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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Farages Reform party wins hundreds of local seats, the administration of 6 council and also take the Runcorn Parliamentary by election by 6 votes.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14671799/Keir-Starmer-voter-Reform-local-elections-tax-hikes-winter-fuel-cuts.html
A good night for Farage and a disastrous night for the Tories and Labour.
However Starmer has a huge Parliamentary majority so this won’t affect things at government level
460
And still, based on the little I have read this morning, the Conservative party still thinks it’s just a loss of “trust” that they need to restore. They simply don’t – or won’t – admit that the problem is their policies, that they simply do not represent conservative voters any longer (just like our own Liberal party).
440
When will UK drop NetZero – before or after Farage is PM?
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Farage declares Reform UK to be “the real opposition” and the Tories are “toast”.
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Oh dear, Prince Harry faces £1.5 million court costs as judges rule against him getting special treatment for his security.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/2049386/prince-harry-uk-security-latest-court-appeal
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That’s an unbelievable amount of money on legal costs to decide what one might think is a relatively simple matter.
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When the two legal teams need to argue and keep arguing to secure a larger pay packet, what do you think they are going to do? Sort it out in minutes or drag it out for months?
The legal fraternity is not in this game for your good. There should be laws against the methods they use to drag a court case out longer than it needs to be. Costs need to be levied against the legal teams to end this practice.
350
They always-
‘Sort it out in minutes ‘
and then
‘drag it out for months’
Before they release their decision.
This goes for Govt inquiries as well, often there is no more information to be found, but ‘considering their verdict’ takes a year. Its rubbish of course, they write the verdict that night then throw it in the bottom drawer until the time is right to release it as a diversion, or the publicity has died down enough to slip it out unnoticed.
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They will often, in the initial consultation, overstate your chances of winning, too, just to make sure you take the matter to court. Been there, done that.
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Some years ago, I read about a case that was portrayed as the longest court case in history. A will dispute over a very large inheritance, the case ran (from memory) for 275 years through generations of would-be heirs and their lawyers, and ended when the legal fees had drained the entire inheritance. True or not, given what one knows about lawyers and human nature, it’s credible.
50
If there is only one lawyer in town he will have a hard time surviving, once there is a second both their futures are secure.
50
By the time I finished as a litigation lawyer, my advice was to expect to spend $1M conducting even a simple supreme court matter to the end of trial, and allow another $1M to take it through appeal proceedings. I advised that if successful they should expect a costs order of around 40% of their actual costs and they should consider the depth of their opponent’s pockets and whether they were ever going to be able to enforce any favourable costs order.
As a matter of public policy the costs system has a useful effect of encouraging litigants to settle early. Sometimes litigants are poorly advised. Sometimes litigants are well advised and instruct the lawyers to proceed anyway.
On another aspect the act of commencing litigation is almost certain to destroy any relationship with the other side.
Is the justice system broken? Only if you get involved in it.
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The matter was simple but maybe the egos involved less so
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The egos were simple too. Just a different kind of simple. The ‘Simple Jack’ kind of simple that comes from too much inbreeding. Never go full retard.
20
Like when a famous musician walks into a guitar shop: the price of everything triples.
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Following the Supreme courts ruling that Only Biological women should be considered women, a host of sports including football rugby and cricket have banned transgender players from competing against women.
https://dailysceptic.org/2025/05/01/transgender-players-banned-from-womens-football-in-england/
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Share the secrets TonyB. What’s been added to the water supply to suddenly awaken your countrymen. We in Oz, are desperately in need of the recipe.
Some years back there was a bit of an awakening with the BNP. But suddenly the “sleeping sickness” returned. Please don’t let that happen again. It’s only Weird Starmer & the Torys that need to be put to sleep. ( £50 million to dim the sunshine….really!! 😳😳 )
Go Nigel Farage. Great Britain is depending on you!
420
The dimming of the sun is sensible because as you no doubt know, Britain has 10 hours of sunshine per day every day and we need to escape from its relentless brightness.
Hope it goes well with your own elections but carney seems to have obtained a 4th consecutive win in Canada so people are obviously gluttons for punishment.
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Yes. The UK has a surface area of 0.05% of earth’s total surface. I’m sure blocking out the sun will lower earth’s temperature by a few femtokelvin.
Also, like Canadians and the UK, Australians are also in full self-destruct mode and are very likely to elect a Green Labor Government today which will be Australia’s worst Government EVER and FAR surpass the present regime in badness which is also Australia’s worst Government ever to date.
The dumbed-down masses just don’t have a clue.
It’s like the Nerobefehl or Nero Decree of the National Socialists in 1945.
Destroy it all!
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At a guess the insurers would have had quite a bit to say about the risk of knowingly exposing female competitors to harm from male competitors.
The impact of increased premiums or exceptions to cover can be very persuasive on trend setters.
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Sensible people with a spine have always known that men should never compete with women.
Now they agree with common sense?
The sports ruling bodies are cowards, as are most in goverment and the meejia.
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Kill all the lawyers.
You are right about them being cowardly, usually because they fear lawsuits for discriminating against a protected class. With the Supreme Court ruling, they now have legal cover and don’t have to worry about getting sued for enforcing common sense rules. They can just point to the Supreme Court ruling to crush any lawsuit. It is now ‘safe’ to do the right thing.
20
The pre-election propaganda flowed on till midnight of the day before the polls.
Out came a report on ABC that masses more of younger voters intended to vote green. Can we presume that this would encourage young voters to vote green, as opposed to a theoretical report that many young voters were fed up with green and were not intending to vote green?
At my mid-80 age, there is doubt I’ll be alive for the next Federal election. This saves me worry about my political future but in the meantime, it makes me very concerned for the grandchildren. Parents, happily, still exert proper influence in this family group.
I cannot bring myself to say the usual “May the best man win”. Geoff S
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Their ABC (Australia) is a taxpayer-funded $1 billion dollar per year 24/7 far Left propaganda operation that doesn’t work for the benefit of all taxpaying Australians but just Greens, Labor and Teals. They have a huge adverse effect on Australian democracy.
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Help is requested, please.
I was making progress getting a bank to admit errors and correct them. They referred me to a sort of banking ombudsman who asked for me to comment on a matter by a certain date. I emailed them several pages a few days short of the deadline.
Then, suddenly, brick wall. The ombudsman says I failed to respond by due date, so the file was closed. This was done by an email 20 minutes or so after midnight on the day of the deadline, possibly by a preset program.
What can I do?
How can I show that I did send an email and that it was on time?
Both these parties have now ceased communication. I do not know law well enough to know if there are precedents.
It seems more like extremely dirty tactics that have no place in proper commerce.
Geoff S
280
Get in touch with the press or television programmes.
In the UK there is a programme called ‘Rip-off Britain’ that follows up cases like yours, and in the Daily Telegraph Kate Morley does similar sterling work.
Good luck!
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Have you looked in you’re sent folder?
Checked you sent it to the correct agreed email for said submission?
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^^^ This. The trick is to keep all the “receipts”. And to make sure you get acknowledgments of all communications.
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Could you generate a brand new complaint, and make no reference to the previous complaint?
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First thing is a contact the ombudsman. Even if your email went astray this would not be the first time this has happened. They will have processes such as internal review for handling the problem. Especially in your case where you did respond.
Even if you did miss their deadline that does not extinguish your rights to seek redress through the ombudsman. If that’s what they say then get them to put it in writing. If they refuse to put it in writing get them to confirm their refusal in writing. And so on.
Ombudsmen do not like to be embarrassed but make sure you get all the receipts before escalating. And don’t threaten.
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Thanks for the several suggestions.
I have already tried almost all of them. About to try starting a new enquiry.
How do you explain anything to people who simply do not respond beyond “The case is closed.”
Is this cancel culture in action?
Geoff S
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Do you know where the Ombudsman’s office is? Can you drive there and knock on the door on Monday? If not, there must be a phone number. You can always copy the Sent Email and post in a letter registered mail. I would assume it is an honest mistake or glitch in the system, and if you phone the number below ask them to can reopen the case.
If appropriate, and they fob you off, let them know you will persist and you will escalate this by filing official complaints, by informing the Minister, the opposition, the 7:30 Report, The Australian. The goal is to let them know you are calm, determined, and very well informed.
ChatGPT says:
If your friend emailed the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) — which is the official ombudsman for banking and financial services complaints in Australia — and they closed the case citing “no response received,” here are the steps he can take:
✅ 1. Gather Evidence
Ask your friend to:
Find the original email he sent (with timestamp).
Check sent folder, outbox, or email logs (e.g., delivery/read receipts, bounce-back notices).
Verify the email address used was correct (e.g., info@afca.org.au or case-specific address).
Note date and time it was sent and whether any attachments were included.
✅ 2. Contact AFCA Immediately
He should:
Call AFCA directly: 1800 931 678 (Monday–Friday, 9am–5pm AEST)
Explain what happened and ask for the case to be reopened, supplying evidence of the timely response.
Follow up by email with a clear timeline of events, attaching the proof.
✅ 3. Resend the Information
If AFCA agrees to reopen the case or review the decision:
Resend the original email and documents.
Request written confirmation that the case is active again.
✅ 4. Complain About the Process (if necessary)
If they refuse to reopen the case despite clear evidence:
Ask for escalation or make a formal complaint about AFCA’s handling.
AFCA has its own internal complaints process:
See: https://www.afca.org.au/about-afca/complaints-about-us
✅ 5. Consider Parallel Complaints
If the original complaint was about unfair bank conduct, he can also raise the issue with ASIC or the bank’s internal dispute resolution team while trying to resolve it with AFCA.
In a legal case I was once involved in, I sent the reply from two different email accounts with hours to spare. When they didn’t reply I phoned the office before the deadline asking them if they had the emails and could they send a reply confirmation. (Which they did). The whole thing is so painful.
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Normally, all emails you send end up in a folder called “Sent” so you can retrieve it from there or even resend to yourself – which will show the headers including the timestamp and addressee.
An exception is when you send an email as a reply or forward to a previous email that is in a different folder (not in Inbox). In that case the new email gets saved in the same folder from which you sent it.
If somehow you did not manage to send the email it will sit in a folder called “Drafts” or similar.
Most mailers should allow you to request a “Read” receipt and a “Received” receipt. The recipient, however, may be given the option to deny any of these “requests” if their mailer was configured so. A government authority, however, should automatically confirm receipt and preserve any communication. This includes Whatsapp or mobile platforms as proved by Avi with the Safety Karen Commissioner.
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By way of your post, not much.
Do you know that emails aren’t guaranteed to be delivered (unless from a registered email service)?
Did you specify a “read receipt”?
Did you utilise a pixel tracker?
If you’re using gmail, then read this:
https://www.cliently.com/blog/how-to-check-if-email-has-been-delivered-in-gmail
Beyond that you’d need to poke them hard, insisting they check again, check spam etc.
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You do normally get a notification of non delivery, so the end to end integrity is pretty good as long as you are participating.
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Testing vaccines against a placebo should have been done already.
“Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is requiring all new vaccines to undergo placebo-controlled trials in a policy change the agency described as a “radical departure from past practices.”
“Under Secretary Kennedy’s leadership, all new vaccines will undergo safety testing in placebo-controlled trials prior to licensure — a radical departure from past practices,” an HHS spokesperson said to Fox News Digital on Thursday.
“HHS suggested that childhood-recommended vaccines listed under the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, for instance, should be tested.”
https://www.foxnews.com/us/rfk-jr-require-all-new-vaccines-undergo-placebo-testing
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A move to bring vaccines into line with standard practice is a radical departure from past practices. We do live in very troubled times.
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UN judge jailed for slavery!
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14673039/UN-judge-jailed-six-years-young-woman-slave.html
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In the following video there is an absolutely wonderful story from the US about how someone was being harassed by a petty and corrupt Home Owners’ Association official and what they did about it.
It’s long, nearly 44 mins, but it’s really worth it. Beautifully told.
(For Australians, in the US HOA’s are neighbourhood community organisations which inpose all sorts of rules about house appearance and so on.)
https://youtu.be/nFdnDIKwzFg
Some claim it’s an AI story. It’s a synthetic voice, maybe, but I don’t believe AI could write a story of that nature.
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I had a quick look at the video and the storyline. I’d put money on it being a fake.
These videos are increasingly sophisticated. And always with a moral to the story. The amount of computer power involved must be staggering.
Sadly it just means that youtubers need yet another filter.
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Ah….looks fake to me too. Spelling mistakes!
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Spelling mistakes! *thar every ware*
via RNZ on your election today –
“… Peter Dutton who’s popularity surged …”
AI or keyboard kid brought up on screens?
Govt media * never to be trusted.
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As fake as a Green’s election promise DM.
Always a good idea to check the main channel then go to “videos” and see what else they post.
A lot of HOA satire…
/and I had such high hopes for you. 😁
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The Soviet Venusian probe which was launched in 1972 but never made it is about to return to earth. Kosmos 482.
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According to my weather station it’s 8C (46F) in Melbournistan right now.
I wonder if the gas supply and electricity supply will hold up for winter given that it’s been systematically and deliberately destroyed?
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Considering only Earth’s orbit, the Southern Hemisphere will average 1.1W/m^2 less sunlight through April, May and June in 2025 compared with 2024. So expect this year’s Australian winter to be cooler than last winter. Cannot say if it will be enough to tip the grid into load shedding. I expect that depends more on the availability of the clapped out coal fired fleet.
If the State governments can keep the existing coal plants in business, the situation should imp[rove by 2038 when Snowy 2 fires up. Of course that depends on Australia staying out of AI and its grab for electricity.
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Interesting. What is the basis for the calculations?
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All the orbital data comes from NASA JPL Horizons App:
https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons/app.html#/
I believe this data to be accurate. The solar system becomes a very complex problem for resolving the equations of motion and it would require something better than my desktop or laptop to produce the orbital information. The Horizons App is very fast. It will produce daily data for distance and declination for 190 years in a flash.
Once I have that data, I work out the daily average solar for every day at various latitudes. For this study, I used a latitudinal resolution of 10 degrees. I end up with 69,761 by 17 table that has daily solar EMR at 17 latitudes. All the present data is based on a solar constant of 1361W/m^2.
I know solar activity is connected to the gravitation forces on the sun so my next step it to adjust the solar “constant” based on that data. So far the finest time resolution I have used for the sun is 5 days but I will go down to 1 day for that as well.
The result I got here is the first time I felt I can predict weather changes from year to year. However the Nino34 region is still a gap to resolve.:
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If you think Australia is in a bad state now, it will be hugely worse if Labor win again and unspeakably worse if Greens get the balance of power.
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But Albo has rules out a coalition with the Greens. Obviously a $275 promise.
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And we all know what that’s worth.
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David,
You are an optimist. If the greens get the balance of power, they’ll turn the lights out, stop mining, end all border control and gift the nation to someone who never understood nor claimed ownership of the land. We are simply in their way and will be stripped of all rights and assets, not to force us to comply but to deny us the ability to respond or be heard.
And that’s the good news.
You’ll own nothing and they’ll be happy. Enjoy your chocolate ration, it went up last month.
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^This is why disarming the population is always step #1 on the road to tyranny. It’s also why you guys should never have let them take your guns. A government should fear it’s people, not the other way around.
“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” — Ben Franklin
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David, my intuition agrees with you but I am left with the question of what would be different if the greens/teals do not get the balance of power, or if the LNP coalition forms government.
I don’t think the nation can vote its way out of the problems it voted its way into.
My solution? Nothing more than the old adage that if it is to be it is up to me.
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Given the current slowness of this site it must still be under attack.
The Left/Elites don’t want any anti-government opinions to be expressed.
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David,
fast here in Sydney, even with going through VPN in Melbourne
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Well surprise, surprise NOT!
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Also see:
https://x.com/australian/status/1918044009249030277
For pictures and comments.
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And it’s a bit late for the Lamestream Media to be reporting this, don’t you think?
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FWIW
“This week at the UN General Assembly, the US Counselor denounced the UN’s so-called 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development Goals, a globalist wish-list of mandatory climate and DEI nonsense. Without US support, the 2030 SDG’s are a dead duck. Quack, quack, gleerrrrrb.”
“The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals —or SDGs— are a sweeping set of 17 interlocking objectives adopted in 2015 under the banner of Agenda 2030. On paper, they promise a utopian checklist: end poverty, combat climate change, ensure “equity,” restructure education, overhaul energy systems, and manage global land use.
In practice, they are a soft-power blueprint for top-down, bureaucratic control over national policies— often sidestepping democratic processes in favor of unelected “stakeholders,” NGOs, and supranational enforcement. It’s like a global Homeowner’s Association, but for everything from farming to finance, with no opt-out clause, and no one you can vote against.”
More at
https://open.substack.com/pub/coffeeandcovid/p/gifts-and-surprises-friday-may-2?
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You can be certain that even without US support, Australia will be a fanatical supporter of it.
And it was the fake conservative Liberal faction of the Uniparty who signed us up to it.
https://www.dfat.gov.au/aid/topics/development-issues/2030-agenda-sustainable-development
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Interesting and this system of non-representative government has been well and truly trialled through the EU.
It will of course fail when they run out of other people’s money. The problem is the damage they will cheerfully wreak before the whole thing collapses.
On reflection cheerful isn’t the right word but I don’t claim to understand the mindset of people who think that they can make better decisions for you than you can yourself. Or more recently their insanely programmed computer systems.
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And
“PROMISE?! The Economist Says the UN Could Run Out of Money IN MERE MONTHS and the Jokes Write Themselves”
https://twitchy.com/samj/2025/05/02/economist-says-the-un-could-run-out-of-money-within-months-n2412275
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I will beleive it when I see Guterres flying economy and staying at a Novotel.
70
He enjoys standing around in shallow water, possibly a kayak or a SUP would do his physique the WORLD of difference.
/ slip / slop / slap
40
I had a very close look at Earth’s orbital precession and was somewhat surprised at what I found:
https://1drv.ms/b/c/cdb8a3183f0262ad/EeVOgQf-q21CtxJxVc3h1cgBFEXfvNihogVgYswDIbiDOA?e=xiv3q6
When you get to daily time resolution for Sun-Earth distance and declination to solar radiation, you can appreciate how well the orbit correlates with observed weather and climate.
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And yet that sort of information remains suppressed, even though orbital cycles have been known to affect climate and be their main driver since the 1920’s and Milankovich’s work.
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Well done Rick, an excellent read. Its likely that sort of information is suppressed, although its also likely it is ignored and pushed aside as irrelevant. More like mainstream medicine with biomagnetism, rather than with Ivermectin, not worth banning but accepted as just rubbish.
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Well done Rick. I didn’t at first realise you wrote it as there was no author name.
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Well, the author name is at the end of the article.
30
Rick, are you going to try to publish it in a Lamestream (or any) journal?
10
It costs too much money to get things on climate published unless you are in the club. Only those working for government agencies can afford the cost.
I have sent it to WUWT for consideration.
90
I have published on wjarr.com for US$36. They are indexed on Google Scholar.
20
This image is the weather matrix for 2025 wrt 2024. Any change of 0.5W/m^2 or 0.5days typically produces a material change from year-to-year.
https://1drv.ms/i/c/cdb8a3183f0262ad/EbAKoT0zO3lMgtP5B9-0vOUBgTUtAR-L5OJfWsma4VOtGw?e=Xn0KZA
2025 could expect to see cooler winter in the SH; warmer summer in the NH; also warmer summer in the SH but cooler winter in the NH. The high advection in both hemispheres should result in more winter storms and more snowfall in the NH – (could be a record fall snow extent). The higher monsoon and higher advection should also lead to increased cyclones in the NH somewhat like Australia experienced with Alfred. Although Alfred was advection driven rather than monsoon driven so late season.
Fall NH Advection in 2025 is higher then either 1976 and 2014, which were years of high fall snowfall extent.
Given the gradual heating of the Mediterranean Sea and the increase in NH Monsoon in 2025, Medicanes are more likely to develop this year than last. The Indian monsoon may be a few days ahead of average as well. Its start date has been gradually advancing in line with increased NH Heating solar EMR.
20
Rick, your ‘Matrix’ tables all have ‘NH Temperature’ not ‘NH Temperate’ and the first one has ‘NH Temperate’ where it should be ‘SH Temperate’.
20
Great update from the Meuleman family on the Daniel Andrews Bike Boy scandal
Friday, 02 May 2025
Bike Boy Campaign Update
Slater & Gordon Lawyers Pays Ryan Settlement
Fri 02 May 2025
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Great news, but that’s only in regard to the law firm’s treatment of the boy, it’s nothing to do with the “Big Guy”. That particular aspect is still being pursued.
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FWIW
“China Sinking – Groundwater Dropping”
https://chiefio.wordpress.com/2025/05/02/china-sinking-groundwater-dropping/
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China’s potential water shortages is why they’re damming the five main rivers and others flowing out of the Tibetan Plateau to potentially control the water supply to much of Southern and South East Asia.
This development is being ignored by most of the world.
https://www.equaltimes.org/china-s-water-grab-in-tibet-risks?lang=en
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Vance’s India trip couldn’t have come at a stranger time
The terrorist attack in Kashmir was conducted during the US vice president’s visit to India, serving as a reminder of the threat Isl@mist terrorism poses
By Kanwal Sibal, retired Indian foreign secretary and former Ambassador to Russia between 2004 and 2007. He also held ambassadorial positions in Turkey, Egypt, France and was Deputy Chief of Mission in Washington DC.
Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said on Thursday that he had spoken with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the Pahalgam terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir last week, which killed 26 people and led to the current escalation between India and Pakistan.
The “perpetrators, backers, and planners” of the attack “must be brought to justice,” Jaishankar said.
Washington earlier said it was in touch with both India and Pakistan at multiple levels, urging them to work towards a “responsible solution.”
The terrorist attack was strongly condemned, not only by Trump and Vance, but also by the US secretary of state, the FBI director, the director of national intelligence, and the US attorney general, among others.
Trump has signaled that he will leave it to India and Pakistan to sort things out, which suggests that he is giving India a free hand, just as he did in 2019 when he recognized India’s right to self-defense after the Pulwama attack in Jammu and Kashmir.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a cabinet meeting on Wednesday to discuss New Delhi’s options in the wake of the Kashmir attack. He has given the heads of the army, navy, and air force “complete operational freedom to decide on the mode, targets, and timing” of India’s response.
The attack occurred during a four-day visit of US Vice President J.D. Vance to India. US President Donald Trump and Vance both hold strong views on Isl@mist extremism. There is a belief that, as in the past, these terrorist attacks are organized to take place during high level visits to India by American leaders – in an attempt to draw attention to the issue of Kashmir and remind the Americans of the dangers of a conflict between the two nuclear armed powers if this issue remains unresolved.
– Trade in focus
– Dealing with tariff pressure
50
Germany ‘has rebuilt the Berlin Wall’ – Vance
The US vice president has slammed attempts to “destroy” the anti-immigration AfD party
US Vice President J.D. Vance has compared the German government’s treatment of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party to rebuilding the Berlin Wall.
On Friday, Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the BfV, classified the anti-immigration AfD as an “extremist” organization, citing “xenoph@bic, anti-minority, Isl@mophobic, and anti-M@slim statements made by leading party officials.” The label enables police to closely monitor the party’s activities.
“The AfD is the most popular party in Germany, and by far the most representative of East Germany. Now the bureaucrats try to destroy it,” Vance wrote on X.
“The West tore down the Berlin Wall together. And it has been rebuilt – not by the Soviets or the Russians, but by the German establishment,” he added.
The party’s co-leader, Alice Weidel, accused the government of attempting to quell dissent. “Since the AfD is the strongest party in polls now, they want to suppress the opposition & freedom of speech,” she wrote on X.
AfD was founded in 2013 as a backlash to Germany’s handling of the eurozone debt crisis. It has since shifted focus to demanding tighter immigration and asylum laws and opposing the “woke agenda.” The party also criticizes NATO and has staged protests against sending weapons to Ukraine.
AfD finished second in the federal elections in February, winning 152 seats in the 630-seat Bundestag. Last month, it topped opinion polls for the first time, with 26% support.
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AfD classified as ‘Right-wing extremist’ by Germany spy agency
Calls to ban the party could be renewed after BfV said it had definitive evidence it works against the democratic system
James Crisp Europe Editor
The Alternative for Germany party was officially classified as a “proven Right-wing extremist organisation” by the German domestic intelligence agency on Friday.
The announcement by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) means Germany’s main opposition party is no longer just under suspicion of extremism after an investigation lasting months.
Alice Weidel’s party came second in federal elections held in February in their best ever result after they were championed by senior members of the Trump administration, including JD Vance and Elon Musk.
According to some polls, it is now Germany’s most popular party, while others have it equal or slightly behind the centre-Right Christian Democrats (CDU).
Calls to ban the AfD now look certain to be renewed after the BfV said it had definitive evidence that it works against Germany’s democratic system.
The AfD is expected to take legal action against the reassessment, which makes it easier to use surveillance methods, including recruiting informants, audio and video recordings, and financial probes. Authorities can monitor party communications with parliamentary authorisation.
The Bfv said: “The ethnic-descendant understanding of the people prevailing in the party is not compatible with the free democratic basic order.
It added: “There were numerous indications of efforts by the AfD to oppose the free democratic basic order. These indications were confirmed during further investigation and, in essential parts, consolidated into certainty.”
Huge surge in public support
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German Intelligence Agencies Label AfD, the Largest Political Group in the Country, as an “Extremist Organization”
May 2, 2025 – Sundance
In the USA we have the example of “Russiagate” where the FBI, CIA and DOJ-NSD intel community weaponized against candidate Donald Trump.
In Romania, we have the example of the EU intel community nullifying –through the court– the election win of Călin Georgescu; and disqualifying the winning candidate.
Now, in Germany, the intelligence community produces a report labeling the largest political party as an “extremist” group, taking new power to conduct political surveillance and control the election outcome.
What is the common denominator?
WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned a decision Friday from Germany’s domestic intelligence agency to classify the political party Alternative for Germany (AfD) as a “proven right-wing extremist organization,” calling the move “tyranny in disguise” and advising the country to “reverse course.”
“What is truly extremist is not the popular AfD—which took second in the recent election—but rather the establishment’s deadly open border immigration policies that the AfD opposes,” Rubio wrote in a post on X in the hours following the decision.
The decision, announced Friday by Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, gives German authorities increased oversight and surveillance over AfD. While some AfD branches at the state level have received the label — such as in Saxony and Thuringia — this is the first time in modern German history that a party with nationwide representation on the federal level has been classified as extremist.
The party won a record 152 parliament seats in the February federal elections and now holds 20.8 percent of the vote.
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What is the “free democratic basic order?” Germany’s infamous bureaucracy?
30
Opposition to bureaucratic over-reach is now portrayed as opposition to the free democratic basic order.
It’s all from George Orwell’s manual. He actually intended it to be a warning, of course, but it is being used as a manual.
50
Yep
They desperately want to implement Orwell’s vision of the future.
‘If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – for ever’
10
Anyone care to place an over/under bet on what their percentage is in the next round of polling? I’ll set the line at 30% and take the over.
The proles love nothing more than voting for the guys their betters tell them NOT to vote for. It happened with Trump in America, with Le Pen in France, with Georgescu is Romania, and with AFD in Germany. And will continue to happen in France/Romania/Germany as long as the voter’s will is thwarted.
There is no quicker way to ensure sustained success for your opposition than to publicly put your thumb on the scale to stop them from winning.
Trump was well on his way to ignominious defeat in the Republican 2024 primaries (trailing Ron Desantis in the polls by double-digits) when the first indictment came down. After the indictments, convictions, and assassination attempts, he won the primaries in a cake walk and pulled a swing-state-sweep on his way to winning the popular vote in the general election. The Democrats have no one but themselves to blame for him joining Grover Cleveland as the only US presidents to win non-consecutive terms.
European establishment goons have failed to learn the lesson that American Democrats learned last November. And after sowing the wind with electoral interference intended to cripple their opposition, they will reap the whirlwind the next time elections roll around. Nothing adds ‘cool points’ to a candidate than all the government scolds telling you that candidate is out of bounds and forbidden.
50
Taken on face value, CO2 does not cause global warming and the Keeling Curve is dodgy.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NASA_CO2_Chart.jpg
92
I notice that the graph doesn’t go back to just over 400,000 years ago when the centre of Greenland was ice free with plants and shrubs growing. CO2 level (from Vostok) was less than 300 p.p.m.
Also the Eemian about 120 – 135 thousand years ago when (from fossils) there were lions, elephants and giraffes in the Thames Valley and hippos in the river and Rhine delta, and the CO2 was only 285 p.p.m.
Could it be that CO2 doesn’t have much effect on climate?
121
There is irrefutable proof that the rise in CO2 follows ocean warming
The Keeling Curve began in 1958 and I wonder what the ice cores say for the period 1958-2025.
31
“[The Eemian] was much warmer: some 2° C higher than pre-industrial times…ice sheets were much smaller; sea levels were some five metres higher; forests extended into the arctic circle and there were hippos in Britain.”
So what’s CO2 got to do with it? LOL!
30
FWIW
“WHOA MAMA! Check Out the MOTHER of ALL Threads from DataRepublican on George Soros’s Evil AF PLAYBOOK”
https://twitchy.com/samj/2025/05/02/george-soros-thread-datarepublican-n2412277
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One aspect of globalism mentioned therein is the “Rules-Based International Order” something Globalist Uniparty Australian Governments have been widely concerned with.
The fake conservative Globalist Liberals particularly liked it.
You can see the popularity of use of the term in Australia at:
https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&geo=AU&q=Rules%20based%20international%20order&hl=en
From 2021:
50
If we have a UN Charter and puport to support the UN, the you have to wonder why we have a “rules based international order” apart from it being able to be massaged to mean whatever is needed to help a small club of countries achieve their goals at the expense of others.
I am no fan of the current operation of the UN, however the UN Charter does seem to be a reasonable basis for international relations between countries. (Where international means all countries) unfortunately it does seem to mostly be a piece of shelfware these days.
11
Video:
Katie Hopkins talks about eco-vandalism in the UK where a new solar farm is being installed and destroying productive farmland and the scenery.
And the UK is still installing solar panels whilst at the same time trying to blot out the sun.
She is outstanding!
https://youtu.be/dhaBuA6VtpE
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Aside from the north/south pole, I can’t think of a place on earth where solar is LESS likely to be effective than the UK. The UK only averages 126 days per year of sunshine to go with 239 cloudy/rainy days. Even when it is sunny, the latitude of the UK means the sun’s angle is well below optimal for maximizing solar output.
https://twogreenleaves.org/green-living/latitudes-impact-solar-energy-dynamics-unveiled/
Equatorial solar makes some sense, but northern hemisphere countries investing heavily in solar is one of the dumbest ideas ever conceived.
40
But me and selected [= ‘breathing’] UK taxpayers are providing grants for schools to be fitted with solar panels [Miliband will have certificates that prove – absolutely prove – that they are not made using slave labour, but by wind power, I expect!] throughout England, and probably in Scotland. Libraries there, too, I gather.
The Marvellous Mr. Miliband tells us they’re essential.
All of Great Britain is north of Winnipeg, Canada.
And I’m sure the Marvellous Mr. Miliband knows all about orbital geometry and declination.
And latitude.
Auto
20
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard thinks Russia has reached the end of the line.
USA takes over Ukraine’s shale gas in payment for weapons, seeing the UK has already robbed their minerals. They sell teh gas to Europe to undercut the Russians. The price of gas drops and Russia gets less income. The world economy heads into recession and the price of oil drops, so Russia loses money again. He reckons the austerity it will cause in Russia will be enough to force Putin to end the war.
However, I reckon he sees it through Western spectacles, not realising the Russian people may take a lot more austerity than the whiners on this side.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/the-tables-have-turned-and-putin-s-country-is-now-in-dire-trouble-20250502-p5lvxp.html
22
KP,
watching Australian in Moscow fairly regularly as a Subscriber, as I enjoyed Moscow in September 2018 – things seem to be going well
I Went to a Russian (Chinese) Commodity Fair (During Sanctions)
Travelling with Russell
181K subscribers
10,486 views Apr 17, 2025 ✪ Members first on April 16, 2025 #moscow #russia #travellingwithrussell
Come along on a tour of the largest International Commodities Fair in Russia. Held in Moscow every year, this Chinese Commodity Fair highlights the strong connection between Russia and China and shows some of the many companies ready to import goods to Russia.
🌐 Convention Name: MosHome 2025
11
KP
Could that be another “Hitler from the bunker” type view?
10
This is a great morning, with still some hope left to become a good day.
The USA-Ukraine LendLease Pact has been signed. Check its very short description by Yuliia Svyrydenko, Minister of Economy and 1st Vice Premier.
Of course it should still be ratified but it is a great document, by which Ukrainian industry falls to a degree(?) into American hands.
And what was expected? That USA will defend Ukraine for free?
Free cheese exists only in a mousetrap.
60
Sorry, hit ENTER too quick.
https://me.gov.ua/News/Detail/91af98f8-9ae6-49ba-99ae-adb847fe493a?lang=en-GB&title=UkraineAndTheUnitedStatesSignEconomicPartnershipAgreementAndEstablishTheReconstructionInvestmentFund
20
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard has been issuing waffle for years. I long since stopped reading him so he might actually got something right but why would Russia be bothered by gas prices when the EU has managed to stop using Russia gas? Even though it used to be the cheapest source of electricity (apart from brown coal) for Germany.
And the EU has ‘managed’ to cancel or strongly delay sources of gas supply and accept liquified gas (more expensive) from the USA and certain (not verifiable) sources elsewhere.
41
Russia has been relentlessly grinding out bits of Ukraine territory. On the face of it, Russia is winning. However, if the cost to Russia is put into the equation, it seems to me that it’s fairly evenly balanced. This deal between USA and Ukraine could now tip the balance in Ukraine’s favour.
Incidentally, I applaud Donald Trump’s admission that he might have got Vladimir Putin wrong (assuming I am remembering the news item correctly). Donald Trump may or may not be all the bad things that his opponents portray, but it is an amazing and refreshing change for a major politician to freely admit that they might be wrong.
30
Ukrainians may loose their country to Russian Tsar as they did 350 years ago and again in 1920.
The question is what would the current Tsar factually wins, what would be the spoils of his war?
Hatred which would last for generations?
10
To heck with selling Ukrainian gas to Europe. Russia is already largely locked out of that market. Sell it to India/China, which is where Russia redirected much of it’s gas to after invading Ukraine. Undercutting them in India/China would hurt them WAY more than undercutting them in Europe (where they already face stiff sanctions).
10
How the Ozempic hormone works – and ways to increase it naturally
Weight loss and diabetes drugs work by mimicking our ‘fullness’ hormone, but doctors believe you can boost it through diet alone
They have been the-most-talked-about drugs of the last decade, maybe even the century. The new fat-shedding jabs can help people shed up to a fifth of their body weight and bring a raft of health benefits, including reduced risk of diabetes and heart disease.
But if you’re hoping to get your hands on these “miracle” drugs, you may need to think again. There are strict criteria on the NHS, with the drugs reserved for those who are clinically obese, with a BMI of over 30.
But there’s an alternative. The new generation of weight loss drugs, including Wegovy, Saxenda and Mounjaro, have been designed to mimic the hormones that control our appetite, though at a turbo-charged rate. Some doctors believe you can amplify these processes naturally, simply by adding certain foods to your diet.
How does the hormone work?
When we eat, our intestine produces two hormones called incretins: glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP).
When scientists discovered, in the 1990s, that incretins tell the pancreas to release insulin, they developed drugs mimicking their effects to treat diabetes (which occurs when the pancreas produces none or too little insulin), explains John Wilding, a professor of medicine at the University of Liverpool.
“It was later discovered that these hormones (particularly GLP-1) also play a part in the ‘satiety system’ that signals to the brain when we are full after a meal,” he says.
This led to the development of the wave of obesity-fighting drugs that are hotly discussed today: semaglutide, known better by its brand names Wegovy (for weight loss) or Ozempic (for Type 2 diabetes), and liraglutide, known as Saxenda.
These drugs imitate the actions of GLP-1. They target the appetite control centre in the hypothalamus area of the brain to reduce hunger pangs; slow down the rate the food leaves the stomach, leaving users feeling fuller for longer; and tell the pancreas to release insulin, which lowers blood sugar.
While the naturally-occurring GLP-1 is broken down in the bloodstream in a matter of minutes, semaglutide, given as a weekly injection, lasts for at least seven days and is more powerful, says Prof Wilding. Liraglutide, however, doesn’t last as long and a daily jab is required.
How can we get a similar effect through our diet?
If you don’t want to turn to weight loss drugs but feel like you’re battling against your appetite, studies suggest that some foods can raise levels of GLP-1 – acting like a natural form of Ozempic.
40
Planet Ark charity goes bust, having over-spent its $3mil a year. The theory being it was a catalyst for people and industry to pick up on recycling, but-
“Voluntary schemes always fail to make a significant impact, so it was on the verge of greenwashing because industry used it to oppose much stronger regulatory schemes.”
Jon Dee, the guy who started it but left, wants to get back in, but even he reckons he needs the truncheons of Govt behind him.
“Voluntary schemes always fail to make a significant impact, so it was on the verge of greenwashing because industry used it to oppose much stronger regulatory schemes.”
Greens all over, it looks great with happy hippies all volunteering at the start, then turns into Govt thuggery as usual to force everyone to comply.
https://www.smh.com.au/environment/sustainability/labor-commits-to-national-packaging-rules-as-planet-ark-collapses-20250502-p5lvz3.html?js-chunk-not-found-refresh=true
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The Australian Editorial – Power failure proves again that all roads lead to gas
This week’s electricity system failure in Spain and other parts of Europe proves the point.
Comments by Alcoa, which owns the Portland aluminium smelter, Victoria’s biggest electricity user, bring the message home.
In regard to the Spanish blackout, Alcoa said if power authorities could not quickly understand what had happened and the solution, the company would have to reconsider its operations there.
Meanwhile, Alcoa chief executive Bill Oplinger told the Melbourne Mining Club that the much quoted renewables and battery model would not cut it. “I’ve not seen an economic business case that says batteries can be built big enough to back up a smelter,” Mr Oplinger said.
Alcoa also has dismissed hydrogen as a viable future energy source.
Alcoa’s hard-headed determination on batteries and hydrogen is significant, not least because the Albanese government has offered aluminium smelters a $2bn producer credit if they make their Australian products in a low greenhouse gas emissions way.
According to the Australian Aluminium Council, Australia’s four aluminium smelters consume as much electricity as South Australia and Tasmania combined. The aluminium industry says the single most important thing the government can do is to ensure low-emissions electricity is delivered reliably and at an internationally competitive price. As this week’s Spanish experience shows, this is easier said than done.
The failure of the Spanish electricity grid mirrored the collapse of the South Australian grid in 2016 and has brought back to the surface a debate that has been raging in the national electricity market largely out of view from the public. As Centre for Independent Studies energy program director Aidan Morrison wrote on Friday, the mask is slipping for the entire energy transition. “Behind the curtain, the experts are still figuring out what’s required to make this grand experiment work,” he wrote.
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CHRIS UHLMANN
Anti-nuclear zealotry is just net-zero intelligence
It was a cartoon protest that distilled this election’s infantile energy debate.
On Tuesday, three men, described as “union supporters”, gatecrashed the Opposition Leader’s press conference in the NSW South Coast seat of Gilmore.
In low-rent street theatre, three middle-aged men bedecked in dollar-shop hazmat suits and sporting gas masks played a recording of an air-raid siren, as if an atomic bomb were about to detonate in downtown Nowra.
Given their age and clearly declining physical condition, it’s a fair bet that at least one of these cosplay activists has benefited from the very technology they demonise. A cardiac scan? A bone density test? A thyroid function check? All made possible by nuclear medicine, with isotopes probably produced a three-hour drive away at Lucas Heights.
There, tucked away in Sydney’s south, is a national treasure: the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation’s 20-megawatt Open Pool Australian Lightwater reactor. This world-class facility produces lifesaving isotopes used in hospitals across the country every day. From diagnosing heart disease and cancer to assessing brain function and bone health, nuclear medicine underpins modern diagnostics. This organisation’s work is vital, unheralded and, like most things in the energy system, invisible to most.
Nuclear power is the densest form of energy on Earth and produces zero carbon emissions. Nuclear medicine saves lives. Nuclear power enhances life. As the energy analysts at Doomberg put it, if nuclear had been invented yesterday, it would be hailed as a planet-saving technology. It is expensive, but the real cost of chasing the net-zero illusion is tipped to hit $US10 trillion ($15.6 trillion) a year. And, unlike most of the green grifts gorging on this absurd transfer of taxpayer cash, nuclear power actually works.
170
And it has been there in Lucas Heights since 2007 – replacing those well before since before 1972.
40
And the Leftoids knew about HIFAR but were too ignorant to know about MOATA although there was no secret about it. Of course, that’s not surprising. Leftoids don’t even know what they’re protesting about most of the time anyway.
HIFAR 1958-2007 RIP
MOATA 1961-1995 RIP
The Australian Atomic Energy Commission (1952-1987) was established when Australians were looking forward to what was thought was going to be a bright future, back in the day.
So sad what’s become of it.
80
Just follow the tried and true Australian way. Dig it up and ship it to somwhere where they know what they are doing.
40
All roads lead to gas????? Ignore coal and nuclear power at your peril.
60
Loss of supply in Spain.
Many years ago before wind and solar I used to scheduled the maintenance program for a large city in Australia. The system was run as radials so that a loss of supply from one power source would not bring down the rest of the network. The system operators were not happy about across power sources switching and required time and availability restrictions.
With the idea that the sun must be shining somewhere and the wind must be blowing somewhere gives incentive to connect W&S together.
Could it be that the wind and solar were tied together so that any disturbance dumped the lot.
60
But for a magic moment last Monday in Spain, net zero was achieved, briefly.
50
…and then net zero electrickery generation was achieved!
40
if we are serious about reducing CO2, soft-drinks must be banned, or replaced with an alternative to CO2 like helium or nitrogen.
Every day, about eleventy million tons of pure CO2 is released into the atmosphere from soft drinks and fermented alcoholic beverages like beer.
Cans and bottles of beverages containing CO2 could be sequestered underground for future generations facing global cooling.
70
You are right of course, but we can do even better if we eat more beef. Cows don’t fart CO2 any more after they have been eaten.
40
Spaceship launch is best example of balancing act, everyone can see that we can keep an up to 100 m, 5000 ton weight pencil vertical.
Schoolkids understand how much science and technology goes into this “miracle”.
Unfortunately, that understanding is lost when many became voters and continue to believe that W&S can be balanced against the country energy need.
50
I get a thrill every time I see Starship launch, so tall, so thin, I just can’t see how they keep it vertical when its going slowly at the start.
21
The Apollo mission to the moon taught astronauts how to keep a rocket vertical using pure skill and split second reflexes. A bit like riding a bike. 🙂 Of course, a lot of simulations are needed which is a bit like starting to learn on a three wheeler. Once the astronaught has mastered that, the training wheels can come off. 🙂
00
Inertia.
As Newton wrote down many years ago. It stays upright because there isn’t a force causing it to overturn. I refer to rotational momentum. Like a flywheel, the whole vessel won’t rotate until a force is applied in one direction at the top and the opposite direction at the base. Wind, applied top and bottom in the same direction, just moves the vessel sideways.
Any minor difference in the wind at the top to the bottom is covered by thrusters, applied to counter the external force.
And as a side note, the vessel is not MORE stable as it gets moving, the fins certainly help at the base, (like a dart), but the total mass of the rocket is falling and hence it becomes easier to accelerate into a spin. Those thrusters have to work throughout the flight, at all velocities and probably more so when the vessel sheds the heavier engine modules and becomes shorter, lighter and hence easier to spin/tumble. And especially when the atmosphere gets thin.
It’s not rocket science. It’s rocket physics, year 10 to year 12 level at best. The maths, well that might be a little higher, especially for a variable fuel burn rate and the mass centroid shifting as the fuel is consumed.
40
Spaceship launch is best example of balancing act, everyone can see that we can keep an up to 5000 ton weight pencil vertical.
Schoolkids understand how much science and technology goes into this “miracle”.
Unfortunately, that understanding is lost when many became voters and continue to believe that W&S can be balanced against the country energy need.
20
Dear moderator, please delete the second note – my apologies.
Vladimir
11
FWIW
“Ominous with a large “Om””
“If you think Canada’s gone crackers, wait for the poll result down under”
https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/if-you-think-canadas-gone-crackers-wait-for-the-poll-result-down-under/
80
“There is an obvious sullenness around the place, yet the one major party capable of mounting resistance to the prevailing direction of green-globalist-progressivist travel is not up for the task.”
Seems fair..
“Elections don’t make much difference. The replacement of our population is advancing at pace. The ideological enemies of the ordinary people are already in power. Not just in office: they occupy the commanding heights, the key institutions of influence. The timid, clueless major party opposition don’t wish to engage in the big battles. They just want to get back into government. And the alt-parties, who do see the crisis and do know how dire the position is, have no appetite to join together in any kind of a compact that might achieve critical mass as a counter-insurgency.”
Well worth a read
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The morons seem to want 3 yrs more Albo-neezy, and it looks they are going to get it…. good and hard, no lube.
60
They’ll get what they vote for.
The carrot, of more free stuff, is clearly bigger than the stick, you have to pay for it.
Or maybe….. the people, in majority, are just too thick to understand.
81
Many here are too thick to understand that voting for a 5% minor party will not save them from labor/greens.
How did your candidate go KP?
11
Amazing. An article written by someone that almost sees the big picture.
The “election mass” just gives the pendulum the momentum for the counter movement, the one pushing us to the precipice.
I know, it’s hard to grasp, but it will become clear soon enough.
30
Temps remain high.
https://www.drroyspencer.com/wp-content/uploads/UAH_LT_1979_thru_April_2025_v6.1_20x9-scaled.jpg
10
Do you ever wonder about several details in the data?
For example, is the data compared to actual measurements and how often? I’d hate to think that the ground temperatures are checked against BOM data.
Satellites drift in their orbit with respect to their initial orbital paths. For example, the ideal weather measuring satellite would only take readings when the satellite is directly between the Sun and the Earth and for nighttime, when the satellite is directly inline with the Sun and Earth but on the other side. This would require a polar orbit AND it would also require the satellite to drift in it’s orbit so that it keeps this Sun/Earth alignment always in line ALL YEAR. The height of the orbit can be selected so that it goes around often enough to get several readings a day. Maybe one full sweep per 15 degrees of longitude.
If the orbit drifts away from a perfect Earth/Sun/satellite alignment. Then HOW do you account for the difference? Guess? Best GUESS? MODEL?
If the satellite is NOT in a polar orbit, how accurate are the numbers for the poles? Again…. GUESS….. MODEL.
If the satellite is not going over every part of the Earth everyday, then how do you fill in the blanks, (for example, the bits in between the 15 degrees of longitude)? Again… GUESS…. MODEL.
And of course, the big one. Does anyone here have a measurement tool that is forever calibrated, never drifts, never misreads? Even if you had three identical measuring devices in orbit, (for each wavelength under study), how would you know that two hadn’t drifted in the same direction at the same time?
In regard to the above… I really hope that they are not relying on ground measurements from the BOM to correct for drift, etc.
Am I allowed to say I don’t trust the BOM, or will that result in jail time?
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“For example, is the data compared to actual measurements and how often?”
I don’t have a handle on how accurate satellite measurements are, but certainly the land-based ones are terrible, never mind the helicopters spraying exhaust over them! I think one of the features of modern measurement is to make sure there is no correlation when new methods are introduced.
The whole idea of a global temperature is crazy, the hemispheres are quite different to each other, as is the land and the water, so its as meaningless as averaging a bowl of apples, pears, oranges and lemons.
20
Eng_Ian,
Roy Spencer on his blog has answered in fine detail all of the questions you ask. Like comparison of microwave temperatures with balloon data, corrections for orbital drift and so on.
Geoff S
00
FWIW – latest Kunstler
“What’s Normal, Exactly?
“The job here is to enforce the federal civil rights laws, not woke ideology.” — Harmeet Dhillon, US Assistant AG for the Civil Rights Division”
“When a claque of deep state shills such as Norm Eisen, Chuck Schumer, Bill Kristol, David Brooks, and Larry Summers holler about Mr. Trump’s attempt to reform a depraved political culture as “an assault on norms,” are you not prompted to wonder what, exactly, those norms might be?
Looks like they are describing a colossal matrix of racketeering operations in concert with an epic program of crypto-Marxist mind-fuckery, mountains of money purloined under color-of-law, swindles galore of practically every public enterprise, the capital city of a so-called republic fogged in gaslight to conceal a Satyricon of pedophilia, sodomy, and sado-masochism in every closet, cabinet, and pigeon-hole of the political class.”
More at
https://www.kunstler.com/p/whats-normal-exactly
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“mountains of money purloined under color-of-law, swindles galore of practically every public enterprise, the
capital city of a so-called republic fogged in gaslight to conceal a Satyricon of pedophilia, sodomy, and sado-masochism in every closet, cabinet, and pigeon-hole of the political class.””
Gosh!
Thought you were talking about the collapse of Rome there for a minute.
50
Collapse … with, perhaps, only one [fallible, despite AI Pope-image] human between us and the Apocalypse.
Sir Starmer, in the UK, has another 4 years … despite getting only 21% ][a little less, actually] of those who could vote in the General Election last July [2024].
And he hasn’t sacked [let alone exiled, or imprisoned, (or executed – he’s a Socialist, they do that!)] Mr Miliband.
Auto
30
Ukraine minerals of interest to the US and the West.
Firstly, only about 15% of all known mineral deposits in Ukraine are being mined.
They have 20% of the world’s graphite.
They have 5% of the world’s rare earth’s.
They have 7% of Europe’s titanium.
They have one third of all European lithium.
They also have significant deposits of beryllium, uranium, copper, lead, zinc, silver, nickel, cobalt, manganese, coal, iron ore and zirconium. There is also gas and oil.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20le8jn282o
20
Australia has everything. Including Net Zero IQ ‘Pollies”.
110
“They have…”
or ‘they had’? If its in the East I don’t think Russia will be giving it back. Britain signed up the minerals deal I thought, which is why Trump’s ‘minerals deal’ suddenly became shale oil and gas.
Lets see how Australia looks as China and America fight over what we have, political at first with propaganda and name-calling, then outright bribery, corruption and threats of those in power, then industrial sabotage of organisations and companies of the ‘other side’ and finally “limited Police actions in support of the Australian Govt” turning in the same war as Ukraine.
61
There might be a serious silver lining in Iberian disaster.
It might speed up Trump’s takeover Zaporozhskaya AES, recover normal operation in record-breaking time and start selling MWh to everyone.
20
Hmmm! Are you going to show us your logic track to that conclusion?
10
FWIW
UK Met Office excels again!
“Global Climate Database Fed with Junk Data from RAF Airbase Where Helicopters Hover Over the Thermometer”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/05/02/global-climate-database-fed-with-junk-data-from-raf-airbase-where-helicopters-hover-over-the-thermometer/
80
WHAT THIS ELECTION MEANS FOR AUSTRALIA
Australia is in the first stage of long-term economic decline.
Post Covid, there has been a sharp decline in the number of productive people and productive workplaces, and a sharp, seemingly permanent increase in the welfare and black economy.
I would estimate that the proportion of genuinely productive Australians in their workplaces has fallen from 40% to less than one-quarter in the space of just 5 years.
The leaners now easily outnumber the lifters.
Once measured in opinion polling and focus groups, this has produced a political culture of hand-outs – giveaways, all debt-funded, as we have seen in this Federal election campaign.
Even the Liberal Party has joined in, forfeiting its reputation for fiscal responsibility, completing its transformation into a woke sinkhole, more closely resembling the American Democrats than the Howard/Costello era.
This sadly miserable new economy and the new politics that goes with it has given Labor a natural electoral advantage.
If you want big spending, debt funding and a hand-out dependency, underpinned by low productivity, soft working conditions, rorted government programs and the Ponzi scheme of Big Australian migration, you might as well vote for the people who truly believe in it, and have been masters in creating it. That’s the ALP and Albanese.
Australia is in the middle of a perfect economic storm:
• the new political culture of a hand-out and welfare economy;
• the post-Covid stupor and industrial-scale abuse of Work From Home;
• the economic self-harm of an energy transition driving up power prices and harming our competitiveness while leaving global surface temperatures unchanged;
• our national ethos of strength and resilience replaced by the woke Alphabet world of victimology;
• mass immigration destroying housing affordability, as the over-regulated supply side can’t keep up;
• inexorable growth in that most horrendous new terminology: the care economy (child care, disability care and aged care), such that 80% of new jobs are debt-funded from the public sector;
• the new national past time of rorting poorly-designed government programs: leading to a huge and growing black economy in tobacco, the NDIS, training programs and renewable energy scams; and
• a political class totally disinterested in labour productivity and economic competitiveness.
No nation on earth has so much available space, yet we have the world’s highest housing prices.
No nation on earth has so many available resources, yet once left in the ground, we have the world’s highest power prices.
The golden age of Hawke/Keating/Howard/Costello economics has ended.
Like many Australians of my age, I tell my children how fortunate I feel to have seen our nation at its best in the 1990s, yet how maudlin and pessimistic I feel for their generation.
Australian public policy used to be run by the creative minds of our national interest.
Now it’s in the hands of a self-serving, blinded elite who can’t see past the next focus-group-generated giveaway.
As the Anzacs might have said, waiting for the third charge at The Nek, “we’re stuffed, mate”. And nothing in this election campaign is helping.
In fact, it confirms our worst fears in taking Australia backwards. Mediocrity in Canberra means the best of our country is now behind us.
Albanese has spent an extra $190 billion in just 3 years, yet living standards have gone backwards by 10 percent. Any random bloke at the local pub could have done better with all that money.
But is seems likely tomorrow that Australians will return Labor to office. I fear our national decline is irreversible.
Mark Latham
2 May 2025
311
Excellently stated!
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Unfortunately the reality in Australia is both our major parties are left of centre now (thank you Turnbull). One is centre left and the other is far left. Their policies are identical, with the only difference being how far they are willing to go. Eg the Liberals want renewables but labor just wants more. The liberals are doing handouts but labor wants more. I had hopes for Dutton but he has been a huge disappointment of washed up wet blanket policies.
The liberals now are like labor 10 years ago and the labor party are like the greens 10 years ago.
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“I had hopes for Dutton but he has been a huge disappointment of washed up wet blanket policies.
The liberals now are like labor 10 years ago and the labor party are like the greens 10 years ago.”
Absolutely! The plebs are never going to vote for hard work, so I don’t see how it can be reversed, only destroyed.
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Substitute ‘UK’ for Australia – and nobody would gainsay you.
Auto, sadly.
10
Mark Latham For President !
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Skynet bot goes crazy
https://x.com/uimusog6125/status/1918139076206837927
Bad programming? Chinese crapola?
Or did it foresee the Greens winning in Oz? 😆
50
Tomato soup was getting too messy:
Just Stop Bot will destroy paintings, statues, diesel & petrol 4x4s, whatever you programme program pro gram I’m sorry Dave I …
40
Just voted for a hung parliament, yippee !!!
40
FWIW – behind the US – Canada trade spat
“An Unavoidable Trade War with Canada is Looming – Trigger Date July/August 2025
May 2, 2025 | Sundance | 54 Comments”
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2025/05/02/an-unavoidable-trade-war-with-canada-is-looming-trigger-date-july-august-2025/#more-271602
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” Following the 2024 presidential election, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau traveled to Mar-a-Lago and said if President Trump was to make the Canadian government face reciprocal tariffs, open the USMCA trade agreements to force reciprocity, and/or balance economic relations on non-tariff issues, then Canada would collapse upon itself economically and cease to exist. In essence, in addition to the NATO defense shortfall, Canada cannot survive as a free and independent north American nation, without receiving all the one-way benefits from the U.S. economy… President Trump then said, if Canada cannot survive in a balanced rules environment, including putting together their own military and defenses and meeting their NATO obligations, then Canada should become the 51st U.S state.”
I wondered why Trump thought that, the article explains it very clearly. Canada is another Australia, beholden to China for all its goods, a failed internal economy and propped up by America. Actually, they are worse off than us, they can’t even compete with Mexico!
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Interesting. The similarities between Canada and Australia are stark – both heavily reliant on primary industries with little or no value added, plus a lack of real manufacturing capability. Also, like Canada, Australia relies very heavily on China to make parts and components that we simply assemble, then call it ‘Made in Australia’.
Both nations have been committing slow-motion economic suicide for years, cynically encouraged and enabled by China.
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I think any cheap-wages country would be the same, it will be Africa’s turn sooner or later. Any country that gets rich seems to peak and then decline as people get richer with more leisure time, or not even ‘richer’ in blatant cash terms, but have the Govt do everything for you on a cheap scale, just enough to keep you satisfied.
None of us have to struggle really, but we don’t have the intellectual capacity to keep ourselves interested is what is happening behind the scene, so we latch onto crazes like global warming or reality TV, or hula-hoops, something that takes no brainpower but fills the part of the soul that struggling to survive used to occupy.
Anyway, it seems the West is in terminal decline, there is no higher plane in civilisation than billionaires in private jets lording it over a lower-middle class who fill their days pushing bits of paper around and making or buying coffee. Chinese labour will become expensive, like Japan did, so it will be interesting to see who comes after.
40
“None of us have to struggle really”
That tells me that you didn’t have to deal with a “vegetation management act”?
30
That tells me that you didn’t have to deal with a “vegetation management act”?
Haha! I think that illustrates the point more than negates it! A country in the stage of climbing out of poverty isn’t going to have a stack of bureaucrats with Karen problems!
I did come across it on the farm up at Walcha, there are still hold-outs in the back-blocks that have no time for any of that sort of thing.
20
The world’s gone mad: Sky news
https://youtu.be/39PcUU860-k?si=0LU9QwwS247RqAzx
Never mind, Skynet will fix it.😎
50
Here’s the revelation of the century dated today 3/5/25 and at last reveals their full cost of toxic, unreliable W & S.
This is from Melbourne Uni, Qld Uni and the Nous Group. And they estimate that the full cost would be up to 9 TRILLION $ by 2030.
BTW the full cost of the Coalition’s Nuclear policy is about 0.15 trillion and not the 0.6 trillion dollars claimed by the Labor liars and con merchants plus their mates in the MSM.
Please read this if you have the time.
https://reneweconomy.com.au/net-zero-study-finds-australia-needs-nearly-three-terawatts-of-wind-and-solar/#:~:text=Australia%20will%20need%20nearly%20three%20terrawatts%2C%20or%203%2C000,to%20%249%20trillion%2C%20according%20to%20a%20new%20study.
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The last poll released yesterday and published today puts Labor primary vote at 28%
That is lower than Labor received in 2022 and 2022 was Labor’s lowest primary vote since 1934.
I do not know what the result will be but 2022 Labor won with preferences but in 2025 from many informed sources it’s a seat by seat competition and closer still.
31
Ipsos Poll yesterday
Five per cent of those surveyed were undecided about who they would vote for.
Meanwhile, Labor’s primary vote is at 28 per cent with the Coalition at 33 per cent.
The Greens are on 12 per cent, One Nation is on eight per cent, while teals and other independents and crossbenchers are on 14 per cent.
20
FWIW
“SITREP 5/2/25: Major Frontline Breakthrough Signals Start of Russian Spring Offensives”
Including
“May 2 is the anniversary of the Odessa massacre at the Trade Unions House, which occurred on May 2nd, 2014:”
https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/sitrep-5225-major-frontline-breakthrough
30
That’s pretty sad if Paul Massaro is a senior policy advisor for Trump and he’s so stupid.
“Ukraine is a better Russia than Russia, there’s no place worse to be a Christian than Russia.. You know, Russia persecutes any Christian who isn’t part of their fake Orthodox Church”
Nah, I figure its fake, no-one that incoherent and stupid could get to be a top advisor for the White House.. or maybe that’s why Russia is winning!
https://x.com/MyLordBebo/status/1917549402132209786
In the real world, Russian military commentator Vladimir Grubnik points out-
“In fact, there is a HUGE, critical shortage of technical specialists at the front right now… we need to mobilize them from civilian life so that they can do communications, repair drones, equipment, electronic warfare, antennas. This is all non-standard – all communications on radios and repeaters from China, drones and remotes – a separate topic comparable to space exploration”
So many batteries needed, so many geeks for electronic repairs..
21
This doesn’t sound like he’s a notable
“Famed Russian ‘pranksters’ (i.e. GRU agents) Vovan and Lexus have now caught beltway parasite Paul Massaro in their web. He made quite a few revealing statements, which share the mood inside the halls of Washington.
10
Biden threw away US$3 billion of US taxpayer money to replace the US Postal Service delivery vans with 60,000 electric ones but so far only 93 have been delivered for that money.
Some Republicans are trying to get the taxpayer money back under a “Return To Sender” Act.
Video (6 mins):
https://youtu.be/DEHuVa_CG4Q
80
You can watch Australian election results live on Sky News on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/live/LeGG5DuysUA
30
FWIW –
“De Minimis Loophole for Beijing Ends, Temu Halts Direct Shipping from China
May 2, 2025 | Sundance | 27 Comments”
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2025/05/02/de-minimis-loophole-for-beijing-ends-temu-halts-direct-shipping-from-china/
What about Oz?
10
They said on Sky News that even internal Liberal Party “modelling” (to use that horribly misused word, that was Liberal language), showed they wouldn’t get a majority of seats.
It’s a terribly sad day for Australia.
However bad the fake conservative Liberals are, they are still slightly less bad than Green Labor and Australia’s economic and social collapse will be slightly delayed under a Liberal regime.
61
Libs ran an appalling campaign but nevertheless, how can people be so stupid as to vote for Green Labor?
90
Green votes appear to be up even with 10% ballots counted.
The Long March through the institutions is now complete.
Even Teals are apparently increasing their percentages, and the dreadful Monique Ryan is on the verge of winning reelection.
Teals & Greens go up, One Nation lost votes.
I feel we live in a parallel universe, one that goes the wrong way.
80
The groupthink here was not to vote for them. Why should the rest of the country be smarter than all the geniuses posting here?
50
Something the Thinking Community has to think about between now and the next election, assuming there is ever another election, is how to convince Joe and Joanne Sixpack that there is no “climate crisis” taking into account how dumbed-down and indoctrinated the masses are.
81
I am beginning to feel a bit like those silly Democrat voting celebrities that were threatening to leave America if Trump won the Election,in that I would most certainly be looking for another country to move to if Labor/Greens end up winning this election because I am so disgusted with at least 50% of our fellow adult citizens that I just stand the thought of living among those brain dead Morons. Fortunately my time on this planet if fast drawing to a close, so I won’t have to suffer these fools for much longer.
121
The bias on display at the Albanese Bandwagon Cult is breath taking
41
FWIW
“These Are My Peeps – Alberta”
https://chiefio.wordpress.com/2025/05/03/these-are-my-peeps-alberta/#respond
30
Ouch-
“Trump initially tapped the bloated defense contractor (Boeing) to build the next-generation presidential aircraft during his first term, aiming to replace the aging fleet. Boeing’s failure to deliver on time has become emblematic of the broader military-industrial complex: bloated, sluggish, and unaccountable…Boeing had suffered global supply chain snarls that changed project timings and delayed the completion date to 2029. ”
So, the Pres is taking a second-hand Qatari 747 as an interim presidential aircraft, to be outfitted by L3Harris before their autumn.
Talk about a slap in the face for Boeing!
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/frustrated-boeing-trump-reportedly-l3harris-interim-air-force-one-jet
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/frustrated-boeing-trump-reportedly-l3harris-interim-air-force-one-jet
50
Rejoice laborites – you won !
Now prepare to pay the price.
81
Perhaps the only positive is if Labor win a huge majority so they don’t need to heed their Green partners so much.
Here’s hoping for a Hawke-ish Labor 3 years. Slim chance but still…
60
The ALP might decide to go for nuclear power.
Weird … but wait a moment. They have no ideas of their own, and they know they have no ideas. They only opposed nuclear power because it was Dutton’s idea and now he’s gone so who cares about that.
The Liberals and Greens have no influence so this is the chance for the ALP to run roughshod over all opponents … makes sense they would backflip and go nuclear.
Hit that bookmark button … I can handle it.
40
All I can say is;
Ain’t that a shame
What’s next? Maybe Roy Orbison’s ‘Crying.’
Boo hoo!
10
Make Australian history great again. Captain Cook did nothing wrong. And neither did the other European explorers that came and explored.
1606 Willem Janszoon
1606 Luis Vaez de Torres
1616 Dirk Hartog
1619 Frederick de Houtman
1644 Abel Tasman
1696 Willem de Vlamingh
1699 William Dampier
1770 James Cook
1797–99 George Bass
1801–03 Matthew Flinders
61
Yep, but tell that to the Indigenous Aboriginal Party represented by 3 Muslim candidates…
30
William Dampier landed on Australia’s n.w. coast in 1688. A tumultuous year in world history, including the Glorious Revolution.
Unfortunately for us in Oz, there was no such revolution tonight.
40
I’m just amazed that Australians could be so gullible and stupid as to give Labor, not only victory but a landslide. Now we know why Peter what’s his name was so tame and ineffective.
40
Fort Detrick shut down!! The last time was just before ‘The Wuhan Incident’..
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has ordered the halt to deadly disease research conducted at the Integrated Research Facility (IRF), located within Fort Detrick, a U.S. Army base in Frederick, Maryland. The facility’s director, Connie Schmaljohn, has been placed on administrative leave, according to a Wednesday WIRED report.
The decision was prompted by the “identification and documentation of personnel issues involving contract staff that compromised the facility’s safety culture,” Moss said. “During the stand-down, no research will be conducted, and access will be limited to essential personnel only, to safeguard the facility and its resources.””
https://jonfleetwood.substack.com/p/hhs-halts-deadly-disease-research
21
What a disaster, the low information sub normal’s voted for the ALP.
I hope they enjoy the unrealized capital gains and death taxes that Labor have promised.
how will they explain to their children that they voted for this.
81
Why all the hand wringing? Our Hostess wrote:
Be under no illusion that when Jo, KP et al say to vote against the “blob” they included the liberals. Not once did any of these malcontents say “Vote 1 for your preferred minor party but ABSOLUTELY rank liberals above labor.
As ye sow, so shall ye reap.
64
To be fair to Jo she did mention putting the Libs as a preference in the senate and voting beyond 6 above the line if necessary to do so, so your vote doesn’t vanish.
With the house of reps she wasn’t specific in saying Libs, and said one of the big parties after the freedom loving parties.
If anyone can’t figure out which of the two big parties that means in the context of this blog, then they don’t understand what they’ve been reading.
However, anyone’s dissatisfaction with the Liberal parties lack of backbone in the net zero stakes is not unfounded. But it’s not rocket science to figure out that you would still preference them ahead of Labor and the Greens.
Jo’s post about voting for some minor freedom parties was primarily about getting strength in the senate. But also about trying to get first preference support to a point where it would trigger some much needed federal funding for those minor parties to put pressure on the big parties on freedom matters and climate policy.
In no way can the these “malcontents” be blamed in even the slightest way for the poor result by the Liberal party. The fact that Labor has increased its primary vote is the main issue. The preferencing hasn’t even come into play.
Plus, Jo had links to the minor party preferencing and noted the one nation had preferencing for the Libs, and the other minor parties had Libs ahead of Labor and Greens. And that is really all that mattered.
50
No! They can’t be blamed for anything more than overstating their relevance. My argument is that not once in reply to my posts saying a vote for the lesser of two evils is legitimate, did they agree and give a how to vote recommendation with libs as second choice above labor. We have a preferential system, use it.
Stick to science, not politics.
33
As for overstating their relevance. I just had a scan over the past month and can’t see where you’ve been stating the Libs must be preferenced. Saw a number of your posts. A stop dumping on Dutton comment seemed about the closest. The one about you not trusting Freedom parties because they apparentky support drugs was odd if you’re lumping Liberterian and conservative minor parties into that. They are freedom parties.
But if you did actually state the Libs should be preferenced and Jo didn’t affirm your comment; then it’s still irrelevant because the primary vote has shown preferences weren’t an influence.
It’s also irrelevant because nothing Jo has written in these blogs would not have stopped or deterred someone from preferencing the Libs over Labor and Greens. If anything it would have encouraged them despite any sentiment lumping the Libs in the “Blob”, because the many blog articles Jo has written criticising Labor policy and thd Greens would have easily out done that.
You’re clearly cheesed off with the result. Your displeasure is misdirected aiming at Jo.
I would say that even if every voting blog reader who were inclined to vote Liberal took Jo’s advice and gave a vote to a minor freedom/libertarian parties, that vote would still havd found its way to the Liberal candidate in at least 99.9% of the cases. I know you think it’s stupid voting for minor parties. But you have to remember that the people doing it are not stupid.
30
LNP were never going to gain 20+ seats to get into power, no matter how many 1st preferences we gave them.
And if they did, they did not offer any alternative to Net Zero, transgender or free speech.
The only surprise is that ONP did not increase their share of the vote, but Teals and Greens did. Despite our conscious attempts to put them last.
The Long March through the institutions paid off.
Australians drank the Kool Aid and voted Monique and Allegra back in – this is unbelievable.
The silver lining is that ALP don’t need the Greens for the next 3 years so perhaps they’ll do some miraculous flip to stop Net Zero and put Bowen out to pasture. Wet dreams, I know, but there’s still a chance.
51
If you waste your vote don’t complain about the result.
13
All over by 10.00 pm. Now we will have another 3 years of Albo as well as 4 years of Trump.
I’m sure they will get along together just fine . .
60
Australian media hate Trump nearly as much as Canadian media. Both countries have rejected Trump’s “America first” agenda. We clearly don’t believe in “Australia first”.
80