Tuesday Open Thread

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137 comments to Tuesday Open Thread

  • #
    Sambar

    Listening to the greens candidate for my electorate this a.m. was quite enlightening. He claimed that Australia could produce enough power from solar panels to enable it to be “exported” and the only thing lacking was the infrastructure. Where he really had me conviced that his plan would work was when he declared that solar was the best option for Oz as we had such a big country that the sun was always shining somewhere. Apparently he had no idea that for the sun to be always shining “somewhere” we would need a 12 hour time difference from Sydney to Perth not the 2 hours generally accepted by anyone who can think. He could have even googled “Australia at night” to see the entire continent was in fact completely dark. Should I let him know his plan is flawed?

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      David-of-Cooyal-in-Oz

      Nah, don’t enlighten the poor man.
      Cheers
      Dave B

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      Dennis

      That must have been a Greens theory for years past, I have read posts from stupid people making the same claim, that solar is viable because there is always sun shining somewhere, and wind blowing somewhere.

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      Ronin

      They really are another level of stupid, aren’t they.

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      Kim

      Challenge him to set up a 24/7 power plant.

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        RobB

        Its easy, put your solar panels in orbit and beam down the energy as microwaves.

        60

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          Graeme No.3

          Wouldn’t it be cheaper to put some Greenies into orbit? They might get a shock seeing that the Earth is round not flat.

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        • #

          Its easy, put your solar panels in orbit and beam down the energy as microwaves.

          Seriously, this actually is an idea.

          Back in 2008, when I started doing all this, my original Series focussed on complying with the Kyoto Protocol be drastically reducing the emissions of CO2, and that, in the main, and from an electrical power generating part of that equation, necessitated the replacement of coal fired power plants.

          So, what I wanted to (try and) achieve with the series was to replace those coal fired power plants.

          That original Series ran to more than 50+ separate articles, and the following is the link to just one part of that series, which mentions this ….. ‘panels into outer space’ theory.

          It was a crackpot theory back then, and still is now.

          Read the article, (if you want to) and then scroll back up to the top, and look at the date I wrote it all.

          Kyoto – A Perspective (Part 21)

          Tony.

          131

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            RobB

            Yes, the first time I heard of this idea was in 1982! Thats also when they told me they’d have fusion power in thirty years time…

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              RicDre

              The first time I heard about this idea was when I read the Isaac Asimov book I, Robot in the early 70’s. The book was originally published in 1950 and is a collection of his short stories written between 1940 and 1950. The story about collecting energy in a space station and beaming it back to earth is called Reason and was written in 1941. This story was definitely ahead of its time.

              60

        • #
          b.nice

          “put your solar panels in orbit and beam down the energy as microwaves.”

          Been done already…

          James Bond… Die Another Day… (IIRC)! 🙂

          50

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          ozfred

          Misdirected the microwaves might heat up something not intended to be heated up?

          50

    • #
      Wet Mountains

      Some will believe!

      11

  • #
    John Hultquist

    Good morning from Washington State. Actually 7:41 pm here.

    Anyway, the State of Utah has officially blasted the use of ESG (environmental, social, and governance factors) in credit ratings. This is directly to the S&P, but likely going to go wiser.

    131

    • #
      Kalm Keith

      Good; and I hope it goes wider.
      Roll on the revolution that returns us to an acceptable democracy.

      161

    • #
      Klem

      I work for an Australian company. The company has gradually gone full woke and full ESG, and with help from McKinsey consulting switched from a shareholder focused company to a stakeholder focused company. Our share price had gradually fallen over the same time period, it is now worth half what it was a year ago.

      Eventually our shareholders are going to be fed up and will give our Leftist CEO the boot. Its only a matter of time.

      121

      • #
        yarpos

        Confusing management with personal vanity projects doesnt work in public companies. They will probably pay him millions to leave though.

        21

  • #
    Kalm Keith

    As a WUVM I want this nightmare to end so that I can travel without restrictions and I don’t want to be digitally documented as I’ve a feeling that it would be intrusive.

    182

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    el+gordo

    Vote Greens Last

    ‘Greens to push for coal and gas climate lawsuits.

    ‘The Greens will push a minority Labor government to back legislation that would let flood victims sue coal and gas cor­porations for ‘climate-fuelled’ damage.’ (Oz)

    172

    • #
      Strop

      Why is legislation needed? People can already sue corporations for damages.

      I guess the problem with current legislation, from Greens point of view, is you have to argue your case to a reasonable standard.

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      Dennis

      To be certain of blocking Greens agenda put Greens last and if your electorate has a “Teal Independent Party” candidate put that candidate second last because they are both on the same level and preferencing only Labor candidates.

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        Graeme No.3

        When I went ot shopping I saw a core flute with the slogan “Save Democracy – Don’t vote for the major parties”.
        I couldn’t see any authorisation on it, and it was green in colour. It may not last.

        In the media hysteria about meaningless polls I wonder if anyone has been given the choice of “none of the above”?

        70

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        Tel

        If you put Green last and “Teal” second last, then by simple logic you must have already put the ALP higher than both of those.

        In which case, why are you worried if the people you put lower than the ALP have a recommendation to preference the ALP?

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        • #
          David-of-Cooyal-in-Oz

          Simple. I think the Greens are worse that the ALP. And by a significant margin.
          Cheers
          Dave B

          50

    • #
      Hanrahan

      Vote coalition !. Even idiots should be able to understand that.

      this two bob each way you guys talk about will have the people smugglers back in business and a carbon tax, which by any name would smell as putrid.

      21

      • #
        yarpos

        If Labor is going to win a seat outright it makes no difference

        If it goes to preferences then preferences matter

        I fail to see how informed use of preferences puts the “people smugglers back in business” etc

        00

  • #
    Dennis

    To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace.

    George Washington

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  • #
    Dennis

    Sky News

    Businessman Simon Holmes a Court and his family could make a profit out of a potential boom in clean energy if Climate 200-backed independents are elected and successfully coerces the party in government to cut carbon emissions further and earlier than expected.

    131

  • #
    another ian

    “Heterosexuals

    Preventing human extinction for the last two million years”

    https://michaelsmithnews.typepad.com/.a/6a0177444b0c2e970d02788079b011200d-800wi

    Via Michael Smith News

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    el+gordo

    Here is a silent animation of plate tectonics, very slow, but of interest is the speed of India (geologically speaking) which created the Himalayas.

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

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    • #
      Graeme No.3

      And the Richard Miles version.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2It3ETk2MGA

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      Honk R Smith

      STOP ANTHROPOGENIC PLATE TECHTONICS
      … we’ll have to if we want to stabilize the glaciers, no?

      20

    • #
      rowjay

      Thanks E+G for highlighting plate tectonics and continental drift – especially the opening of the Drake Passage and separation of Australia from the Antarctic, a good description of geological/climatic effects available here – some text below:

      During the Cenozoic era, between 37 and 33.5 million years ago, Australia separated from Antarctica and drifted northward, which opened the Tasmanian Gateway and allowed the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) to develop. This current began to isolate Antarctica from the influence of warm surface currents from the north, and an ice cap started to form. Eventually, deepwater conduits led to deepwater circulation between the southern Indian and Pacific Oceans and ultimately to ocean conveyor circulation. Continuing Antarctic thermal isolation, caused by the continental separation, contributed to the evolution of global climate from relatively warm early Cenozoic “Greenhouse” to late Cenozoic “Icehouse” climates.

      The image linked here, originally attributed to James Hansen, shows the correlation between the formation of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and Antarctic ice sheet development, and steady global cooling as the southern oceans cooled, removing CO2 from the atmosphere and sequestering a lot of it as seafloor carbonate sediments. The graph also indicates that the Antarctic Ice Sheet is here to stay – even if atmospheric CO2 gets up to above 1,000ppm – IMO, the only way that “greenhouse” conditions return to this planet is if something blocks the circumpolar current. That isn’t happening in the next 50 or even 500 years!

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    • #
      William Astley

      It is odd that after all of this time, that geology is still hiding the secret of what causes the current tectonic plate movements, what caused the Cambrian revolution, what caused the great unconformity, what cause the C13/C12 negative periods, and where did the water come from the covers 70% of the surface of the planet come from.

      There is evidence of odd periods in the paleo record were atmospheric carbon dioxide become enriched with C12 reducing the C13/C12 ratio.

      Tectonic plate movement is caused by liquid CH4 that is extrude from the liquid core of the planet when it crystallizes. The liquid CH4 that is extrude from the core, is primordial and hence is low in C13. Metals in the mantel bond with the extrude CH4 forming a sheath to form around the liquid CH4. This sheath enables the liquid CH4 and the force that extrudes the CH4, to be transported to the surface of the planet where it terraforms the earth.

      https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1631071310000088
      Duration and synchronism of the largest negative carbon isotope excursion on Earth: The Shuram/Wonoka anomaly

      https://www.nature.com/articles/nature10969
      Formation of the ‘Great Unconformity’ as a trigger for the Cambrian explosion

      “The Great Unconformity, a profound gap in Earth’s stratigraphic record often evident below the base of the Cambrian system, has remained among the most enigmatic field observations in Earth science for over a century.”

      “In most places, undeformed Cambrian sedimentary rocks deposited on Earth’s surface rest non-conformably on much older continental crystalline basement rocks, many of which were formed and/or metamorphosed within the Earth’s crust (Fig. 2a).

      The term Great Unconformity was first used in the year 1869 to describe the prominent stratigraphic surface in the Grand Canyon that separates the shallow marine, ,525-Myr-old Cambrian Tapeats Sandstone from the underlying metamorphosed, 1,740-Myr-old Vishnu Schist and structurally tilted sedimentary rocks of the 1,200-740 Myr-old Grand Canyon Supergroup6 . “
      The Great Unconformity is well exposed in the Grand Canyon, but this geomorphic surface, which records the erosion and weathering of continental crust followed by sediment accumulation, can be traced across Laurentia and globally, including Gondwana7,8, Baltica9, Avalonia 9and Siberia10

      31

  • #
    el+gordo

    NOAA says La Nina will stay on through the rest of the year, while BoM says ENSO will go neutral, who to believe? Apparently its down to the Kelvin Wave.

    https://climateimpactcompany.com/weekly-enso-diagnostics-report-waters-off-the-northwest-coast-of-south-america-observe-coolest-anomaly-1-9-since-july-2013-2-2/

    30

  • #
    Jay Jade

    I’m currently reading “The Real Anthony Fauci”. Periodically I’m checking the News to see if Fauci has been charged with murder, or if Mr. Kennedy is being sued for slander. If neither happens the world’s gone lawless.

    101

  • #
    another ian

    “Tucker Carlson Gives His Perspective on Musk Successfully Purchasing Twitter Platform
    April 25, 2022 | sundance | 108 Comments”

    https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2022/04/25/tucker-carlson-gives-his-perspective-on-musk-successfully-purchasing-twitter-platform/

    41

    • #
      Hanrahan

      Wake me up when big names are invited back.

      31

    • #
      beowulf

      Joyful people being ungovernable is a worst-case scenario for Washington DC.

      The Fourth Branch of Government will demand legislation to prevent on-line liberty.

      It will be interesting to see how much pain this pebble in the deep state shoe creates.

      Their ‘pain’ is our freedom.

      Exactly.

      41

      • #
        KP

        Hmm.. I think their ‘freedom’ to do as they please is our pain!

        Expect MORE internet content laws and then more censorship, internet IDs and needing a ‘licence’ to even go online.

        20

    • #
      PeterS

      Lots of people celebrating the idea of the re-emergence of free speech on a social media platform. If Elon Musk is true to his word, then we indeed have something to celebrate about. The mainstream journalists and the left are already in meltdown mode regardless of whether Elon Musk is true to his word. It goes to show how much free speech has been censored at will so easily. It would indeed be refreshing to have free speech once again let loose on social media platforms.

      31

  • #
    David Maddison

    Video:

    Why they fear Elon Musk.

    https://youtu.be/sb2J9s_202w

    31

  • #
    John Connor II

    Trans: A Dangerous Youth Subculture

    My teenage daughter has decided that she is “trans”. So have all her friends. Not some of them. Not most of them. Every. Single. One.

    She had never heard of trans, and had no signs of gender dysphoria, until she was moved to a new, cool trans-friendly school by her unsuspecting, politically liberal parents.
    ..
    What’s not to love about 245 gender identities, complete with their own unique flags?

    https://pitt.substack.com/p/trans-a-dangerous-youth-subculture

    Perhaps “woke” (but not awake) companies like Disney and Netflix will snap out the delusion before they go the way of Blockbuster, but I doubt it.
    Being drafted for WW3 will do it though 😆

    81

  • #

    In the car with limited radio reception , so listening to ABC illawarra, lyndsay McDogal.
    Interview with RE industry expert spouting the benefits of Wind and Solar, batteries , etc etc .
    All the usual. “Green wash” simplification….
    BUT.. for once the ABC let a caller slip through ( a businessman from Newcastle)..who did an excellent job of carefully correcting every point the RE proponent had presented…
    Intermittent supply, Installed capacity vs capacity factors of RE, and comparason to a typical 2000MW coal fired generator.
    Also he laid bare the scale of battery farms needed to ensure continuation of supply, and the costs of such..together with the cost of rebuilding the grid to connect these massive distributed RE generation and storage systems. He also offered to partake in any further disscussion on the subject !
    Generally an excellent , well presented response to the RE comments.
    Lyndsey McDogal was honest enough to allow the call, acknowledge the caller as a concerned businessman, … and not dismiss him as a “warmist “
    Maybe , there is hope for real debate yet

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    • #

      The interview should be around 2.5 -3:0 hrs into this podcast on the 26/4.
      https://www.abc.net.au/radio/illawarra/programs/drive/drive/13846908

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      • #

        Make that 2:06 hrs into the prog if you want to hear the start of the interview with the head of the Australian Conservation Foundation , climate program.
        And, “ Ian” was the caller who responded so well.

        40

        • #
          Gary S

          The gentleman from the Conservation Foundation seemed a little confused around his messaging when he stressed at the beginning of his dull diatribe, that ‘renewables’ were so cheap and reliable and then went on to mention batteries as the solution ‘when the wind don’t blow and the sun don’t shine’. He needs to come back after he has done the ‘fact-checking’ that his ilk are always suggesting is necessary. Although if he had stuck around and listened for a few more minutes the facts may have just bitten back.

          21

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      Mike Jonas

      While researching my ancestors, I noticed something rather curious: every single one of them whose parents were known had exactly two parents and exactly one parent was male and exactly one parent was female. I wonder whether today’s teachers have ever noticed a pattern like that, and if so whether they would be able to explain it.

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        Mike Jonas

        That was a reply to #16 not to #17. No idea how it became #17.1.

        20

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        Earl

        Even more astounding is the number of trans, fluid and non-binary remains that archaeologists have uncovered in their excavations.

        30

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    MrGrimNasty

    If people believe for a short while that Twitter is ‘saved’, that’s enough to kill off Trump’s offering. Then Musk can sell up. Musk has had a fortune from sucking subsidies from the policies of the global elites. It might be naïve to believe that his motives are noble.

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      KevJ

      True MrGrim.. one does not hand over a cheque for 44 billion without some kind of game plan. The other shoe has to drop at some stage..

      50

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    Doctor T

    Just been making my 10th report to the TGA on an adverse Covid “vaccination” reaction out of approximately 100 I’ve seen so far, and that is just in musculoskeletal medicine.
    – the forms are very difficult to find online.
    – the forms are very difficult to fill in, the multiple hurdles for the filler-inner to negotiate.
    – if an open minded doctor reports only 10% of adverse reactions, how many are being reported by the sheeples in the medical profession (which is probably a significant majority).
    Steve Kirsch reports the actual number of adverse reactions to any vaccine to be 41 times the reported number in the USA.
    My experience suggests this is close to the mark.

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    • #

      Thank you for trying.
      Thank you for sharing.

      The TGA is a disgrace.

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    • #
      Honk R Smith

      Doc T,
      Just wondering, realize you’re musco/skel, what was your experience of the Great PD?
      100 (side effects) seems really lots for one Doc.
      A demic of a kind.
      Does this feel more demicy that GPD?

      40

      • #
        Doctor T

        In my practice I have not seen patients with illness due to Covid infections, though anecdotally, speaking to colleagues, there are multiple heart attacks, strokes, serious infections requiring hospitalisation occurring. Whether this is due to “vaccinations” I cannot postulate, though much evidence suggests this may be the case.
        I have seen multiple patients with swollen joints, neurological side effects, muscular pain and weakness, with onset hours to days after a jab.
        I only postulate a diagnosis of vaccine side effect when no other explanation for the symptoms can be found, so yes, 100 is a high number.

        82

  • #
    another ian

    The polls must be getting bad?

    “Biden launches $6 billion effort to save nuclear power plants, to help combat climate change

    https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nuclear-power-biden-climate-change/

    50

    • #
      another ian

      That via SDA

      00

    • #
      Andrew McRae

      Similar proposals in Poland (presumably translated well):

      Adam Blazowski ⚛🌬🌞⚡🌆🛡🦌🌲
      @AdamBlazowski
      WOW: Polish Left (coalition of 3 parties) wants to purchase the power from working nuclear power plants in Germany.

      They want to lease them and purchase their power in bulk to prevent their shutdown, so that more Polish coal can be replaced by low carbon alternatives.
      #saveGER6

      20

  • #
    another ian

    Dr John Campbell – paraphrased as “Time to abandon the cure-all vaccine”

    https://youtu.be/01qdCw2cMzg

    And

    “The other current news item is a new very serious hepatitis in children.
    Mostly, the news blames this on Spike particles from Covid,
    so I have chosen a link which says it is Spike particles from the vaccine.

    https://www.news-medical.net/news/20220425/COVID-19-vaccine-can-elicit-a-distinct-T-cell-dominant-immune-mediated-hepatitis.aspx

    https://chiefio.wordpress.com/2022/04/12/florida-first-w-o-o-d-12-april-2022/#comment-156301

    50

  • #
    OldOzzie

    Mercedes face ‘hierarchy changes’ amid Lewis Hamilton struggles as Marko joke shot down

    Ralf Schumacher has warned Mercedes that a shift in power within the team could soon be on the horizon if George Russell continues to outperform Lewis Hamilton over the course of this season. The latter has endured his worst ever start to a Formula One campaign and was recently told by Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko that he would have avoided the embarrassment that he currently faces if he had retired from the sport over the winter.

    “We also have to talk about Lewis Hamilton, of course,” wrote Schumacher in his latest F1 column for Sky Germany. “He has to ask himself why George Russell is so much faster than him.

    From the Comments

    As I said, he very wisely 😉 did choose the 2nd driver yellow camera.

    10

    • #
      OldOzzie

      Lewis Hamilton speaks out on being lapped by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in Imola

      LEWIS HAMILTON suffered another disappointing finish on Sunday.

      Lewis Hamilton gave a damning response to being lapped by Max Verstappen at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday, insisting it proves ‘how wrong’ Mercedes have approached the start of the 2022 season. The seven-time world champion went head-to-head with Verstappen last year but is already unlikely to win a record eighth title this season.

      From the Comments

      So much for the greatest of all time. The cars the star.

      10

  • #
    OldOzzie

    shatterzzz says:

    April 27, 2022 at 9:12 am
    Watching the Netflix mini-series, DOPESICK, about how “big pharma” , namely PERDUE PHARMA managed to control the US opioid market with the most addictive pain-killer ever known, OXYCONTIN .. coupla interesting points (among dozens) that stood out ..

    Listen to the Dollop Report

    The Dollop #280 – Opium in the US – Part 1

    The Dollop #281 – Opium in the US – Part 2

    Incredible history – The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds: Comedians Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds picks a subject from history and examine it.

    They must have excellent researchers

    10

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    OldOzzie

    Miranda Devine: ‘The most compelling evidence’ of 2020 vote fraud

    ‘The extent of the operation is jaw-dropping’

    As WND reported, Engelbrecht and Phillips hired a dozen people who put in 16-hour days for 15 months, combing tediously through cellphone geolocation data, surveillance videos and documents to see if the evidence supports their vote-fraud hypothesis. They believe the data show a highly coordinated operation in the key battleground states collected ballots and paid “mules” to stuff them in the unattended drop boxes that became a center of controversy.

    Devine, calling the extent of the vote fraud “jawdropping,” featured it in a column warning that while Democrats and their failed policies appear to be headed for “annihilation at the midterms,” the party’s leaders “appear curiously relaxed, as if winning elections is no longer a priority.”

    That’s because, she contends, “they have a cunning plan.”

    “They might not be any good at governing, but when it comes to seizing power by foul means or fair, they are world-class,” she wrote.

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      OldOzzie

      Fraud is the Only Issue

      From a straight political standpoint, things are not going well for the Democrats. It’s difficult to cite a time in post-World War II America when so many things on so many fronts went this badly this quickly, and the voting public knows it’s their fault:

      These Democrat policies have tangibly and dramatically degraded the quality of daily life in America, to the point where many people are starting to doubt that things will ever return to normal.

      The Democrats are giving it their best shot to divert attention from their failures and gin up feigned outrage over nonexistent Trump-caused national transgressions, but the public isn’t buying it. No January 6th investigation, Diversity/Equity/Inclusion (“DEI”) efforts by schools and woke companies, Green initiatives, etc. are resonating with the voting public.

      American voters are most concerned with traditional kitchen table issues — the job market, runaway inflation, crime/safety, energy availability and affordability, schools/education, and illegal immigration and the strain it puts on the affected communities. This is what voters care about.

      The degree to which the current Democrat administration has botched all of this up is really stunning, especially since under President Trump all of these issues were essentially the best they’d ever been post-World War II.

      With no actual accomplishments to point to, having ruined everything that was running so well for the American people, Democrats are turning to what has become their most effective electoral tool in recent years: Fraud.

      30

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      OldOzzie

      DeSantis Signs Bill into Law Creating Election Police Force

      As reported by Politico, the bill implements an idea that was first suggested by DeSantis himself, in the aftermath of widespread voter fraud in numerous key swing states during the 2020 election, which may have been enough to swing the results away from President Donald Trump and in favor of Joe Biden.

      “I don’t think there’s any other place in the country that you should have more confidence that your vote counts than in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said at the signing of the bill, which took place at a sports bar outside Tampa Bay.

      The law will see the creation of a new “Office of Election Crimes and Security” within the Florida Department of State, which is authorized to use additional investigators in the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The bill allocates $2.6 million for the creation of the task force, and sets aside 25 new positions within the two agencies for this purpose. In addition, the bill makes ballot-harvesting – the process of third parties collecting and returning someone else’s ballot – a felony. It also mandates that election supervisors screen voter rolls on an annual basis in order to continuously remove voters who are ineligible or who have moved to another location.

      The bill was proposed even despite the fact that Florida was a rare example of a major swing state where little to no fraud took place in 2020, thus leading to Trump winning the state by a sizable margin of nearly 4 percent. Democrats cited this as an excuse to oppose the bill, with State Representative Yvonne Hinson (D-Fla.) claiming that “this new election crime task force has been developed to solve a problem that does not exist.”

      Voter fraud in 2020 remains one of the dominant concerns for Republican voters across the country, with numerous states implementing laws to crack down on fraudulent practices such as mail-in ballots, ballot drop boxes, ballot-harvesting, and private funding of election procedures, among others. States that have passed such laws include Florida, Georgia, Texas, and Iowa.

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        b.nice

        Guessing that if DeSantis sits for next Presidential election, and gets in.. this would be implemented at a Federal level.

        That would really level the playing field. !

        30

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    OldOzzie

    FOOD SHORTAGES, By design?

    “How many US Presidents in modern history have announced ‘food shortages’ before they occurred? The answer is only President Biden.”

    At one point I would have dismissed this sort of thing as conspiracy theory. But the conspiracy theorists’ track record isn’t bad, these days . . .

    70

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    OldOzzie

    No jab, no job! Dan Andrews is due to stand down THOUSANDS of teachers tomorrow for failing to get a Covid-19 booster shot

    – Thousands of teachers due to be stood down for not getting third Covid-19 jab
    Victoria and Northern Territory the only states to mandate booster for teachers
    – Loss of thousands of teachers due to vaccine mandate causing staff shortages

    70

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    OldOzzie

    2018-2020 Mercedes-Benz line-up recalled in Australia with software fault

    The fault could cause an emergency call system to fail, according to the manufacturer.

    Mercedes-Benz Australia has recalled 8378 vehicles across nearly 100 model variants, citing a software fault.

    The affected vehicles are stamped Model Years 2018 to 2020, with the full spate of cars listed below.

    The recall notice, lodged with the Department of Infrastructure, says: “Due to a manufacturing issue, the side airbags inflatable curtain inflators may rupture without warning.

    “In the event of an airbag inflator rupture, compressed gas and metal fragments may be propelled through the airbag cushion towards the vehicle occupants causing serious injury or death.”

    20

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    OldOzzie

    Dissecting the stage-managed French elections

    Macron’s second presidency was as calculatingly managed by France’s liberal elite as his first. As the country’s economic and geographic schisms widen further, yesterday’s Yellow Vest protests will seem like a tea party by comparison.

    The numbers tell the story: There are 48,803,175 French citizens registered to vote. Macron got 18,779,809 votes. Marine Le Pen got 13,297,728 votes. Yet the most eyebrow-raising performance was by the Abstention/Nullified/Blank candidate: 16,674,963 votes.

    So the president of France was re-elected by 38.5 percent of voters while the real second place, Absention/Nullified/Blank got 34.2 percent.

    That implies that roughly 42 percent of registered French voters bothered to hit the polls basically to bar Le Pen: a brand that remains toxic in vast swathes of urban France – yet hardly as much as before – and even with the whole weight of oligarchic mainstream media engaged in Two Minute Hate campaign mode. The five oligarchies who run the so-called ‘audiovisual landscape’ (PAF, according to the French acronym) of campaign messaging are all Macronists.

    Madam Guillotine meets the working classes

    “Not necessarily the whole of France” in fact means the majority of France, if one bothers to leave a few tony Paris arrondissements to talk to people in Pas-de-Calais, Bourgogne or the Var. This ‘real’ France identifies the “social market economy” extolled by Attali and promoted by Macron as a gigantic fake.

    It would be too easy to paint the current national divide between, on one side, the elderly and the very young carrying a diploma, living in comfort; and on the other side, the 25 to 60 year olds, without higher education and barely making ends meet. That is, the working class masses.

    It is more nuanced than that. Still, the two most important factors in this election are that close to one third of voters didn’t even bother to show up – or nullified their vote (even here in Paris). And that the gullible Melenchon horde handed it over to Le Petit Roi, assuming their leader will become a de facto ‘prime minister.’

    The working classes will be literally exterminated throughout another five years of hardcore neoliberalism. France’s until recently stellar social welfare system will be decimated. Retirement age will be extended to 65 years old. Smaller pensions will be barely enough to live on. The super-wealthy will pay much lower taxes while the common worker will pay much higher ones. Education and healthcare will be privatized.

    France will merrily catch up with the fast decaying casino capitalism of the US and UK. And don’t forget further travel restrictions and food and fuel shortages.

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    another ian

    “Solid Take from Glenn Greenwald on Elon Musk Motives and Purchase of Twitter
    April 26, 2022 | Sundance | 15 Comments”

    https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2022/04/26/solid-take-from-glenn-greenwald-on-elon-musk-motives-and-purchase-of-twitter/

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    el+gordo

    BoM forecasts a wet winter. A negative IOD coupled with La Nina like conditions to produce floods.

    https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/wet-winter-looms-with-backtoback-negative-iod-to-follow-double-la-nina/539328

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    el+gordo

    Senator Canavan speaks the truth.

    “The net zero thing is all sort of dead anyway,” he told the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing on Tuesday.

    “I mean, (United Kingdom Prime Minister) Boris Johnson’s said he’s pausing the net-zero commitment, Germany’s building coal and gas infrastructure, Italy’s reopening coal-fired power plants, it’s all over.

    “I mean, it’s all over bar the shouting here.”

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    el+gordo

    Climate 200 candidates are mostly women.

    https://www.climate200.com.au/candidates

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      el+gordo

      ‘Come clean on interests, Climate 200 chief told.

      ‘Liberals battling independent candidates who are funded by Simon Holmes a Court’s group have called on him to be ‘transparent’ about his clean-­energy investments.’

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    another ian

    “Tony Abbott writes for India’s The Hindu newspaper on Russia’s war with Ukraine”

    https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2022/04/tony-abbott-writes-for-indias-the-hindu-newspaper-on-russias-war-with-ukraine.html#comments

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    el+gordo

    Sea Surface Temperatures (SST) in south west Pacific dropped during the depth of the LIA 1701-1761, but ENSO didn’t alter its rhythm.

    https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/758300

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