JoNova
A science presenter, writer, speaker & former TV host; author of The Skeptic's Handbook (over 200,000 copies distributed & available in 15 languages).
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Statistics
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
290
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).
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When will UK drop NetZero – before or after Farage is PM?
60
Farage declares Reform UK to be “the real opposition” and the Tories are “toast”.
00
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.
170
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.
30
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.
130
The matter was simple but maybe the egos involved less so
20
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!
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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.
50
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
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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
40
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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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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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.
30
Ah….looks fake to me too. Spelling mistakes!
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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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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.
30
David,
fast here in Sydney, even with going through VPN in Melbourne
30
Well surprise, surprise NOT!
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Also see:
https://x.com/australian/status/1918044009249030277
For pictures and comments.
20
And it’s a bit late for the Lamestream Media to be reporting this, don’t you think?
20
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
40
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.
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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.
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Rick, are you going to try to publish it in a Lamestream (or any) journal?
00
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
40
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
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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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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
30
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?
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:
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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.
00
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
30
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
10
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
00
KP
Could that be another “Hitler from the bunker” type view?
00
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.
00
Sorry, hit ENTER too quick.
https://me.gov.ua/News/Detail/91af98f8-9ae6-49ba-99ae-adb847fe493a?lang=en-GB&title=UkraineAndTheUnitedStatesSignEconomicPartnershipAgreementAndEstablishTheReconstructionInvestmentFund
00
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.
00
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.
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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.
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And it has been there in Lucas Heights since 2007 – replacing those well before since before 1972.
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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.
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Just follow the tried and true Australian way. Dig it up and ship it to somwhere where they know what they are doing.
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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.
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But for a magic moment last Monday in Spain, net zero was achieved, briefly.
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…and then net zero electrickery generation was achieved!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Dear moderator, please delete the second note – my apologies.
Vladimir
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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/
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Temps remain high.
https://www.drroyspencer.com/wp-content/uploads/UAH_LT_1979_thru_April_2025_v6.1_20x9-scaled.jpg
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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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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
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Australia has everything. Including Net Zero IQ ‘Pollies”.
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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/
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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
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