JoNova
A science presenter, writer, speaker & former TV host; author of The Skeptic's Handbook (over 200,000 copies distributed & available in 15 languages).
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Statistics
Greater Sydney Dam Levels are now at 100%.
https://www.waternsw.com.au/nsw-dams/nsw-storage-levels/greater-sydney-dam-levels
Come on down Tim Tam Flatulence. Your expertise and predictive powers are sorely needed in these grim times.
And the Sydney Desalination Plant is Operational ready for the next drought. In the meantime, they could use the plant to sell bottled water. They could even add some of that dangerous emission called CO2 and make carbonated water to sell. They could even make money. How about that you Wally ‘Pollies’. Make money? How novel.
https://sydneydesal.com.au/
420
We will be scolded & told that all this rain is due to the condensate in the atmosphere brought about by the steam from the boiling oceans which in the first place was brought on by driving SUVs, farting cows and a an overpopulation of white males!!
380
No rain in Perth mate.
70
All the Flannery is on the East coast.
90
Its a Big Country and get yer’ own Desalination Plant. Oh, you have one. Cool bananas.
60
Actually WA has two desal plants running running and is currently building a third. Perth obtains around half of its water from desal.
30
Shame they had to turn a desal plant off in the peak of summer as there wasn’t enough power in the SWIS grid due to all the “unreliables” not providing the required power while all 6 available coal units were at maximum output.
Quote from AEMO – “over 18-20 Feb the WEM experienced consecutive maximum operational demand records of 4233MW, 4170MW & 4193MW respectively”.
Low Reserve Conditions notices issued on 18th 19th & 20th. Load Reduction notices issued to Water Corp -50MW, Enel X -60MW, Shell Energy -10MW, Cockburn Cement Limited -7MW.
20
Maybe we in the West need to invite Timmy to visit.
30
And Gore.
20
‘Make money’, that’s way above their pay grade.
140
When I make a comment to “The Australian” talking about how many ” Flannery’s” are falling in Sydney etc, its always gets moderated. It’s very un Australian of them.
270
No sense of humour, calling card of lefties.
200
No surprise. It’s what happens when the entire Western World replaced the scientific method with opinion science and disallows contrarian debate. The methodology has been recognised for what it is, a huge power in the hands of unprincipled, useless, scientifically disinterested and uneducated politicians who preach to a similarly scientifically undereducated public totally unprotected from rampant charlatanism, and cowed by horrendous personal threats if it defies the movements.
One can see where the extra power of the coming mis/disinformation censorship laws, added to the above, are going to make any form of dissent against political demands an introduction to outright despotism. Trump is the last hope to kill this stuff and that is why the western leftists use so much treachery in the form of responses defying all legal national protections to stop him. We all know the lethal nature by which so many US Presidents have succumbed. Possibly the only thing protecting Trump now, by getting him off the big headlines, is the open campus warfare and antisemitism permitted by our weak university and civilian leaderships.
190
The Al Gore effect in California, where dams are busting so destroying the prediction of a forever drought from a few years back. As you can see, when you plot the historical 12 precipitation (May to April), the last 2 years have been well above above normal.
90
BREAKING: HHS Suspends Funding and Proposes Formal Debarment of EcoHealth Alliance, Cites Evidence from COVID Select Report
Published: May 15, 2024
WASHINGTON — Today, Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) issued the following statement after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) accepted the Select Subcommittee’s recommendation to formally debar EcoHealth Alliance, Inc. (EcoHealth). HHS will immediately commence official debarment proceedings and implement a government-wide suspension of U.S. taxpayer funds to EcoHealth — including a hold on all active grants.
…
https://oversight.house.gov/release/breaking-hhs-suspends-funding-and-proposes-formal-debarment-of-ecohealth-alliance-cites-evidence-from-covid-select-report/
This is a good start in punishing EcoHealth Alliance & Dr. Peter Daszak for their role in creating COVID and later covering up COVID’s origins. Next there should be criminal proceedings.
380
It’s nice that they’re accounting for the cows after they ate the hay, but I’m pretty sure the barn door will be left open.
250
Going back to body language on TV.
When the CV19 struck our federal Chief Health Officer was Dr Brendan Murphy. It fell to him to do the daily press releases.
He never looked comfortable in this job, and his appearance was of increasing exhaustion, until after six weeks or so he was replaced.
My take on this scene was that Dr Murphy had a serious dilemma. His job contract was forcing him to do and say things that he believed to be wrong.
Any inquiry should hasten to seek the uninhibited advice of Dr Brendan Murphy.
410
The NZ Director-General of Health “beat the feet” , even before Jacinda did. And there was open hostility between them.
240
I have no problem with the green revolution. I question the single minded obcession with reaching net-zero. I question the doom mongering that goes with climate change. People are too desperate for their own good.
As humans we thrive on adversity, spanning from the Namibian desrt to polar regions, from ocean archipelagoes to physiology busting alpine heights. We build countries below sea level and build countries wreaked by volcanoes and earthquakes. Human population shrinks and balloons by orders of magnitude.
A great advantage of life is to die and be replaced anew. Don’t knock it.
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“Oh, Master, make me chaste and celibate – but not yet!” – St Augustine
Same applies to death.
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If you are lucky (not a male respondent in the family court system) you may even get to raise your replacement and see grandhildren and great grandchildren.
180
I thought this was worth a look. The article deals with my point three.
https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/the-climate-scaremongers-evs-and-heat-pumps-will-crash-the-electricity-system/
Basically there are 3 elements to our electricity system.
Firstly the power has to be generated. There won’t be nearly enough reliable energy when we busily shut down fossil fuel generated stations
Secondly the power has to be transmitted to the place it is required. This will mean the building of lots of pylons and associated cables as by definition many renewables are in locations far from people. Quite where all the copper will come from for the thousands of miles of cabling needed we will leave aside.
However the main point I want to concentrate on is that final local mile or so. In the UK we have a very good local network connecting sub stations to homes. however it was all built before the officially demanded major ramping up of electricity in order that homes can have EV’s, Heat Pumps, Electric cookers, Electric water heating systems etc.
Basically, the cabling to homes can not cope with the expected demand and all the streets will need to be dug up to accommodate much large cabling which will then be extended into homes.
The cost and disruption can be imagined, but as there are far too few engineers to carry out the work anyway, the upgrade won’t happen
So when everyone plugs in all their Electrical goodies (assuming the weather gods have been smiling) the local network won’t be able to cope and cue electricity black outs
350
First, the power has to be generated. That means that decomissioning currenthigh power sources won’t happen without painful consequence.
Second, high voltage tramsission towers use aluminum wiriing. Copper doesn’t apply there.
Third is a problem of increased local electric demand. Whereas I have no problem with replacing gas boilers with heat pumps in the UK. (Think air conditioning FINALLY). Remember that appliances only last for 20 years now and that there is also the replacement of windows, insulation and ultimately knocking down houses which were previously assumed to be built to last more than a hundred years. Not to mention the roads utilities and businesses to service those 100+ year longevity houses. Not to mention a hundred+ year tradition of love affairs with automobiles or trains or airplanes. Our involvent with these items are habits which change.
On top of unstable immigration patterns, birth and death rates there is also unstable city density and usage patterns. Building a residence to last longer than 50 years now?
40
You would have a problem with replacing gas boilers with ground source heat pumps if you had just a small garden.
10
7 kW power draw is a lot of electricity. If everyone is going to stagger fast charge, they might as well concurrently trickle charge.
Seems as if 2 kW charging is better suited to household charging. Faster than trickle but slower than 7 kW service. Everyone gets charged over 8 hrs.
01
Solar and wind power generation systems can be much more distributed, there is no need for a massive coal or hydro generators hundreds of kilometres from the customer. Reticulation should be less, not more. Charging batteries off-peak distributes the load so the peak is reduced.
450
Have you ever seen a power station Simon?
They are quite compact when compared to solar and wind plantations and the huge amount of environmental damage they cause, including clearing for numerous power lines.
540
Come on David.
Poor old Simple has probably walked (well, he wouldn’t drive, would he?)
past many coal fired power stations without even recognising them as such.
Much more than you can say about wind plantations, and solar plantations that
can be totally destroyed by one good hail storm.
Leave Simple in his little cocoon.
I’m sure he’ll be “safe”.
210
Forgiveth those who preach the word of CNN.
The “check engine” light is on for their brain, but they careth not, as the nonsense spouteth forth. 😆
190
” power generation systems can be much more distributed, ”
That was always the case for wind and solar ; small-scale, unobtrusive, and compatible with small, safe storage e.g Redflow batteries .
https://redflow.com/zbm3-battery
210
http://leviathanenergy.info/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/WIND_TULIP_BROCHURE_English.pdf
10
But of course , if there was a reliable source of power for remote locations such as farms , then none of this would be necessary.
Unfortunately , even in places like NZ where hydro is the main source, that is no longer the case ; the network is no longer resilient.
And sites like milk powder factories have always had co- generation on-site because of the catastrophic consequences when a spray drier loses power.
150
Yup,Sorry Simon,
In my view, you lost all credibility when you wrote, “Homeowners could always buy an EV and have zero travel costs for a lifetime.” What kind of person are you when you promote Chinese EVs? What kind of callous, uncaring person are you to ask us to support child slave labour in the Congo, mining the cobalt for these vehicles. Read Cobalt Red, How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives, by Pulitzer Prize finalist Siddharth Kara for an exposé of the cobalt mining industry. The 2000 men, women and children who die every year in the cobalt mines. The men, women and children who will continue to die over the next few years because of the toxic work conditions. How can you support this? Even congress person AOC acknowledges the issue of cobalt mining in the Congo, but doesn’t want to mine in the US.
How can you support the environmental destruction caused by lithium mining? The destruction of vast swathes of the Atacama Dessert in Chile. The air, ground water and soil pollution. The people forced from their ancestral lands and the destruction of habitats. Two species of flamingo in Chile now on the endangered list because of lithium mining. https://www.mining-technology.com/analyst-comment/lithium-mining-negative-environmental-impact/
Downstream water pollution from the lithium battery plants in China, destroying entire river ecosystems, poisoning fish and people.
Not only are you proposing to support this by buying an EV yourself, but you are actively promoting these despicable practices, modern slavery and environmental destruction, by encouraging others to buy these vehicles. Are you really that despicable? Do you really not care about child abuse, modern slavery and environmental devastation? Just asking.
412
The Renault BEV advertisement now running on television in Australia specifically states that there are no rare earths used in the car. So there must be recognition of issues with the supply chain of certain minerals.
This is a similar cversion of what I saw but it does not have the comment about rare earths:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGokJlMJOjM
Seams like it is made for Teals in Australia.
I suspect there are heaps of small motors using rare earth magnets in the car. They are probably referring to the main drive motors.
90
Hi RickWill,
The blurb I read from Renault Australia stated “Its electric motor is 100% free from all rare-earth metals. This green innovation is made possible by the innovative use of copper coils inside the rotor.” However, the batteries are lithium polymer, so there is still that real issue of lithium mining. Virtue signalling by omission.
210
I have an affection for Renault cars that dates back to the early 1970s. But this advertisement is a puke inducer.
The Australian price has just been dropped $10,000 to $54,990 drive away. THe car is built in France and uses LG batteries. I figure France now has a competitive advantage in Europe due to their nuclear power generation.
Given Renault’s expertise in F1 engines and KERS it should be as good as the best so is probably good value if you are in the market for a BEV. If my wife’s 2006 Honda has any issues the new Renault E-tech might come up in discussions. She has a similar affection for Renault because her first new car was a Renault 12. It was a fantastic car in its era. She still appreciates the virtues of the Honda though so it will need to have serious issues before she parts with it.
My current car is a diesel Renault of 2008 vintage. Its only issue was the exhaiust particle filter alarming during Covid lockdowns here in Melbourne.
80
The Renault 12 was assembled in Australia, among many places it was assembled.
20
I was in Brasil around 1980.
In amongst the locally produced car was a Ford with styling like a somewhat smaller Falcon XD.
But with three stud wheels.
Turns out that the Renault plant had closed and Ford had taken over the power train.
40
I didn’t buy a Chinese-made EV for that reason. You are arguing the case for ESG, which is something of a hothouse topic here. Consumers should be aware of the supply chain that their products come from and buy accordingly. Rare earths can be mined while minimising the environmental effect. Remember, this is a one-off cost, whereas mining fuel for your vehicle occurs for a lifetime.
04
Net Zero will be here soon. Net Zero electricity. That will be when the system Crashes and Burns. Net Zero electricity really means NO electricity at all.
Good Luck Australia/NZ and the West. The Net Zero IQ of all the ‘Pollies’ will drive these Economies over the cliff.
290
Except the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow at off peak times. The other problem is that the sun never shines during the night time off peak, not at all during the winter peak demand, and only a little during the summer peak demand.
130
“Solar and wind power generation systems can be much more distributed.”
True, they are ‘distributed’, because they are DILUTE, do you understand what dilute means.
180
Simon
>”Solar and wind power generation systems can be much more distributed.”
Distributed where?
Wind sites are only where there’s the required wind. There’s none in Auckland or Sydney for example. But those are huge load centres.
Similar for solar due to land constraints. They’re out on marginal land miles away from cities (load centres).
>”there is no need for a massive coal or hydro generators hundreds of kilometres from the customer.”
It is impossible to replace “massive” coal or hydro with anything except nuclear. North Island NZ was under huge threat with the recent cold change and the mostly populated north half (Auckland, Hamilton) would have had blackouts without Huntly coal (let alone Waikato hydro).
>”Reticulation should be less, not more.”
“Should” is an ideal. Practicalities are a different exercise.
The term reticulation is generally used to describe local distribution i.e. the latter of Primary and Secondary distribution:
Primary and Secondary Distribution
https://electrical-engineering-portal.com/download-center/books-and-guides/electrical-engineering/construction-new-infrastructure
Do you really mean transmission? That is, the transfer of bulk energy from generator to primary distribution points (e.g. National Grid or local Lines Company).
Continues next.
50
Wind and solar are constrained by whatever is the available transmission option as the NZ Wind Association details:
Practical constraints associated with developing a wind farm
https://www.windenergy.org.nz/store/doc/PracticalConstraintsAssociatedwithDevelopingaWindFarm.pdf
Clearly, the wind sector is constrained by practicalities – not freed by ideals. As they document in their own words.
50
Practicalities??? Where does that word come from? Not one I’ve heard in this country in anything official for at least 50 years.
Thanks for spelling it for me. I’ve not seen it in print either. Is it considered obscene these days?
Cheers,
Dave B
50
Simon
>”Charging batteries off-peak distributes the load so the peak is reduced.”
If only people did that. Coercion is needed apparently:
Govt must regulate to smooth EVs and data centres’ demand on power grids – Vector
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/516449/govt-must-regulate-to-smooth-evs-and-data-centres-demand-on-power-grids-vector
UK EV Charging Regulations 2024
https://citaevcharger.co.uk/uk-ev-charging-regulations-2024-explained/#Smart-charging-and-Interoperability%E2%80%8B
Continues next.
50
UK EV Charging Regulations 2024
4 Smart charging and Interoperability
https://citaevcharger.co.uk/uk-ev-charging-regulations-2024-explained/#Smart-charging-and-Interoperability%E2%80%8B
Even off-peak charging does not necessarily reduce the peak – it did not until recently contribute to any peak. So this new load will create new peaks – even in the off-peak hours:
What that describes is a humungous NEW peak scenario at whatever time – system peak or not. What it means is, possibly, an off-peak load GREATER than the current peak.
Present systems were not designed for this.
90
More magical thinking by Simon. The solar and wind farms will magically be in the right place to optimize transmission (but never to create a conplex spider web). BTW those “massive” station are what current keeps the grid stable and on frequency. Thanks to wind and solar we now have to spend billions with stability band aids that werent needed before, as they try to wind back “massive” power stations.
80
Reduced from what, it was not an issue a couple of years ago, it was created?
40
I was talking to a HVAC bloke the other day and he was telling me that with these split systems off one compressor there if there is a leak during the night there is the risk of being asphyxiated. More so that CO2 is not being used as a refrigerant. CO2 runs very high pressures ~600psi so keeping the unit from leaking is a problem!
110
Yes, if there is a leak from the evaporator, the bit up in the ceiling, it will be nicely circulated to whichever room vents are open.
70
From your link tonyb
“We do not believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or without criticism. We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it, that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. We know that in secrecy error undetected will flourish and subvert”. – J Robert Oppenheimer.
The UK Electricity Distribution Network Cannot Cope With EVs
May 5, 2024
Stephen Broderick is a Doctor of Engineering at Southampton University. He submitted this written to evidence to Parliament in 2017.
Written evidence from Stephen Broderick (EVD0062)
Basis of Opinion: This is my doctoral research area at Southampton University. The work is as yet incomplete (I am in my final year). To research the topic, I have developed a system able to simulate, study and manage networks with EVs undertaking various trip duties. Further, the below is informed opinion based on observing / modelling likely UK situations but not proven in practice.
Comments are the authors own and relate to home charging of EVs on existing Low Voltage (LV mains) distribution networks.
Summary: The UK Distribution network “as is” is adequate for immediate needs, but will be substantively overtaxed by unconstrained EV home charging (by up to 7:1), for EVs draw c. 7 kW for hours.
These issues follow uptake of EVs i.e. minimal at first then overwhelming as years pass.
Consequences will depend on local circumstances, but have potential to include:
• power cuts (overloads of supply equipment => power equipment “blowing fuses”)
• brown-outs (loss of sufficient voltage) potentially causing:
◦ home appliance damage and
◦ household fires
• potentially, a move to restrict EVs to (say) 1 in 7 homes.
Two general methods are seen to alleviate these situations:
. reinforcement of the networks (asset replacement) – expensive, slow, disruptive
. use of a control system capable of managing EV home charging.
Further, the EVs would need to obey the issued commands; this is not assured.
Note that the ICT / SG method does not provide a complete solution, but is expected to defer major costs for decades.
100
‘Completely predictable’: Vandals targeting EV charging stations for copper
Sky News host Rita Panahi says it is “completely predictable” that vandals in the US are cutting cables from EV charging stations to steal the copper inside.
“We know that has happened with public transport, with train lines, copper gets stolen,” Ms Panahi said.
“In the eagerness to thrust this crap on us, they don’t worry about the consequences.”
30
Large scale electric cabling is aluminium not copper.
22
UniSuper, a $135 billion pension account, details its cloud compute nightmare.
“UniSuper, an Australian pension fund that manages $135 billion worth of funds and has 647,000 members, had its entire account wiped out at Google Cloud, including all its backups that were stored on the service. UniSuper thankfully had some backups with a different provider and was able to recover its data, but according to UniSuper’s incident log, downtime started May 2, and a full restoration of services didn’t happen until May 15.”
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/05/google-cloud-accidentally-nukes-customer-account-causes-two-weeks-of-downtime/
The only reason UniSuper was able to recover their data is because One Smart Employee kept a backup on a separate Cloud storage site, unaffiliated with Google or AWS. That fellow deserves a raise.
290
I lost 80% of my super worth over $1 million and there was not back-up
50
Lance.
“The only reason UniSuper was able to recover their data is because One Smart Employee kept a backup on a separate Cloud storage site, unaffiliated with Google or AWS. That fellow deserves a raise.”
Make him CEO.
140
Better still, if he/she wants, let them retire on the CEO wage.
120
Now everyone sees why I don’t like clouds.
How many “one off” system upgrade disasters have there been now?
Lessee now – 650,000 members allocated a very generous 10MB of customer data each makes a measly 6.5TB and a drive that size is a few hundred bucks…
Go figure.
140
“How many “one off” system upgrade disasters have there been now?”
I’m already expecting the ‘Australian Govt Internet ID’ one, where one day no-one in the country can go on the web as the whole database has crashed. How long to restore 25million IDs? Who will get priority?
When your whole life depends on that database for everything from driving to buying groceries online, to checking the weather, how many weeks can you last without an ID? What happens when your phone becomes ‘just a phone’?
I’d love to tell you but I can’t get on the web…
140
For a variety of security and stability reasons, the Firm ought to be using a Linux based server. Win servers have to be rebooted often. Linux servers can toggle a single user without a shutdown and go years between reboots. EXT4 or ZFS file systems are best. EXT4 up to about 50 TiB even thought it can go to 1,000 TiB. ZFS is good for 1 billion TiB. So, EXT4 for local system and ZFS for large file storage.
Reliable Data storage and recovery is usually RAID based. For critical data, RAID 1 or 6 is preferable.
https://phoenixnap.com/kb/raid-levels-and-types
If a hardware based RAID controller is used, beware that the controllers are often unavailable after 1 yr. I’d prefer software based controllers or buy several spare hardware controllers up front. This goes for NAS systems as well.
In Linux, one may use TimeShift to backup a drive or files. Easily restore a system in 20 minutes. External copy of complete drive or specific files.
Don’t skimp on backup drive quality. Pay for the better bearings. Video Security drives like Western Digital Purple have great bearings and reliability. It is usually the bearings that fail. Consumer drives are good for 3 yrs. Enterprise level and surveillance level drives are 10 year drives. Cost difference is minimal, maybe 30% more money.
Trusting 135 Billion dollars worth of data to a single source is insane. 2 or more independent backups is smart.
130
Linux is certainly the way to go – am a heavy user (and developer). RAID is good for a primary disk setup but it has to be recoverable if any single disk goes down. I prefer regular backups to separate disks also.
60
As a Unix admin for years, I beg to differ as to Linux being so invincible.
As for drive reliability, have you heard of the bathtub failure curve?
It’s why I full format every new drive then don’t put anything of importance on it for a month.
Higher quality helps but it’s not a guarantee, and data recovery ain’t cheap.
30
Never said Linux was invincible.
Yes.
If you understand a bathtub curve, then a month is meaningless.
Got any bulletproof wisdom on the future?
Everything has a failure rate. The bearings in a disk drive are the ultimate failure point.
Yes, anything can happen. It is a matter of probability. I’ll bet on better bearings for disk drive lifes.
60
“Trusting 135 Billion dollars worth of data to a single source is insane. 2 or more independent backups is smart.”
From your posts I think you know its just what management want to hear (could also qualify as insanity) they have someone tell them that their data will be perfectly safe in the “the cloud” by simply paying their monthly scalable (usually upwards) charges. The cloud guys are so knowledgable compared to their own guys ( even though the cloud guys worked for an org just like theirs a few months ago)
Management buy the sizzle and never seem to be quite clear is that all they have done is put their data on someone elses computer.
60
Inefficient usage:
What is wrong with EVs, the Chinese economy, the green revolution?It really comes down to inefficient usagage.
Take EVs for example. They are wonderful and very practical for some patterns of use, including infrequent driving. EVs start to become limiting. One vehichile no longer can conveniently solves all manners of use. That also includes buying an EV with an eye to having it last 20+ years. Buying an EV to be relevent for only a short interval of 5 years is inefficient usage.
The Chinese economy. Look at all the unoccupied houses, unfilled bullet trains, unused electric scooters, unused bicycles. The Chinese sure make a lot of stuff but the also sure junk a lot of it with inefficient usage. Inefficient usage is the downfall of a planned economy. Too brittle.
Green economy: Chasing after net-zero and solving a doom mongering climate catastrophe RIGHT NOW!It’s a brittle hyoerfocussed planned economy. Stifled and choked by the impetus of making it so. As always it boils down to inefficient usage.
All that inefficient usage is going to drown us in puritanical meagness and overproduction
130
Free markets solve all that. Billions of people do their own cost/benefit analysis constantly 24/7, 365.
200
There are so many people who think they know better than you what is better for you.
Sometimes I use something that really impresses me. Something that represents real value for mpney to me. So clearly some people do know better than me on certain aspects andI appreciate their efforts by choosing to purchase what they offer.
For example, a few years ago I found hand held battery powered pruners. I find them very useful for the stuff I do in the yard. There are a lot of them out there now. The first ones were low cost, no-name Chinese production with mainly battery issues but there are now branded version but still made in China. Aldi have one coming up without the battery for $50. I do not have the Aldi battery range but this one is tempting.
You can now buy maybe a dozen different sorts of log splitters from Bunnings. They have had sales on power splitters but I prefer the exercise and the primitive pleasure of splitting nice logs. Some of the splitters are really good value that represents really good design and manufacture. My latest has a 3.3kg head and fibreglass handle that absorbs a lot of shock compared with wooden handles.
Now look at cars. How many features of modern cars are beneficial. There are some really useful features but also unnecessary complexity. The government is now picking winners for us. Just like they do on energy supplies. State governments got out of electricity to the benefit of consumers but it has since been all undone by the Climate botherers at both Federal and State level.
120
Canada is North Korea with food.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYR_NNHnh4I
150
They way things are going in Australia, we may end up with even more draconian censorship than Australia.
Its not clear who is the larger useful idiot, Australian PM Simpleton Albanese or PM Trudeau (Fidel Jr) of Canada.
As for food in Australia, they are already indoctrinating children into eating insects, just like they do in North Korea.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8697149/North-Korean-defector-describes-eating-insects-seeing-bodies-street.html
https://www.spectator.com.au/2022/09/1000-australian-schools-are-fed-insects/
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“censorship than Australia” thst was meant to refer to Canada.
100
Note to government: the more you take away from us, the less we have to lose.
😎
110
Austalians imagine they have government boondoggles
The Canadian ARRIVECAN fiasco mixes COVID19, iniginenous affais, and government procurement into a ??? million dollar fiasco. All those question marks because the amount of the excess is unknown.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/feds-indigenous-procurement-arrivecan-1.7127211
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Love it! These Govt rorts can be so amusing!
“”It’s really complicated, actually. Defining who is Indigenous is challenging in some cases,” Hajdu said.”
Ah, sounds like NZ, who in the end gave up and said “Anyone who feels like a Maori can be one”, or Australia, who haven’t tackled it yet. Of course they all should have asked South Africa, who had it all sorted out, but their solution was practical, not woke.
Funny how the Woke can use racist or apartheid systems so easily isn’t it? I thought we had fought for and become world leaders in equality for all men! How far we’ve fallen in one lifetime.
110
My grandchildren are certified 1/16th indigenous, so clearly I must be. That’s how it works isnt it?
20
Further to yesterday’s topic of “EV Car Crash Continues”
Telsa has announced that a hybrid model will now be added to its range.
Photo of a test hybrid car has been released
https://twitter.com/brechtcastel/status/1570425739811459075
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Further to yesterday’s topic of “EV Car Crash Continues”
The BBC’s take on the EV crash
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-69022771
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100% tariffs on Chinese EVs by Biden..? Well, that more than doubled the price for consumers. That will be levied at the border, and the downstream costs will be a percentage that includes that tax, so it will go up more at the dealers.
You can see the propaganda push coming.. “Buy an EV and help make the Govt rich!” It will certainly help keep EVs to being a piece of crap for virtue-signalling Yuppies.
90
The Chinese manufacturers will assemble them in Mexico to avoid the tariff barrier.
Biden buggered by his own stupidity again.
40
The NERC report classifies several parts of the country as facing an “elevated” risk of summer electricity reliability for the upcoming June-September period.
This could prove handy before the November elections
https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/us-power-grid-may-become-unreliable-summer-watchdog-warns
Albo may call the next election before the Australian summer peak demand season in February for the same reason following two seasons of mild summers.
170
Another reason why the Australian Government is trying to pass censorship legislation (which had its origin with the fake conservative Liberal Party, as did the eSafety Kommisar) before the extra really bad news hits.
160
Craig Kelly on the eSafety Commissar’s revenge list.
Saturday, 18 May 2024
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Echo’s of South Australia where they went into panic mode before a summer election buying up big with half a billion on on gas peakers and a battery. Produced a sense of urgency I guess , so absent in government work, unless they are covering their own rear ends.
10
Did you know that Seaweed is a good source of Vitamin D?
https://www.verywellfit.com/seaweeds-health-claims-2223487
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The welsh have been eating seaweed for decades in the form of laver bread. Here are some recipes
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/laverbread
50
Yes and I just watched a Jamie Oliver cooking programme where he was in South Wales and had the laver bread for breakfast with bacon, sausages, egg, tomato and mushrooms. That made me hungry for a Big Sunday Morning Breakfast wish lashings of hot tea.
Apparently it was a Coal Miner’s Breakfast before work down the Coal Mine.
60
I alway order a Seaweed salad when I go to a Japanese restaurant – delicious.
30
The Japanese eat a lot of it, but I never liked it.
10
The South Koreans do lovely dried seaweed. It’s very light and yummy.
30
The link you provided doesn’t mention vitamin D, although it does mention C.
Cheers,
Dave B
00
“Some species of edible seaweeds also provide vitamin D and B12, two essential nutrients that can be hard to come by in plant foods.4 Seaweed is also a good source of iodine. ”
But it has far too much sodium.
30
Or you can just get it from a bottle…
20
or just get out in your bikini and let the sun do it in 15 mins
30
Plus a thin spread of Vegemite for the Vit B
20
Sorry, cant do thin spreads of vegemite, troweled on or nothing
10
There is hope
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esv0l7wMQg4
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Outstanding!
Stop the Left from transgendering your children.
Excellent news.
I suppose this is the sort of news that in future will be censored in Australia.
80
The woke communist Pope made a statement about climate.
60
LOL. It’s all part of God’s Plan. With Climate Change (which the World has always had) just blame God and Mother Nature. And then, just get on with Life.
120
Remove all religions tax exemptions, and make it illegal to preach their nonsense to anyone under the age of reason, and they’d all be gone in a single generation.
Interesting how if you have a problem you’re told to pray for help, but if the church needs money, it’s donation time. Why don’t they just pray for the money they need? Yep…
157
Frank must be on the payroll.
40
My thoughts on God and religion made me realise climate change is nothing to worry about.
Clearly, I’m making error at some stage.
20
Old fart is just a clown! God said ‘Go forth and multiply’, I was told… no mention of any restraints on how we do it or if we need to worry about the environment. Certainly no 5billion figure put on it as the time we need to stop doing what we were told.
How about the Vatican decides what it wants over contraception first? They’ve gone very quiet on that very thorny problem they avoided for 20 or 30years.
I don’t remember God saying anything about churches needing to be a middle-man between us and him, I think they are due for a well-deserved irrelevancy in the modern world, we have enough trouble with Govts telling us how to live our lives.
101
A famous “Denier”
The Galileo affair (Italian: il processo a Galileo Galilei) began around 1610 and culminated with the trial and condemnation of Galileo Galilei by the Roman Catholic Inquisition in 1633. Galileo was prosecuted for his support of heliocentrism, the astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around the Sun at the centre of the universe.
Next year the current Pope will be condemning all Climate Deniers to eternal damnation!
60
Young people are leaving the Church in droves, it looks like an attempt to stem the flow.
But there are other reasons, the general tone is that they don’t understand how a benevolent god could doom so many humans to hell for ever.
41
He’d do man-kind a Godly-good by turning his energy to the removal of child sexual abuse by priests, brothers and others in the Catholic Church.
20
7 kW for home charging of an Ev.
It truly shows the foolishness of the green economy.
If everyone drives home and plugs in at the same time, it blows up the grid. Easy green solution is to have staggered fast home charging to spread out the load. Fair enough but what is the point here? Might as well keep everyone on an 8 hour trickle charge and suppress for everyone when the grid is overloaded.
That would mean that the clever homeowner with a fast charger couldn’t get the jump on those less fortunate.
Hmm …
Modern economies work by moving things around. Just in time manufacturing. Sure it’s a good idea (maybe?)but it can also be like musical chairs where the music occasionslly stops and not everyone can sit down.
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And now for something completely different …
There is something horribly obcene about being forced to live in a 15 minute city. I am not sure what the problem is but the situation is quite bizzare.
All my life I have lived in 10-15-20 minute cities and I love it! A very plesant and natural form of existence.
Why does everything go to hell when I am forced/coaxed into that existence? Perplexed.
44
People shouldn’t be forced into buying heat pumps, induction cookers or EVs. A subsidy maybe but the desire to buy should come naturally.
Forcing it on people suggests overregulation.
Forcing it on people assumes that it knows better what is good for them and frowns on what people want.
All of this to save the planet as if people cannot be trusted to care about nature.
The road to Hell is paved with good intention.
Footnote: I do not trust a huge windmill that needs to be replaced in 15 years If it were built with the intention of lasting for 50 years that would be something else. 15 year lifespan is too wasteful. Something is wrong.
130
People don’t really have to care about nature. Because one, it happens automatically; two, nature is pretty much impossible to destroy, unlike the environmentalist fantasy.
About the only thing that could really destroy the environment would be bioengineering – spreading aerosols in the upper layers to block the sun – which I believe environmentalists are going to implement one day.
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If they only taught about how evolution really worked in universtities. I guess it is still mired in the sujectivity called Neodarwinism.
Yes, there is a real process of evolution but it involves coalescing and diverging random walks in increasing functional dimensional space.
Example: That living things die and get replaced by almost exactly the same living thing (more or less) is a functional dimension. Physical oganization doesn’t FUNDAMENTALLY have that renewal of dying and being replaced. The necessary turnover is a big deal!
00
“A subsidy maybe ” NOPE! Never! Same as tariffs, just a distortion in the market forces that always increases the price to the consumer.
A subsidy looks like it makes something cheaper, but someone has to be paid to collect that money from everyone else, someone else is paid to oversee that person, someone else is paid to distribute that money to the company getting it and someone else is paid to oversee that system too!
The Govt is the only person to make money out of these idiotic ideas, we should just let the free market decide on what products suit people best.
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This is disturbing news concerning Australia’s e Safety Kommissar. She monitors social media for criticism of her. Don’t forget the Kommissar was an appointment of the fake conservative Liberal Party but the Labor faction of the Uniparty fully supports her censorship policies.
This is a full-on war against what little free speech Australia has left.
Tweet from Craig Kelly. See link for documents referenced as they are in the form of images.
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I’ve always wanted to be on a Hit List. Meanwhile, she and many others are on my (S)Hit List. LOL.
130
I think you mean a watch list.😁
41
Not really, as they are all (S)Hits.
50
Nobody with half a brain would expect it to be different. The first thing any spy dept does is spy on those both praising and criticising it, and the second is to spy on the politicians so it has power over them.
After that it starts the real process of expanding and consolidating its control over the whole country.
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We are not going in Beijing’s direction, it will be a softer landing for us, no need to tone down our conspiracy theories.
16
When will the sheeple realise that Australia is now a Communist country with all the attributes of Communism such as a command economy and sensorship with a self-declared Communist (Albo the Trot) as PM?
80
That is all nonsense.
Normal functioning democracies have a centre left and centre right, the parties aim to gain the support of the middle ground and get elected.
Radicals like yourself will always be on the political fringe.
16
Chiefio’s re-phrasing”
“That’s part of why I’ve taken to calling myself:
“On the far center” and a “radical far centrist”… and a “extreme centrist”… etc.
Parody and truth are useful.”
40
A message from Grand Master Xi
00
I want to identify as an eSafety Sonderkommando when I grow up!
41
Australia’s Institute of Public Affairs has a YouTube channel devoted to exposing the Australian Government’s assault on free speech in this once-free country.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxibUtuJfNCRvK3PPXt09np-SOkSn_T-7
80
China doesn’t want you to see this video (link below)
They bombarded YouTube with complaints so it was censored, demonetised and age-restricted.
This is the type of censorious society the Left are trying to create for Australia, and why the Uniparty created and support the office of the e Safety Kommissar and censorship legislation (first introduced by fake conservative Liberals in both cases).
https://youtu.be/MgEjI1hsj7s
81
FWIW – the YSM dam has broken
“We now know the likely truth about COVID, and how scientists lied”
A “List of lies” there
https://nypost.com/2024/05/16/opinion/we-now-know-the-likely-truth-about-covid-and-how-scientists-lied/
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The NY Post was always pro-free-speech and anti-censorship, unlike their Lamestream Media competitors.
Remember, they were also the ones who also exposed the Hunter Biden laptop affair which was described as “fake news” at the time but had it not been censored, it would have caused Trump to win the election, even with the large number of fraudulent votes against him.
https://nypost.com/2022/08/26/2020-election-outcome-would-differ-with-hunter-biden-laptop-coverage-poll/
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/mar/24/medias-suppression-of-hunter-laptop-was-election-i/
https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2020/nov/26/cooper-biden-voters/
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CDC Admits Covid Shots Killed 500,000 Children & Young Adults
A secret report has emerged from the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that exposes the shocking impact of Covid mRNA injections on American children and young adults.
The bombshell report shows that a staggering half a million American children and young adults have been killed by Covid shots.
The CDC report has revealed that almost 500,000 Americans aged between 0 and 44 years old died from the dangerous side effects of the Covid mRNA injections.
The recorded deaths occurred between the start of the public rollout of the shots in early 2021 and October 9, 2022.
However, due to the timeline of the data, the already shocking figures do not include deaths recorded over the past year and a half.
Shockingly, the explosive revelations from the report have been completely ignored by the corporate media – the same outlets that told the public the vaccines were “safe and effective.”
https://slaynews.com/news/cdc-admits-covid-shots-killed-500000-children-young-adults/
The real damage isn’t direct damage, it’s the destroyed immune systems, making the vaxxed at high risk from otherwise relatively benign illnesses.
110
And still another “far right tin foil hat wearer conspiracy theory” comes true.
80
Ex-NIH Director Confirms ‘No Science’ Behind 6-Foot Distancing Rules
Newly released testimony from former NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins confirms that Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx did not base the pandemic-era six-foot social distancing rule on science, and instead were making things up as they went along.
On Thursday, Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH), chairman of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, released a transcript from Collins’ January closed-door interview, in which he’s asked about a range of issues – including the lab-leak theory and the six-foot social distancing rule.
“We asked Dr. Fauci where the six feet came from and he said it kind of just appeared, is the quote,” the majority counsel on the committee told Dr. Collins, per the transcript. “Do you recall science or evidence that supported the six-feet distance?”
“I do not,” Collins replied.
Counsel then asked, “Is that I do not recall or I do not see any evidence supporting six feet?”
To which Collins replied “I did not see evidence, but I’m not sure I would have been shown evidence at that point.”
“Since then, it has been an awfully large topic. Have you seen any evidence since then supporting six feet?” Counsel replied.
“No,” said Collins.
As the Epoch Times notes further, the remarks by Dr. Collins offer further indication that officials issuing guidelines at the height of the pandemic were, at least to some extent, making decisions that were not explicitly supported by scientific data.
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The infuriating thing about these revelations is that few now seem to care about the subterfuge. Everyone seems to want to close that chapter of the nightmare. However, I doubt that this will be achieved. There are far too many vaccine injuries and premature deaths to explain away – as much as the authorities are trying to.
80
The link from the article to the OECD. https://stats.oecd.org/index.aspx?queryid=104676
It shows Australia now trending below the average, this is a slight of hand, they changed the method of 5 year average to comparing 2023 to 2022
“There were 190,939 deaths registered in Australia in 2022, an increase of close to 20,000 deaths from 2021. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/causes-death/causes-death-australia/latest-release (the latest release is 9/2023) https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/causes-death/causes-death-australia/latest-release
There were 169,301 deaths registered in 2019 and 190,939 in 2023, 21,638 more in 23 than 19. So it was down on 2022 numbers.
In 2020 COVID 19 was the 38th leading cause of death, 2023 it is the 3rd.
In 2021, only 6 died in the 6 months to June, 2704 died in the following 6 months of 21, the rollout started at the end of February, everyone was that terrified of the Covid nobody wanted the cure so it was mandated https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_vaccination_in_Australia the death from covid increased with the mandated rollout.
There was no (6) Covid deaths in 2021 until the mass vaccination. The Needle and the Damage Done (Official Audio)
https://www.abs.gov.au/articles/covid-19-mortality-australia-deaths-registered-until-31-january-2024
Safe and effective is it?
50
Ex-CDC Director Says It’s High Time To Admit ‘Significant Side Effects’ Of COVID-19 Vaccines
Dr. Robert Redfield, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said Thursday that many officials who tried to warn the public about potential problems with COVID-19 vaccines were pressured into silence and that it’s high time to admit that there were “significant” side effects that made people sick.
Dr. Redfield made the remarks in a May 16 interview with Chris Cuomo on NewsNation, during which he lamented the loss of public confidence in public health agencies because of a lack of transparency around the vaccines, which he said “saved a lot of lives” but also made some people “quite ill.”
“Those of us that tried to suggest there may be significant side effects from vaccines … we kind of got canceled because no one wanted to talk about the potential that there was a problem from the vaccines, because they were afraid that that would cause people not to want to get vaccinated,” Dr. Redfield said.
https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/ex-cdc-director-says-its-high-time-admit-significant-side-effects-covid-19-vaccines
“Mistakes were made on both sides!”
– no, they weren’t.
80
Note: our Sun blasted a WHOPPER couple hours ago luckily turning away from us.
Interesting statistic, the ratio of planet’s hit with such destruction is 15:1 in earth’s favour.
80
USA: Is This How the Government Will Crack Down on Dissent?
30
I am a lazy sod.
I don’t want a PV system on my roof. I don’t want a battery in mygarage. I don’t want a fossil fuel electricity generaror to kick in when all else fails. I don’t wanta mobile battery sitting in my driveway to supplement my powered existence.
These items cost money. Long ago individual people chose to offload power generation to the public utility for the common good. Industrial scale companies can build solar wind and battery farms more cheaply than me, regardless. Economy of scale.
Forcing power generation on to the individual while gutting the stable common public grid in return is a mistake.
Sure the homeowner with land wins at a price but persons (including partly ongrid homeowner) pays hugely.
As usual, the rich wn’t need t care because the financial burden is regressive.
Finally I have to wonder if the coerced race to embrace the inmature technology isn’t excessively wasteful.
Improving the power grid is a good idea anytime. It’s an investment that lasts a hundred years. Putting up solar rooftop is a good thing because it’s cheap, free electrons and relatively enduring. Home batteries might also aid in supporting the local grid. Beyond that it is just in time, smoke and mirror manipulation. When the music stops and everyone has to sit down (as per the pandemic) many people will be badly burned by the flumoxed power supply chain.
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But the land acquisition and transmission cost is avoidable if they use your roof and you garage. Same solar panel and batteries just spread around rather than in only a few locations.
Large interconnected grids were developed to enable power stations to be sited on coal fields and power transported to large population centres. When consumers are forced to pay for grid generators to use low intensity energy collection spread over hundreds of kilometres it soon gets sensible to establish small scale systems as required. The latter avoids the transmission and land acquisition costs.
40
There don’t seem to be too many complaints about Australia’s passing of a digital ID / person numbering system.
As I wrote yesterday:
Yet another “far right tin foil hat wearer conspiracy theory” come true.
Next step will be compulsory DNA and fingerprints, maybe an implanted chip like pets have. Perhaps the supply of DNA and fingerprints will be made a condition of getting other essential services such as from government departments or if you visit a doctor or bank etc..
If Australians have ever had an official photo ID such as a driver’s license or passport they will already have the photo in a government national facial recognition database. The Government has been working on this person numbering and control system for a long time.
Note that the idea and legislation for this national facial recognition database and ID system started in 2019 under the pretend conservative Liberal faction of the Uniparty.
Have any of the Lamestream media complained?
As with all “voluntary” Government programs, it will soon become effectively compulsory if you want to do anything like work, travel or shop, just like covid “vaccines”.
Emperor Xi and Kamerad Herr Kommandant Klaus Schwab will be most pleased with their vassal state, Australia, once a relatively free country, now under hostile takeover by the Left.
90
At least it’ll all collapse by 2032, ready to start afresh and do it all again.
Anyone for alien abduction?
40
“At least it’ll all collapse by 2032, ready to start afresh and do it all again.”
Hopefully… You reckon Martin Armstrong is right?
There are already companies online doing ID confirmation for clients. I had to have my indentity confirmed to work with a lawyer overseas and they expected me to fill out a webpage of information and have a video call with documents to build an easily recognisable database for them to use in the future. That was all done by a third-party company which just does identification.
It would have been easier to phone me up and pass the phone over to my brother when he was in their office, but no, that was too simple. At least that wouldn’t be so hackable as all this data stored online.
50
Saw a second mention of the weakening magnetic shield protecting Earth today, along with the return of the recent sunspot high activity. Maybe that will get us first?
“The BBC says the giant sunspot that caused last week’s solar storms, called AR3664, is expected to survive and will swing back into view in a couple weeks. Usually, spots like AR3664 decay over time and get smaller, but scientists quoted for various articles are hedging their bets for some reason” – from https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/stormy-weather-saturday-may-18-2024
10
Reminds me of Ontario’s digital photo ID. Years in the making, hugely expensive and something of a useless dinosaur at the end of it.
Maybe the Australian government doesthings more efficiently..
Meanwhile if I get a phone call from the official ‘Revenue Canada’ I can assume it is a scam phishing call. Our telephony system is so broken that fraud is more common thsn legitimacy. Our government cannot even begin to get that one right.
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“Australia 🇦🇺 just passed its Digital Identity Bill into law.
I’m Australian, but live in Iceland 🇮🇸: a country that already has an all-encompassing digital ID system. If you’re wondering how Australia’s new system will play out, I’ll tell you here.”
Leon Hill: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1791106077167169636.html
30
Faux green thinking
The claim is that greeen technology is inmature. Batteries will improve greatly. EVs will improve performance quickly.
Okay I wait patiently for virtual green tech such as fusion, green hydrogen and economic carbon sequestration to become real(ized). Sticking with the attractive inmature green technologies here …
Green tech might be inmature but it is built on the back of MATURE technology. Green accomplishments have taken advantage of mature technology which allows our power grids to provide fluctuating loads. Natural gas power generation has allowed for peaking off of more constant coal and nuclear power generation. Without gas turbines and highly reactive power networks there could be no green tech.
The moral is don’t push heavily reactive networks too far. We are taking green tech advantage of earlier power transmission gains. We are taking that for granted at our peril.
The moral is to maintain and increase gas turbine power generation to fill in collapsesof power availability.
Everyone needs to pay for these old tech advancements.
60
Fusion power has been just around the corner for almost my entire life, too.
20
It’s usually obvious due to poor reputation and poor performance but sometimes you don’t find out until it’s too late.
So I think that any person who is a quota or DEI hire should be disclosed.
I don’t want to find out that my airline pilot or surgeon was employed solely because of their gender or skin colour. I want them to be employed on merit only, regardless of gender or skin colour.
Positions should be labelled such as Surgeon Fiona Smith (quota hire) or Pilot Jack Smith (DEI hire).
120
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Never trust a “journalist” from the legacy media, only genuine independent ones.
60
Quite right David but my question is which journalist is independent from what (or who).
60
When EV sales start to flag it will not take long for governments to milk those trapped with overpriced cars. There will be a special rate for fast chargers. Special registration fees, to cover the much higher damage from electric vehicles. Soaring insurance rates. Bans on car parks and ferries. There is just so much pent up demand for cash from Green governments overstuffed with employees and diminishing income as they ban energy and so ban all human endeavour apart from farming with a shovel. A tax on digging was tried in the gold rush in Victoria and resulted in the Eureka Stockade.
Andrews cancelled Commonwealth Games despite a very successful games in Melbourne in 2007, so there was no investment required to spend to host it again, despite all the massively paid consultants. Certainly not his alleged $7-8 Billion cost. For what? But no one said anything. He had already hired every journalist who criticised him.
The Victorian government has twice the number of people as when Daniel Andrews came to office. And the tripling of the per person tax on cruise ships from $5 a person to $15 a person has driven the major cruise lines away. The desalination plant has never been used. And land tax has hit even the most ardent Labor supporter.
The real problem for Victorians is that John Persutto, Liberal leader, is to the left of Daniel Andrews. He is close to denying women exist. Meanwhile nothing is heard of Daniel Andrews collision with the teenage cyclist where he told lies, neither he nor his wife was breath tested and the evidence is that he was responsible. As for his broken back, that is still unexplained.
But at least he has convinced Twiggy Forrest that no one is better connected to the Chinese Communist Party, as we all knew. Now the question is how to sell those millions of Chinese EVs clogging ports around the world. The only sure thing is that price of second hand petrol cars will soar. With no supply at all people are paying more for 5 year old Toyota Rav 4s than the new price.
140
This article was from six years ago so probably the cost of keeping it idle is at least twice the figure quoted, given that inflation is much higher than claimed.
Even Far Left Wikipedia admits to a similar figure:
60
It’s explained here.
20
Oh look!
Let’s keep everyone living in terror.
I think you’ll be safe if you don’t drink camel urine.
40
What about camel chocolate? Plenty in Dubai. Camel stew in the markets of Cairo.
50
And may presage the return of the vanishing Bactrian double humped camel?
40
We also have a recipe for camel stew
http://www.theoldfoodie.com/2007/07/camel-stew.html
30
I thought the camel chocolate in Dubai was sweet and sickly. There’s no danger of me sampling it ever again!
30
I found it a bit humpy.
30
Update on “The New Pandemic Stakes” – surging on the outside is “Camel Flu”
10
Be aware of fake camel urine scams….
60
FWIW
“15 Ancient Arabian Beauty, Skincare And Hair Secrets
9. Camel Urine For Hair”
https://fabbon.com/articles/makeup/ancient-arabian-beauty-secrets-and-middle-east-beauty-tips
30
As if drinking real camel urine was not bad enough, someone is producing fake camel urine? Amazing.
20
Must rate as scam of the wee k.
20
Guess they wll have to close all the camel brothels in Saudi Arabia!
20
What’s that joke about camels being the ships of the desert?😆
20
Just on looks.
20
“double humped camel?”
The mind boggles… is that the description or the product of a double humping?
10
Peter Zeihan: Why Russia’s Conquest of Ukraine Could Backfire
What’s been happening with this war is that history – events – have been taking over. Eastern Ukraine is not 100% Russian. More like 70 to 90% Russian. In taking over Ukraine Russia greatly increases its border with the west. That introduces massive and ongoing manageability and security issues. All one big headache. Plus there’s the situation in Transnistria and what happens wrt Odessa.
13
https://www.worldatlas.com/maps/ukraine
Not sure how you draw a “boundary that greatly increases its border with the west”
20
I don’t think it’s about conquest. The war of secession of the Donbas has been raging for 15 years. A civil war is the worst of all wars, if there is such a thing.
There’s reason the Biden family took over Ukraine with the blessing of Obama.
The Moldavans are the poorest and Ukraine the second poorest country in Europe, despite the vast wheat exports in the vast steppe in the West and coal and iron in the East, the Donbas. Why? A truly violent fascist government has been in place for decades waging war on their own people. The police are the crooks. Jailing the previous President is common practice.
And with such abject poverty Tuberculosis and other diseases are rampant. Medicine is beyond price, like coal in winter. The call to save Ukraine is understandable, but from whom? And the last thing anyone wants to do is destroy the place. Which is why for example power stations are the main Russian targets, not the cities.
Consider that what the US has given in dollar terms exceeds the GDP of Ukraine! Why? Surely it could be settled for less?
As for the British, French and Germans fighting. They are all the world’s major arms suppliers. It’s a money pit with endless death, perfect for the weapons vendors. Watch Nicholas Cage in Lord of War. I sincerely hope Trump gets elected and the hundreds of billions of dollars stop in a day. That is all it would take.
This is a proxy war from countries which have all invaded Russia in the last 200 years for no good reason. It’s only 80 years since German tanks were last in Kiev.
The Democrats in America have made Russia the eternal enemy, these days to distract from the hot war with China. 100,000 young Americans each year dead from Chinese Fentanyl and people talk about Russia? And the Wuhan Flu, from a Chinese war laboratory in Wuhan. And still its about Russia? And the Democrats impeached President Trump allegedly for doing exactly what Biden boasted about doing. The fake Steele dossier paid for by Hillary Clinton. Still nothing is done. The Democrats are waging war on Russia as Putin continually points out.
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Factual analysis. True words.
10
Zeihan generates empty woulda coulda shoulda word salads. He also predicted Russia’s oil exports would collapse. I rate him at Al Gore level.
30
Wouldn’t it be nice to be one of the chosen. Salary, expenses, travel, accommodation, dining out etc, all on the taxpayers teat and when you get there you can apply for state subsidies and free money from the state!!
Most watched show, eh?
So, somewhere between 300k and 857k.
Let’s compare it against another truly awful show
20
Tactics to watch for here
“Why Real American Beef Is Under Attack (and 3 Reasons Why Beef Is Unique)”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/05/why-real-american-beef-is-under-attack-3/
10
Notice how everything the Left does has the effect of making the thinking person less free, and have fewer conveniences and fewer pleasures and greater costs?
Even the simple things like cooking, which when the natural gas supply is turned off, as they plan to do, will be much less effective and convenient using electric (including induction) cooktops rather than gas.
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The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Soviet Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria), by which Russia withdrew from World War I.
Russia renounced all territorial claims in Finland (whose independence it had already recognized), Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, most of Belarus, and Ukraine. The treaty stated that “Germany and Austria-Hungary intend to determine the future fate of these territories in agreement with their populations.” Most of the territories were in effect ceded to Germany, which intended to have them become economic and political dependencies, where the local German-speaking minority would be the ruling elite.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/germany-deports-7-ukrainian-soldiers-displaying-nazi-symbols
In Australia you can now be imprisioned for the public display of Nazi symbols – yet our Communist Goverment is sending military aid to Nazis!
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Well Still some brains left in the RAN!
You
The Ghost Shark Prototype unveiled at Garden Island
Copilot
Certainly! The Ghost Shark is an extra-large autonomous undersea vehicle (XL-AUV) developed by Anduril Industries in partnership with the Australian Defence Department. Here are some key details about this innovative project:
Purpose and Features:
. The Ghost Shark is designed for persistent intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and strike missions.
. Its modular design allows for stealth and long-range autonomous capabilities.
. The early prototype, unveiled in December 2022, could operate at a depth of around 19,685 feet (6,000 meters) and stay underwater for 10 days1.
Indigenous Project:
. The Ghost Shark program is part of the Australian government’s investment in subsea warfare capabilities and autonomous maritime vehicles.
. It involves collaboration with 10 Australian companies working alongside Anduril, with 42 others benefiting in the supply chain.
. The goal is to manufacture Ghost Shark in Australia for the Royal Australian Navy and export it to allies worldwide1.
Timeline:
. The project is ahead of schedule and budget, with delivery to the Royal Australian Navy planned for 2025
. Recently, the first prototype, known as Ghost Shark ‘Alpha’, was unveiled at Garden Island, Sydney
In summary, the Ghost Shark represents a significant advancement in undersea capabilities, combining stealth, range, and persistence for strategic operations in the Indo-Pacific region.
Learn more
1 thedefensepost.com
2 contactairlandandsea.com
3 thedefensepost.com
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” The project is ahead of schedule and budget,” That’s impressive, damm near a first for a Govt contract!
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But did you realise that it is powered by solar panels – made in Australia!
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Donald J. Trump 🇺🇸 TRUTH POSTS
@TruthTrumpPosts
@realDonaldTrump
– Truth Social Post )
( Donald J. Trump – May 17, 2024, 2:22 PM ET )
“KEEPS FALLING”
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American President Joe Biden Visiting Angels
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White House Senior Living
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A running thread title at SDA
“Tales From The Shady Acres Nursing Home”
https://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2024/05/18/tales-from-the-shady-acres-nursing-home-4/
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This is hard to watch. It is such sad circumstances for the USA.
When you think about it, QE2 did an amazing job over a lifetime of public exposure.
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Remember when Trump was pilloried for abandoning the Presidency to play a round of golf? He was derelict in his 24/7 duty to the country.
But Biden has spent 50% of his time at his beach house and the Press say nothing?
And recently the US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin checked in for secret Prostate surgery without telling anyone, Biden was at his holiday home on the beach and Austin’s 2IC was holidaying in the Carribbean, who was defending the country? No one.
Again the Press said nothing. Clearly Jill is in charge. Or Barack Obama. Because the two people who could activate the nuclear weapons were both MIA.
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Does anyone know if there was recent drop in mandatory street illumination level in Melbourne?
Maybe my eyes have suddenly become weaker…
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‘Wait, They Left’: College Kids Stumped By Simple Questions About Israel and Hamas
With colleges becoming hotbeds for antisemitism and pro-Hamas propaganda, comedian and actor Zach Sage decided to play a little game with the future minds of tomorrow.
He introduced “Gaza Graduation: The Game Show” to these kids, asking simple questions about Hamas, Israel, and the Middle East. It was a trainwreck.
Some of these students were paying an arm and a leg to attend schools like Pace and Sarah Lawrence and were egregiously ignorant of the questions. Not that’s a shock to you, but it’s pretty heinous that some of these clowns didn’t even know that Gaza was under the co
ntrol of Egypt, and then Israel left Gaza in 2006.
“Wait—they left,” responded one flummoxed student.
Some interviewed looked a bit old to be college kids, but they were willing to answer these questions. For every correct answer, they would win $100.
They were asked about “from the river to the sea” chants. Sage asked which river and sea Hamas supporters were referring to, and they couldn’t answer. Some thought Hamas’ main agenda item in their charter was to free Palestine. Nope—it’s to murder all Jews worldwide.
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“Power bills are set to fall. They rose sharply over the past two years due to spikes in wholesale power prices – what retailers pay for power before they sell it to their customers – caused by a spate of problems across Australia’s ageing coal-fired power stations and coal mines last year, while the war in Ukraine drove up the cost of additional coal and gas needed to plug shortfalls.”
Nothing to do with renewables at all… Luckily the prices will fall (an unnoticeable amount!) where the big voters are… but in the country, you’re screwed.
“under a plan to be announced by Energy Minister Chris Bowen that could save consumers hundreds of dollars annually… For people in Sydney, Central Coast and Hunter region on the Ausgrid network, prices are proposed to fall by 3 per cent, or $54, compared to last year. In western Sydney on the Endeavour Energy network household prices will fall 1.9 per cent, or $43. But in regional NSW on the Essential Energy network prices will rise 0.9 per cent, or $22.”
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/one-click-to-save-hundreds-as-new-power-price-ruling-set-for-release-20240517-p5jefu.html?js-chunk-not-found-refresh=true
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“Tuvalu – which has a population of just 11,200….. Penny Wong…announcing $110 million in development projects, including an extra $19 million for land reclamation and $50 million for Tuvalu’s first undersea telecommunications cable.”
OK, so its cheaper to empty the island and bring them all to Aussie. Especially with ideas like a $50million dollar undersea cable when Musk has 2000 phone satellites up there and is adding more every week! However, its just a bit of bribery as Aussie feels guilty about ignoring Tuvalu until the Chinese arrived-
“Others raised concerns about a brain drain and criticised a controversial clause that would give Australia veto powers over Tuvalu’s security and defence deals with third countries.”
Talk about taking control of someone else’s country!
https://www.smh.com.au/world/oceania/tuvalu-is-being-swallowed-by-the-ocean-its-people-face-a-difficult-choice-20240516-p5jea1.html
hang on-
“One of the highest profile islands – in a political sense – was Tuvalu, where politicians and climate change campaigners have repeatedly predicted it will be drowned by rising seas, as its highest point is 4.5 metres above sea level. But the researchers found seven islands had spread by more than 3 percent on average since the 1950s.
One island, Funamanu, gained 0.44 hectares or nearly 30 percent of its previous area.”
wattsupwiththat
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What do you notice about this data around 2020?
Why did it go thru the roof?
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Jet stream blocking and the solar connection.
https://notrickszone.com/2024/05/18/data-reveal-that-us-heat-wave-index-japan-drought-coincide-with-solar-activity/
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They are talking about a solar minimum. Aren’t we currently near the solar maximum of cycle 25?
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Almost there.
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/solar-cycle-progression
Thanks for the insight, I’ll follow it up.
01
This describes Australia right now.
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More “panic, Panic, PANIC, PANIC”
” Northern parts of Australia to suffer from ‘lethal heat’ in coming decades
Northern parts of Australia will suffer from ‘lethal heat’ in the coming decades, making it fatal to be outside for more than a few hours, experts warn.”
https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/climate-change/northern-parts-of-australia-to-suffer-from-lethal-heat-in-coming-decades/news-story/f8797d1f6a447393cf876e5e27868dca
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And more predictions to add to the list of failures…
https://rclutz.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/climate-change-timeline.png
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Again? Hell fires again?
It’s like the man who was told by his doctor that he had six months to live. He didn’t pay the doctor in the six months so the doctor gave him another six months.
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Sunday silliness
The Vatican has updated its guidelines for verifying supernatural phenomena, like weeping statues or miraculous healings, for the first time since 1978. This change aims to tackle the rise of false claims in the era of social media, ensuring that any reported miracles are thoroughly investigated to prevent fraud and protect the church’s credibility. Now, before recognizing a supernatural event, the Vatican requires a rigorous review process, including a final check from the Pope in exceptional cases!
Who wants to tell them? 😆
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No Virgin Mary you Deniers?
https://nypost.com/2023/11/15/lifestyle/crying-virgin-mary-statue-with-tears-flowing-down-cheeks-stuns-churchgoers/
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Our Lady of Dolores is Our Lady of Suffering. Perhaps there are supposed to be tears? They look permanent.
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Leftist WaPo Demands We Take Cold Showers To Save Mother Earth
The hypocritical lunatics at the far-left Washington Post are demanding we do something they never would — take cold showers to save Mother Earth.
A cold shower not only uses less energy than a hot one, but it also saves water because you don’t have run the tap while you wait for it to heat up, said Jennifer Amann, senior fellow in the buildings program at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, a nonprofit group. You should also rethink washing your hands with hot or warm water for the same reason, she added.
The Post demanding we use cold water to rinse our dishes only proves that no one at the Post has ever done their own dishes—which is why they love their illegal aliens so much.
The Post also demands we use cold water to do our laundry.
https://climatechangedispatch.com/leftist-wapo-demands-we-take-cold-showers-to-save-mother-earth/
Dishes and clothes all come up so much better in cold water don’t they!
With the added bonus you don’t need MORE detergent to get the job done! /sarc
And a cold shower in winter gets your heart pumping…just before it stops.
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Indeed. Recently my hot water heater broke down and I tried to wash dishes in cold water. It wasn’t going to happen…dish washing detergent would not remove grease and fat in cold water.
Similiarly, most of these Leftists don’t do their own grocery shopping either. If they did, they’d realise the utility of the free supermarket plastic bags we used to get.
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From Bill Bryson’s “At Home” on the problem of the increase in infestations of body lice – part of the problem is the use of cold water washing powder.
“All that gets you is cleaner lice”
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EVs Owners Had Enough & Want to Switch Back to Gasoline Cars!
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They were gentle! McMaster in the UK is scathing. (search: mcmaster porsche taycan)
He lost $120,000 in a year with 4,000km. That’s $30 a km cost of driving. And the problems were endless. Porsche was the one brand which was historically close to a smart investment. Even the dealer didn’t want it back.
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Musk should sell out of Tesla and move onto other things
https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/human-body/cant-stop-man-reveals-reality-of-having-elon-musks-neuralink-brain-implant/news-story/ea5d322f51a1995595b1fbf219b883af
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May 18, 2024
What has Biden accomplished in his presidency? Devastation
Biden and his sycophants in the media sing his praises on a daily basis, pretending he has been an effective president.
In fact, all he has accomplished is desecration on every level.
From the moment he took office, he set out to destroy the country.
Biden long ago sold out his country for money.
He has long been the most corrupt member of Congress and has always used his position to enrich himself and his family.
He has never worked to the benefit of his constituents or the American people.
When the truth is revealed, we will all know that Biden and his family are a criminal enterprise that rivals the Mafia for depth of corruption
Biden got rich selling out America, and he is still doing it.
How else do we explain his proxy war against Russia using the Ukrainian people to do it?
Half a million Ukrainian lives have been lost or injured.
For what?
To make our defense contractors, the members of Congress, and all their lobbyists richer and richer.
This war, like the war in Gaza, would never have begun if Trump had been in office.
Biden and his incompetent cronies wanted these wars. The men and women sent to fight them are of no concern to them. They are in the business of war; it’s a game to them. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s recent trip to Ukraine to promise Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, more billions that have yet to be approved by Congress proves that.
They do not give a moment’s thought to the dead Ukrainians and Russians due to their folly.
Everything this version of the Democrat party has touched has done terrible damage to the nation.
Nothing good has come from Biden’s term in office.
Nothing.
The illegitimate election of Joe Biden opened the door to evil and greater evils that have slithered in with him.
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Biden drained our strategic oil reserve to keep gas prices momentarily low through the midterms. He has yet to refill it.
US to Buy 3.3M Barrels of Oil for Strategic Reserve
The U.S. awarded contracts for the purchase of 3.3 million barrels of oil to help replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) after a massive sale from the stockpile in 2022, the Department of Energy said Friday.
The oil is being bought at an average price of $79.38 a gallon, the department said. The Biden administration sold 180 million barrels from the SPR oil in 2022 to control gasoline prices before the midterm elections.
The U.S. created the SPR after the Arab oil embargo in 1975 spiked gasoline prices and damaged the U.S. economy.
The reserve has been as low as 351 million barrels during the Biden administration after being as high as 695 million barrels at the start of the Trump administration.
The Energy Department also said it is seeking to buy another 3 million barrels for delivery in November. The agency has so far bought back only 35.6 million barrels of the 180 million it sold in 2022.
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Hamas Top Dog Antony Blinken Sends a Stern Demand to Israel
Will anyone ask Blinken to explain himself?
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Biden’s Impeachable ‘Foreign Oil’ Policy
One long string of ‘quid-pro-quos’ that have led to international wars and terrorism.
Five years after Trump was impeached over accusations that he pressured Ukraine for political reasons, Biden is pressuring Ukraine for political reasons with no impeachment in sight.
Recent reports in the UK’s Telegraph and Financial Times suggest that Biden is demanding that Ukraine stop attacking Russia’s energy infrastructure because he’s afraid of the impact of high energy prices on the presidential election.
“Mr Biden reportedly raised concerns with Kyiv that the bid to damage Russia’s oil production capacity could have repercussions for his re-election campaign,” The Telegraph reported.
“Nothing terrifies a sitting American president more than a surge in pump prices during an election year,” The Financial Times quoted a former White House energy adviser as saying.
Similar reports have started to appear in other European media outlets including Politico.
Whatever one thinks of the Russia-Ukraine War, Joe Biden’s re-election prospects are an illegitimate and impeachable reason to be conducting a war or any foreign policy.
And this is not a unique event.
Many suspect that Biden’s turn against Israel was driven by a threat to his election prospects from Hamas supporting voters in Dearborn, Michigan, as well as radical leftists in his party.
And this is part of a pattern that has weakened America.
Biden emptied the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) ahead of the midterms to buy support for his party in the middle of the Russia-Ukraine war and ahead of what would become the Hamas war. Those actions left America vulnerable and potentially changed the course of both wars.
The decision to empty the Strategic Petroleum Reserve was not done for national reasons, but personal political ones, and while politicians routinely bribe voters with public money, this particular bribe could end up losing several wars while sending America into an energy crisis.
Biden’s obsession with the impact of oil prices on his time in office led him to provide sanctions relief to Iran even while suppressing domestic energy production.
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This is all Obama and Clinton. Biden does not know what day it is.
The question in the US is whether the country can survive a 4th Obama presidency.
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$79 a barrel I hope, and sold at $7.90 a gallon or thereabouts..
10
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-09-13/biden-may-buy-oil-just-below-80-democrats-stymied-trump-at-24
the games people play with other peoples money, or maybe when you can print whatever you need
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US Administration Abandons Israel, Empowers Enemies
by Majid Rafizadeh May 18, 2024
Worse, abandoning Israel sends a troubling message to U.S. allies worldwide: in times of crisis, do not rely on American support.
The Biden administration has eroded trust and damaged U.S. credibility on the global stage even further than it already had done after surrendering Afghanistan and allowing China to kill more than a million Americans with Covid-19, or poisoning to death more than 80,000 Americans each year with fentanyl, or permitting China to commit massive espionage and intellectual property theft with no consequences at all.
Biden’s decision has projected an image of weakness rather than leadership, further tarnishing America’s reputation as a steadfast defender of the free world.
Instead, the Biden administration is seen globally as siding with terrorists — the Taliban in Afghanistan, the terror-funding Qataris, the genocidal Communist government of China, and the annual winner of the world’s top, largest, leading “state sponsor of terrorism,” Iran.
Such a milestone shift in U.S. foreign policy displays a concerning departure from longstanding principles of backing the Free World. Overall, the development is deeply detrimental to U.S. interests. It threatens the stability of international relations, and for the perception of America’s role as a leading global power, it is nothing short of devastating.
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According to our educated socialists here America has no allies of choice, just submissive nations, colonies who can’t escape the “plantation”. So who are these who might be disappointed?
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I think this may be a classic example of missinformation intended to scare readers !
20
A UK example
“Debunking the Cheap Renewables Myth”
“We keep getting told that wind and solar renewables are cheap, yet our bills keep going up. So, what’s going on?”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/05/17/debunking-the-cheap-renewables-myth/
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“Debunking the Cheap Renewables Myth” Myth? No, a lie. Coal is free. Gas is free. Oil is free.
Coal and gas are our major exports and we are paying ridiculous prices for our own stuff!
And our massive exports of coal and iron ore to China are just paying for more windmills and solar panels.
That redefines idiocy. They are also selling us our own stuff back knowing it all has to be replaced every 10-20 years.
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FWIW – more on the covid scene –
“Ex-CDC Director Admits ‘Significant Side Effects’ of COVID Vaccines in Young Healthy People — Calls for Independent Review Similar to 9/11 Commission (VIDEO)”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/05/ex-cdc-director-admits-significant-side-effects-covid/
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If you think you’ve won, think again!
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The biggest load of crap trying to change a world digital ID into a positive thing for helping people…
“Digital legal identity is key to climate and energy crisis response, UNDP argues
Amidst climate-induced disasters, targeted interventions informed by data offer multiple benefits, including predictive capabilities, preparedness efforts, and streamline response mechanisms to mitigate uncertainties. Additionally, leveraging data contributes to emission reduction initiatives, aiding in climate mitigation endeavors.”
So when there’s a disaster and everyone is left without power, a digital ID will save the day! WTF! Time and time again history shows that private citizens helping each other are far far better than some Govt bureaucrats arriving days later. That right New Orleans?
…and this bit shows where its going-
“And the blog notes that digital legal IDs can empower communities by enhancing participation in the energy sector, stimulating the transition to cleaner energy and enhancing resilience.”
Your digital ID will be used to make sure you transition to cleaner energy… read, your car will be sucked dry overnight if we need power, and your Smartmeter turned off when you need power because you wrote an unkind post on Twitter criticising the Govt..
https://www.activistpost.com/2024/05/digital-legal-identity-is-key-to-climate-and-energy-crisis-response-undp-argues.html
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