Thursday Open Thread

We have reverted back to the old style comment layout but with a few new buttons and a new “editing” link in comments for five minutes after publication.

9.9 out of 10 based on 14 ratings

127 comments to Thursday Open Thread

  • #
    Jo Nova

    I will revert the site to the old comments style soon, temporarily, until I have time to customize the current plugin properly, or find a new one with the comments buttons I was seeking…
    The new buttons here are great, but the layout is too spread out, with clutter, and no comment numbers, and it’s harder for moderators to edit as well.

    Thanks for your patience.

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    • #
      David Maddison

      Thank you for all your hard work Jo and everyone else working on it.

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    • #
      K P

      Thankyou Jo, it is a lot of work to sort out something completely new, well beyond my skills & patience. I could only manage Invisionfree, back in the days of simplicity.

      [KP, you should be able to use your old KP name too – Jo]

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      • #

        Done. So now we can discuss what we like / don’t like about the different formats. I will try to find a simple button toolbar temporarily.

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        • #

          Super basic plugin now allows four buttons. It’s not much but it’s better than nothing.

          Seems to work.

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          • #

            Test for the editing function

            –EDIT: Nice! A new hyperlink appears inside your comment, after you publish it — which allows you to fix those typos for five minutes. (But there are not buttons to add bold etc in this window. So use those buttons before you click submit.)

            We shall see if anything breaks.

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        • #

          Posting viewable pictures is out again, isn’t it ?

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          • #

            For the moment yes. Perhaps I will add in future? I’m a bit concerned that it will clog up the server, and while graphs would be great, if people add memes or flashing gifs it will change the conversation. Moderators and I can still convert links manually to image html if you have a graph.

            I’m open to suggestion.

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            • #
              Annie

              This old layout is much easier to read and the numbering back on the comments is really helpful.
              I do appreciate what you are doing to add good things Jo but it is awfully nice to see the clearer font and layout again!
              I guess it is a bit risky to add the photo and/or graph function as it could really use a lot of the blog’s capabilities.
              Anyway, do what you think is best 🙂
              Just looked at edit button; it works!
              With an extra thumbs up/down for good measure!!

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            • #
              Andrew McRae

              People would add memes and flashing GIFs? Never!

              ___
              edit: this also means don’t reply to a comment until it is 6 minutes old, or they may have pulled the rug out from under your reply before you post it.

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    • #
      Hanrahan

      I was about to ask if the moderation bot is still as unpredictable. Seems it doesn’t matter now. 🙂

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    • #
      David-of-Cooyal-in-Oz

      Thanks Jo,
      I haven’t had as much time here today to explore and comment as you deserve, but I’m one who likes the numbering system and use it regularly to re-find my own replies to see what reaction they’ve had, and to get back into position after following a link in line.
      I also like the Preview function – it’s enabled me to remove multiple spelling, formatting and omissions before posting. The fact that I’ve not achieved 100% is a fault of someone driving the keyboard…
      The edit function will hopefully let me get closer still to that 100%.
      Cheers
      Dave B

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    • #
      David-of-Cooyal-in-Oz

      Evening again Jo,
      Something different and good has come from your reversion the good old format:
      My reply at 1.4 above has become visible to me remarkably quickly.
      Over previous months, if I’ve left the thread for any reason after posting a reply, then returned within a short time – up to an hour or so – that reply has not be visible to me, and no amount of refreshing helped me find it. Tonight, it’s there!
      Hope that feature becomes permanent.

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    • #
      skeptilkal

      Thanks Jo,

      This old style is easier for me to read. I know it’s probably not possible, but it would be a lot better if you could keep this old layout and just add whatever new features you think you need to add.

      10

    • #
      skeptikal

      Thanks Jo,

      This old style is easier for me to read. I know it’s probably not possible, but it would be a lot better if you could keep this old layout and just add whatever new features you think you need to add.

      60

    • #
      Tides of Mudgee

      Hi Jo, whenever I have to do anything technical with my computer, my hair starts to fall out, I discover profanities I never thought I knew, my patience disappears and I start speaking in tongues, so I’m full of admiration and gratitude at your work to provide us all with a better site, I’m also grateful that the reversion to the old spacing and numbering has happened. Many thanks. Haven’t explored the new bits yet, but will. ToM

      Just used the edit button to add this. Great.

      30

  • #
    John Connor II

    4WD water crossing gone wrong.

    https://va.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_rr8uo7FWCg1z23obp.mp4

    Not so cocky now.

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    • #
      Broadie

      Lucky it wasn’t a Tesla. Not just ‘steamified’ like the other unfortunate souls he would have added incinerated to the narrative.
      My comment on this lad’s actions would be his total disrespect for the other punters he pushed a bow wave over. Why were they stopped? Did he believe they were all stupid?

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    • #
      Ted1.

      He doesn’t look nearly as worried as he should. Getting out of a submerged vehicle could be very difficult.

      That river could be rising, too. It looks like a fresh.

      30

    • #
      Andrew McRae

      Perhaps if they’d all chipped in they could have brought one of these on their roof rack.
      http://www.teledynemarine.com/zboat1250

      00

  • #
    John Connor II

    eBooks Censored AFTER You’ve Bought Them is Latest Trick by Leftists

    Amazon are now censoring the ebooks that customers have already bought, often without their knowledge or consent.

    The new censored versions of books by Roald Dahl were uploaded to customers devices overnight, without any notification, with customers now unable to see the original versions of the much loved classics they thought they’d bought.

    Customers with Kindle devices may be under the impression that the books bought and paid for became their property, but this has proven not to be the case. Amazon can go into any device and delete, edit or change any book of their choosing, even if the customer purchased it years ago and it’s on their own device.

    https://www.visionnews.online/post/ebooks-censored-after-you-ve-bought-them-is-latest-trick-by-leftists

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    • #
      David Maddison

      Leftists love being told what to think, read and do. I don’t. That’s one of the reasons I won’t buy eBooks if the book is able to be censored by remote control.

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    • #
      David Maddison

      The Left see Nineteen Eighty Four as an instruction manual, not a warning.

      I can’t wait for the Leftists to come out and attempt to defend this.

      Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.

      George Orwell, 1984

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    • #
      K P

      Isn’t that what Winston Smith worked on? Re-writing history to become a permanent present with no past or future.. No doubt some AI will soon be able to zip around the net altering the contents of webpages at will. I’m sure new cars will have the same features, performance and allowable speeds re-written and broadcast straight to the ECU.

      1984 definitely seems to be a rule-book these days.

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    • #
      David Maddison

      Apparently you can stop Leftists uploading the censored versions of your books by disabling updates but you might already have the censored version, not the original.

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    • #
      Honk R Smith

      And it starts with the children’s books.

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    • #
      Graham Richards

      If you’re going to trust the big tech companies you’d best get used to being controlled. That’s what they stand for & that’s the way you’ll be treated. Abandon them for your own sake, not to mention the rest of us!

      20

    • #

      You have to save a copy elsewhere, or even the original.
      And/or prohibit access from outside.

      30

    • #
      SteveR

      I download all my ebooks straight to my hard drive as well as kindle. Don’t know if they will be edited automatically when I re-put them on the device.

      00

  • #
    K P

    “scottMarch 22, 2023 5:36 pmOk while I can I am going to post David Burton’s (aka Inigo Jones) forecast from 2017.it is in the public domain on facebook.https://joannenova.com.au/wp-content/major-Cycles-1679470557.1306-262×300.jp

    Does anyone here have any idea on where the direction of the local star cluster lies? The orrery I use has a ‘flip’ button labelled N and S that the reverses the display of the planets, but I don’t know if there is even an accepted “North” when displaying the solar system.”

    https://www.theplanetstoday.com/

    Most of his dates have the big planets on the RHS of the sun in the orrery, which is expected as their orbits are so slow. That suggests the flood cycles would be a century out from drought, which can’t be right.

    [Fished out of spam and edited by me to reduce the “blockquote” spread. – Jo]

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    • #
      Scott

      Hi KP,

      I use two apps one is called SkyView. there is a free version and a paid version. I think the paid version is about the cost of a cup of coffee but absolutely amazing.

      it shows where the horizon is and when celestial bodies rise and fall. you can locate all the planets and major stars including the north star, plus the international space station, Hubble telescope, satellites and old rocket bodies.

      This is worth the cost as it is awesome to view what is out there.

      The second is a bit more out there as its main use is astrology but David uses it for star locations. it is called Astro Gold not as good as the pc/Mac version but cheaper.

      Hope that helps

      P.S. I have been able to plan the house build based on his rain dates absolutely spot on.

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      • #
        KP

        Cheers Scott, I will look them up today. It all started out as astrology, and we may all feel embarrassed if science finally shows astrology is true.. The ‘lunatics at full moon’ is observed, if not explained.

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    • #
      K P

      Thankyou Jo, I edited it a few times too quickly trying to get the block-quote to work!

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  • #
    Crakar24

    Senate currently discussing excess deaths, the conspiracy theory smear has already been used

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    • #
      Dianeh

      The reply to the conspiracy theory comment, is that the true conspiracy is those that pushed the vaccinations and lockdowns on the populace,

      Edited. The edit button is cool.

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  • #
    Crakar24

    Apparently the reasons for high excess deaths are

    1, Long covid, you fix this by getting vacxrd
    2, masks work no flu but other viruses killed people
    3, lack of medical care during lockdowns

    No explanation as to why children died, investigation into covif response was rejected.

    Your tax dollars at work

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    • #
      Foyle

      Dr John Campbell discussed an very large Israeli study that showed no increase in myo & pericarditis from Covid. Pretty clear it’s the vax.

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      • #
        David Maddison

        This is his report on the Israeli study.

        https://youtu.be/Hb1Xm1uaedU

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      • #
        Steve of Cornubia

        Campbell also presented a pre-pub paper recently, from Finland I think, which showed a very robust correlation between excess (all cause) deaths and the number of vax doses delivered. If the research underpinning the paper is sound, it will never get published, at least not in a major journal.

        Yay – the edit thingy works!

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  • #
    Crakar24

    I made two comments which have now vanished

    [ I looked and they are not in the Spam or the Trash bin. ? Sorry. – Jo]

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  • #
    Ted1.

    I saved a comment when it didn’t go. So here it is now, about the modern Big Brother.
    =====
    I purchased a $2,000 DJI drone. I thought it might be useful, but haven’t mastered the art of driving it yet. I might have to leave it to younger eyes to operate.

    But it is an amazing bit of gear. It appears to have precise GPS, and uses WiFi and the mobile phone service, and has a 5K video camera.

    First thing it does when you connect it to the phone snd turn it on is “update the firmware”. So it seems to me that somewhere in China there is a computer which knows when and exactly where my drone operates, maybe even when it was out of mobile service last week, and it is quite conceivable that that computer could hijack my drone in flight and turn it to some other use.

    My drone came off the shelf at our local Harvey Norman’s. So they would have the world fairly well covered.

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  • #

    On the Amazon censoring ebooks thing:
    Calibre E-book manager runs on Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, Android, all of which (apart from Linux) have numerous “vulnerabilities” according to CVE, ThreatFabric and other agencies concerned with cybersecurity. Calibre can convert items to other formats. I have done this for Amazon purchases simply because I expected another Windows crash, and I am required by law to back up certain records.

    Even these days many jurisdictions permit purchasers to back up what they have purchased. Calibre is foss (free, open source) and has a large number of contributors, some of whom would be difficult to intimidate. One is credited for “various bits of reverse engineering without which Calibre would never have gotten off the ground.” 🙂

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  • #
    Leo G

    Amazon can go into any device and delete, edit or change any book of their choosing, even if the customer purchased it years ago and it’s on their own device.

    Carbon neutral book-burning?

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  • #
    David Maddison

    In Vicdanistan, the regime of Comrade Dictator Dan has spent $1 billion on “consultants” since the regime came to power.

    Talk about snouts in the trough…

    https://au.news.yahoo.com/victorian-govt-spends-almost-1b-231638860.html

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    • #
      Honk R Smith

      Insultants?
      I’m a crass American with little understanding of Oz politics.
      But from up here, that guy comes across as a piece of work.
      Jacindaesque. But with a man person suit and BCGs (Birth Control Glasses).
      He presents as a central casting New World Order soulless bureaucrat archetype.
      (We go for the bumbling grandfather thing.)
      I’m sure they’re both fine fellows.
      Jacinda may also be a fine fellow … or not … I don’t want to make assumptions.

      Fox News.
      And Alex jones.
      They make me say these things.

      Is it Permanent Drought or Atmospheric River this week?
      (Atmospheric River rafting could be fun.)

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    • #
      Sceptical+Sam

      No surprises there.

      It would be useful to see a reconciliation of contributions to Labor’s election and other funds viz-a-viz the consultants engaged.

      Kick-backs are always welcome.

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  • #
    Gary S

    It goes without saying that any excessive fees paid to consultants pertaining to the recent plague were totally wasted from the public safety point of view. Perhaps not from a propaganda angle, though.

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  • #
    Saighdear

    Now for something different:
    but although the thought ( as always) is ‘for the common good’ in practice and where government is concerned, may NOT be ? Mob. Phone users to get emergency alert test on April 23 but it’s what the phone can do…. ‘On Sunday 23 April, a siren-like emergency warning message will be sent to mobile phone users across the UK to test a new public alert system. This will sound even if a phone is on silent.’ Some folk will be concnetrating really hard on something “mission critical” , taken precautions and silenced the phone, BANG! Why? Could just opt in to a service and press button as and when to try / for amusement Like B-Band testing. and then this raises its ugly head: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/uk-government-lock-phones-emergency-alert/

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    • #
      K P

      Their obviously getting ready for when the first Khinzal missiles appear over the horizon from Ukraine..

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  • #

    Yeah, that went well.

    For around five/six weeks now, I have been commenting over at RenewEconomy, and my comments were posted as soon as I pressed the leave comment button.

    At a recent Thread where I did comment, my comment was the second comment posted. Over the next three days, I was all but mercilessly ‘flamed’. There was a couple of positive comments, but almost 60 comments were negative.

    So, this afternoon, I commented at the the Queensland Renewables Thread (https://reneweconomy.com.au/queensland-gets-ready-for-a-grid-without-coal/) over there, posted by the site ‘boss’ I suppose, Giles Parkinson.

    The comment of mine, unlike earlier comments I made at the site, which were posted immediately, had some text that ‘your comment is waiting to be posted, after we check it’, or words to that effect. In other words ….. ‘off to M0der@tion with you’.

    Then, I suppose when the m0der@tor read the comment, it, umm, disappeared.

    That’s it for me.

    No one there wants to know the facts, or has any comprehension of the Maths involved.

    My comment mentioned the Queensland Government 50% renewables by 2030, my submission, the end result of that, and how all reference to that Inquiry has now disappeared, and how they are not even close to the target.

    I was straight forward and only quoted facts, and that is it for me now.

    Joanne mentioned that (the collective) ‘we’ should not just limit ourselves to sites like this one at Joanne’s, and that we should be putting ourselves ‘out there’ at these other sites.

    That’s all well and good, when Joanne’s site ‘bans’ no one out of hand, but to expect that sites like these other ones will abide by the same standards is just a ‘bridge too far’.

    That’s it for me now. There’s no point.

    After reading those almost 60 replies at this Thread, (https://reneweconomy.com.au/boom-cycle-means-82-pct-renewables-target-is-doable-says-regulator/) I’ve had enough. At 72 years of age, I’ll comment here, and do what I do at my own site, but that’s it for ‘telling the facts’ as they are.

    Tony.

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    • #

      Tony, so please try again, and keep a copy of your polite informative copy. We can publish you here in a blog post pointing out how scared they are of tame facts.

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    • #
      TdeF

      It’s certainly a cheer squad for renewables. And they believe every word of the climate catastrophe. Even that Venus is a model for the future of our planet, despite being at 0.7AU and receiving double the solar radiation. This the foundation explanation from the infamous James Hansen of NASA in 1988 that CO2 made Venus much hotter than earth. All heat comes from the sun. Of course it is much hotter at 500C! The real zero of temperature is -273C so it’s 290K vs 773K, about double the temperature. But I doubt the people on the cheer squad for windmills have any idea. They just believe. It is a religion and these are the zealots.

      The blackouts are coming. Just as the Ukranian war is draining the ability of any Western country to fight. And the climate money is flowing like a river to China. The banning of CF4, coal, gas, oil, rare earths all serve to undermine Western democracies. And you can include the Wuhan Flu, Fentanyl and all the pharmaceuticals. Meanwhile TikTok is preferentially delivering suicide videos to 13 year old Americans. I could be dreaming but it all seems like a plan as Biden runs down the Strategic Reserve of oil. This is how you wage war in a nuclear world. Undermine your enemies with their enthusiastic cooperation, blowing up cheap working reliable coal power. because of a fantasy about carbon dioxide.

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      • #
        ozfred

        There are a few sober contributors
        I wonder if my contribution on your original thread will “remain in view”
        Anyway there is one with divergent thoughts in this thread
        https://reneweconomy.com.au/nsw-coalition-and-labor-say-closure-of-australias-largest-coal-generator-may-be-delayed/

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        • #
          TdeF

          Coal power generation is not being superseded by solar, simply made unprofitable. That was the explicit intention of the Renewable Energy(Electricity) Act 2001. It alone double electricity prices, made coal, oil, gas generation a second class citizen and provided direct cash from electricity invoices to double income to random energy providers. This crushes the profitability and competitiveness of steady providers of baseload, the concept of which is continually also under attack by shareholder activists.

          Random energy is the preferred solution to manufacturing. Except it is unworkable. There is almost no energy use which is workable with random energy. Elevators, transport, lighting, smelting, traffic lights, manufacturing. Perhaps pumping water uphill or something equally useless.

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    • #
      Lance

      Maybe post this Simpson’s clip so they clearly understand where RenewEconomy is going:

      Sky News from about 4 months ago. Renewables: Summed up by the Simpsons

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bQOXRx6FN8

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  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    More than a tinfoil hat needed by the look of this

    “Why Hypersonic Weapons Change Everything”

    https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/why-hypersonic-weapons-change-everything

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    • #
      Saighdear

      Wow, if that is an appropriate response. The Courage of Knowledge watched this last night ( didn’t quite know what I was watching at the time) before bedtime. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6017756/ Missed my sleep slot but .. watch yourselves.

      30

    • #
      Hanrahan

      Firing six Kinzhals in one go is military-speak for, “we have the capability to sink ALL of your aircraft carriers in at once.”

      Houston, we have a problem. Such a missile would, by definition, be slender and could not carry a big warhead. At hypersonic speeds they would be near impossible to intercept but they would also be very hard to manoeuvre in flight. Once missiles are flying the carriers would be at 30+ kts and manoeuvring. A 100% success rate is fantasy. Beware the wounded eagle.

      I’m no expert but I believe high velocity impact is the main cause of damage but the Nimitz and Ford carriers are twice the weight of WWII battleships like Bismarck and Yamato and the Yanks have been building carriers for 90 years so know about damage control. I am unconvinced a single non-nuclear rocket would totally stop operations on the deck.

      BTW Part of acceptance trials of the Ford class was full helm at speed. That massive deck says they would have to fall over, but they don’t.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDGJzxr3Th8

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      • #
        KP

        ” A 100% success rate is fantasy.”

        You reckon? Musk drops a rocket backwards from outer space to balance on its tail on a barge moving in the sea every time he sends a Falcon up these days… I’d say hitting something as big as an aircraft carrier wouldn’t be hard, you could do it optically seeing they’re the biggest object against a plain background of ocean.

        “Russian forces targeted a large weapons depot in Ukraine which had been built during the Soviet times to withstand a nuclear strike. It was buried 170 meters (over 500 ft) underground and protected by several layers of armored concrete. That first strike with a single Kinzhal missile destroyed Ukraine’s nuke-proof underground weapons depot. ”

        I think its a bigger bang than you realise. It delivers half a ton of payload, nuclear or conventional, at 12,000kph.

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  • #
    another ian

    Hi Jo

    Colour me “Not impressed”

    I tripped over this serious miss-information while looking for some on “Grand Slam” –

    “Summarizer

    Sir Barnes Wallis Grand Slam was an atomic bomb used in World War II. It was first used against the Bielefeld Viaduct on 14th March 1945, where 3,000 tons of bombs (including Tallboys) had already been dropped on it with little result. Grand Slam also caused remarkable destruction wherever it was used – the Arnsberg, Arbergen, Neinburg and other bridges were also to be felled by the bomb due to modifications made to the B.1 Specials which included the removal of gun turrets allowing the aircraft to carry Grand Slam up to an acceptable drop height.0
    favicon
    sirbarneswallis.com
    0
    Powered by Brave AI”

    I think Brave might need a big reamer through what ever it is doing with “Brave AI”

    Search item was “Barnes Wallis” using Brave

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    • #
      Leo G

      Blame Harry Truman:

      Sixteen hours ago an American airplane dropped one bomb on Hiroshima, an important Japanese Army base… It had more than two thousand times the blast power of the British “Grand Slam” which is the largest bomb ever yet used in the history of warfare.

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    • #
      Hanrahan

      I’m surprised. At 22,000 lbs it was a 1,000 lbs heavier than the infamous GBU-43B MOAB

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      • #
        TdeF

        Only the 4 engine (Rolls Royce Merlin, like most English aircraft) Lancaster could lift it and I think even that had to be stripped out. However the breakthrough was not just immense size of charge.

        The earthquake bomb had a steel cap and did not explode on impact like most bombs. It a delay fuse and penetrated deeply with its 10 ton weight, then detonated. They called it the ‘earthquake bomb’ and it was used on the Tirpiz, the sister ship of the Bismark.

        But its major role was bringing down train brick viaducts which being empty thin structures could not be brought down by an explosion unless it was an unlikely direct hit. The earthquake bomb produced a lateral earth movement which would bring down brick piers by moving the foundations sideways as in an earthquake. It was very successful.

        The same bomb was also used on the submarine pens at Lorient which had two reinforced concrete rooves separated by three metres of reinforced concrete. The first roof was very strong but sacrificial and stopped most bombs. The earthquake bomb penetrated and so reached the second roof and put the pens out of action.

        Barnes Wallis regretted greatly his Dam buster attacks on the dams of the Ruhr which were a public relations success but cost thousands of innocent lives of the slave workers and scores of RAF airmen for little long term impact. The earthquake bomb was his great success.

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  • #

    strike test by manual html code

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    Hanrahan

    ‘Tis late at night, any of you old pharts feeling nostalgic for the pre nanny-state days?

    Try this old western, it’s only half an hour but they didn’t clip the ads.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe7c-oG3_SY

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      David Maddison

      Excellent episode. Thanks for posting.

      1) Interesting sponsorship concept with Rory Calhoun as The Texan promoting the product in character at the end.

      2) The girl, “Hank”/Henrietta was raised to be a tomboy by a single controlling father. But when handed over to be raised by a lady she became feminine. Today, Leftists would declare such a girl “trans” and immediately set to work socially, hormonally and surgically mutilating and sterilising her.

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      TdeF

      Isn’t Miranda Devine shaking them up in America, taking her strong independent views to a much bigger audience. Not so much conservative as a traditional journalist refusing to bow to woke ideology and a staunch defender of her own values and in Australia of Cardinal George Pell in particular. She was right. It is not the job of journalists to indulge in witch hunts. But the Biden family have left a trail of graft and corruption so wide and long that you would have to be wilfully blind not to see it. Like most US journalists. And the US public is starting to realise how refreshing it is to have a real and dare I say honest journalist at work.

      20

  • #
    John B

    Great stuff from Tucker Carlson exposing the
    EXPERTOCRACY and their predictions

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  • #
    Ian Hill

    Yikes, I just checked my email and got 79 messages in my junk mail folder in the past two days, nearly all from JoNova!

    Somehow under the temporary format I turned on a “notify me option” when someone posts. How do I turn that off?

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  • #
    David Maddison

    Recent video.

    Rand Paul and covid “vaccine” induced myocarditis.

    https://youtu.be/k9D-Dz_-RpE (10m18s)

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  • #
    David Maddison

    When I read that Greta Thunberg had been, or was going to be, awarded an honorary doctorate of theology from the University of Helsinki, I thought it was a joke, but here it is. Fact Checked by me.

    https://www.helsinki.fi/en/news/science-policy/thirty-new-honorary-doctorates-be-conferred-conferment-jubilee

    Faculty of Theology to confer eight honorary doctorates on 9 June 2023

    Riho Altnurme, Professor of Church History, Vice-Dean for Research, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Tartu

    Maria Immonen, MA, Director of the Department of World Service, Lutheran World Federation (LWF)

    Mia Lövheim, Professor of the Sociology of Religion, Uppsala University

    Greta Thunberg, activist

    Munib Younan, Bishop Emeritus, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land, Former President of The Lutheran World Federation

    Annabel Brett, Professor, Co-director of Cambridge Centre for Political Thought, University of Cambridge

    Grace Davie, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, University of Exeter

    Philip Esler, Professor, Portland Chair in New Testament Studies, University of Gloucestershire

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      KP

      ..just degraded the work of everyone else at the University of Helsinki!

      Goes with ‘diversity hires’ for a job and the general lowering of standards from ‘degrees for the brightest’ to ‘let the dumbest have one as well’.

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        TdeF

        These are political statements, not real degrees. Julie Gillard was given an honorary Doctorate of Laws by RMIT, so it’s Dr. Gillard now. But at least as Prime Minister there is some logical basis to this. Professor Bruce Pascoe holds a high paying job at Melbourne University which is exclusively for aborigines, even though he is provably not an aborigine. Universities seek publicity. And cash. The Vice Chancellors are on $30,000 a week. It’s a nice job. And handing out degrees is what they do.

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    RicDre

    Koonin wins in Cornell Oxford Style Debate

    By Andy May

    Steve Koonin is still undefeated!

    The Steamboat Institute hosted a Campus Liberty Tour Oxford style debate at Cornell University on Mar 15, 2023. Drs. Steven Koonin and Robert Socolow debated the resolution:

    “Climate science compels us to make large and rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.”

    In the pre-debate poll, 37% of the audience agreed with the proposition vs. 47% who opposed it. In the post-debate poll, 28% of the audience agreed vs. 66% who opposed. A 19% increase in the opposed.

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/03/22/koonin-wins-in-cornell-oxford-style-debate/

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    RicDre

    CENSORSHIP by Government, Media, Academia to Control Covid Narrative

    America Uncovered

    During the pandemic there was a lot of talk of Covid misinformation being spread around the internet. Social media companies, academia, media and government jumped into action to censor anything outside of the official narrative. In this episode of America Uncovered, we look at what journalist Matt Taibbi uncovered through the Twitter Files about the Stanford Virality Project, who was on board, and how it sacrificed facts to protect a narrative.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHFO740C_Zo

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    another ian

    Tell me if you heard this on “Their ABC”?

    “We got some hopeful news for our Australian friends yesterday, when news broke of the ATAGI’s new, updated 2023 covid guidelines. ATAGI is the Australian Government’s Covid Technical Advisory Group on Immunization, which has become a household word in Australia, although it’s a word usually accompanied by other household words that you can’t say in front of the children.

    Anyway, forget about booster mandates! Nevermind! At this point in 2023, ATAGI only recommends covid shots for two groups: people aged 65+ and people 18 and over who are at-risk. The new guidelines actually recommend AGAINST covid shots for healthy kids under 18, or even for at-risk kids under five — the opposite of U.S. FDA recommendations.

    And I was gobsmacked to see this next section in the ATAGI’s latest guidelines, which actually used the word “risks” in the section headline, and acknowledged myocarditis and pericarditis — another breakthrough! — and, though I searched everywhere, I could not find the words “very rare” or any other reassuring technical mumbo-jumbo suggesting it’s almost impossible to be injured by the shots.

    You have to dig down into the linked 13-page provider information sheet to find the usual reassuring gobbledegook, and even there, ATAGI only says that the benefit outweighs the “rare risk.” Not “very rare.” Neither does it quantify the risk, which a well-respected Canadian study calculated to be 1 in 5,000.

    I have a question: who should get to decide whether a particular risk is justified by a benefit? The government? Or the person taking the risk?

    This is a gigantic U-turn for the Australian government. Oh, they’ll gaslight everyone by claiming they ALWAYS acknowledged the risk of myocarditis, but the truth is the authorities promised OVER AND OVER this was the “safest vaccine ever made in human history.” The fact that the Australian government has retreated from almost all recommendations and is now recommending AGAINST jabbing healthy kids is huge news. ”

    From today’s Covid and Coffee Newsletter

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    another ian

    FWIW

    “Projection For The Rest Of The Year”

    Detailed

    https://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=248377

    10

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      KP

      Well worth it Ian. ..although he desperately needs a ‘plain text’ keyboard or a good editor!

      Stupid writing style aside, he has excellent reasons for a severe drop in living standards as our printing of money for the last 15years comes home to roost. The 1% interest rates gave people the ability to borrow a $100,000 to pay someone’s salary while they actually only pay the $1000 interest.

      Run a crazy business, make a million dollars or two, then collapse it as interest rates rise!

      I saw this in the comments-

      “”War is when the Government tells you who the bad guy is. Revolution is when you decide that for yourself.” – Benjamin Franklin”

      10

      • #
        farmerbraun

        Get with it KP .
        Every “start-up” is designed with a “burn down” in view. A “burn down ” is the period in the evolution of a company where you spend a lot of other people’s money until it’s all gone. Then you ask for more . . or fold.
        I suppose you’ll think this is crazy.
        You’re right of course, but it will end in tears no doubt.

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    Neville

    Here’s the latest Bolt report interview with Dr Lindzen this week.
    Amazingly sane and a real scientist who hasn’t changed his mind about the UN + MSM CC BS and FRAUD.
    Just think about the TRILLIONs of $ that would’ve been saved if they’d only listened to this honest scientist 30 years ago.

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/03/23/climate-change-isnt-particularly-dangerous-richard-lindzen/

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      TdeF

      The only scientists who speak out are retired, not afraid for their jobs. Even Prof Peter Ridd was close to retirement. Because they know they will be fired, cancelled, stripped, humiliated, attacked, reviled. Peter has even lost his superannuation to which he was fully entitled. It’s a wonder they did not send a hit team for his family, as in the Stalin days. The fact that he was right was the entire problem!

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        Annie

        Surely his superannuation was his own money anyway. To take it away is theft, is it not?

        10

        • #
          Gee Aye

          That is because TdeF did not make a correct claim. his superannuation is his. The court case made a claim for payment for the amount of pay and superannuation he would have had if he was not sacked. He would have not been paid that money if he lost the case. It did not affect his accumulated earnings.

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            Gee Aye

            btw… he wasn’t stripped either.

            00

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            TdeF

            He was sacked unfairly and as Professor of Physics and head of the department for decades, he made a stand on principle about fake Climate science, something which has since publicly tainted this university world wide. And he has been proven right on all counts.

            But it seems you agree with the decision that ultimately cost him all his savings, including his superannuation and his job.

            The original court settlement was equivalent and no more than the balance of his superannuation and lost wages for the balance of his tenure. There were no damages. Even so, this was appealed at great further public cost to the High Court by the University and he lost on a technicality. So it’s sophistry to say he didn’t lose his superannuation, having won his case.

            I and tens of thousands of others donated to help him and I had met him and advised him not to do it, but he believed totally in the fairness of the court and the good fight. I doubt he believes it now.

            10

        • #
          Hanrahan

          Uni super would be defined benefits, not accrued benefits so I assume he lost the [big] difference.

          Yippee! I can italicise again,

          00

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    “EXCLUSIVE: Australia Banks are Now “Debanking” Independent Journalists Exercising Their Free Speech Rights”

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/03/exclusive-australia-banks-are-now-debanking-independent-journalists-exercising-their-free-speech-rights/

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    • #
      RicDre

      Didn’t the Canadian government do similar things to its opponents? If so, the contagion is spreading. We will likely see it here in the US very soon.

      10

      • #
        RicDre

        I found another new feature I like. I accidentally added the above comment in the wrong place, but the “Delete” button in the “Edit” feature allowed me to delete the comment then retype it as a reply in the correct place,

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    • #
      TdeF

      Wow. Banks enforcing Woke ideology and trashing democracy by excluding people on the basis of their views! Surely this is not going on. And surely it’s not just one individual. It’s a wonder Andrew Bolt is still alive because he would certainly be defunded and his dog put down.

      00

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  • #

    The Californian Tulare Lake, drought-out 80 years before may refill now because of, what else, CC and the resulting massive rainfalls.
    Drying-out wasn’t CC, or refilling isn’t CC, or both, in both directions, what’s true ? 😀

    10

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    RicDre

    Didn’t the Canadian government do similar things to its opponents? If so, the contagion is spreading. We will likely see it here in the US very soon.

    10

  • #
    RicDre

    Climate change isn’t ‘particularly dangerous’: Richard Lindzen

    Sky News Australia

    Atmospheric Physicist Richard Lindzen says climate change isn’t “particularly dangerous” as climate alarmism and eco-anxiety continues to escalate.

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/03/23/climate-change-isnt-particularly-dangerous-richard-lindzen/

    My favorite comment to the article is comment #1 from Steve Case quoting Carl David’s comment on the YouTube link in the article:

    My favourite Richard Lindzen quote about CO2 being a pollutant. “What sort of pollutant is it that when you remove it, everything dies”.

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  • #
    KP

    Elbow reckons the Aussies will all vote to become slaves to the Abos-

    ““It’s a simple proposition before the Australian people, and I’m confident that the Australian people will vote yes”

    https://www.smh.com.au/national/australia-news-live-split-on-voice-referendum-remains-dreyfus-wants-advice-from-afp-about-lidia-thorpe-anti-trans-rally-incident-20230323-p5cur7.html?post=p54oyx#p54oyx

    He’s that confident because he knows it doesn’t matter a shit how you vote, he’s doing the counting!

    01

  • #

    Big live webcast on scary (imaginary) tipping points. Says audience questions allowed (not likely ours). Good for a laugh perhaps. March 30.
    https://mailchi.mp/nas/upcoming-webcast-climate-conversations-tipping-points?e=1fb63d8b69

    11

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    KP

    Sea drones step up a notch in Ukraine-

    https://twitter.com/Capt_Navy/status/1638849437798920192

    4.30am, Russians reckon no ship was hit, not that they would ever say anything else.. Seems one drone hit the shore & exploded, blowing out windows in the nearby houses. Control likely from the NATO ships on sea exercises in the western Black Sea.

    00