Friday

10 out of 10 based on 13 ratings

125 comments to Friday

  • #

    ‘A more dangerous future’: Experts condemn Australia’s new gas strategy
    The safer, fossil-free future bares its teeth.

    AEMO imposes price cap on NSW electricity
    From the Australian –

    A prolonged period of high wholesale electricity spot prices in NSW has triggered the introduction of a cap to smooth out volatility, with the intervention likely to be in place for several days.

    The Australian Energy Market Operator introduced the administered price period of $600 per megawatt hour at 7.45pm on Wednesday after prices spiked above $10,000 per MWh on Wednesday afternoon.

    It was only the second time in 25 years that administered pricing for energy has been used in NSW, with the previous occurrence during the 2022 national energy crisis, consultancy WattClarity said.

    Half of Origin Energy’s Eraring coal plant – the country’s largest coal station – was offline on Thursday morning, data shows.

    One of Delta Electricity’s two Vales Point coal units was also offline late on Thursday.

    WattClarity noted it was also too early for autumn solar and there was not much wind supply for the National Electricity ­Market.

    “We see no support possible from imports in from Victoria. We also see that support via imports from Queensland are also limited,” WattClarity noted.

    We are in good hands –

    Courtesy of Dr. Faustus at Catallaxy Files

    190

  • #
    Strop

    From Friends of Science

    Annual GWPF Lecture: Climate Uncertainty and Risk – Judith Curry
    .
    Dr. Judith Curry gave the annual lecture to the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) about climate uncertainty and risk.

    .

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqsZV8i3O1E
    Video 27mins

    .

    She gave a brief history of the climate movement and the net zero targets. She wrote “With the help of a small number of well-positioned activist climate scientists, a 1988 UN conference in Toronto recommended that the world ‘reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 20% by the year 2005 as an initial global goal.’” CO2 emissions actually increase by 34% over that period. The first assessment report (FAR) from the IPCC in 1990 concluded that the recent warming was within the magnitude of natural variability. Despite this finding, 196 countries signed a UN treaty in 1992 to restrict emissions to prevent dangerous climate change. The second IPCC assessment in 1995 found much the same thing as the FAR. However, the policy makers changed the proposed summary to claim that CO2 had a “discernible” effect, and the main report was changed to agree with the summary report. At that point, the IPCC lost any pretense of being independent or uninfluenced by politics.

    Curry goes on to show how activist climate scientists misuse policy-relevant science. They conflate expert judgment with evidence, entangle disputed facts with values and intimidate scientists whose research interferes with their political agendas. Climate scientists associated with the IPCC have oversimplified the climate change problem and its solution. The climate change includes natural causes such as the sun, volcanoes, slow circulations in the ocean and unknown processes. It is now known that the extreme emissions scenario RCP8.5 is implausible. The IPCC’s latest report acknowledges that human caused climate change can’t be attributed to most extreme weather events. Reducing emissions exacerbates energy poverty and unreliability, which increases emergency risk. UN climate policies are hampering the UN Sustainable Development Goals that focus on currently living humans. International funds are being redirected away from reducing poverty to reducing carbon emission, which increases energy poverty and increases the harm of weather events. World hunger is being worsened by restrictions on livestock and fertilizer. Many people fear a future without cheap, abundant fuel and continued economic expansion, far more than they fear climate change. Rather than reducing carbon emissions, the goal should be abundant, secure, reliable, cheap & clean energy.

    190

  • #
    Strop

    From The Daily Sceptic

    BBC Uses Corrupted Airport Data to Circulate Scares About “Extreme Heat” and Climate Change
    .

    https://dailysceptic.org/2024/05/06/bbc-uses-corrupted-airport-data-to-circulate-scares-about-extreme-heat-and-climate-change/
    .

    100

  • #
    CO2 Lover

    Peter Sweden- IT’S HAPPENING: Britain REFUSES to Sign WHO Pandemic Treaty

    But you can bet the weak and corrupt Albanese goverment will sign up.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/05/peter-sweden-its-happening-britain-refuses-sign-who/

    210

    • #
      John Connor II

      If the pollies don’t do what they’re told or start faltering they’ll be replaced, as has happened.

      50

  • #
    John+in+NZ

    In NZ today,we are being warned to use less power or face power cuts.

    “National grid operator Transpower warned there is a potential for a shortfall of electricity supply between 7am and 9am because of an “unseasonal cold snap” and low wind generation.

    Major industrial electricity consumers have also been asked to reduce use during the same period. ”

    https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2024/05/energy-minister-simeon-brown-incredibly-concerned-amid-warnings-of-power-cuts.html

    150

    • #
      Richard C (NZ)

      Cold snap and low wind – who knew? Must be “unprecedented” surely.

      Also,

      Govt must regulate to smooth EVs and data centres’ demand on power grids – Vector [Auckland]
      https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/516449/govt-must-regulate-to-smooth-evs-and-data-centres-demand-on-power-grids-vector

      A power system that is already prone to shortages like those currently forecast on Friday [wind power AWOL] is facing never-before-seen demand from electric vehicles (EVs) and big data centres.

      RNZ -They would have to build much more capacity than necessary, if EV charging was not smoothed out by Vector being empowered to schedule it.

      If we have the ability to schedule, then we have to build – between now and 2050 – the size of the Auckland network again, and if we had to build it without these scheduling and everything, it would be three times the size.

      “That’s billions. It’s basically on current day, well over $4 billion.”

      But green wind and green EVs are the way of the fut……oh never mind.

      200

    • #
      RickWill

      because of an “unseasonal cold snap” and low wind generation.

      This is the problem with weather. It changes.

      A sailor gets quite good at reading the weather because progress is so dependent on the weather.

      The AEMO quarterly reports now read like weather reports because power output has become highly dependent on weather. Good sailors just accept the conditions and takes it as it comes. The job now is to convince non sailors that they can live without electricity and make the most of it when there is some.

      70

  • #
    John+in+NZ

    We are having a bit of cold weather. The first white frost of the year where I live near Hamilton. . Nothing unusual.

    Live power demand in NZ can be seen here. We will hit maximum demand in about an hour from now.

    https://www.transpower.co.nz/system-operator/live-system-and-market-data/consolidated-live-data

    Not enough wind, they say. Not enough coal, I say.

    260

    • #
      Richard C (NZ)

      From Transpower:

      Power Generation (as at) 10 May 2024 07:00
      Battery 0 MW
      Co-Gen 137 MW
      Coal 454 MW
      Gas 531 MW
      Geothermal 856 MW
      Hydro 4173 MW
      Diesel/Oil 39 MW
      Solar 1 MW
      Wind 221 MW

      120

      • #
        CO2 Lover

        What is the nameplate capacity of wind and solar in Kiwiland?

        How many coal fired power stations have been shut down?

        100

        • #
          John in NZ

          We only have one coal fired power station at Huntly. 750 MW capacity. They want to shut it down but we don’t have enough hydro to back up th wind an solar we already have.

          70

        • #
          Richard C (NZ)

          >”What is the nameplate capacity of wind and solar in Kiwiland?”

          Can’t be bothered with solar but here’s wind:

          By the end of 2023, New Zealand will have 19 on shore wind farms operating, with a total installed capacity of 1,045 MW. They represent around 10% of New Zealand’s total installed generation capacity, and generates enough energy to supply over 450,000 kiwi homes a year.

          In addition, there is currently an additional 2,200 MW of on shore wind generation in various investigation, planning and consenting stages in New Zealand and developers are consistently exploring sites throughout New Zealand for new wind farms.

          https://www.windenergy.org.nz/wind-energy/nz-onshore-wind-farms

          So (1) 221/1045 = 21% of installed capacity actually generating at 7am.

          And (2) 221/6412 = 3.54% was winds contribution at 7am, somewhat less than the 10% of total installed generation capacity.

          And (3) 355,500 of the “450,000 homes” were not supplied by wind at 7am.

          But hey, that extra 2,200 MW planned should cover the shortfall…no wait…21% of 2,200 is 462 so they’ll still be short 583 of total capacity in (1).

          They need 1045/0.21 = 4976 MW to match present total installed capacity actually generating on a 21% day.

          221 + 2,200 + 2,555 = 4976 MW.

          So only another 4755 to plan and build. By comparison hydro was generating 4173 MW at 7am.

          Seems a bit over ambitious but probably just me.

          20

          • #
            Richard C (NZ)

            >”221 + 2,200 + 2,555 = 4976 MW.”

            Should be:

            [1045] + 2,200 + [1,731] = 4976 MW.

            So only another [3931] to plan and build just to get 100% generation equivalent to present installed capacity (1045). Still a massive future over-capacity install just to deliver 100% of present capacity on a low wind day.

            Woke up in the middle of the night and realized my error. Brain must have known but didn’t tell me at the time I screeched out the calc, although did seem off but couldn’t see why.

            00

      • #

        Looks like that ‘Energy Transition’ is ‘Mega Yonks’ away, if ever. Maybe its onto ‘Infinity and Beyond’.

        60

      • #

        I love the Hydro and Geothermal numbers. The Battery number looks to be overstated. Solar looks good. sarc/

        70

    • #
      Greg in NZ

      John, I’m half-an-hour north of you, at Miranda Hot Pools on the shores of the Firth of Thames – another cracker day, up at sunrise to slide into 38C thermal liquid bliss… joy.

      What I know as beautiful autumn weather is being described as an “unseasonal cold snap” which has caused our grid to become wobbly: so much for ‘runaway’ heatwaves huh. Thankfully Grandma turned a few lightbulbs off last night, saving the country from blacking out and shutting down.

      Ya think ‘management’ is using this muck-up as a trial, pre-winter, shock psyop to get the peasants used to ‘doing more with less’?

      131

      • #
        John in NZ

        Hi Greg.
        I know Miranda well. I have done a bit of fishing in a kayak from there although I usually go out from Kaiaua. You would be a bit warmer there,being close to the sea. I am in Gordonton. The paddocks were white this morning and there was thick ice in the bird bath. Perfectly normal for this time of year.

        60

      • #
        RickWill

        Thankfully Grandma turned a few lightbulbs off last night, saving the country from blacking out and shutting down.

        Compliance is not your friend. She should have turned everything on. The sooner the grid collapses, the sooner there will be a change for better.

        Hydro is also weather dependent. And grids getting most of their power from hydro can benefit economically from wind and solar because it saves perched water. It is probably lower cost to build wind turbines than make new hydro dams. In fact, the latter is almost impossible now.

        It is permissible to degrade environment to install wind turbines but not permissible to create beautiful bodies of water by damming rivers.

        India have a solution (albeit some wrinkles to sort out). Place solar farms on the hydro storage dams. This works because solar farms are good environmental damage so offsets the bad environmental damage from creating new waterways.

        60

  • #
    David Maddison

    Yesterday, Krishna said:

    S.th. even a school-kid should be able to understand. What our Green politicians have learned at school ?

    They are not meant to know anything useful. That’s why the Left have been dumbing-down the education system for the last 50-60 years.

    George Carlin said:

    Governments don’t want a population capable of critical thinking, they want obedient workers, people just smart enough to run the machines and just dumb enough to passively accept their situation.

    170

    • #
      OldOzzie

      The (Anti) Social Cost of Carbon

      By Jonathan Lesser

      Forty-two was the mystical number that explained “life, the universe, and everything” in Douglas Adams’ comic novel, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

      Today, another mystical number, the so-called social cost of carbon (SSC), is providing the excuse for the Environmental Protection Agency and green-energy-enamored state regulators to enact crippling energy policies.

      The SCC is the thumb on the scale that can justify virtually any policy aimed at eliminating fossil fuels. When the EPA first proposed its rule to reduce mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants, the agency’s cost-benefit analysis determined the benefits would be minuscule. Any putative benefits, it turns out, would come instead from reductions in carbon emissions and, here’s the key, based on a calculated value for the SCC. The same was true for the EPA’s earlier attempt at carbon regulation via a “Clean Power Plan,” which was shut down by the Supreme Court. But here we are again with the agency’s newest rules trying to force coal plants to further reduce mercury emissions and to force both coal and natural gas-fired power plants to capture 90% of their carbon emissions. The technology to accomplish this doesn’t exist and EPA Administrator Michael Regan admitted the rule will force the closure of fossil-fuel power plants.

      The SCC values used by the EPA are derived from calculations in integrated planning models (IPMs). Those models assume a simplistic linear relationship between carbon emissions and world temperature (never mind that the validity of that linear assumptions is a subject of deep debate in scientific circles). The models then assume that the resulting temperature increases cause all forms of environmental doom – rising sea levels, more disease, and declining agricultural production – for which yet more estimates are made to assign future cost consequences. Here’s the key: the IPMs project these costs out for the next 300 years (not a typo). Then, those far future costs are “discounted” to estimate a value in today’s dollars by using truly absurd assumptions about such things as inflation and economic growth.

      A tongue-in-cheek forecaster’s creed is “Give them a number or give them a date. Don’t give them both.”

      Attempting to predict the future three centuries hence may be standard fare for science fiction writers, but basing energy policies on such predictions is insane.

      Imagine someone in the year 1724 predicting life – and technology – today. Benjamin Franklin was 18 years old and working in his father’s print shop. George Washington would not be born for another eight years.

      The French scientist Antoine Lavoisier, who first identified carbon as an element in 1789, would not be born until 1743.

      The first patent on a flush toilet would not happen for another half-century. Thomas Edison would not invent the light bulb and the telephone for another 150 years. Could anyone in 1724 have imagined automobiles, mobile phones, and MRI machines? How about integrated circuits, nuclear power, and B-2 bombers?

      To presume we can accurately predict, or even imagine, what the world will look like 300 years from now is just as preposterous.

      Yet, simplistic models and arbitrary assumptions are being used to drive energy policy decisions today.

      70

      • #
        Gob

        Carbon aside and more to the point Lavoisier was one of twenty-eight guillotined on 8 May 1794 for having been a tax collector.

        30

      • #
        OldOzzie

        EPA’s new power plant rule is neither technologically nor economically feasible

        The Biden administration has once again demonstrated it is more interested in appeasing radical environmental activists than supporting jobs and securing North American energy independence.

        The Environmental Protection Agency announced last month a stringent new rule that would effectively force power plants to shut down if they don’t implement expensive new carbon capture technology by 2032. This out-of-touch rule is neither technologically nor economically feasible.

        It’s true: We need more power to keep factories humming, workers employed, and to simply keep up with growing energy demands.

        And if the Biden administration continues its quest to mass deploy electric vehicles, we’re going to need much more power to keep up with the demand.

        As it stands, our electric grid can barely keep up with the hot summer months, let alone provide enough power to charge hundreds of thousands of new electric vehicles or keep up with the latest energy guzzlers: artificial intelligence and crypto mining. Giant data centers needed to support these industries are putting a massive strain on the electric grid. Energy companies will need more natural gas, nuclear power, and clean coal to keep data centers running, while also providing enough energy for everyday consumers to keep their lights on.

        The Biden administration must wake up. We need much more power to compete, and that means we must invest in domestic energy sources.

        Unfortunately, since his first day in office, President Joe Biden has waged war against the domestic energy industry. By canceling the Keystone XL pipeline and recently banning the export of liquefied natural gas, he has catered to the loudest, most extreme voices within his party. The EPA’s carbon capture requirement is just the latest in a long list of examples.

        30

        • #
          OldOzzie

          Hydrogen town’ plan cancelled after protests over forced switch from natural gas

          Low-carbon hydrogen is no longer part of the UK’s drive to reach net zero

          The Energy Secretary has scrapped plans for a pilot “hydrogen town” after a wave of protests against earlier trials.

          Claire Coutinho has shelved proposals to force thousands of homes and businesses to replace their natural gas supplies with hydrogen by 2030 to test the fuel’s viability.

          Aberdeen, Scunthorpe, and two Welsh towns were among those being considered for wholesale conversion to hydrogen for heating.

          It was meant to be a trial run to test the use of low-carbon hydrogen as a replacement for natural gas, which was being considered as part of the UK’s drive to reach net zero by 2050.

          However, ministers have been forced into a rethink following a wave of protests in two smaller communities – Redcar in Yorkshire and Whitby, near Ellesmere Port – that had been earmarked as testbed “hydrogen villages”. Both proposed trials were ultimately abandoned.


          [SNIP Paywalled]

          40

      • #
        another ian

        FWIW

        “Thomas Edison would not invent the light bulb and the telephone for another 150 years.”

        Edison might have been a prolific inventor but I haven’t heard that before

        00

  • #
    David Maddison

    What is the best possible realistic scenario for Australia’s electricity supply?

    Consider:

    -It’s very likely to be one or other faction of the Uniparty (LibLabs) who form future state or federal governments.

    -They are both committed to the anthropogenic global warming fraud.

    -The minor conservative parties won’t get enough votes to be able to form government.

    The Liberal faction of the Uniparty pretends to support building a nuclear reactor, knowing that in Australia, the “can’t do” country, that wouldn’t happen for many decades and likely never. Consider that it took 50 years just to decide on a second Sydney Airport, how much longer would it take to decide on a reactor and its location?

    In any case, how would a reactor lower prices? Yes, like coal it produces inexpensive, reliable power, but the wind, solar and Big Battery subsidy harvesters would demand subsidies keep flowing to them. How therefore would nuclear be priced?

    As it is, both parties will support the ongoing building of extremely expensive, useless and environmentally destructive solar, wind and Big Battery subsidy harvesting plantations and a fundamental rule of those is that the more you have, the more expensive electricity becomes. There are no known exceptions to that rule.

    So, in conclusion, Australia can look forward to further electricity cost increases, a continual reduction of the standard of living and continued deindustrialisation and job losses. I see no other way things can happen.

    260

    • #
      Muzza

      Wagners built Wellcamp airport near Toowoomba in about 3 years from first sod to first landing. A nuclear reactor? Probably 5 years would see it up and running! Just keep incompetent gummints and unions away and Robert would be your relative……..

      100

    • #
      CO2 Lover

      On the basis of all available evidence, the total subsidy to aluminium smelters in Australia amounts to A$410 million per annum.

      This was back in 1999 when wholesale electricity prices were much lower than what they are today {See below}. There were 6 smelters in operation then compared to four today.

      The prices paid for electricity by aluminium smelters are set in long-term contracts
      and are a closely kept secret. However, enough information is available to make a
      good estimate of the extent of subsidies. The general belief in the electricity industry
      is that smelters pay between 1.5 and 2.5 cents/kWh for delivered electricity compared
      to around 5-6 c/kWh paid by other large industrial users. The former Victorian
      Treasurer revealed that other high-voltage customers were paying up to three times
      the price paid by the two Victorian smelters.

      The large subsidies received by aluminium smelters in Australia are almost certainly
      contrary to the provisions of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, especially
      as 79% of the product is exported.

      The AAC estimates that ‘energy constitutes about one-third of the total costs of
      production of aluminium’ (AAC 1997)

      China is the worlds largest producer of aluminium and used cheap coal fired power

      The remaining 4 smelters use 9% of Australia’s national electricity production.

      Aluminium smelting must go the way of car production and be handed over to China.

      Average quarterly prices were higher than the preceding quarter in all regions. Prices ranged from $69/MWh {6.9 cents/kWh} in Tasmania to $137/MWh {13.7 cents /kWh) in Queensland

      https://australiainstitute.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/WP21_8.pdf
      https://www.aer.gov.au/industry/wholesale/charts

      30

      • #
        CO2 Lover

        Portland smelter rescue deal to cost Victoria $1.1 billion over 4 years

        The bailout of Alcoa’s ageing aluminium smelter in the Victorian coastal town of Portland is possibly the dumbest thing that the Andrews Labor government has committed to, and could cost more than half a million dollars per employee per year.

        These are the inevitable numbers caused by the direct subsidies from the state and federal government and the impact on power prices. Together, they stand at more than $1.1 billion over four years.

        https://reneweconomy.com.au/portland-smelter-rescue-deal-cost-victoria-1-1-billion-4-years-86101/

        50

        • #

          The same thing happened with the Car Companies and the Feral Guv’ment (Taxpayer) hand outs. And they all went away just like the Dodo. And the Unions helped no end. sarc/

          30

    • #

      “Crash and Burn” it is then unless something remarkable happens. Then, we can start all over again.

      Tennis Elbow talking to Bonehead Bowen – “What did Australia have before candles?”

      Bonehead Bowen in reply to Tennis Elbow – “A fully functioning Electricity Grid providing some of the cheapest electricity in the World”.

      100

    • #
      RickWill

      What is the best possible realistic scenario for Australia’s electricity supply?

      Crunch time is coming when the feasibility studies for offshore wind come to an end and the auction process for offshore wind gets started. The grid is already saturated with intermittent generation and investors have realised this. Australia is the only jurisdiction where “economic offloading” has become the term for what others term curtailment.

      The only way that auctions can succeed in the circumstances is to offer guaranteed income disconnected from power delivered. That should ring alarm bells with any sensible person. It means the investors get to build their offshore wind fatrm, and consumer get to pay for it with literally nothing in return.

      Clearly the boss of Alinta Energy understands you cannot push on a piece of string and the demand is completely beyond his control. Every household can make the decision to be independent of the grid.

      This weak I learnt an old friend has just ordered a household battery system – the 8th person I know who has made that decision or bought a house with a battery installed. Just two of them in the house. He will upgrade his 6kW solar system to 10kW and add an 8kWh battery that is expandable in 4kWh stacks. He will keep adding battery capacity until he is not reliant on the grid. After talking to me he is now thinking about disconnecting from the grid.

      The faster people defect from the grid, the faster the idiots will realise there are no economies of scale with WDGs.

      I doubt Snowy 2 will make any useful output before 2030. And it will only enable an additional 10GW of intermittent capacity (2GW average demand served). That intermittent generation could be satisfied by additional rooftops by then. So the rising grid costs for any offshore wind will fall onto fewer consumers.

      The only thing that will change in the next ten years is electricity prices unless you take control of them. Extrapolate the trend for this century and you will not be far off.

      40

      • #
        Chad

        I doubt Snowy 2 will make any useful output before 2030. And it will only enable an additional 10GW of intermittent capacity (2GW average demand served). That intermittent generation could be satisfied by additional rooftops by then.…..

        ? Much confusion here ?…
        SN 2 is certainly 2 GW max …output design..and “Dispatchable” on demand.
        ..but what is this “10GW intermittent capacity” ?
        ..SN2 designed capacity is 200+ GWh maximum if fully filled,…though normal operational practice is to keep some spare storage for those excess generation peaks of solar at midday etc, or to allow coal plants to maintain a more efficient output level
        Even when wind and solar generation crashes and burns, SN2 will still be useful moderating Nuclear and coal power generation.

        01

        • #
          RickWill

          ? Much confusion here ?…

          What do I need to explain to you?

          but what is this “10GW intermittent capacity” ?

          That is the extra intermittent capacity that the NEM will be able to absorb once Snowy 2 is up and running. Snowy 2 will operate as a battery with a round cycle efficiency of around 60%. Under typical daily conditions, it will generate for 5 hours at 2GW so 10GWh per day output which will require 16GWh to pump over 19 hours. The long-term capacity factor for intermittent generation in an on-demand system is around 10%. So 10GW of extra capacity should be enough to supply the 16GWh to recharge the perched water dam over the available 16 hours. .

          10

          • #
            Chad

            RickWill
            May 10, 2024 at 6:26 pm · Reply
            ? Much confusion here ?…

            What do I need to explain to you?

            ..well, the unit correction on the 10 GWh is a good start !
            But why do you see the limit as only 5 hours of supply ? ..
            ..24 hrs, or even several days continuous supply is available if needed in crisis conditions….that is the whole point of the scale of the project.
            …And, where did you get the 60% eff figure ?
            There are over 150 PH installations around the world, and data from those shows a round trip efficiency of betwee 70% and 87% might be expected
            Further, you logic for needing 19 hrs to pump 16 GWh back in is not logical …
            Even if it needs 16 GWh ( unlikely at 70+% eff), that would only require 8 hours of pumping operation ?
            A more realistic daily cycle would be 10 hours output at 2 GW = 20 GWh ,..
            ..and 14 hours of recharging requireing 28 GWh to replace the volume (@70% eff)

            00

      • #
        Red

        Your old friend is not going off grid without a generator in the shed.

        10

    • #

      The Grid will gradually collapse and gradually the People will awake from their slumber. If not, it will be ‘Crash and Burn’.

      00

  • #
    David Maddison

    We’re churning out a generation of poorly educated people with no skill, no ambition, no guidance, and no realistic expectations of what it means to go to work.

    Mike Rowe

    160

    • #
      John Connor II

      “As a sweet-smelling lotus
      Pleasing to the heart
      May grow in a heap of rubbish
      Discarded along the highway,

      So a disciple of the Fully Awakened One
      Shines with wisdom
      Amid the rubbish heap
      Of blind, common people.”

      Dhammapada verses 58-59

      30

  • #
    another ian

    “Pfizzer” News

    “Pfizer to Settle 10K Lawsuits Over Drug Linked to Cancer, Costing Company Millions”

    Zantac

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/05/pfizer-settle-10k-lawsuits-drug-linked-cancer-costing/

    70

  • #
    • #

      Exactly. And that is what BREXIT was all about.

      Now to sort out that Immigration problem and then to sort out the ‘Climate Alarmists’ and then to sort out………………….Everything else.

      I wonder what will happen here in ‘Convict’s Paradise’?

      Over to you Tennis Elbow and the Team.

      110

  • #
    MP

    Jimonomics Flashback Friday | Pauline Hanson’s Please Explain

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhxu-gJFXSw

    60

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    “New research reports on financial entanglements between FDA chiefs and the drug industry”

    https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-05-financial-entanglements-fda-chiefs-drug.html

    TGA?

    90

    • #

      Strong(?), the guy who ran TGA through covid, retired about a year ago, then a few months ago joined the board of a pharma conglomerate, that decides what drugs are to be released.

      40

  • #

    GET READY FOR A ‘CANNIBAL CME’

    Multiple CMEs are heading for Earth (see the movie below). A new NOAA forecast model suggests that three of them could merge to form a potent “Cannibal CME.” Cannibal CMEs form when fast-moving CMEs overtake slower CMEs in front of them. Internal shock waves created by such CME collisions do an good job sparking geomagnetic storms when they strike Earth’s magnetic field. Indeed, NOAA is now predicting a severe storm on May 11th when the Cannibal arrives. CME impact alerts: SMS Text

    SEVERE GEOMAGNETIC STORM WATCH: This weekend’s geomagnetic storm watch has been upgraded from G2 (Moderate) to G4 (Severe). Why? Because giant sunspot AR3664 keeps hurling CMEs toward Earth. Following today’s X2.2 solar flare, there are now at least 4 storm clouds heading our way. See how many you can count in this 24-hour movie from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory:

    80

  • #
    KP

    Atmospheric columns of water make it to the mainstream- I’ve read about it on here but never seen the lamestream bring it up. Of course while explaining that it is a result of global boiling, they completely fail to explain its effects and how clouds will cool the temperatures.

    “Earth just had its most moisture-laden April on record as unrivalled air and ocean temperatures caused atmospheric moisture content to surge across the planet…It comes as little surprise then that record-breaking global air temperatures last month occurred alongside unprecedented atmospheric moisture.
    The amount of moisture in Earth’s atmosphere can be represented using a value called the ‘total column water’, which refers to the total amount of water in a vertical column of the atmosphere, including vapour, cloud water and cloud ice”

    Seems ‘unprecedented’ goes back to the satellites of 1940, or maybe they had aircraft measuring it all over the world then.

    https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/recordbreaking-global-atmospheric-moisture-in-april/1889397

    60

    • #
      RickWill

      The atmospheric water is a really important climate parameter.

      If people make the connection between atmospheric water and snowfall, they will realise more snow is coming. Eventually there is so much snow that is cannot all melt by the following year and then it accumulates.

      Every glaciation starts out with high temperature. Once the snow covers the land, the temperature of the land falls and this accelerates the descent of the oceans.

      It is reasonable yto say the the end of the current interglacial started 500 years ago as the NH started to warm up.

      30

  • #
    Richard C (NZ)

    The Machinery of Fascism Revisited

    https://brownstone.org/articles/the-machinery-of-fascism-revisited/

    Fascism became a swear word in the US and UK during the Second World War. It has been ever since, to the point that the content of the term has been drained away completely. It is not a system of political economy but an insult.

    If we go back a decade before the war, you find a completely different situation. Read any writings from polite society from 1932 to 1940 or so, and you find a consensus that freedom and democracy, along with Enlightenment-style liberalism of the 18th century, were completely doomed. They should be replaced by some version of what was called the planned society, of which fascism was one option.

    The US federal capitol complex was built in the 1920s and 30s. The symbol of fascism is everywhere if you know what to look for (sticks bound around an axe or spear).

    Still there, example:

    US Congress (House of Representatives) symbol of fascism
    https://cameroonnewsagency.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Congress-US.jpg

    Two huge plaques either side of the flag behind the Speaker. Also on the Seal of the Senate and many other places around DC.

    I’m convinced the nature of the beast has been completely revived in recent times.

    [What you refer to in the Senate chambers is a “fasces”. It has been around since ancient Rome. https://symbolsage.com/fasces-symbol/
    It doesn’t represent anything sinister. Mussolini chose the fasces to represent the power of many acting as one. He appropriated the symbolism. – LVA]

    00

    • #
      Richard C (NZ)

      The Real Reason Pro-Hamas Protesters Wear Masks

      https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2024/05/the_real_reason_pro_hamas_protesters_wear_masks.html

      …beneath these layers, something much deeper is going on — and it involves a powerful impulse that serves as the foundation of leftist utopianism itself.

      We would do well to reflect upon the manner in which the Maoist Cultural Revolution in China imposed unisex desexualized dress on its citizens. The tyranny perpetrated this as a ruthless war on gender differences and individuality in the name of “equity.” And this war involved a calculated assault on the possibilities of private attractions, affections, and desires.

      The central reality to gauge here is that unisex/desexualized dress satisfies leftists’ morbid pining for enforced sameness. It is crucial, in their world, to erase physical as well as emotional differences and attractions between people. In the utopian endgame, humans must all be replicas of one another and be devoted to the cause, the revolutionary state, and to its all-knowing administering of “equality” and “social justice.”

      “The issue is never the issue. The issue is always the revolution.”

      20

    • #
      another ian

      LVA

      Re the US Senate – you didn’t happen to leave an “e” out of that term?

      00

  • #
    MP

    ‘There was no pandemic in 2020.’
    Stefan Homburg destroys the pandemic and lockdown narratives with scientific precision.

    https://twitter.com/davidkurten/status/1787730082754150437

    70

    • #
      KP

      That is a fine summary of three years worth of Govt deceit, stupidity and incompetence.

      60

      • #

        Sigh. Same PCR test found only one positive case in 3,000 tests in Australia where Covid barely existed in 2020. It would be so nice to think bioweapons don’t exist and aren’t a problem. Alas genetic engineering is real, and the CCP and Big Pharma are using it. Learn the tools, or walk blindly into battle.

        He is using the wrong variables. Doesn’t understand microbiology. Excess Deaths is a blunt low resolution tool (it simply won’t detect a small percentage change under the noise especially during confounded conditions where many changes are occurring at once in a population) . During the initial wave of Covid the better tools to use are PCR, Antibodies, blood tests, serology etc. Don’t use a low res confounded tool to dismiss the high res ones.

        Likewise, empty hospitals are the wrong tool. They show evidence of mismanagement, not evidence of viral non-existence (especially when used during quarantine periods). They do not neutralize other hospitals that were overcrowded.

        To repeat, influenza and other viruses were wiped out during 2020 by quarantine measures — it happened all over the world where the measures were used. It is standard predictable textbook microbiology. Any virus with an incubation period shorter than Covids will be dramatically reduced and they were. The lack of influenza reduced normal deaths. The lack of traffic and travel reduced car accidents.

        PCR can and has been abused — like any scientific tool. But we need to learn the tools to discuss their flaws, not just dismiss a whole branch of science.

        Death rates from those who got a positive PCR test in Australia in 2020 were 3.3%. We had the highest testing rate in the world and 1 in 33 people died. There are lots of reasons why this case-fatality rate is higher than the real infection-fatality rate, and ventilators, denial of cheap antivirals, and mistaken “Flu treatment” and medical mistakes were a part of that — but the real fatality rate and ongoing disability was far more than the usual seasonal flu rate. The Wuhan flu and the Delta variant were nasty. And — as I said — nearly everyone who thought they had covid in Australia in 2020 didn’t. 2,999 people tested negative out of 3,000.

        I may be unpopular for saying so, but I don’t believe we will beat the forces of darkness by getting the science wrong. If we are in a Biotech War, we need to learn Biotech.

        52

        • #
          MP

          but I don’t believe we will beat the forces of darkness by getting the science wrong.

          So which science am I suposed to believe today, climate science, renewable science, economic science, COVID science, vaxxine science, GBR science, I think your sciences have killed enough people.
          I guess if you can’t trust the Rockefeller medical industrial complex, who can you trust, Gates, Tedros, Hunt, Morrison or the other hundred thousand criminal liars. You want me to believe these pricks told the truth about your science, Nope.

          COVID to 100, Flu to 0, because COVID won the arm wrestle?
          Yet after 2 years of 14 days to flatten the curve, Walla, COVID and the Flu living in perfect harmony, they must have got over their differences.

          Likewise, empty hospitals are the wrong tool. They show evidence of mismanagement, not evidence of viral non-existence (especially when used during quarantine periods). They do not neutralize other hospitals that were overcrowded.

          I posted many video’s at the start of the pandemic, called film your hospitals, 1000’s of people all over the world did just that, empty. I have more than a few friends and relies that work as nurses, again nothing. My father was in palliative care in a hospital in NSW at the end of 2020, I was there with him, empty. Is this my lying eyes?
          There are no wrong tools in deceit, everything is a tool for deception.

          They lie, we know they lie, they know we know they lie, yet still they lie. (quote JoNova, livewire)

          20

          • #

            You are not supposed to “believe” any science. Check predictions against observations. Are they consistent? Can it be cross-checked? Ask yourself — How would you know if the PCR test was accurate or junk? (Does it match the plaque assay? Are there antibody tests? Are people with higher PCR results more likely to be sicker, or more infectious? Does the PCR load peak at Day 3 and then decline? Does that fit with what we know about viral infection progression in other diseases? If someone scores a positive PCR are they more likely to infect their household than people who score negative? Are they more likely to test positive on an antibody assay?)

            Learn the topic MP. It’s fascinating and it’s already changing your world.

            Saying “your sciences have killed enough people.” just shows how closed your mind is. This kind of reasoning tells me you are not even looking for the truth. This is like saying nuclear bombs kill people “therefore all nuclear power is deadly”.

            You said “I posted many video’s at the start of the pandemic,” So? I posted many videos that showed the opposite. Doctors all over the world were saying the same thing. Telling us their patients had oxy sat levels below what they thought was survivable. Or they were saying that patients with ivermectin or Vitamin D did a lot better than those without. Were those docs lying/confused too?

            Do some homework — learn what the double helix code of life is — how it binds to it’s own backup code with incredible accuracy — look up plaque assays and antibody binding tests. Read up on the spread of pandemics throughout human history — before microbiologists were even invented. Look up viral load per ml and how that changes hour after hour. How do we calculate that an infected person has roughly 10^6 – 10^12 virions per mil in saliva at the peak load.

            There are liars in every field of science. In a field you understand, you can spot the liars.

            22

            • #
              MP

              To start, Stefan Homburg is not stating a hospital, he is quoting all hospitals from the German Federal Ministry of Health, all he speaks about he quotes the source.
              Our all-cause mortality was at record lows for 2020 and the first part of 2021, the period of the worst pandemic in the history of mankind, really. People did start dying from your virus in the second half of 2021, after the spike protein was injected into them (ABS).

              They changed the definition of Pandemic, they changed the definition of Vaxxine, this is not a function of honesty, and this is deception.

              Event 201 pandemic preparedness was only about censorship (the part we were shown) in the very rare event of an outbreak of COVID, and only COVID, they all got a little COVID doll as their participation trophy (yeah coincidence). Our special guest was Jane Halton, who became our pandemic preparedness queen, she was also in charge of hotel quarantine when the “outbreak” occurred from Melbourne’s Crown Hotel, Jane (coincidently) was on the board of directors for Crown Hotels and was put in charge of the investigation into the leak from her hotel, of course she found she had no case to answer (coincidence).

              The NSW health department was caught out hiring actors to play Dying COVID persons, (ABC Media Watch), more deception.
              A novel could be written on the lies we were told in the last four years and are still being told.

              The “Film your hospital” videos were all deleted from the Net, because they were against your narrative.

              I know enough about DNA, RNA, CRISPR Cas9 the human genome project, what benefit has humanity gained from this miracle of science. Gain of function and death shots?
              We know what we are told by them, we know what they have written.
              You tell me “do my homework”, are you now the adult in the room, can I call you Mom, that’s an insult.
              I apply the precautionary principle, just because I can’t prove their lying does not mean they’re not lying.
              Doctors, reporters and experts all over the world lost their jobs for failing to toe the line, you just watched a massive advertising campaign and believed every bit of it.

              The only true science is your science, spare me!

              10

        • #

          Same PCR test found only one positive case in 3,000 tests in Autralia where Covid barely existed in 2020.

          That’s interesting. I wonder what amplification cycle they were using. Excessive PCR cycling can produce false positive results through the amplification of either contaminating DNA or DNA with similar sequences.

          40

          • #
            Richard

            Just to add to what I wrote above, a large part of the problem with the PCR tests during COVID is that the PCR tests were run at very high cycles. A 2020 study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases (Rita Jaafar et al 2020) revealed that when you run a PCR test at a cycle of 35 or higher, accuracy drops to 3%, giving a 97% false positive rate. Yet tests recommended by the World Health Organization were set to 45 cycles, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Prevention recommended 40. Meanwhile, an April 2020 study published in the European Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (Bernard Scola et al 2020) showed that to get 100% confirmed real positives, the PCR test must be run at 17 cycles. Above 17 cycles, accuracy drops dramatically. By the time you get to 33 cycles, the accuracy rate is a mere 20%, meaning 80% are false positives, as illustrated by the graph here: https://organicconsumers.org/covid-19-testing-scandal-deepens/

            When speaking about the amplification cycles for the PCR test, Reiner Fuellmich, who is a member of the German Corona Investigative Committee, said: “Anything over 35 cycles is — as reported by the New York Time and others — considered completely unreliable and scientifically unjustifiable. However, the Drosten test, as well as the World Health Organization recommended tests that followed his example were set to 45 cycles. Can that be because of the desire to produce as many positive results as possible and thereby provide the basis for the false assumption that a large number of infections have been detected?” In July 2020 Anthony Fauci was on a podcast where they speak about the PCR tests and how a positive test using a cycle greater than 35 is worthless: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_Vy6fgaBPE=260

            20

            • #

              So by definition almost Australian PCR tests obviously weren’t done at high CT cycles or they would have found so many more positive results.

              Just because some PCR tests were abused doesn’t mean they all were and that viruses don’t exist. PCR has been used in millions of tests, archeology, ancestry, paleohistory and in hospitals and courts for 3 decades. People who think “CT” is simple yes/no number don’t understand PCR.

              https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8853610/
              The method of obtaining the samples had a dramatic effect on CT results. Any publication that includes CT results, and certainly studies that discuss CT kinetics, must describe in detail the method by which the samples were obtained. In places where it is also important to detect the onset of illness (airports, hospitals, schools, etc.), it is important to use the Ziv method to reduce the risk of false negatives.

              Gaze at this page to start to see how many variables and how complicated it is.
              https://www.thermofisher.com/blog/behindthebench/understanding-ct-values/

              People scoring a CT <30 have high viral loads and are twice as likely to die:
              Ct values were then stratified into high (>30), moderate (20–30), and low (<20), and a model was constructed adjusting for the same clinical factors (figure 1). This showed that a low initial Ct value was associated with increased hazard of mortality compared to a high initial Ct value (HR 2.10, 95% CI 1.23–3.60; p=0.0069);

              22

    • #
      OldOzzie

      Former PM Tony Abbott launches a blistering rebuke of COVID-19 pandemic leaders after bombshell pandemic report

      Former prime minister Tony Abbott in a scathing rebuke has said state and territory leaders’ overreach during the COVID-19 pandemic eroded Australia’s democracy.

      Former prime minister Tony Abbott has backed fresh criticism of Daniel Andrews and other COVID-era leaders, claiming the premiers’ overreach eroded Australia’s democracy.

      The former Victorian premier and other state and territory leaders have landed in hot water for adopting health decisions during the pandemic which were not backed by medical advice, according to former federal health minister Greg Hunt’s submission in the federal government’s inquiry into COVID-19.

      Now, Mr Abbott has expressed fresh disapproval of COVID-19 era leaders, saying “the policy to deal with COVID-19 turned out to be far worse than the disease itself”.

      “When you go back and look at this honestly and dispassionately, you’d have to say that the first mistake that governments made was throwing out the carefully prepared pandemic plans that we all had in panic in early March 2020, because of the dire photographs coming out of overwhelmed Italian hospitals,” he said.

      Mr Abbott said there was “no doubt” government’s “ceased being a democracy and became a kind of a doctocracy” at the time.

      Victoria implemented stringent curfews, a 5 kilometre radius, as well as the state’s choice not to use ADF personnel at hotel quarantine facilities.

      The state of emergency in Victoria was extended for four additional weeks in April, a move the government claimed help slow the spread of coronavirus and save lives.

      Residents and businesses who did not follow COVID-19 restrictions were subject to on-the-spot fines from Victoria Police who were granted additional powers.

      Victoria’s tough measures were backed by advice from former state health minister Jenny Mikakos and then chief health officer professor Brett Sutton.

      In his submission, Mr Hunt said despite references to “medical advice”, some decisions made by the then Victorian premier lacked such advice from the Commonwealth and chief health medical officers.

      “And my fear is that without a fair dinkum Royal Commission type inquiry into the whole response to COVID. Next time a pandemic happens, and it will, we’ll take the over the top response to this one, as the model for all future actions,” Mr Abbott said.

      “But the last thing we want to be is locked up, for several years, again, in response to a disease that turned out to be relatively mild.”

      140

      • #
        John Connor II

        But wait – here comes the next fear mongering anti-reality plandemic:

        The FDA is preparing for a “bird flu pandemic that could KILL 1 in 4 Americans”

        Here we go again…

        Biden FDA Commissioner Califf said officials are ramping up plans to deploy tests and vaccines in the event the virus jumps to humans

        At this point, does ANYONE trust anything the FDA does or says?

        https://twitter.com/nicksortor/status/1788721756238159903

        Who ya gonna trust – the FDA or me? 😎
        There are a few small outbreaks around the world but NOTHING increasing or looking like the last worldwide event, which I predicted well ahead of time.
        Dengue’s doing well as I’ve said but nothing else.
        Geert’s predicting a new virulent Covid variant by July. Maybe they’ll call that “bird flu”. Make the RAT tests show positive for whatever you want, the masses will never know.

        80

        • #
          John Connor II

          Remember sleepy Joe pushing the Fakevax?

          https://twitter.com/RealJamesWoods/status/1788054440911749152

          And now?…
          If a provaxxer falls on social media, will anyone make a sound? 😆

          10

        • #

          The fact that they have a prepared a H5N1 bird flu vaccine is the scariest thing of all.

          Remember it’s a lot easier to create a real flu than to fake a pandemic.

          And some of the incompetent vainglorious psychopaths running military ops may still believe a new untested vaccine will save them from what they unleash. That is the clear and present danger we face. For thousands of years the only thing stopping bioweapons being used was the fear they would hurt those who launch them. We may have lost that protection. The possibility of mutually assured destruction helped to keep the peace.

          100

  • #
    MP

    NUCLEAR POWER IS SAFER THAN WIND AND SOLAR | JAMES WALKER | EP 447
    Jordan Peterson

    https://www.bitchute.com/video/Rndu2PYx0Sc/

    50

  • #
  • #
    Kim

    Biden CRASHES and BURNS in DISASTROUS CNN Interview
    Biden Crashes and Burns in Disastrous CNN Interview!!!

    10

    • #
      OldOzzie

      PINOCCHI-JOE

      Biden tells a lie a minute during CNN interview

      By Post Editorial Board – Published May 9, 2024

      The White House rarely allows President Biden to sit down for interviews, and Wednesday’s chat with CNN’s Erin Burnett shows why.

      In a brief 17 minutes, Biden told 15 lies — nearly a lie a minute.

      From whoppers about the economy to prevarications on Israel, Biden spun a Fantasyland of a presidency that voters know is false.

      Here’s a rundown:

      LIE 1: “I’ve created over 15 million jobs since I’ve been president.”
      LIE 2: “Other than Herbert Hoover, [Donald Trump] is the only president who has lost more jobs than he created.”
      LIE 3: “Look at what he says he’s going to do if he gets elected. Says he’s going to do away with what I’ve done on Medicare, reducing the price of Medicare.”
      LIE 4: “You know we have 1,000 billionaires in America. Know what their average federal tax is? 8.3%.”
      LIE 5: “We’ve already turned it around [on the economy].”
      LIE 6: “The polling data has been wrong all along.”
      LIE 7: “There’s corporate greed going out there. And it’s got to be dealt with.”
      LIE 8: “[Inflation] was 9% when I came to office.”

      This is the lie of the night. Biden continues to pretend that the US was in terrible shape when he took office, when it was already on the rebound — thanks to Trump’s Warp Speed project that vaccinated people quickly against COVID.

      Inflation was a measly 1.4% in January 2021. Then Biden went on a first-year drunken sailor spending spree, and inflation skyrocketed.

      LIE 9: “They have the money to spend. It angers them and angers me that they have to spend more.”
      LIE 10: “Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs, and other ways in which they go after population centers.”

      It’s libel to suggest that Israel is deliberating targeting population centers. Hamas embeds itself among the civilian population, creating bases inside hospitals and digging tunnels under residential apartments.

      Israel has been warning the people of Rafah for more than a week to move to a safe zone outside of the city. They do not “go after” population centers, they work hard to minimize deaths while stopping the terrorists who kidnapped, r@aped and murdered Israeli civilians.

      LIE 11: “We’re not walking away from Israel’s security. We’re walking away from Israel’s ability to wage war in those areas.”

      But defeating Hamas is integral to Israel’s security. How does Biden suggest Israel win the war if it leaves the last stronghold of the terrorist group untouched?

      LIE 12: “It made no sense in my view to engage in thinking in Iraq they have a nuclear weapon.”
      LIE 13: “You can’t only love your country when you win.”
      LIE 14: “I travel around the world, other world leaders, know what they all say, 80% of them, ‘you gotta win. My democracy is at stake.’ ”
      LIE 15: “Then [Trump] is going to put in a 10% tax that’s going to increase average American’s cost $1,500 a year.”

      60

      • #
        OldOzzie

        Biden’s Report Card Full Of Ds

        Moral: Americans lack confidence in the president.

        TIPPINSIGHTS EDITORIAL BOARD – May 7, 2024 .

        President Biden may have reached a point of no return as he fights for a second term amidst a stagflationary economy, a worsening situation at a porous border, and an unstable Middle East with turmoil spreading like cancer.

        Fewer than 30% give the President favorable grades on all ten issues TIPP Poll tracks.

        The chart below summarizes how Americans see Biden’s handling of important issues. Notice that fewer than 30% give President Biden favorable ratings on all matters.

        Further, a majority gives him a D or F for five issues and negatively pegs him in the 40% to 50% range on another five issues.

        Why are President Biden’s approval ratings weak? Let us dig deeper and look at a few issues important to Americans.

        – Handling Of The Economy
        – Handling Spending
        – Immigration
        – Handling Crime
        – Anti-S@mitism
        – Foreign Policy
        – Handling The Israel-Hamas Conflict
        – Handling Iran
        – Russia-Ukraine War
        – Handling China

        In summary, most Americans believe the nation is heading in the wrong direction under Biden’s leadership. The survey reveals that two-thirds (66%) are dissatisfied, with 30% not very satisfied and another 36% not at all satisfied. Meanwhile, 11% are very satisfied with the country’s direction, and an additional 21% are somewhat satisfied.

        40

    • #
      OldOzzie

      The DOJ’s Doctored Crime Scene Photo of Mar-a-Lago Raid

      New disclosures in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s espionage case against Donald Trump reveal the FBI tampered with evidence to create the infamous photo–and DOJ has lied about it for nearly two years.

      JULIE KELLY

      It is the picture that launched a thousand pearl-clutching articles.

      A few weeks after the armed FBI raid of Mar-a-Lago in August 2022, the Department of Justice released a stunning photograph depicting alleged contraband seized from Donald Trump’s Palm Beach estate that day; the image showed colored sheets representing scary classification levels attached to files purportedly discovered in Trump’s private office.

      The New York Times insisted the photo was consistent with how the FBI handles criminal investigations. “[It] is standard practice for the F.B.I. to take evidentiary pictures of materials recovered in a search to ensure that items are properly cataloged and accounted for. Files or documents are not tossed around randomly, even though they might appear that way; they are usually splayed out so they can be separately identified by their markings,” reporters Glenn Thrush and Adam Goldman wrote on August 31, 2022.

      Except…that is not what happened.

      A Stunt with Potentially Case-Killing Consequences for DOJ

      30

  • #
    CO2 Lover

    Get Woke – Go Broke

    Boeing crisis grows as airplane giant lays off more than 100 employees
    Boeing has announced it is laying off more than 100 employees in Alabama
    It comes amid ongoing controversy over safety concerns in recent months

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/yourmoney/article-13401129/Boeing-crisis-grows-lays-100-employees.html

    Would you fly on Boeing? Terrified flyers take to TikTok to say they’d be changing flights and travelling with anti-anxiety medication – as three of the aviation firm’s planes crash in two days

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13401093/Terrified-flyers-TikTok-Boeing-flights-travelling-medication-three-planes-crash-Boeing.html

    Boeing now has ten Malfunctioning Whistleblowers and so far only two have been “fixed”!

    30

    • #
      Annie

      Is someone deliberately trying to crash Boeing? All this trouble seems very ‘suss’ to me.
      I’m not too keen on Boeings myself, very much disliking the 737 in particular, but that has been my feeling for years; preferring Airbus. Also I tend to agree with pilot son that ‘two engines good, four engines better’. But then, I would possibly be biased as he flies the A380! (also quieter and more comfortable than the 777). That quote applied to the good old workhorse 747 too of course.

      40

      • #
        CO2 Lover

        very much disliking the 737 in particular

        The first 737 flew in April 9, 1967 – Boeing should have designed a new airframe decades ago but the engineers were overuled by the bean counters.

        The 747 was designed and built when engineers ran Boeing. A fastastic plane.

        30

    • #
      John Connor II

      I suspect Boeing has done its bit to stop skyjackings.
      What terrorist would want to fly Boeing now?
      / Fri sarcasm

      50

  • #
    YYY Guy

    What’ the opposite of ABC? Why, XYZ. And truth telling
    https://xyz.net.au/2024/05/google-buries-bashing-of-teenage-girl-in-melbourne-school/
    Wicked AI art

    30

    • #
      OldOzzie

      You

      A pandemic of African violence is plaguing Australia. In just the latest incident, a 13 year old girl was bashed by a gang of African girls at a school in Melton, northwest of Melbourne.

      From The Noticer:

      A distressed parent whose child witnessed the vicious bashing of a young girl by 15 female Sudanese teenagers says African gangs carry out similar attacks at the Melbourne high school on a weekly basis.

      The horrifying gang attack on the girl, who is in Year 7, took place at lunchtime on Friday at Melton Secondary College, leaving her in a serious condition in hospital.

      A mother with two children at the school told 3AW the attackers were of Sudanese background, and the victim was so badly injured she was still being treated by paramedics in the playground 3 hours after the assault.

      “There’s multiple gangs at the school, they would be Sudanese Australians, you would be blind not to see the issues we’ve got going on in Melton at the moment,” she said.

      “There are constant bashings … all because someone may have called them a name. Every school in that area is exactly the same.

      Copilot

      The incidents you’ve described are indeed concerning, and it’s essential to address violence and safety in schools. While I don’t have real-time information on this specific incident, I can provide some context about the broader situation.

      African-Australian Youth Imprisonment:

      While overall youth crime rates have declined in Victoria, the imprisonment of African-Australian youth has spiked. African (predominantly South Sudanese) youth comprise at least 19% of young people in custody despite being less than 0.5% of Victoria’s youth population1.
      Some community advocates say racial profiling is a factor in the higher rates of imprisonment of African-Australian youth. Young people report being targeted by police due to their race1.

      It’s essential to address these issues through fair and unbiased policing practices.

      Racial Profiling and Discrimination:

      In the past, there have been complaints of racial discrimination against Victoria Police by young African-Australians. Settlements were reached, but concerns about racial profiling persist1.

      Recent community surveys indicate that African-Australian youth still feel targeted and harassed by police in public places due to their race1.

      Efforts should focus on promoting understanding, cultural sensitivity, and community engagement.

      School Safety and Bullying:

      Research shows that many African Australians experience racist bullying in schools without adequate redress. South Sudanese refugees have reported high rates of incarceration, mental health concerns, and suicide in Australia2.

      Schools play a crucial role in fostering a safe and inclusive environment for all students. Addressing bullying and promoting cultural awareness can contribute to better outcomes.

      Community Dialogue and Solutions:

      Open dialogue involving parents, educators, law enforcement, and community leaders is essential to finding effective solutions.
      Community programs, mentorship, and support networks can help address underlying issues and prevent violence.

      It’s crucial to approach these challenges with empathy, understanding, and a commitment to creating safer communities for everyone. If you have any other questions or need further information, feel free to ask! 😊

      40

      • #
        Annie

        Perhaps these gangs should go back to where that behaviour is the norm.

        100

        • #
          John Connor II

          If these “immigrants” don’t want to embrace and respect their new country’s laws, beliefs, customs and standards then why not stay in their own countries?
          Why should western laws give them a free pass for crimes just because it’s ok in their own country?
          Remember that case here in Oz where a rapist was let off because “it’s their way”?
          It’s their way, not ours.
          If we go to their countries flaunting our own ways guess what’ll happen. No, they won’t cut us any slack at all. None.

          70

        • #
          Rossini

          Sorry Pauline. What did you say!
          chuckle

          22

  • #
    another ian

    “The Sun Isn’t Enough: New Study Revolutionizes Vitamin D Guidelines”

    https://scitechdaily.com/the-sun-isnt-enough-new-study-revolutionizes-vitamin-d-guidelines/

    Instapundit lead-in – “We’ve actually known this for ages, but I guess now it counts as official or something.”

    40

  • #
    TwiggyTheHero

    Did anyone hear about Seeley International (the A/C firm) moving its operations from Victoria to SA in protest of Andrew/Allen’s anti-gas policies? I just found out about this today.

    50

  • #
    John Connor II

    Did The Babylon Bee Hit The Mark With This Parody of ‘Woke Jesus’ or Did They Cross A Comedy Line?

    https://rumble.com/v4tyu4z-did-the-babylon-bee-hit-the-mark-with-this-parody-of-woke-jesus-or-did-they.html

    Oooh, that’ll upset the god squads.😆

    00

  • #
  • #
    John Connor II

    Dr. Peter McCullough: Why Are Newscasters Passing Out?

    Renowned cardiologist Dr. Peter McCullough says he’s now seeing patients, “one after another,” passing out in his office.

    As newscasters drop live on air, “It’s not a low blood sugar,” he explained. “It’s actually what’s called POTS, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome.”

    “And it is brutal.”

    “Before the vaccines, you never saw that [newscasters passing out by the dozens]. This is a smidgen of what’s going on. This is loaded. This is clinical practice right now. I have patients one after another passing out like this all the time.

    It is due to the vaccine.”

    https://lionessofjudah.substack.com/p/dr-peter-mccullough-why-are-newscasters

    He who believes his own lies will pass out… due to climate change…

    30

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    “Douglas Murray calls on Guardian to ‘go for all mosques’ after Garrick Club reporting”

    https://youtu.be/nTxHWyGgzs4

    00

  • #
    John Connor II

    Just a reminder that Mother’s Day is for mums, not men in dresses with your pronoun showing.
    Your day is April 1st.

    61

  • #
    another ian

    “RIP, Rex Murphy”

    Renown Canadian journalist (a very real one)

    “We shall not soon see his equal.”

    https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/rex-murphy-dies-obituary

    Via https://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2024/05/09/rip-rex-murphy/

    20

  • #
  • #
    OldOzzie

    Hollywood Slams Apple IPad Pro Commercial: ‘The Destruction of the Human Experience. Courtesy of Silicon Valley

    Apple’s new commercial for the iPad Pro tablet is getting a big thumbs-down from Hollywood creative types who were horrified by the spot’s depiction of a giant industrial press crushing analog cultural items, including books, musical instruments, a record player, and physical toys.

    Once the press lifts, it is revealed that all of those items were magically compressed into a new iPad Pro.

    The commercial, titled “Crush!” is rubbing creative types the wrong way, with some suggesting the spot too accurately (or cluelessly) captures what tech giants like Apple are doing to creativity.

    “The destruction of the human experience. Courtesy of Silicon Valley,” British star Hugh Grant wrote on X.

    Asif Kapadia, the Oscar-winning director of the documentary Amy, also slammed the commercial.

    “Like iPads but don’t know why anyone thought this ad was a good idea. It is the most honest metaphor for what tech companies do to the arts, to artists musicians, creators, writers, filmmakers: squeeze them, use them, not pay well, take everything then say it’s all created by them.”

    30

    • #
      CO2 Lover

      That horse has already bolted – This is an example of AI music from 2008 – Imagine what can be produced by AI now!

      World is Mine – Supercell feat. Hatsune Miku
      “World is Mine” is a popular piece of AI generated music released in 2008 by the Japanese music group Supercell, featuring the vocal synthesizer software Hatsune Miku.

      The song quickly gained widespread popularity and became a notable example of utilizing virtual idols and vocaloid technology in the music industry.

      Hatsune Miku is a virtual pop star created by Crypton Future Media, using Yamaha Corporation’s Vocaloid software. Vocaloid technology allows users to create songs by inputting lyrics and melodies, which are then sung by the virtual character Hatsune Miku.

      “World is Mine” was written and composed by Ryo, the founder of Supercell, who is known for his distinctive blend of catchy melodies and emotionally driven lyrics. The song portrays a narrative from the perspective of a young, confident girl who believes she is the center of the world and demands the attention and adoration of others.

      https://www.jeffbullas.com/ai-generated-music/#:

      20

  • #
    CO2 Lover

    Albo’s “Made in Australia” Farce

    Orica is a large consumer of nature gas, not as a fuel but as a feed stock for the chemicals it makes.

    Orica has noted that the cost of natural gas to Australian consumers has gone up by a factor of three over the last decade so Orica is directing more capital expenditure to the USA where natural gas prices are at records low due to fracking in the USA.

    The only viable “Made in Australia” product is likely to be Whitchetty Grubs!

    50

  • #
    John Connor II

    The A.I. afterlife – deadbots and griefbots

    According to researchers at the University of Cambridge, artificial intelligence that allows users to hold text and voice conversations with lost loved ones runs the risk of causing psychological harm and even digitally “haunting” those left behind without design safety standards.

    ‘Deadbots’ or ‘Griefbots’ are AI chatbots that simulate the language patterns and personality traits of the dead using the digital footprints they leave behind. Some companies are already offering these services, providing an entirely new type of “postmortem presence.”

    AI ethicists from Cambridge’s Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence outline three design scenarios for platforms that could emerge as part of the developing “digital afterlife industry,” to show the potential consequences of careless design in an area of AI they describe as “high risk.”

    When the living sign up to be virtually re-created after they die, resulting chatbots could be used by companies to spam surviving family and friends with unsolicited notifications, reminders and updates about the services they provide – akin to being digitally “stalked by the dead.”

    Even those who take initial comfort from a ‘deadbot’ may get drained by daily interactions that become an “overwhelming emotional weight,” argue researchers, yet may also be powerless to have an AI simulation suspended if their now-deceased loved one signed a lengthy contract with a digital afterlife service.

    https://scitechdaily.com/cambridge-experts-warn-ai-deadbots-could-digitally-haunt-loved-ones-from-beyond-the-grave/

    “Digital afterlife industry” – sounds familiar and about as real.😎

    10

  • #
    John Connor II

    Amazingly Detailed Images Reveal a Single Cubic Millimeter of Human Brain in 3D

    A nanoscale project represents a giant leap forward in understanding the human brain.

    With more than 1.4 petabytes of electron microscopy imaging data, a team of scientists has reconstructed a teeny-tiny cubic segment of the human brain.

    It’s just a millimeter on each side – but 57,000 cells, 150 million synapses, and 230 millimeters of ultrafine veins are all packed into that microscopic space.

    The work of almost a decade, it’s the largest and most detailed reproduction of the human brain to date down to the resolution of the synapses, the structures that allow neurons to transmit signals between them.

    “The word ‘fragment’ is ironic,” says neuroscientist Jeff Lichtman of Harvard University. “A terabyte is, for most people, gigantic, yet a fragment of a human brain – just a miniscule, teeny-weeny little bit of human brain – is still thousands of terabytes.”

    https://h01-release.storage.googleapis.com/landing.html

    Ooohhh..that’s fascinating!
    Amazing too how a powerful “A.I.” requires a small power station but real intelligence only needs a biscuit and some apple juice to power it.😁
    REAL A.I. will need to shift to biologicals and that’s happening.😎

    30

    • #
      another ian

      Hmmm!

      Dr Bill Williams of CSIRO way back in BC used to point out –

      “The human brain has amazing storage capacity but a bit slow on recall. And can be constructed by entirely unskilled labour”.

      10

  • #
  • #
  • #
    Steve of Cornubia

    I just read a story in the Daily Mail reporting a knife attack on a woman in her 60s. Her attacker tried to steal her bag and, when she held onto it, he stabbed her three times and killed her. My first thoughts, after sadness, were to wonder about the identity of her attacker. As is so often the case though, no description was given. This was the first clue. Then, when I scrolled down to post my ‘puzzlement’, I found that DM wasn’t accepting comments. That was all I needed to know. Of course I’m aware that many media outlets know that their failure to mention criminals’ ethnicity is now widely accepted as meaning the person in question is an ‘immigrant’, and consequently have started to omit this even when the person is indigenous white, I nevertheless suspect this is yet another cover-up, lest we ‘far right’ terrorists (a.k.a. ordinary but concerned citizens) turn all n4zi on them.

    50

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    “Meet The Company Helping Restart The Nuclear Revolution In The U.S.”

    https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/meet-company-helping-restart-nuclear-revolution-us

    00

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    “Concerns Mount Over Exploding Electric Vehicles”

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/05/09/concerns-mount-over-exploding-electric-vehicles/

    10

  • #