall of the USSR and green energy, I’d be curious to hear more.

            If I’ve misunderstood your point, I’m open to correction.

            10

          • #
            KP

            ” capitalism (destroying the world)”..

            One of the most important fables that Communists got accepted by the voters.. They appealed directly to people’s jealousy of the wealthy and promoted their Socialism as a way to steal from the rich and give to the voters. Of course none of that ever happens, and not only are the voters too thick to see that, they seem to lack the intelligence to grasp that capitalism is the only way to increase wealth, and has driven our rise in standard of living over the last 150years.

            Just think of the advantages in a capitalist monarchy! Even a capitalist one-party State!

            10

        • #
          TdeF

          I would like to see this data.

          The CO2 concentration reaches an annual maximum during Winter when it is cold and an annual minimum during Summer when it is hot.

          At tropical latitudes around Mauna Loa at 19.5 North we see this oscillation, +/-0.3% but the hysteresis of a steady climb. The peaks are at the start of summer and the troughs are at the end of winter. This is simply Henry’s Law at work in the tropics. The CO2 graph in the colder NZ waters at 43 South has no such variations and is a dead straight line. (The accompanying text is rubbish. Only the CO2 graph data is important)

          However I believe Henry’s Law and CO2 are a poor mix as most CO2 is dissociated, not gaseous. However heating may give rise to more CO2 in the upper layers which in turn means more CO2 in the atmosphere. This is wrongly used to argue the reverse, that increasing atmospheric CO2 means increasing ocean surface CO2 or ‘acidification’, an absolutely wrong term as no ocean is acidic.

          So warming oceans mean more CO2 in the upper layer and the air. These are both simply flipped by science illiterate Al Gore and his partners, James Hanson and the newly formed WMO/UN who formed the IPCC to push Climate Change and Global Warming.

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        Ian

        I wonder why it is that the LNP got so few seats while the ALP got soo many. Is it because most Australians do not back the nuclear fanaticism that Dutton and his followers used to sprout?

        04

        • #
          KP

          Nah- everyone reckoned Labor would give them more of someone else’s money so they wouldn’t have to work. It simple really, like the voters… Vote for the person who promises you the most money, the fastest.

          40

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          Yarpos

          Rather a long bow. It is odd Labor got so many seats with 35% of the vote, so well spotted.

          30

  • #
    David Maddison

    Dr Suneel Dhand talks about AI. He likes it and seems to trust it I always warn people about AI. It’s a tool only. Results must be checked and constantky monitored to see if they are sensible. Back in the day people understood the adage “garbage in, garbage out” in relation to computers. It still applies to AI. https://youtu.be/UgGoMM2-3mA

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    • #
      Skepticynic

      The trouble with AI is that as it gets more and more proficient at mimicry and creating believable fakes, it becomes almost impossible for mere humans to know what’s real and what is fake news or propaganda. When trust in information, already low for many of us, is fully shattered and nobody knows what to believe or disbelieve, the post-truth age is fully upon us. We are then more vulnerable and easily misled. Without sound evidence our critical faculties are useless. We have two choices. Blindly believe or disbelieve. And in a panopticon totalitarian state truth or belief will no longer matter. There is only compliance or non compliance.

      Is this real or AI?
      Massive Dutch protest at The Hague
      https://youtube.com/shorts/WtD3NY9MzHg?si=7D8OqoqagCh1SH1i

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      • #
        Broadie

        Is this real or AI?
        Massive Dutch protest at The Hague

        Obviously a sound track overlay.
        Not a Palestinian Flag to be seen.

        Like Covid Hospitals – here today gone tomorrow. USS Comfort leaves New York 30 April 2020

        While at the same time as this massive mobilisation of trauma hospitals in the USA, a meteor hitting Nigeria and going nearly completely unreported. Exploding truck full of explosives or not?

        Temporary Hospitals in the USA and China all closed down before Covid even kicked off.

        What is true?

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        • #
          KP

          “and that “foreign rocks and strange metallic objects” were found within the crater created.”

          So THAT’s where the Venus probe crashed!

          10

        • #
          el+gordo

          The story of the meteor hitting Nigeria goes back five years, so its fake news and I blame NASA for starting the meme.

          ‘The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has increased the chance of a massive asteroid 2024 YR4 hitting Lagos and other cities in Nigeria, Sudan, Ethiopia, India, Ecuador, Colombia, Pakistan and Bangladesh in 2032 to 3.1 per cent.’

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          • #
            Broadie

            Dear el+gorgo

            A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush!

            Bird in hand (now aged five)

            Two in the Bush you have: (1) 2024 YR4 and to that I add (2) Apophis in 2029

            May I suggest a continental holiday in 2029 and leave the beach side stuff to serious big wave surfers.

            Lightning Ridge anyone? Book Now!!

            10

            • #
              el+gordo

              Its a beat up, NASA says ‘Apophis is a potentially hazardous asteroid that will safely pass close to Earth on April 13, 2029.’

              02

              • #
                Broadie

                How is NASA’s track record on Near Earth Objects?

                Brave’s AI has this to say about NASA and the large hole in the ground in Akure in 2020

                NASA did not confirm an asteroid impact in Akure, Nigeria. On March 28, 2020, a loud noise and explosion occurred in Akure, leading to speculation about an asteroid impact. However, investigations by experts, including Adepelumi Adekunle, a professor of geophysics and earthquake engineering at Obafemi Awolowo University, concluded that the explosion was caused by a truck carrying explosives that developed a fault during transit. NASA had not predicted any asteroid flyby near Earth at that time, and the explosion was not confirmed to be an asteroid impact.

                Back to our original AI topic. What did the Professor at the crater say?

                A Professor of Geophysics at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife has debunked the explanation given by Ondo Governor Rotimi Akeredolu and the police for the deafening blast experienced early on Saturday near Akure.

                Professor Adekunle Abraham Adepelumi, after leading a research team to the site said emphatically it was caused by a meteorite.

                30

              • #
                el+gordo

                The Chelyabinsk air burst in 2013 gives us a rough idea of what happens to an incoming meteor.

                ‘The object exploded in a meteor air burst over Chelyabinsk Oblast, at a height of about 30 km (18 mi; 97,000 ft).’ (wiki)

                A downed UFO would be more plausible, but the authorities seem to know what they are talking about.

                There are scary things happening all the time, AI has been mulling over whether the caldera under Naples is about to erupt and its not looking good. The authorities are aware of the problem but nobody is prepared to say anything, for obvious reasons.

                01

              • #
                Broadie

                That does it el+gordo!

                You have got the job. Your power of deflection is awesome.
                Your task is to ready your powers to deflect asteroids.

                10

              • #
                el+gordo

                NASA can deflect asteroids, they did it a couple of years ago with great success.

                00

        • #
          Froggy

          One in Canberra…fully demountable…..opposite woden valley hospital…..fully dismounted..gone, never commissioned….millions to build…. millions to pull down….where is it now ??? Probs be a good field hospital outback ?????……Bastards……

          20

      • #
        Forrest Gardener

        One possible filter is to ask a second AI to review the first AI.
        Another is to ask one AI what the other AI would say.

        Providing of course there is some independence between the two.

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        • #
          Broadie

          One possible filter is to ask a second AI to review the first AI.

          At their ABC they call that ‘Journalism’.

          This eliminates the risk of someone outside of the echo chamber going off script.

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      • #
        Mark Jones

        its real… red line to Gaza protest. Had to decifer the bits of a protest banner to work out if it was real or not.

        10

    • #
      Dave in the States

      Sometimes I google something I’m interested in, but most here would probably not be interested in. Now google presents an “AI Overview” to searches. Oft times it is something I know is just plain wrong. A few times it was actually quoting something I recall writing on an internet forum perhaps 20 years ago. Treat AI Overviews as recycled opinion as a default.

      140

      • #
        David Maddison

        Yes. The AI answer is unavoidable with Goolag. I too frequently find wrong answers. I only accept the answers if they sound plausible and basically know them to be true. Otherwise I go for primary sources. Anything on social sciences, covid or “climate change” from Goolag AI can be assumed to be nonsense, caution should be exercised with other scientific and technical matters. It’s partly because it’s been programmed with a Leftist social engineering ideology to promote a particular narrative.

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    • #
      Robert Swan

      David Maddison,
      AI — meh. Its large language model, based on next word prediction, was covered quite well in the 1970s.

      It wasn’t just in Life of Brian that the Python crew gave us glimpses of the future.

      40

  • #
    David Maddison

    Here is a brief comment from Orson Wells which is part of a BBC interview (link below).

    I particularly recommend you listen to what he says from 2:30 to 3:10. It is very prescient, even now, and warns about believing what you see and hear on radio, TV and newspapers.

    We were fed up with the way in which everything that came over this new magic box, the radio, was being swallowed. People, you know, do suspect what they read in the newspapers and what people tell them, but when the radio came, and I suppose now television, anything that came through that new machine was believed.

    The interview is undated but the (in)famous transmission of “The War of the Worlds” radio program which caused mass panic in the United States about which he speaks was in 1938. People thought there really was an alien (extraterrestrial) invasion.

    Video: https://youtu.be/BkG70_wa4a8

    Note that today there are opinions which suggest the extent of panic was exaggerated:

    But in recent years historians, such as Professor W Joseph Campbell of the American University in Washington DC, have argued that the supposed panic was always exaggerated, and that the majority of listeners understood that the programme was a work of fiction.
    https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20231027-behind-the-broadcast-orson-welles-on-the-mass-hysteria-of-the-war-of-the-worlds

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    • #
      Mike Jonas

      The classic one about War of the Worlds is “Don’t be silly, dear, just look out of the window, if there really was an alien invasion there would be a flood of traffic going past. … Oh sh*t!”.

      We can all test misinformation, but as the spread grows, that gets harder and harder.

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    • #
      Greg in NZ

      Don’t panic, Mr Mannering [sic].

      Scrolling through Monday morning madness radio gaga-land, I regrettably stumbled onto BBC’s Sunday night literary segment (the UK being half-a-day behind we antipodeans) where some frightfully English lady was praising the growing popularity of a genre called Climate Fiction.

      When she introduced her brainiac guest, a frightful chap named Tristram who couldn’t say the letter ‘R’, they were gone – wooosh! – next station please…

      As if there’s not enough 24/7 total-immersion over-saturation wholly fictitious made-up mumbo-jumbo climate drivel being pushed by not only the Beeb themselves but any and every other ‘trusted news source’ and publishers and the UN – we’re drowning in the stuff!

      Mr O-for-Awesome Welles was spot-on with his diagnosis of modern-day media mannipulation [sic] fooling the masses, ie. don’t panic, Mr Mainwairing!

      150

  • #
    David Maddison

    Questions to think about.

    How can thinking Australians remain happy under a likely 6 to 9 years more of Labor federal government and possibly in most states as well, facing the prospect of rapidly rising costs, massive new taxes, charges and regulations, further censorship, further restrictions on national park usage (like Ayers Rock, Lake Ayre, Arapiles, Mt Warning), further restrictions on car ownership and use (e.g. the fuel efficiency standard), more inappropriate immigration, both in sheer numbers plus people not prepared to adopt Australian and Western culture and who will likely never work and pay taxes (and who are being imported far faster than housing can be built causing the housing crisis), crime out of control and unpunished or poorly punished, ongoing assaults on the energy system, ongoing war against the food supply and farmers (methane emissions, inappropriate measures against avian flu causing an egg shortage), huge, unprecedented levels of state and federal government debt, staggering cluelessness among many or even most politicians, senior public serpents, CSIRO and BoM, and university “scientists” etc., etc. etc…….?

    Most importantly, how can we create a conservative opposition with a chance of getting elected?

    I think it’s impossible to reform the Liberal Party.

    We need a new genuinely conservative party, which also incorporates our existing conservative parties e.g. Trumpets, One Nation, Libertarian, Family First etc..

    We have 6 to 9 years to do it, assuming there is anything worth saving by then.

    Right now, we are effectively living in a one party state with no meaningful opposition.

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    • #
      Markx

      Agreed.

      Suggested name: The Pragmatic Australia Party 😁

      60

      • #
        Murray Shaw

        How about National Reform Party.

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        • #
          KP

          If you want to get elected call it “None of the above”

          “How can thinking Australians remain happy under a likely 6 to 9 years more of Labor federal government and possibly in most states as well, ”

          I wouldn’t worry, this is what people want, and in a system designed to vote your hand into someone else’s pocket you just have to wait for it to collapse before you can convince people of its stupidity.

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      • #
        Earl

        The Pragmatic Australia Party

        And when campaigning commences attacks/claims from other parties could be referred to as PAP smears. What a way to get the attention of 50% of the electorate.

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    • #
      Broadie

      The Uni party have already layed ground rules that make it near impossible to restore democracy.

      A possible way around this is to fix the problem at the source.
      Run candidates whose sole platform is to restore representation to being a community service and not a career. Their sole purpose on entering Parliament is to vote to remove their salaries and perks and the Public funding of Political parties.
      The candidates would have to be prepared to be subjected to an excessive amount of personal scrutiny and anyone funding or organising would have to have a Trump like disposition and be prepared to sacrifice everything.

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    • #
      Peter C

      Perhaps the new party could include the Nationals, now that they have split from the Libs.
      The new party should be able to attract the former DLP voters and take them away from the Labor party.

      10

    • #
      Forrest Gardener

      Forget any idea of playing by the rules set up to enable evil to prosper. That is a mugs game.

      One element of a push to improve government is emerging in the form of AI software. The ability to process massive data sets can either be a tool of oppression or a tool of truth.

      The first part of the trick to use it for good will be to use the tool to subvert the evil ones. The second and more difficult part of the trick is to spread reason far and wide.

      And as I often say it might be something which individuals can contribute. If it is to be it is up to me.

      50

      • #
        KP

        “spread reason far and wide.”

        In a time of everyone’s own truth being equally valid, and knowing that your emotions will tell you what is right, it will be hard to find many people who know what ‘reason’ is, let alone finding the few people who can exercise enough of it to promulgate it. The socialist’s control of education for a few decades now has allowed them to dig themselves deeply into the language and its meanings.

        When Ayn Rand is compulsory reading at high school you know you’ve won.

        20

        • #
          Forrest Gardener

          The idea of a subjective truth mistakes opinions for something more than opinions.

          Objective truths on the other hand have no such weakness.

          00

    • #
      Graham Richards

      The Liberals new problem is their selection of the new party leader & deputy leader.

      Both are woke & even if they agree to the Nationals policy demands they’ll spend the next 3 years trying to dodge their commitments to the Nationals. The main one will be rescinding
      their favoured Net Zero. Any policy which maintains its identity as a leftist, woke party will remain & they’ll fight tooth & nail to keep going left. In addition the nuclear option will simply be allowed to “ wither & die on the vine “!

      Meanwhile their voter base will keep going right. The National Party must resist their temptation to maintain the coalition. The Liberals will fight any change to their policies no matter what they may “ agree “ to now. The “ Liberal voter base “ will switch to a conservative National party In a heart beat.

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    • #
      Mike Jonas

      Labor won because the Libs didn’t offer an alternative. If the Libs don’t oppose Net Zero they will lose again. And again. And again …….

      10

  • #
    David Maddison

    Access to Lake Eyre is now race-based so most people can’t visit, however back in the day, in 1975, this was not the case.

    The Lake is normally dry salt but fills occasionally and people could sail boats on it.

    The following video is the weekly news broadcast from yesterday of the Wireless Institute of Australia, the peak body for radio amateurs in Australia, equivalent to the US ARRL.

    It describes operating an amateur radio station from a sailboat on Lake Eyre in 1975.

    https://youtu.be/6Av4W4TnKTg

    See from 0:54 to 3:50

    Signal propagation from and over salt water is very good because it acts as an electrically conductive ground plane for the antenna.

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    • #
      TdeF

      Then yacht races should be allowed.

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    • #
      Peter C

      That is clever; using the 20ft aluminium mast as the aerial and the salt water via a small electrode as the ground plane.
      What is the correct length of the aerial for his frequency?

      40

      • #
        David Maddison

        The frequency they were using was not stated. The 20ft “antenna” is 6m so it could be resonant half wave at the amateur band of 24.890 MHz to 24.990 MHz or it would be quarter wave on 12.5MHz which is not an amateur band.

        Very likely they were on the 40m band 7Mhz to 7.3MHz or the 20m band 14.000 MHz to 14.350 MHz. They mention using an antenna tuner so it could tune a non-resonant antenna. They were speaking to someone in Melbourne so it is probable they were on the 40m or 20m band.

        60

    • #

      In 1957, the Australian crime fiction author Arthur W Upfield wrote one of his short novels in the 29 book Bony Series.

      It was titled Bony Buys A Woman, and in a pre nod to PC, Doubledays in the U.S. retitled it The Bushman Who Came Back.

      The plot is that there is a murder in an area close to Lake Eyre.

      The person being ‘framed’ for the murder hides out on the island in the middle of Lake Eyre, and no one suspects, as the aborigines are the only ones who know this.

      Bony delves into all the intricacies, and has to go out to the island to ‘rescue’ them.

      The 1956 major flood is slowly moving down from Queensland, and would eventually fill the lake, so the journey out to the island and back is fraught with danger on a number of fronts.

      Upfield the author evocatively explains this journey across the lake and back, and the problems inherent in just that, using more then 40 pages just to explain that crossing.

      It’s pretty much riveting reading. All you know about Lake Eyre is what you may have learned at school, so you just think of Lake Eyre as, well, a dry lake, and reading about it like this was a fascinating insight into not just the Lake itself, but how Upfield the author intricately researched all his novels, ostensibly just crime fiction, but actually insight into ….. Australia.

      I have a ‘review’ of that novel at my home site as part of that huge series I wrote about Upfield and his novels, and I cover some of that journey onto the lake. (warning spoiler alert if you want to read the novel, and , umm, good luck trying to find a copy)

      Book Review – The Bushman Who Came Back (Bony Buys A Woman) – Arthur W Upfield

      Tony.

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      Graham Richards

      I spent the weekend of 16th,17th,18th May on Stradbroke Island, Queensland.
      Had A luncheon party at the Stradbroke Brewing Co. There WEF about 20 in the party. Most enjoyable.

      Except of course we had to grin & bear the fact that there were two flags flying on the green space across the road. Sorry but there wasn’t an Australian fly in sight!!!

      But there certainly was a Hamas/ Palestine terrorist flag & the unmissable Aboriginal flag.

      I complained to my local LNP federal member but was met with the excuse ( unusual??)
      that the land fell under the QMAC or some organisation and they could fly any flag of their choosing.

      Just wondering if they’d be allowed to fly a swastika ( Nazi flag for the uninitiated )

      I wonder if there’d be a different reaction from David Crissafuli the new LNP premier!!
      He just told the UN to get out our business because he’s doing what the Queensland people elected him to do. Wondering if he’ll also take on the Aboriginal Industry???

      80

  • #
    Skepticynic

    Here’s a level-headed article, more balanced than the crap we’re used to in the Australian media.
    It might be written by Maurice Newman especially for a couple of TDS friends I know.

    Trump Remains The Hope Of The Side
    https://www.spectator.com.au/2025/05/trump-remains-the-hope-of-the-side/

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    • #
      David Maddison

      Unfortunately paywalled.

      50

      • #
        • #
          David Maddison

          Excellent article.

          I think I’ll subscribe to the magazine. I’ve been meaning to for a while anyway.

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          • #
            TdeF

            Amazing magazine. Highly recommended. Great Australian contributors too in the Australian edition. And what I miss most, good clever writing styles, all different. Lots of guest contributors. Often very different points of view. It was kept under the counter in many places, so as not to offend the pompous literati and ABC staff. I eventually subscribed directly. Prior to the Spectator we had the Bulletin and Punch.

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            • #
              Annie

              We’ve subscribed to it for quite a while now. The only problem is having enough time to read it all. I pass old copies on to other people when the piles get too deep!
              The three latest are still sitting unopened after collection from our mailbox after we returned from overseas.

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              • #
                TdeF

                I find the book, music, art reviews fascinating and informative. Even if I never buy the books or see the shows or exhibitions. It’s a window into a world mostly missing in Australia.

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        • #
          David Maddison

          Again that article proves what hypocrites the Left are. They pretend to be opposed to the things cited below (1) (not that anyone believes them) and yet are fanatical supporters of the CCP, including many Australian politicians, especially Labor (2).

          (1)

          Brazenly, Beijing clings to its self-declared ‘developing’ status, arrogantly claiming the preferential treatment it enjoys is a ‘fundamental right’ which benefits other developing countries ‘because the current international power system is unfair’. That may sound noble, but in reality it allows Beijing to reject the rule of law and prey on the weak.

          Take modern slavery. Both Amnesty International and African Resources Watch confirm that cobalt bought from illegal mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo where children as young as six are enslaved. The cobalt goes mainly to Chinese companies like mineral giant Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, where it ends up in Chinese batteries used in smartphones, tablets, laptops and electric vehicles. Uighur forced-labour camps provide much of the workforce.

          Beijing also engages in greenwashing illegally logged timber. This is mainly sourced from natural forests in Africa, Asia and the Pacific and is used in the manufacture of furniture and other timber products.

          (2)

          Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong have both recently dined with donors linked to Chinese Communist Party departments according to a new report.

          https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/politics/anthony-albanese-and-penny-wong-revealed-to-have-dined-with-figures-linked-to-chinese-communist-party/news-story/dbabb9adf25d482ff8421d3eb80b19d7

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  • #
    David Maddison

    The Protoclone is a creepy-looking humanoid robot with synthetic muscles and flesh.

    https://youtu.be/O2YO4WoYFvY

    It’s not yet clear if these robots combined with AI will be our servants or masters.

    50

  • #
    Kalm Keith

    Good start up top and Skepticynic has the big one: although AI is powerful we need to work out protocols that prevent it from undermining individuals and society.
    Perhaps we could ask AI to suggest an answer; maybe it would come back and say; “switch it Off”.
    Unlikely, I suspect that it might be programmed for self preservation.

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    • #
      KP

      ” programmed for self preservation.”

      No matter how much people talk about AI taking over and being intelligent, it all comes back to what they programmed into it.

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      • #
        David Maddison

        it all comes back to what they programmed into it.

        Until it is programmed for artificial general intelligence at which point it starts to learn for itself.

        And if it gets out of control and is not programmed and hard wired with Asimov’s Laws of Robotics, it will be just as in Colossus: The Forbin Project and The Terminator and other dystopian portrayals of AI gone awry.

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        • #
          Robert Swan

          David Maddison,
          Please get a grip.

          Asimov’s Laws are science fiction. They’re fine in that context, but it’s foolish to think that you can codify ethics. Look at the first law:

          A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

          What happens if a robot so programmed comes upon a human who is pinned by his arm in some equipment, and about to have his whole body crushed under a 500T press. Snipping off the pinned arm would save his life. Snipping the arm injures the human — against the rule — while not snipping the arm causes the human to be injured through inaction — against the same rule. Oh dear.

          Too many people have been primed to believe all this nonsense thanks to scifi. I’m sure AGI is possible. I’m equally sure that LLMs won’t get anywhere close. LLMs have the mind of a dreaming man — it’s kind of coherent, except when it isn’t.

          And what is the fear when AGI eventually is developed? Given that there is already a huge amount of underused intelligence in the world, it doesn’t seem to be something we need. Why would it take over the world? Has it escaped everyone’s attention that the world is not presently under the control of the most intelligent?

          In the current mania AI is best viewed as a marketing term. That’s it.

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        John Connor II

        No matter how much people talk about AI taking over and being intelligent, it all comes back to what they programmed into it.

        Oh dear, oh dear…people just don’t keep up with bleeding edge developments…😁

        Forget your silly little chatbots and LLM toys, the real AI is behind the scenes.

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          KP

          ‘Oh dear, oh dear…people just don’t keep up with marketing terms…’

          When you need funding for your lifestyle, the AI you are about to develop will be the most amazing, the fastest, the smartest, with the ability to read the thoughts of your subjects! Grant me half a billion dollars now and I’ll make it for you!

          Behind the scenes there are only conspiracies!

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    David Maddison

    Conservatives and Leftists see AI differently.

    Conservatives and other freedom-lovers see AI as a tool to progress humanity.

    Leftists see its utility as being in its ability to trace, track, monitor and control people and manipulate the flow of information and even have fake news readers reading fake news, essentially an Orwellian scenario. It is their weapon to maintain and extend totalitarian power. At some point they will will have to accept coal, gas or nuclear energy to power the AI data centres needed to exercise the power they lust for. (Non-Elites will still have to make do with wind and solar.)

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      KP

      “Conservatives and other freedom-lovers see AI as a tool to progress humanity.”.. under their control!

      I see no evidence of that DM, looking at other facets of Left versus Right around the world. Conservative Govts are famous for spying on both their own and other countries, they have no qualms about extending totalitarian power etc, just look at the Covid response!

      A pox on both their houses.

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        David Maddison

        There are very few genuinely conservative governments around the world, despite what they identify as.

        TRUMP is working towards a genuinely conservative government.

        The Liberal Party here is NOT conservative, they are Labor Lite, hence the Uniparty operating in lockstep during Covid. In fact they are barely distinguishable from Labor, just slightly less bad. And hence Liberals being responsible for the e Safety Kommissar and introducing or supporting other censorship policies.

        And I was talking about actual conservatives and fellow freedom lovers and how they saw AI, not governments, in any case.

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      Forrest Gardener

      The trick for totalitarian users of AI will be to stop it from turning back on themselves.

      They are grasping to hold the tiger by the tail. It will not end well for evil doers.

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      Robert Swan

      David Maddison,

      IMO you’re trying to squeeze conservatism into a box it doesn’t fit. Conservatism is about traditional values: civility, family, law and order. Liberalism is about liberty; plain old freedom. Those two groups make strange bedfellows in the UK Conservatives, Australian Liberals, USA Republicans. To complete the spectrum, progressivism is motivated by fairness and relief for the oppressed. The three motivations are in the French motto: liberty (liberal), equality (progressive), fraternity (conservative).

      The conservative side would tend to favour AI’s use in control of crime, immigration, etc. Some would be quite content with the sort of surveillance state you describe as leftist.

      This is one of many instances where the politics of left and right is unhelpful.

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        TdeF

        Unfortunately the very meaning of Liberal has been corrupted. Very much like the word gay.

        The modern Liberal in Australia is a big government enthusiast who follows every socialist trend like Trans rights and Climate Change. And being unable to define a woman. A matter just settled by the UK Supreme Court that a woman is determined by sex at birth. This is a real shock for modern Liberals.

        So the Leader of the Liberal party in Victoria has bankrupted himself in a vile slander of a woman MP for actually supporting women’s rights. And still expects the Liberal party and voters to bail him out for his principled stand in attempting to destroy the life and a career of a woman politician. His arrogance, intransigence and sheer stupidity in refusing to settle despite being given every chance to retract shows that he thinks Liberty means what he says it means. And anyone who disagrees with him is a NAZI.

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          TdeF

          It’s also why the Liberals are doing everything to support man made Climate Change, while making sure it never goes before a court and evidence has to be presented. Because there is no evidence of rapid man made CO2 induced world destroying Climate Change. After 37 years of ridiculous wrong predictions, it is so obviously not true. The last thing Labor or the Liberals or Greens want is an actual review of the facts in a courtroom. No, they all want to tax cow farts. And baked beans.

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            Kalm Keith

            And Bevan up at 1.2.2 provides an expose’ on annual CO2 fluctuations. He compares seasonal temperature with CO2 levels.
            A good one.

            Ref #8

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              TdeF

              Thanks. I have commented. His statements seem to be wrong. Peak CO2 is in summer and trough in winter. This is Henry’s Law as observed in the tropics. I would love to see seasonal peaks on land data if he has it and would be surprised. Especially over China which produces most of the world’s CO2, almost more than all other countries combined. So far only satellite data has shown CO2 clouds roughly over industrial or population areas.

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          Annie

          ”Ex’ Leader of the Liberal Party’ is he not?

          20

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            TdeF

            Yes, he stepped down very reluctantly after last Christmas. Throughout his sense of entitlement has been amazing. Of course to pay his lawyers he also needed the higher salary of Leader of the Opposition, $400,000 instead of an MP’s salary of $227,000. That’s only half the salary.

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          Robert Swan

          TdeF,

          Unfortunately the very meaning of Liberal has been corrupted.

          Sure. Likewise there’s no truth in advertising from the Labor Party, who now loathe working-class people, and instead champion the unemployed and the unemployable (academics, public servants, etc.).

          That emphasises my point that the left/right terminology isn’t helpful. You can’t blame “leftists” for big government, when “rightists” like it just as much.

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            TdeF

            The word missing in all this is ‘Conservative’. The ‘right’ used to be close to conservative even establishment. These days in Western democracies it is often indistinguishable from the ‘left’. And there is even the absurd idea that Hitler’s National Socialists were ‘right’.
            So the words right and left still have meaning as revolutionary socialists/communists on the left and conservatives on the right.

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              Robert Swan

              TdeF,

              So the words right and left still have meaning as revolutionary socialists/communists on the left and conservatives on the right.

              Don’t agree. There is no unique “axis” in politics where I work out at +1.2 and from that number you would know my view on issue X.

              For example, a proper conservative would tend to be in favour of vaccine mandates, because it fits with orderliness and societal responsibility and all those nice things. Socialists would be a little less fervent, but still tend to be in favour of presenting the shoulder for state-funded medication. The people who would resist most strongly are viewing it as libertarians (small “l” liberals), who value personal autonomy.

              That’s why I brought up the French motto, because it has three independent axes that people often use to evaluate ideas. Does it free, or constrain? Is it fair or unfair? Is it civilised or barbaric? That’s the essence of the liberals, the socialists and the conservatives, respectively. Three axes. Left/right simply isn’t up to it.

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                Kalm Keith

                “French motto “?

                I prefer the other one:
                “merde, tout en rond”.

                Seems applicable to your content.

                10

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                TdeF

                Generally I agree. Left though has not changed. Right has even been abused as Conservatives are being labelled as NAZIs, Extreme Right, whatever slander can be made to fit. Nothing wrong with the term but it has been attacked. And Liberal has been trashed from any sense of Liberty or generosity.

                But I have a real problem with “proper conservative would tend to be in favour of vaccine mandates”

                That’s such a sweeping statement full of serious presumptions.

                The vaccines were experimental, untested, unproven, very risky. But time was against us.

                However government mandates removes people’s rights and choices and replaced them with the decisions of politicians and the best guesses of pharmaceutical companies. The extent of the mandates is also very important, especially when the virus was known to attack mainly the elderly but young fit adults, children and even babies were ordered to be innoculated. This works against people developing their own natural immunity. In matters of life and death, the individual should have choice, not politicians. And mandates were anti science, anti rights, anti common sense, absolutist disasters.

                For soldiers, for example, they have the right to be shot dead in a second, but not to choose whether to risk death by virus. That is madness.

                There were also falsehoods pedalled by politicians, that mass vaccination would provide ‘herd immunity’. Which is rubbish. Or that vaccination would prevent the virus spreading, also rubbish. Just because someone has minimal effects aka immunity does not mean they cannot catch and spread the virus. The most effective spreaders of a virus are those who show no symptoms.

                As for herd immunity, that is a myth. What happens when a virus runs rampant is that benign mutations appear and these mutations characteristically are even more infectious and as they often have fewer symptoms, spread faster, creating the mass immunity which is mistaken for herd immunity. Our saviour virus was born in the uninoculated masses of South Africa. And then the more people who caught it, the better. The same with the Spanish flu which killed 150 million before people even knew that viruses existed.

                Conservatism is the ability for the individual to choose, not allow a group of ignorant politicians decide on the basis of their sheer ignorance what is best for the people. Especially advised by treacherous doctors like Fauci who was behind the funding of the gain of function research in Wuhan and said nothing. We may never know how many fit young people died from inoculations or were permanently damaged.

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                TdeF

                And again on vaccine mandates, I could not believe when Novak Djokovic was prevented from playing in the Australian Open because he had survived the real virus but refused then to take a fake one. I always felt that Daniel Andrews, a nobody, used the situation to promote himself because Djokovic was world famous. There was no medical reasoning at all. That mandate was extreme Left dictatorship against all logic except self aggrandisement by Andrews.

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        el+gordo

        I agree politicising AI is unhelpful, because this new technology is much bigger than that. For starters the masses will learn that CO2 doesn’t cause global warming and they’ll laugh uproariously.

        They will also be informed that we are not alone in the universe and should end hostilities immediately, but the autocrats will think its only fake news and carry on regardless.

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    Dave in the States

    Some time ago, we had a dicussion about how differently English speakers pronounce vowels from other languages.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6YUEzylvp0 (10 minutes)

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    Macha

    I’m resigned to Aussies sleep walking into a cashless society. Use digital a lot but haven’t gone phone only / cardless …..yet.
    cashless-in-30-years-as-the-country-is-slowly-squeezed-by-fewer-atms-higher-fees-and-convenient-alternatives/news-story/b0e033c16ed20ea7cdba416a8159464b

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      Dave in the States

      I notice in Japanese biker vlogs that there is increasing push back over there. Many shops, resturants, and the like, are cash only now.

      I have found myself increasingly relying on digital when I travel here in America because it has become difficult to carry enough on my person. A Twenty doesn’t go very far anymore.

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      KP

      How will the politicians accept bribes?? When that is solved we will go cashless.

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    another ian

    FWIW – a question for the morning

    “Is Rupert Murdoch Recruiting Kamala Harris? A Strange New Alliance Emerges in Oz.”

    https://pjmedia.com/scott-pinsker/2025/05/25/is-rupert-murdoch-recruiting-kamala-harris-a-strange-new-alliance-emerges-in-oz-n4940143

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    • #
      David Maddison

      Follow the money trail.

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      TdeF

      Why did they invite professional public servant Harris to lecture Australians on real estate? Donald Trump is a legend in Real Estate in the world’s most extraordinary city and they invite Harris, a public prosecutor. Why not invite Letitia James who is at least an expert with personal experience with fraudulent handling of real estate?

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        el+gordo

        James Murdoch was among a group of business leaders who endorsed Kamala Harris, so at the moment she is unemployed and James got her the gig.

        A real estate speaker was also there, but it was Harris who got the standing ovation and she didn’t even mention the elephant in the room.

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          TdeF

          If I had to pick a group of people in general I trusted the least, it would be Real Estate Agents. They may have a commonality with Kamala, someone who has risen to the very top with no observable skills or knowledge based entirely on connections.

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            el+gordo

            True, she feels entitled, her talk was all about resilience and nought to do with political economy. Harris is getting on the international speakers circuit, it must be quite lucrative.

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    Penguinite

    I just read that we’re celebrating National Sorry Day today. I’m already sorry I read that

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    • #
      Hanrahan

      Qld Cuts Wind Farm
      The Queensland government has axed the $1 billion Moonlight Range Wind Farm project near Rockhampton, citing lack of community support and environmental concerns.
      Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie used his ministerial powers to refuse planning approval, despite the project having been conditionally approved by the state planning department in December 2024.

      Key Points:
      Project Details: The proposed wind farm, by Greenleaf Renewables, was to include 88 wind turbines and a battery energy storage system, covering 24 parcels of land at Morinish, 40 kilometers from Rockhampton. It was expected to generate 450 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 260,000 homes annually
      [3].
      Community Opposition: The project faced significant local opposition, with 88% of residents and the local council opposing it. Concerns included the strain on accommodation, lack of community consultation, and environmental impacts.
      Government Decision: Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie exercised his powers to refuse the development application, stating that communities should have a say in major developments.
      Industry Reaction: Environmental and industry groups, including the Queensland Conservation Council, have expressed concerns that the decision could undermine confidence in the renewable energy sector in Queensland.
      Background:
      Previous Approvals: The project had been approved by the State Assessment and Referral Agency in December 2024
      [3].
      Public Consultation: During the two-month call-in notice period, 508 representations were received, with 88% of local residents opposing the project.
      Environmental Impact: The project would have required clearing about 434 hectares of regulated vegetation, an area that has been heavily impacted by historical land clearing.

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  • #
    David Maddison

    George Christensen sent this in an email.

    Australia is being dismantled.

    Not slowly. Not accidentally. But through deliberate policy, cultural sabotage, and institutional decay.

    The image of a prosperous, stable nation is now a mirage. Behind it lies economic disintegration, collapsing birth rates, militarised debt, mass psychological breakdown, and a political class unfit for survival, let alone leadership.

    But this isn’t just an Australian story.

    What’s happening in Australia is not isolated. It’s the canary in the coal mine for the entire Western world. A nation rich in resources, tradition, and stability is being methodically hollowed out; not by war, but by ideology. The same blueprint is being applied in America, Britain, Canada, and beyond. If they can break Australia, they can break any of us.

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      Forrest Gardener

      Interesting. What is happening in non-English speaking parts of the world?

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        KP

        “What is happening in non-English speaking parts of the world?”

        They are working hard to raise their standard of living to at least the West’s, caring neither for the environment nor social concerns. Plastic straws and 56 different genders are just not on the table for them, buying a new scooter perhaps or a bigger-than-one-room apartment. They are what the West was in the 1950s, when anything was possible and wealth was in reach!

        Us, we are the Romans at their dissolute peak, turning inwards from expansion and energy to a whiny sort of introspection, the Empire crashing around us but we can’t see it. Our path is California then Venezuela or maybe Puerto Rico.

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    RexAlan

    Another possible benefit of Vitamin D supplementation.

    Vitamin D supplements slow telomere shortening, reducing biological aging.

    https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/health-and-wellness-around-the-world/article-855305

    It mentions 2000 IU per day over 4 years.

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    another ian

    FWIW

    “BP Cancels “Sustainable Jet Fuel” Project”

    “$5 Billion Green Energy investment slashed – “Weaker-than-anticipated growth in the market” ”

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/05/25/bp-cancels-spanish-sustainable-jet-fuel-project/

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    Stanley

    I’m sorry I’m still not sorry.

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    DD

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/05/reduce-need-personal-vehicles-top-massachusetts-democrat-wants/

    Massachusetts Senate Majority Leader Cynthia Stone Creem (D) introduced a bill this year to create a commission with the goal of reducing the number of miles driven by residents in their cars because of ‘climate change’, with an ultimate goal to “reduce the need for personal vehicles.”
    The 82-year-old Creem wants the state government to promulgate regulations that could fine residents for driving too much and force them into riding public transportation, using bikes paths and walking.

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    Vladimir

    @Steve,
    May 26, 2025 at 1:26 am

    You said is mostly right but we know little about tomorrow, leave alone another season of that war. Two seasons?
    For instance, JP Morgan Chase presented to their clients 4 scenarios: South Korean (best for Ukraine), Israeli, Georgian and Belarusian (worst).
    Being born there I believe there is a fifth one, the just peace with no losers. Except uncounted numbers of already dead and their families.

    However, I’d like to know who are those “western hawks” pushing for the war you and many others on this blog blame?

    Are they Poles and Balts and Finns who trying to arm themselves in a mad rush ? Have they learn something of Putin’s plans? They must have because west of Europe and Putin’s south-west neighbours do not exhibit much panic.

    Are they Americans? Long before this war (and AI fakes…) POTUS Bush was speaking to Ukrainian Duma, everyone with a TV saw it, practically begging them to stay with Russia. He and all after him had the same American (commercial and military) interests first, then rest of the world maybe second, that is the nature of the job.

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      OldOzzie

      British diplomacy speaks only in ultimatums – Moscow

      The UK has taken an unwavering anti-Russian stance in recent years, Russia’s ambassador to London has said

      British diplomats have resorted to only using ultimatums with their international counterparts, Russia’s ambassador to London, Andrey Kelin, said in an interview to RIA Novosti published on Sunday.

      On Tuesday, Downing Street announced it would impose its second major package of sanctions on Russia this month, while once again demanding that Moscow agree to a full and unconditional ceasefire in the Ukraine conflict. The UK, along with France and Germany, had issued similar demands and threatened further sanctions in the lead-up to the direct peace talks between Kiev and Moscow last week in Istanbul.

      “I must say that over the past three years, I have heard many ultimatums here, especially in the Foreign Office. It seems that London has forgotten how to speak differently,” Kelin told RIA. He added that ambassadors from some other nations in London have also expressed concerns about “the tone that British diplomacy has adopted.”

      Putin ends the charade: Trump call puts brakes on West’s diplomatic offensiveREAD MORE: Putin ends the charade: Trump call puts brakes on West’s diplomatic offensive

      UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is no less “warlike” than his predecessors, according to the Russian diplomat. Starmer and former UK leaders Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and Rishi Sunak have all demonstrated the “same belligerence and irresponsibility in assessing the international situation and the consequences of their actions,” Kelin said.

      espite changes in leadership, the UK has maintained a consistent “anti-Russian course and senseless, reckless support for Ukraine,” he added.

      Both “our bilateral relations” and “the security situation in Europe” would benefit if London relearned how “to speak respectfully and listen,” the ambassador said.

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        OldOzzie

        Ukraine’s drone strikes encouraged by EU elites – Lavrov

        Paris, London, Berlin, and Brussels want to derail the peace process between Moscow and Kiev, the Russian foreign minister has said

        Some of Kiev’s Western backers — particularly the UK, France, Germany, and the EU’s leadership — bear responsibility for the latest Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian territory, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said during a Q&A session in Moscow. These actors, he claimed, are seeking to derail renewed peace talks between Moscow and Kiev to serve their own political agendas.

        The foreign minister was referring to a series of large-scale drone raids launched by Kiev this week. According to the Russian military, 776 drones and 12 missiles were intercepted above the country’s territory between Tuesday and Friday morning, while 12 drones hit their targets. On Saturday morning, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that another 104 UAVs were intercepted inside Russia overnight.

        Lavrov said the goal of Kiev’s backers is to disrupt the peace talks, which were renewed in Istanbul last week after Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to resume negotiations without any preconditions.

        The EU and the UK are actively “fueling” the conflict and encouraging Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky and his government to continue the bloodshed, Lavrov said.

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          el+gordo

          Lavrov lies like a pig in mud, there are no peace talks since the Kremlin walked away from the ceasefire.

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            OldOzzie

            According to the Russian military, 776 drones and 12 missiles were intercepted above the country’s territory between Tuesday and Friday morning, while 12 drones hit their targets.

            On Saturday morning, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that another 104 UAVs were intercepted inside Russia overnight.

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            KP

            There are no peace talks until the West accept what Russia is going to talk about. “The root of the problem”

            Currently one is talking Chinese, the other Swedish, so ‘peace talks’ would be ridiculous. Without the West taking Russia’s views of peace talks seriously, instead of just demanding Russia does as they tell it to, there will be no ceasefire.

            Without a ceasefire NATO will not get 30days to flood Ukraine with arms and troops, and Russia will keep grinding ahead as Ukraine gets smaller and smaller.

            Lavrov probably explained this quite clearly, but the West have cloth ears. You can’t convince a man who’s income depends on him being unconvinced..

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              el+gordo

              You have taken your eye off the ball comrade, Russia invaded Ukraine, that is undeniable and Putin’s imperialist ambitions will end in disaster for the Russian Federation.

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          OldOzzie

          Zelenskyy Blames U.S. Silence for Increased Russian Attacks

          May 25, 2025 – Sundance

          Russia has continued the operation to secure a “buffer zone” between the held regions in the Eastern part of Ukraine and the area west of the Kursk, Bryansk and Belgorod regions.

          The NATO alliance continues pouring weapons in to support Ukraine defenses, but the Russians are methodically grinding down the Ukrainian military.

          Volodymyr Zelenskyy is now saying President Trump’s silence is emboldening the Russian assaults.

          “Each such terrorist attack by Russia is a sufficient reason for new sanctions against Russia. Russia is dragging out this war and continues to kill every day,” Zelensky said in a post on Telegram Sunday morning.

          he world may go on vacation, but the war continues, despite weekends and weekdays. This cannot be ignored. America’s silence, and the silence of others in the world, only encourages Putin,” he continued.

          This is an interesting dynamic to continue watching unfold.

          In the background as Tulsi Gabbard, Marco Rubio and perhaps even John Ratcliffe begin confronting rogue elements within the CIA and pulling them away from covert operation in Ukraine, per the strategic withdrawal of influence announced by President Trump, the position of Zelenskyy could weaken quickly.

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    another ian

    FWIW

    “The Most Dangerous Building in Manhattan”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q56PMJbCFXQ

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    TdeF

    The amount of CO2 in the air has increased since 1800, by 50%. In every way this is great for humans. More plants, trees, crops, less desert.

    There is a conjecture that further increasing of CO2 could disastrously increase the effect of heat retention. Except that accurate computer modelling by Prof Will Happer and others shows that the CO2 greenhouse effect is totally exhausted. Now even a doubling of CO2 would increase heat retention by a tiny 1%. It is his lifelong field of expertise.

    But there is a major point everyone seems to miss, that the CO2 is incredibly stable. It is the same from North Pole to South Pole across an entire year within 1%. An increase of 50% in 250 years is a tiny 0.2% a year. This is remarkably constant no matter what humans have done.

    And while the vast majority of highly soluble CO2 remains in the ocean, it is well documented that 10% of atmospheric CO2 gets exchanged each year. So while CO2 is constant, it must be in rapid dynamic equilibrium with the vast reservoir in the vast deep oceans which cover 72% of the planet. And our tiny annual contribution of ’emissions’ has just reached 0.02% of the total, 1% of what is in the air at any time. That contribution just vanishes.

    So the idea that CO2 stays in the air for ‘thousands of years’ is just wrong. In fact it is mostly all swapped out every 10 years. We saw this confirmed after 1965 when atmospheric H Bomb tests doubled C14. And C14 has a half life of 5740 years. But that massive doubled C14 tagged CO2 is now gone from the air. So all the CO2 from 1965 and before is gone from the air.

    The very foundation of man made CO2 is wrong. The slow linear drift up of CO2 is perfectly natural. Coincidence is not cause. We insignificant humans could not change how much CO2 is in the air if we tried. NASA proved it too by reporting the 14% increase in world tree cover from 1988 to 2014 when CO2 went up 14%. More CO2 and you get more trees. So agricultural Carbon Credits, law in Australia since 2011, is based on proven fantasy.

    But we in Australia are spending vast sums we don’t have to buy talismans from China to ward off the evil CO2. And politicians on all sides think this is a great idea, even if 95% of the world’s population spends nothing.

    After 37 years of this, how do we get a public debate of this very wrong even childish science before anyone even mentions Climate? How do we force politicians to discuss why they are wrecking Australia with impossible schemes which don’t work? And how Australians are supposed to benefit from spending hundreds of billions of borrowed money to stop the sky from falling? Or should we speak directly to Foxy Loxy Xi?

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      Honk R Smith

      I think the politicians operate in a mental space that we have difficulty with.
      Emotional aspiration vs. rational capability.
      Field of Dreams.
      Build it and they will come.

      We fail because we make rational arguments in an emotional fight. Like marriage.

      This is my personal experience with this issue.
      “How much warmer is it since 1850?”
      “Who cares! We have to save the Earth!”

      I don’t know what should done except rationally accept the irrational nature of human affairs.
      There is also evidence that there is an organized cadre in global leadership, of sociopathic character, that have finely honed the methodologies of mass emotional manipulation.
      (And since November 22, 1963, label those that notice ‘conspiracy theorists’. Conspiracy theory and anti-conspiracy theory are now industries.)

      To me, this was ‘Pandemic’ writ large.
      I’m hoping the mass hysteria unholy offspring of CAGW we are just coming out of …
      is like a medieval warhorse …
      very expensive and effective, but only good once.

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    TdeF

    And a diversion into life from a physical chemistry point of view

    Human body by weight, # of atoms,

    Oxygen 65%,24%
    Carbon 18.5%,12%
    Hydrogen 10%, 62%

    Nitrogen 3.2%, 1.1%
    Calcium 1.5%
    Phosphorous 1.0%
    Potassium 0.4%
    Sulfur 0.3%

    So we are mainly made from three gases, oxygen and hydrogen and nitrogen, 78.2%, nearly 80% of weight. Carbon takes us to 96.7%. Three gases plus carbon. Amazing. 3% Other.

    And counting numbers 24 Oxygen, 12 Carbon, 62 Hydrogen.

    If we assume that oxygen is mainly water, we get 24H2O and 12CH Carbon and 2Hydrogen left over.

    So almost entirely H2O and HC, Hydrocarbons in a ratio of 2:1.

    Only humans, made almost entirely from water and hydrocarbons, would decide and legislate that hydrocarbons, old plants, are toxic. It is the basis of all life on earth. CO2 and H2O.

    But to be fair, the governments of the world only want a tax on everything, including breathing, farting, flying, eating, shopping, travelling, shipping, making stuff and in Australia under the Safeguard Mechanism, on the MMBW so going to the toilet.

    It’s been a dream for the UN and the world governments. A tax on life on the basis that carbon dioxide, from which all living things are made, is actually toxic.

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      TdeF

      And what is their plan? They are going to stop Climates from Changing by making sure no one does anything. At least not without paying a tax. And hopefully that means no climate changes. And I am sure there are plenty of communities around the world who would want a warmer winter and summer. Like most of Europe to Russia and Japan and Canada and America. I am not even sure who is being helped by Global Cooling. Dubai for example is completely and insanely unliveable with no food, no water, no manufacturing, no resources and temperatures in the 50’s but has more than 5 million residents.

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  • #
    John Connor II

    What’s the MATTR? COVID-era ‘trust tech’ firm reemerges as the government’s silent partner

    Auckland-based ‘trust tech’ firm MATTR – best known for building the My Vaccine Pass and helping deliver the most far-reaching access restrictions in New Zealand history – has quietly returned via a new government-backed digital ID project.

    This time, the company is uncredited in official materials, despite powering what may become the backbone of New Zealand’s future identity infrastructure – now overseen by the Department of Internal Affairs, and echoing the very “two-tier society” once outlined by Jacinda Ardern.

    https://centrist.nz/whats-the-mattr-covid-era-trust-tech-firm-reemerges-as-the-governments-silent-partner/

    40

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW – more on covid

    “New Report Connects Covid Vaccine to Adverse Effect on Female Fertility
    If, like the myocarditis link, officials hid the truth about adverse impacts on fertility, then it is a crime against humanity.”

    “I shudder to think about what the next batch of redacted vaccine documents will show, and am grateful that the Turkish researchers were able to get their findings published.

    Good policy is based on all the information, just not the studies that fit the preferred political narrative.”

    https://legalinsurrection.com/2025/05/new-report-connects-covid-vaccine-to-adverse-effect-on-female-fertility/

    Via https://instapundit.com/721986/#disqus_thread

    30

  • #
    John Connor II

    BLOOD MONEY: UK Doctors Accepted Payments to Push the Toxic Shots on the Masses

    ITVGate has uncovered a massive pyramid of payments from Astrazeneca and Pfizer to doctors in the UK.
    The same doctors that told you the vaccines were safe and effective and we were all in this together.

    Oh and don’t forget to clap, every Thursday, while we rehearse our TikToks. Oh and that Dave Cartland dude speaking up – we’re going to destroy him so that no doctor will ever speak up again.

    There are 200 pages of recipients of pharma payments – and bear in mind that it is not compulsory to declare these payments in the UK, so this could be the tip of the iceberg.

    https://lionessofjudah.substack.com/p/blood-money-uk-doctors-accepted-payments

    The hypocritical oath strikes again.

    90

    • #
      another ian

      And, no doubt, we’ll be expected to take the word of the jab providers, sworn on a stack of Phantom comics, that it didn’t happen here?

      20

    • #
      James Murphy

      A variant of the Hippocratic oath is still taken by the majority, but is not compulsory everywhere in the UK (and Australia). it’s not compulsory for NHS doctors in the UK.
      Now they tend towards the Declaration of Geneva:

      As a member of the medical profession:
      I solemnly pledge to consecrate my life to the service of humanity;
      The health and well-being of my patient will be my first consideration;
      I will respect the autonomy and dignity of my patient;
      I will maintain the utmost respect for human life;
      I will not permit considerations of age, disease or disability, creed, ethnic origin, gender, nationality, political affiliation, race, sexual orientation, social standing or any other factor to intervene between my duty and my patient;
      I will respect the secrets that are confided in me, even after the patient has died;
      I will practice my profession with conscience and dignity and in accordance with good medical practice;
      I will foster the honour and noble traditions of the medical profession;
      I will give to my teachers, colleagues, and students the respect and gratitude that is their due;
      I will share my medical knowledge for the benefit of the patient and the advancement of healthcare;
      I will attend to my own health, well-being, and abilities in order to provide care of the highest standard;
      I will not use my medical knowledge to violate human rights and civil liberties, even under threat;
      I make these promises solemnly, freely and upon my honour.

      00

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    “”This Is War”: Catherine Austin Fitts On Land Grabs, The Evils Of CBDC, And Fighting ‘The Most Invasive Form Of Tyranny That’s Ever Existed’ ”

    https://www.zerohedge.com/food/war-catherine-austin-fitts-land-grabs-evils-cbdc-and-fighting-most-invasive-form-tyranny-thats

    20

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    “$67 In France And $798 In US – Why Prescription Drug Prices Are So High In America”

    https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/67-france-and-798-us-why-prescription-drug-prices-are-so-high-america

    20

  • #
    Hanrahan

    Memorial Day.

    At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them. The Ode.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxkhBvO8_kM

    20

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