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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Many here can not be expected to know too much about European history, when even Europeans do not.
To put this into context the Ottomans overwhelmed Constantinople in 1453-the last outpost of the Eastern Roman Empire. It was the start of a considerable expansion of an Ottoman empire that lasted 600 years and in which Aussies played a part in ending during the first Word war.
That Western Europe kept the Ottomans at bay was due to an epic battle literally at the gates of Vienna which turned the tide.
This article relates to that event and that modern day authorities do not wish to cause offence to newer residents
https://brusselssignal.eu/2024/11/vienna-cancels-statue-of-polish-king-over-islamaphobia-fears/
170
Can’t recall the exact quote but it went something like “if you seek to discover who exactly has power, find out who it is you cannot criticise” .
The Ottomans won – to all intents and purposes you can’t say a word against the religion of peace.
110
I think this was the quote.
“To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize”. ~ Voltaire
20
If the Ottomans had invented Islamaphobia thing would have gone much better, earlier in Europe.
30
“Many here can not be expected to know too much about European history …”
I used to know a lot about European history, before it got reinvented. I tried to learn the ‘new’ history too, but found it’s like trying to keep on top of how many genders there are. Just when you think, “OK, got it.”, they change it again.
20
Being of English birth and having come to Australia when I was 23, we did learn a little bit about European History at School.
However, I have learnt far, far more over the years by my own efforts.
20
I do wonder what these climate protestors do in order to earn a living as yet more block roads in Melbourne.
https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/extinction-rebellion-protesters-block-melbourne-road-rallying-about-climate-change-conference-in-azerbaijan/news-story/9a009eff19f52b2a4784d7c887b06528
190
A few packs of large cable ties are an essential part of a modern ‘car-kit’.
120
Just a matter of time before a self driving autonomous EV mows a group of them down and bursts into flames.
200
Jail is appropriate. They happily and randomly and carelessly deprive others of their time and should not care if they lose the same thing.
210
Yes, they dont care if they are blocking someones chemotherapy visit, or getting to an operation they have waited a year for, or getting someones miscarrying wife to hospital or any emergency vehicles. Its all about them and their imaginary cause and looking good in each others eyes.
Toxic narcissists.
250
Surely there’s an island, cold & windswept, just offshore from your mainland, where you could send these *agents of conviction* for a few months – or years – to do hard labour?
* or as La Frogs say: agents provocateur.
60
I must say going on a cruise has never appealed to me quite without the fears of being hit by a violent storm
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14082329/Terrifying-moment-cruise-liner-tilts-sending-furniture-smashing-freak-storm.html
20
I have never experienced 45 degrees which sounds like a wild exaggeration. That would be terrifying for the modern very wide and even taller ships which 17-22 decks. The photographs show 20 degrees at most, which is awful. These ships would run for shelter if they had warning.
The same in aircraft, your only alternative. And it would be very advisable to sit down and strap in. As for traditional sailing ships, it was common enough, which explains a lot of the fittings and furniture, especially in the galley. Yachts can get closer to 80 degrees and the keel rights the ship.
90
The further a ship lists, the more stable it becomes…
(goes by the cube)
Until it capsizes.
10
Caused by Climate Change of course:
70
Meh, that’s nothing – back in the 80s we used to dance on the ceiling! Today’s revellers are so so soft. Onwards and upwards and sideways…
50
Is Sweden completely ruined by socialism?
“Yes it is broken beyond belief. It has a huge homeless population. It has people working for such low wages they get welfare and a food supplement program. It has people begging for donations so they can get medical care in a broken system. It has school teachers and other people working in college educated jobs living in tents and cars because they cant afford to rent or own a home.
The highways around their major cities either go into gridlock or just miss everyday. They have a public railroad and commuting system that belongs in a third world country. Only the wealthy can really afford to go to college.They have children going to bed hungry and the schools take trays of food from them in school because they cant pay for it. They are taking kids from their parents and putting them in cages.
They have a public school system underfunded trying to turn it into private religious indoctrination. They have people in government who deny science because of what the bible says. They keep spending millions and fighting senseless wars and bombing people. They have a small population of billionaires that run the system to benefit themselves and screw the rest of the country.”
Oh wait that’s the USA Sweden doesn’t have those problems.
Mr Trump. Go fix it. You have 4 years to make a good start. Then someone else can take over. Oh, and please fix Australia as well.
195
I would give him two months and let him get through inauguration first.
60
And it is a Federation!
Trump does not have direct power over Education, Health, Police and much more. In a Federation your job is defence, customs, immigration, exchange and international relations. You only have those areas deeded in the Constitution. And at the time it was written health and education was not the responsibility of any Federal government. As in Australia’s constitution.
He is going to cancel Jimmy Carter’s 45 year old Department of Education, which is illegal. And much else like 50 years of environmental laws which are also illegal. As for National abortion laws, they are not and never have been the legal province of the Federal Government, which is what the Supreme Court finally ruled.
And there are taxes at city, state and national levels. Trump only controls one of these and the City and State will fight him with everything they have. When you pay taxes in the US, the one taxation officer inspects for all three groups. And what is not taxed by one is often taxed by the other.
It’s why cities like Chicago and Los Angeles and New York and even London have so much power vested in the Mayors. These are cities with half the population of Australia. Trump has a long way to go to restore Democracy to the United states as his enemies pack the inner city. Even the black populations now realise the threat to their established political power from millions of illegal migrants in the Sanctuary Cities. In New York the City is spending more than $1Bn a year of taxpayer cash to house and feed people who are there illegally in major hotels. Plus the medical and social services. It is bankrupting the city. And Biden/Harris policy.
But Trump can go a long way to expose and remove the communists (aka socialists) and especially their high crime and high violence dictatorships especially in the US ‘Sanctuary’ cities. It is why deportation of illegal aliens is absolutely necessary. And that is the job of the Federal government.
281
I also believe in Australia a real Conservative party could undo all the damage done by the Federal government with terrible hidden environmental UN based laws which are not supported under our Constitution.
The minions of Canberra too have no direct ability to bring in environmental, energy and education and social rules, laws and taxes and charges. Canberra has simply passed the laws and no one knows they are illegal. Even politicians.
Each year Federally billions are stolen to pay for windmills and solar panels and endless useless government departments, all illegally. Just as in the US. Electricity prices would halve the day that stopped, as in America. China does not want Australia as a manufacturing country. And Wong and Albanese agree. You wonder who their real bosses are? Not Australians. And Daniel Andrews suddenly jumped ship, leaving Victoria bankrupt. And he is entitled to a bronze statue where Captain Cook is not?
261
Unfortunately Sweden has been destroyed.
61
At least Sweden won’t sink beneath the waves of the Baltic as sea levels are dropping due to isostatic rebound – not sure if any clueless activist children know what that is, probably too many syllables to get their heads around. Besides, ‘history’ only began in 1979!
These are the blessed of times,
those were the blorst of times.
(apologies to The Simpsons).
60
FWIW
Wormwood – Artemisinin vs Cancer (and tea, onions red wine…)”
“A study of artemisinin & derivatives: it killed cancer cells
It interferes with glutathione pathways. Cancer needs either sugar or glutamine to live.”
More at
https://chiefio.wordpress.com/2024/11/14/wormwood-artemisinin-vs-cancer-and-tea-onions-red-wine/
40
Cyanide, when applied above the lethal dose, will ensure that the patient never dies of cancer.
I wouldn’t call that a cure though.
And to say….Cancer needs either sugar or glutamine to live.
What do you think a normal cell uses?
PS… To make sure that this is not classed as disinformation, the links for lethal doses of cyanide can be found in multiple locations, ask a librarian, or Google for help if you need it.
And it may seem obvious to some, dying quickly from cyanide will exclude other causes of death, (excepting covid of course).
/s or not /s, you chose.
81
Pass the Absinthe Caruthers!
30
The Onion has purchased Infowars, the rightwing media platform run by Alex Jones, at a court-ordered auction.
30
PF the real news is they did not accept the highest bid. It was a ridiculous amount of money which raises suspicion. Why the over-the-top fine for hurting feelings? Compare and contrast the Hunter Biden Laptop from hell that would get a Quadrillion dollar fine if there was a Justice system that didn’t actually select who to go after. If the court wanted to compensate the alleged grieving families, why did they select a low ball bid from a lefty site? Alex Jones would make a great press secretary for Trump. The stress of this action helped him lose weight and become stronger.
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It will be intetesting to see what they do with it and if it develops a following. It sounds like it will stay in the parody satire line. Not sure how that fits with The Onion.Beating up on Jones will only be funny for so long.
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The perfect place for Jo to continue her blend of info and satire…
10
And like all Leftists Peter, I suppose you relish the destruction of someone’s life and life’s work just because you disagree with them and they hurt someone’s feelings. I don’t agree with everything Jones says either, but I wish him no harm. Hurting people’s feelings and even saying wrong things is sadly a part of life, which we should all try to avoid, but it happens.
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Kennedy Exposes the Swamp – Vivek and Musk Appointed to DOGE –
“Government corruption is not isolated to Washington. The media, academics, lobbyists, think-tanks, pharmaceutical companies, big tech, and perhaps every organization with ties to federal agencies compromises the corrupt system. It is finally time to drain the swamp.
I often speak on how bankers simply never serve time in prison because they hire the people from the agencies who are supposed to regulate them. Goldman Sachs, for example, may pay a fine but they never send their own to jail. Any fee paid is never even close to the money they actually made, rather, it is just a pay-off. We see the same system throughout every organization or university that government has tarnished. They have become above the law.
A study entitled “Lobbyists into Government” (Benjamin C. K. Egerod and Joshua McCrain (2023)) examines what occurs when a lobbyist transitions into a role in government. Lobbyists are trained to influence and persuade government officials to act on behalf of their corporation. Lobbying firms often hire men and women with prior government experience to gain access to their connections. There are no laws preventing these individuals from entering the government, as both sides of the aisle are drenched in corruption. It has become one giant revolving door. As they say, “It’s one big club and you’re not in it.”
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/international-news/politics/kennedy-exposes-the-swamp-vivek-and-musk-appointed-to-doge/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=RSS
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Another very accurate post from data analyst Willis Eschenbach and I think he is far too kind to the Starmer loony. IOW how to waste trillions of $ and achieve nothing.
Keir Starmer’s Climate Madness – Watts Up With That?
“Since some folks are allergic to math, I’ve put the actual calculations as an appendix. But the results are as follows:
“The difference in CO2 emissions between the blue scenario and the red scenario is about 5.5 fewer gigatonnes (Gt) of CO2 emitted by 2050”.
“At 17.3 Gt of CO2 emissions per ppmv of atmospheric CO2 change, that’s a change of 0.32 ppmv of CO2”.
“So IF (and it’s a big if) the IPCC estimates of the effects of CO2 on temperature are accurate, then all of the time and effort and stacks of money expended by UK taxpayers will result in the earth being cooler in 2050 by …
…
… wait for it …
…
… a whopping 0.0007°C”.
“Seriously. All that wealth and human effort, all the government regulations and interference, all the suffering of the poor from skyrocketing energy costs, to MAYBE cool the world by seven ten-thousandths of a degree in 2050”.
“Call me crazy, but I think if everyone in the UK knew that all that Net-Zero 2050 would achieve is a POSSIBLE cooling of 0.0007°C by 2050, that idea would die instantly”.
“At a UK cost of $408 billion to make our lovely planet cooler in 2050 by 0.0007°C, making it 1°C cooler would cost $580 TRILLION dollars”.
“By comparison, the total of all the revenue collected (and often wasted or trousered) by all of the governments on this marvelous earth is about $15 trillion dollars per year … so even if every government everywhere spent every dime of their taxpayer’s money on the insane war against CO2 from today until 2050, we still wouldn’t cool it by 1° C”.
“And if Mad Keir thinks China, India, Russia, Brazil, or their like will sign on to that insanity, well, that’s why he’s Mad Keir. He likely thinks of it as insurance against disaster, but that’s like paying $2000 per year for years on an insurance policy that in case of catastrophe pays you $750 … just to pick a random payout number …”
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Sorry here’s the link to the Eschenbach article.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/11/14/keith-starmers-climate-madness/
30
Hopefully the conference room where the parties are being held have adequate air ventilation and/or AC – wouldn’t want these bottom-dwellers and fellow travellers choking & turning green on their own exhaled carbon pollution, now would we…
00
“NSW is set to miss all its emission reduction targets for 2030, 2035 and 2050 due to a rise in energy demand and the need to introduce policy reforms in energy pricing, planning and construction… (but) energy demand has increased more than expected and the construction of new renewables has not progressed as quickly as projected, according to the NSW Productivity and Equality Commission…
costs could be driven down if households were given access to smart meters, allowing them to use electricity when it was most abundant and cheap. “While rolling out smart meters is the responsibility of energy retailers, I support governments looking at the costs and benefits of policies that could accelerate their uptake in cost-effective ways.”
So, we are still demanding more electricity rather than banning immigrants the use of it, and the answer is a policy to make smart meters compulsory and turn power off for selected customers at certain time. How’s your social credit score??
https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/nsw-is-set-to-miss-all-emissions-targets-until-2050-here-s-why-20241114-p5kqms.html
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“costs could be driven down if households were given access to smart meters, allowing them to use electricity when it was most abundant and cheap”
Sure, use Victoria as an example of how smart meters “drive down costs”
When is electricity ever “cheap” to the consumer these days?
Funny how they only talk about how the smart meters “let you use” as if somehow the normal meter would stop you. They dont talk about peak charging or ease of disconnection aka “demand management ”
Just this short para is so chock full of BS and the dreaded misinformation it is sickening.
110
What do you do when Gonski and NAPLAN deliver 1 in 3 illiterate kids? Why, you give them the answers, of course.
50
Presumably the people who did this are also previous “victims” of the Victorian education system…
60
They don’t give them the answers YYY Guy they send notes to the less smarter kids parents asking them to keep their kids home that day , using a variety of excuses of course .
30
..and I don’t know or care who owns which newspaper, but SMH is blaming News Corp for all of the trouble over Rudd. I figure they are competitors.
“Turnbull is right. News Corp has been running hard on this for months, ramping up a sense of crisis to the point where it has created one. Media campaigns can be a force for good. This one by News Corp is a disgrace.”
and
“Others (world leaders) are just as trapped as the prime minister …all of them wondering how to survive the demands of a dealmaker president. Do they hold their ground or run for cover? Or, more to the point in the vengeful world of the Trump family and its acolytes, do they risk offending the president or cosy up to him instead?…So who will assert a collective view to counter Trump? Chinese President Xi Jinping is the rising power at these summits…the knives are out for Rudd in the conservative bunkers where Trump has his strongest Australian following. The result is a bizarre irony: some of those who talk loudest about national security and the national interest are the very ones who want to appease a foreign leader by sacrificing the ambassador. ”
That tells you more about how far left the Sydney Morning Herald is than anything about Trump!
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/rudd-row-aside-albanese-s-in-a-no-win-position-with-trump-20241114-p5kqiz.html
70
Ah Ruddy. Makes totally inappropriate remarks about a future president of the country he is the Ambassador. Someone has suggested he would be a good pick for the Chinese Ambassador role. He speaks Mandarin after all. One problem – he called the Chinese a bunch of “rat f*****s” after one unsuccessful COP meeting where the Chinese refused to agree to emissions reductions. If he wants to stay in the US I would suggest 2 things- (1) dont speak unless spoken to (2) take up golf.
40
or (3) fly to Alaska: I hear polar bears are starving and need professional help up there (except they’ll be snoozing til next spring).
20
I thought Polar Bears were extinct?
30
It is extraordinary is it not that China asks for the 1.8 Trillion. They know this is all a scam and they know westerners are stupid enough to fall for it. They’re rather cleverly playing the game. And with the likes of Blackout Bowen in charge, you can hardly blame them. I’d do the same.
100
Disturbing article about the Orwellian State Once Great Britain has become.
Highly recommended but very sad.
This is what the Left want for all of us. At least it won’t now happen in America under TRUMP. Who will save the rest of us?
40
Trump won the “election” but it’s still 2 months until inauguration day and the deep state are pi$$ed.
Biden could resign tomorrow making Kamala president, or congress could try and block Trump via the 14th amendment, or Sen Thune will block him and anything he tries to do.
Crazy times…
30
Remember remember Campbell Newman. I cant get it to rhyme, but it is something to think about! Mr C… Newman took over the Queensland Parliament from a torpid labour party, back when? Did Labour have 4 members returned? Newman scoured the public service, and was swept out of power at the next election. Just saying, there is going to have to be some balance. Going after Big Government in the US is lovely, but who is the dominant power over there? Is it Big Gov, or Big Business?
This whole kerfuffle started with ‘Occupy Wall Street’. A few weeks in, suddenly the university gates were thrown open, and the hounds of Wokeness were released. “You are all racist, white privileged, evil colonialists”. Oh what lovely distractions. And Wall Street has been allowed to play monopoly with Main Street ever since. Amazon, ‘private’ real estate, even trailer parks, are now on the board, because these financial fws, dont have the expertise, or ticker, to actually create real wealth, off of the Monopoly Board. Is there only one engineer in the USA?
Sure they are going to go after Big Pharma, and try to lease the Military Industrial complex, for good reasons, other than they are too big to bother about people. I would have hope if the present Commerce Dept was kept on, as they are driving the monopolists mad. There is regulation, and there is trickle down economics, which is hopefully not where we are heading. Wall Street loves gov/private partnerships – privatise the profits, the public takes the losses. The US sold it’s manufacturing overseas. Wall St was left with a wad of cash; is the best they can do with it is to take over trailer parks, where they can double the rent, and do no maintenance. If this sort of thing has no focus, Bernie is storming back in 4 years. Is Big Ag going to be tackled? Hopefully tangentially from a focus on bad food. How much of a resource boom will trickle down to consumers. Hopefully at least a little.
Tom MacDonald’s song ‘The System’ is still questioning, how much has actually changed? He needs to be reminded.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OshNahVo9-c
00
Friday funny: man crawls home drunk to wife
https://youtu.be/91zXyLZ_pEQ?si=IFPMAfIzQfQxAbjN
10
Here in Nepal, at the start of my trek, I noticed large convoys of brand new EVs being driven from the Chinese border to Kathmandu along the Pasang Lhamu “Highway”.
This road is an extremely rough, mostly dirt road full of huge potholes and so rough that the 122km drive from Kathmandu to the start of my walk took around 6 hours. It is the only route from China, I believe.
Normally, in the West, new cars are delivered by a specialised car transporting truck but this road would be unnavigable by such a vehicle so the cars are driven individually. The road is so rough, however, that there must be significant wear and tear plus infiltration of dirt into these new vehicles and after delivery they could hardly be classified as new and unused.
Exactly what the market is for these EVs is not clear because people here are struggling to own even a small petrol/gasoline motorcycle as their basic means if transport. Most people walk or take a bus or just stay confined to their village (just like in a “15 Minute City”).
10
https://www.kathmandutechnician.com/upcoming-electric-vehicles-in-nepal
This is probably how it’ll work:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf83zw2OIQ7q1F45i0HPZg6QjPlsCcRzpU62Ty6T32oL4vV1Taa1ryFLBY08wke7JXiYfnEA2S7hi-oIuqseFbBsR1J8Kgx_0BR_jgteRuG1MYaSj5ZaBQL8eDvdzJXs_QCSQpJ5EdkF3mDFCf5f2SF624IV89gt0TXYWAXQdnIFfsLcau6RtQUWHf1Yfm/w225-h400/daily_gifdump_4840_07.gif
20
It’s disappointing to discover that Nepal has “climate targets” as per the article, JC II.
Surely it should be exempt like other Third World countries or even advanced military, space and nuclear superpowers like China?
What a certain way to maintain Nepal as a Third World country. (Or turn a First World country like Australia into a Third World one.)
00
Probably ‘dumping’ unsold EVs into neighbouring countries.
20
It should have been leash the military…..
10
Great news, their ABC and Renew economy are still telling us that Net Zero for Aussies will only be about 2.4 trillion $, but the window for a safe climate is closing fast. SARC.
And all for a zero change for climate or weather or all the extreme weather events.
But deaths from all extreme weather events have dropped by 98% since 1920.
Only 1.8 billion at risk then , but 8.1 billion today. Could we be any safer today when only one fiftieth of the population lose their lives to extreme weather events in 2024?
Yet there are 6.3 billion more people at risk in 2024.
Something doesn’t make sense. So let’s save the 2.4 trillion and have reliable base-load energy and be happy that we now live in the safest world in Human history.
https://reneweconomy.com.au/bnef-says-2-4-trillion-needed-for-australias-net-zero-target-but-window-to-safe-climate-closing-fast/
20
Evolution happens fast, nature adapts quickly, nothing to fear, move along.
30
Let me get this right. $2.4tr. That is $2.4E12. Now there are say 24M people(excluding this months immigration). So for a mere 2.4E12/24E6 we can get to net zero. Or in per capita term, $100,000/head. Got it.
My wife and I will take the $200k and just go off-grid. The most expensive component for us would be fire proofing the connected car garage to house the EVs.
All existing and new houses are going to need fire isolated car parking facilities. I wonder if that is included in the $2.4tr.
The worst part is that the $2.4tr buys stuff that lasts about 20 years so the capital maintenance is around $120bn per year.
10
Friday satire: Escape Trump’s second term with Don’t cry Cryo
https://x.com/justin_hart/status/1856722404996755526
If only! 😆
20
That is perfection.
I am thinking of buying the book Melania for someone I know who suffers from TDS. Has anyone here read it?
10
Friday sarcasm
Lefty crazy chick: “I’m going to do everything I can to make myself unattractive to men and Trump fans”
Normal men: “I thought that’s what you’ve been doing all along”.
😆
40
Yeah but now they really really really truly literally mean it! Like Covert, keep yer distance, at least 6 feet and preferably more, for your own well-being.
10
Tulsi Gabbard the incoming Director of National Inteligence.
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/13/politics/trump-picks-tulsi-gabbard-director-of-national-intelligence/index.html
30
Not sure if this NEWS reached the furthest most-outer reaches of the Commonwealth [sic] but the natives are getting restless Jeeves…
NZ’s parliamentary debating house was stood-down for an hour yesterday after members of Te Part Maori party broke into a war chant, complete with hand-waving and poking tongues and other rude rowdy gestures, started by ‘indigenous’ MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke:
https://www.rnz.co.nz
Meanwhile, other social security beneficiaries are not even halfway on their journey / march / bus ride / Harley-Davidson hog hikoi to the capital, somewhat delayed by the inclement weather (climate?): rain, more rain, heavy rain, then tomorrow snow to 1,500 metres even for the ‘tropical’ North Island.
NIWA©️ have updated their Yellow Warnings for the South Island with snow forecast down to 700 metres (was only 800 yesterday). Oh the Hugh Manatee!
30
Such endless wonderful news coming from America.
TRUMP and his team really will Make America Great Again for all of her people, regardless of race, religion or star sign. (And hopefully there’ll be spin-offs for the rest of the West as well.)
And seeing the Left and Deep State in full meltdown is something that’s been overdue for decades. Let their evil be banished forever.
20