Weekend Unthreaded

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156 comments to Weekend Unthreaded

  • #
    Yonniestone

    From Powerline’s week in pictures this might get a few Novarian chuckles,

    http://i1.wp.com/www.powerlineblog.com/ed-assets/2016/12/Anthropocene-CREED.jpeg?w=600

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    • #
      Yonniestone

      Oops forgot the full week in pictures link.

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    • #
      Rod Stuart

      That’s a riot, Yonnie.
      History Channel is running Diarmid McCulloch’s doco “Sex and the Church” again, and I watched episode I last night.
      The subject is the evolution of the sexual mores of Christianity and therefore Western Civilisation.
      I was stuck by the way in which the attitudes connecting sex and sin have been introduced gradually over the past couple of millenia. In fact Christ and the early Christians’ attitudes seem to be completely different that most of the average Church congregation would expect. In fact there is a reasonable and rational explanation for this evolution.
      The same can be said about the Gaia religion. Time after time when I am discussing the subject, someone will say “But The Science says xxxx, and all those scientists can’t be wrong”. When they are pinned down to specify which “scientist” in particular, and to quote exactly and precisely what this “scientist” actually said, and why, one usually is met by a totally blank stare.
      Religion in its many forms is part of the human condition, and The Church of Gaia and the Living Apocolypse just fills a void created by secular humanism. The beliefs associated with this pagan religion, as with any other, has evolved with the help of human imagination, ignorance, and conspiracy.

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      • #
        Roy Hogue

        Rod,

        I think you’ve got it backwards. Christian attitudes towards sex making it a sin and all that would result in less of it. Yet the problem seems to be too much sex, resulting in too many people, resulting in even more sex and even more people, something like exponentially. Thus the Earth by some means never explained, has gas.

        Looks bad doesn’t it? But not to fear, I’ve come up with a theory about the gas that, simplified for easy understanding, says indigestion caused by having to constantly swallow too many new humans is the cause of the gas. I had to do a lot of sophisticated computer modeling for which you must take my word that it’s all correct because it’s too complicated to explain. But the conclusion is that if we could find the place where we could simply dump in a few truckloads of Alka-Seltzer, the problem would be solved.

        All we need to do is find that place. And I’ll bet that it would be near UN headquarters in New York City, if not right under their main assembly chamber.

        I’m taking donations to buy the necessary amount of Alka-Seltzer. All contributions, however large or small will be gratefully accepted.

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        • #
          Roy Hogue

          And if you believe that I have a free lifetime membership in the UN that I’ll send you right away. Just send me your mailing address.

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    • #
      Roy Hogue

      Yoni,

      I could be wrong of course but I’m pretty certain you can get any number of products from your local Pharmacy for relief from gas. 😉

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  • #
    Richard 111

    Hmm… yes, okay. I just wish someone could explain to me how a radiative gas in the atmosphere traps heat.

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    • #
      Peter C

      There are plenty of explanations Richard, but no proof.

      Can you think of a test of the Green house theory which might be definitive, or even persuasive?

      I am making up an apparatus which should test the insulation properties of a radiative gas (eg CO2) compared to air or O2. A test tube (narrow vase) is surrounded by the test gas, contained within a balloon. The vase is filled with hot water and stopped with a Styrofoam plug. Water temperature measured with a thermometer. The rate of heat loss is quite accurately determined.

      I am confident that the experiment will easily show reduced heat loss from a silvered balloon. After that I will remove the silvering from the balloon and test various gases (CO2, CH3, O2, air etc). I would like to get hold of some SF6 gas because it is said to be an extremely potent green house gas. I don’t know where to obtain it.

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      • #
        David Maddison

        There are Australian suppliers of SF6 eg http://www.agasaustralia.com/products-services/industrial-gases/products/sulphur-hexafluoride-sf6/

        They sell a minimum amount of 10kg. Have no idea the cost.

        SF6 is fun. https://youtu.be/ckaJs_u2U_A

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      • #
        Rod Stuart

        Do you know any high voltage specialists in the power gen or distribution industry?
        It would be feasible to capture a small quantity while performing maintenance on HV switchgear, but the bloke would be risking his employment for you in order to get it. There is a great deal of paperwork involved in its purchase, storage, and use.

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      • #
        Andrew McRae

        Here’s another.
        http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/library/coursefiles/03_abs_emiss_ref.pdf
        The same math behind that is also used in radiative transfer models which make lots of other correct predictions.
        https://scienceofdoom.com/2010/11/01/theory-and-experiment-atmospheric-radiation/
        That’s why the other prediction these models make, of CO2 causing an increase in surface temperature, should also be plausible.
        http://realclimatescience.com/2015/10/angstrom-was-correct/
        The effect is real but quite small and not enough to be problematic, which just a consequence of its logarithmic relationship with CO2.
        (And I consider the insignificance of the effect shown by RTMs as being mainstream support for D.Evans’ H2O rerouting mechanism.)
        If that’s not theoretical support for the greenhouse effect, how can the RTMs be wrong about that and yet demonstrably right about everything else they have modeled?

        There is also the observable fact that the outgoing long wave radiation (seen from space looking down) is bright in the wavelengths where the air is transparent and dim in the wavelengths where the air is opaque. That does sound a lot like radiative gases trapping heat insofar as the surface isn’t cooling (emitting) to space as quickly wherever those gases have gotten involved.
        If that’s not the greenhouse effect, how else do you interpret the fact of the brightness variation across the spectrum?

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    • #
      Rick Will

      The idea of “trapping” heat is not accurate. It is better than the ridiculous notion of radiative heat transfer from a cold atmosphere to a hot surface but still not conducive to any understanding of climate.

      Water evaporation from the ocean surface carries latent heat into the atmosphere and that heat is transferred convectively high into the atmosphere until the water vapour gets thin enough for the molecules to radiate to space. The radiating temperature in the atmosphere over an ocean is always less than 273K irrespective of the ocean surface temperature because the humidity is never near zero. No radiation from the ocean surface transmits directly through the lower atmosphere because the humidity is never low enough.

      The situation for long wave radiation to space can be different over very dry land but that only affects local weather not climate. Oceans control climate.

      The outgoing heat flux from the ocean surface is almost constant around 200W – there is also atmospheric absorption of solar radiation that goes out as long wave radian adding 40 to 60W. This is irrespective of whether the surface temperature is 300K or 275K. The consequence of this is very significant transport of ocean heat from the tropics to toward the poles. The linked chart indicates the amount of heat involved for the various oceans:
      http://worldoceanreview.com/en/files/2010/10/k1_d_waermetransport_e_en.jpg
      Another obvious outcome is that any water at latitudes lower than 30 degrees, the heat in/out balance point, will all boil off as it has no means of staying cool. There are quite a few dry locations on earth in the tropics that are well below sea level. The dead sea is surrounded by the lowest dry land on earth at 400m below sea level. It is right on the cusp between 31 and 35N and has managed to maintain high salinity water.

      The Pacific Ocean has the best connection north to south and provides the means for heat transport from the tropics to the poles but also balances the northern hemisphere and the southern hemisphere. The water laden air above the ocean also plays a significant role in transporting heat from tropic to poles. If the earth did not have continuous water connection between the tropics to the sea ice lines at the poles the earth would be more like mars with deep holes where oceans now cover and icecaps at the poles. Ice forming controls the heat balance as it insulates the water beneath from further heat loss. The freezing point of sea ice is thermostatic control setting for earth. As long as there is sea ice and ocean connection from tropics to the sea ice the ocean temperature cannot change much meaning climate is stable.

      The notion that radiative gases in the atmosphere heat the planet is absurd. If water was not a radiative gas the tropical oceans would be heated from the bottom and all the water would boil off and into space. There would be no liquid water just ice at the poles.

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      • #
        Richard111

        Rick Will,

        I spent several years of my working life in the Middle East deserts and the Namib desert in South Africa. Have experienced many times the dramatic temperature drop from 40C plus down to almost zero just before the following dawn. The world would be a very cold place without water vapour and the warmth from the sun.
        Because of these experiences I have NEVER believed in the AGW theory/hypothesis. I’ve read about the Romans making ICE in the deserts 2,000 years ago simply by digging a hole and leaving a shallow tray of water at the bottom overnight.

        Peter C, CO2 gas has limited radiation characteristics but excellent conductive properties, think kinetic collisions and molecular mass.
        It is the CO2 in the upper atmosphere that can radiate energy away to space down to minus 80C. CO2 is a heavy molecule and does sink to the surface over time (keeps the plants fed) but cosmic rays (highly energetic neutrons) can split nitrogen, N2 molecules, which combine with O2 molecules to create 14CO2. This ensures the upper atmosphere can radiate long wave energy to space and keep the upper atmosphere cool. Those 14CO2 molecules slowly sink to the surface and are absorbed by life processes on the surface and give geologists and biologists lots over interesting data about past activity of the sun.
        Fascinating stuff. Would never have bothered to look all this up without the ‘climate change’ hoax. 🙂

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    • #
      tom0mason

      Just something to ponder. The current molecular composition of Earth’s atmosphere is diatomic nitrogen (N2), 78.08 percent; diatomic oxygen (O2), 20.95 percent; argon (A), 0.93 percent; water (H20), about 0 to 4 percent; and carbon dioxide (CO2), 0.04 percent.
      Inert gases such as neon (Ne), helium (He), and krypton (Kr) and other constituents such as nitrogen oxides, compounds of sulfur, and compounds of ozone are found in lesser amounts.
      https://www.britannica.com/science/atmosphere

      So just looking at those figures for the atmosphere below the tropopause, in the troposphere where we live. Now think rationally one constituent has increased from about 0.035% to ~0.04% in modern times but we haven’t bothered to look to see if any other constituent changed — humm, so it must be CO2? Is that really sensible, is that science?
      Remember too, it is estimated that all human endeavors only make a third maybe less of that 0.04%.
      And that CO2 is only active on 2 particular frequencies in the infrared band, and those frequencies have to travel (from the sun) through about 300 mile of atmosphere above the tropopause, before it reaches the part of the atmosphere where the weather and climate we experience exists.
      Of course when CO2 gets that IR energy it holds on to it for maybe up to 100 millionths of a second — or so the laser researchers tell me.
      Oh and last thing — water (at ~0 to ~4% of the atmosphere) is active on those same 2 frequencies (and many, many more) where CO2 is active.

      So now, is it natural variation causing the warming, with all that entails, or is it the vagaries of CO2, bearing in mind scientific research specialist analyzing ice cores say (with a high degree of confidence) that CO2 levels have been higher during ice ages (over 0.05%).

      It’s got to be CO2 because the models that the UN relies on says so. Those same models that have failed hindcasting and forecasting any verifiable length of time. (Well they can hindcast but *only* with massive amounts of parameter and data adjustments)

      So you have a stark choice — to CO2 or not to CO2.

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  • #
    CC Reader

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/12/10/the-doe-vs-ugly-reality/

    “Over at the Washington Post, Chris Mooney and the usual suspects are seriously alarmed by a memo sent out by the Transition Team at the Department of Energy. They describe it in breathless terms in an article entitled “Trump transition team for Energy Department seeks names of employees involved in climate meetings“.”

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  • #

    There is an outbreak of heresy in Canada, at the CBC of all places. The comedians are making fun of political climate activism.

    Canada announces new climate change goal: increase meetings by 88%. Complete with video.

    https://rclutz.wordpress.com/2016/12/10/canada-announces-new-climate-change-goal-increase-meetings-by-88-by-the-year-2019/

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  • #
    RAH

    Count down to when the world starts to change and several sacred cows that many consider to be albatrosses around our necks begin their march to death row to await their demise.

    http://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/generic?p0=263&iso=20170120T00&msg=Time%20left%20until%20Obama%20leaves%20office

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    • #
      aussiepete

      Sacred cows, albatrosses,dead ducks,dogs, white elephants and leaches all floating in snake oil and liberally garnished with BS.

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  • #
    Dave in the States

    Fake news leaders:

    MessNBC MSLSD MSNBC
    BBC
    CNN
    ABC their’s and ours
    CBS
    NBC……….

    Gaurdian
    NY Times
    Washington Post
    LA Times

    With all the propaganda propagated by the above it takes some nerve to call for some kind of a Ministry of Truth to censure information now.

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    • #
      Manfred

      TVNZ – where weather is propaganda and news is re-education.

      All NZ newspapers.
      NZ Department of Conservationsternation

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  • #
    ianl8888

    http://gatesofvienna.net/2016/12/switzerland-an-attempted-coup-detat-on-the-issue-of-mass-immigration/

    I’ve admired the Swiss political system of direct democracy from a distance. The concepts of citizen-initiated-referenda, the Constitutional requirement for a referendum on significant policy changes, the sheer democratic control over Government power – all of these attract me. They’re also anathema to power mongers, of course. Leftoids hate this system with a real passion.

    But I’ve long asked the question: “What happens if the Government gets a referendum answer it doesn’t like ?”. So far, I’ve never had a real answer to that question and that made me uneasy.

    Now it seems we’re about to find out. The Swiss population voted in a referendum to limit immigration. This has upset Brussels, Merkel, Swiss court judges (who always think they know better, in any country, all the time) and the Swiss Government. So various slippy-slidy tactics are being emplaced to double-cross the referendum result.

    As usual, authority does it’s best to avoid accountability and do what it wants. The populace is there to supply tax money, is all.

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    • #

      If you ask a classroom of kids in Switzerland who among them is intending to go to university, only a few hands go up. Education there means apprenticeship from a fairly young age, though they stay with the books as well. It’s odd that the endlessly edumacated French who live near to Geneva (or even not so near) are constantly trying to break into Switzerland to get a decent job. The Swiss, unimpressed by good philosophy marks, have a shocking racist tendency to give jobs to – you won’t believe this – Swiss people!

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      • #
        Roy Hogue

        And I would bet anything that the Swiss also place a high value on qualification for the job, which usually isn’t adequately explained by a college degree but rather by experience and training for the specific job or industry.

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  • #

    It’s nearly the middle of December and we are still lighting our fire (as is everyone else in our area), there’s snow once again in the mountains (around 40cm in a few areas someone noted), it’s bloody wet and not a peep from the warming worriers. I’ll bet that the first hot day and we’ll have them all out crying Armageddon.

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    • #
      farmerbraun

      Relax , farmerbraun intends to make hay during the next ascending moon period , beginning 15/12. Suitable weather is assured, since the NZ Met Service says that December will be hotter than average.

      “The December Outlook:

      Highs are likely to favour the North Island in December, with westerlies prevailing over the South Island. A drier than usual December is predicted for much of the country, with the exception of the West Coast of the South Island,and also from Taranaki to Wellington. In these regions, closer to normal December rainfall is forecast. Monthly temperatures are predicted to be above average for eastern areas of both Islands, and near average elsewhere.

      Bottom line:
      A drier than usual December is forecast, with the exception of the West Coast South Island, and also from Taranaki to Wellington (with near normal rainfall expected). A relatively warm December is predicted in eastern areas of both Islands, with near average monthly temperatures elsewhere. “

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    • #
      Ian Hill

      Jacarandas have finally decided to flower in Adelaide, only a month later than usual. In a small article tucked away, the local suburban paper admitted this was because of the lower soil temperature in October and November.

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    • #
      farmerbraun

      It’s complicated , but not unexpected 🙂

      “Annual surface air temperature is positively correlated with the IPO index (i.e., higher T during warming IPO phases such as 1924–1945 and 1977–1998) over western North America except its Southwest, mid-latitude central and eastern Asia, and central and northern Australia, but the correlation is negative over northeastern North America, northeastern South America, southeastern Europe, and northern India. Annual precipitation tends to be higher (lower) during warm (cold) IPO phases such as 1924–1945 and 1977–1998 (1946–1976 and 1999–2012) over southwestern North America, northern India, and central Argentina, while it is the opposite over the maritime continent including much of Australia, southern Africa, and northeastern Asia (Fig. 4b).”

      “Besides the direct impacts on decadal variations in T and P, we also found some decadal modulations of ENSO’s influence on T and P on multi-year timescales by the IPO over northeastern Australia, northern India, southern Africa and western Canada.”

      “Thus, the IPO is an ENSO-like low-frequency mode not just in its SST and SLP patterns (Zhang et al. 1997), but also in its impacts on T and P and atmospheric fields. These results imply that many of the surface and atmospheric processes associated with ENSO also apply to the IPO phase changes, with the warm (cold) IPO phase resembling El Nino (La Nina). Our results also suggest that it is important to predict IPO’s phase change for decadal climate predictions.”

      From: The influence of the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation on Temperature and Precipitation over the Globe Bo Dong • Aiguo Dai 2015

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      • #
        farmerbraun

        “Annual precipitation tends to be higher during cold IPO phases (1946–1976 and 1999–2012) over the maritime continent including much of Australia, southern Africa, and northeastern Asia (Fig. 4b).”

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    • #
      Dennis

      Are you in Victoria? Snow falls tool place over the past week in the southern Snowy Mountains region.

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      • #

        Yep. There’s been snow up there since the middle of Oct and doesn’t look like letting up any time soon. We did a trip in late Oct, just before the Melbourne Cup weekend and we were driving through snow for hours. I cannot remember a time when it’s been quite like that at this time of year and I’ve been going there for nearly 40 years.

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    • #
      Rick Will

      A little bit of homogenisation can fix that small problem. You may not feel warmer but the data will prove you wrong.

      I have no doubt 2016 will be the hottest year on record, like many before it.

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      • #
        RAH

        Yes it will be the hottest during the satellite record according to both UAH and RSS. But then again a “Super” El Nino had something to do with those results. And as I write this according to both of those satellite sets the global temperature is now dropping like a stone. The heat conveyers of the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic and Alaska current in the Pacific have been transporting the stored heat towards the Arctic where it is radiated into space. Thus the persistently warmer than normal temperatures in the Arctic during the second half of this year.

        The nice thing about El Nino years for us in the US is that usually during those times severe thunderstorms and the tornadic activity they foster are muted and this year that was most certainly the case.
        Second lowest year on record according to the straight NOAA count:
        http://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/torngraph-big.png

        And the lowest year in NOAAs adjusted record.
        http://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/torgraph-big.png

        The adjusted count is an attempt to make the more recent counts more directly comparable to the historic record because the ability to detect tornadoes has greatly improved over the decades with the steady improvments of satellite and radar technology and increased coverage.

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      • #
        toorightmate

        The homogenists will have that snow melting in no time at all (quicker than Jack Frost).

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    • #
      RAH

      Well bemused,

      I just lite my fireplace here in N Central Indiana. I have central natural gas heat but there is no heat like that from burning wood. There is snow on the ground and the current temp is .5 C. (33 F) with a “wintery mix” in the forecast. Lows on Wed and Thursday this week will be down around – 15 C. But unlike Chicago about 189 mi NW of me as the crow flies we aren’t getting heavy snows.

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      • #
        KinkyKeith

        RAH,

        You’re from the same state as my favourite group.

        Straight No Chaser.

        Saw them in Sydney last July.

        Lot of fun.
        KK

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  • #
    Ross Stacey

    A CIA review of the US election concluded that Russia influenced the results!
    I would have thought the MSM support of Hilary would have left no room for external influence.

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    • #
      Ross Stacey

      This may be an excuse for the electoral college to elect Hillary.

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    • #
      TdeF

      My understanding of the short summary I read is that the Russians tried to influence the results. Who didn’t? Certainly Obama tried. So did the UK press.
      Whether they did not or not and how was not clear at all.
      So the Russians voted for Trump too. Good. Hilary promised to nuke them, simply as a vote winning strategy and the Russians were understandably concerned.

      However the big result last week was stopping the recount in Michigan because so many people voted five times for Hilary. Who did this?

      Why does Russia have the only hackers? Of course communist China does not have politically directed hackers, nor Iran, nor North Korea or Saudi, all friends of the Clintons. Besides, who could do more damage to US security than leave all her plain English and secret correspondence as Secretary of State on the lap top of the estranged husband of her Saudi girlfriend? Who needs hackers?

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      • #
        RAH

        IF the Russians were really involved, and that is a big IF, all that was done was the release of information. Many thanks to whoever did it for allowing the American people to receive information that would never have reached the light of day otherwise so the voters could make a more informed decision. Since when is accurate information released to the public undue influence?

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    • #
      el gordo

      Its quite clear that a rejection of Trump by the electoral college, allowing Hilary to wear the crown, would be the trigger for a civil uprising.

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      • #
        RAH

        Ain’t going to happen. Trump has way to big of lead in the electoral college. This, like the MSM talking heads harping about the popular vote, is about attempting to delegitimize Trumps election and thus lay the ground for claiming he has no mandate. Their problem is that Trump doesn’t give a damn and the leftist democrats have no power to stop him, mandate or no. They kick and scream, and threaten, just as the democrats in the Senate tried to do with the CR vote late last week, but they didn’t have the votes to gum up the works. This will be the norm for the next two years.

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        • #
          stan stendera

          Interestingly, the democrats have to defend 25 seats in the Senate against the Republicans 8. Ten of the D seats are in states Trump won by substantial margins. A R 60 seat super majority is quite possible.

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          • #
            RAH

            Word is the Republicans will focus their efforts on 6 of the senators in states that Trump won. Joe Donnelly in my state of Indiana is one of them. If they got all eight the retained the ones they have now they would have the 60 needed for the 3/5ths super majority currently required by Senate rules for a colture vote.

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      • #
        clive

        Yes indeed,the “Electoral College”would have to have some very brave people,to put”The Hilderbeast”in as POTUS.
        The pitchforks and torches,along with the Tar and Feathers might still get an airing.

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      RAH

      The claim of the CIA won’t effect the electoral vote IMO. I think this is just a taste of what is to come. The Federal Bureaucracy, including the CIA, is full of leftists and it would be very naïve to believe they will not do what they can to hurt a Trump administration. Get used to it because this is just a taste of what will be a steady diet of “leaks” of real and fake news that will be a primary method of bureaucratic resistance as Trump and his team work to make their changes and implement their agendas.

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      • #
        Graham Richards

        The draining of the swamp has not yet kicked in! “The Donald ” will drain all of the swamps, CIA included.
        All lefties & other treacherous civil serpents now have a target painted on them. The swamp drainers will be given full authority to do what’s best. Trump won’t even have to lift a finger.
        What a sweet Revolution!

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  • #
    Mark M

    Why good science is never ‘settled’:

    “A barely visible fog hangs in the air in a California laboratory, illuminated by a laser.

    And through it flies a parrot, outfitted with a pair of tiny, red-tinted goggles to protect its eyes.

    In a new study, a team of scientists measured and analyzed the particle trails that were produced by the goggle-wearing parrot’s test flights, and showed that previous computer models of wing movement aren’t as accurate as they once thought.

    http://www.nbcnews.com/mach/innovation/how-lasers-goggle-wearing-parrot-could-aid-flying-robot-designs-n692731

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    Hat Rack

    Quote from a Chris Kenny opinion piece The Australian 6/12/2016,

    “Australia’s emissions – which make up only 1.3 per cent of global emissions.”

    to which reader ‘mbh’ commented

    “It should be stated that is 1.3% of all human produced emissions, which comprise 3% of TOTAL CO2 emissions”.

    Pre-industrial atmospheric CO2 levels were 280 ppm but now hover around 400 ppm. So if Chris Kenny and reader ‘mbh’ are correct, according to my calculations, Australia’s human contribution to catastrophic man-made (global warming/climate change) caused by the extra 120 ppm is 0.0468 of 1 ppm.

    i.e. One (1) part in 21,367,521 parts.

    What are we thinking?

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      TdeF

      You are right and a good point.

      However the warmist argument is that fossil fuel emissions are not part of the otherwise perfectly stable and invariate ecosystem which lacks any ‘natural variation’. so CO2 levels are fixed and any new source of CO2 and this alone is responsible for an increase in CO2, that extra man released CO2 and this alone causes heating of the atmosphere.

      The number of flaws in this argument thread are so numerous I will not start listing them but it is why warmists only consider total fossil fuel emissions and they set the agenda. So Kenny is addressing only their argument. They even neglect the increase in the worlds population of humans x4 in the same period and the fact that ruminant animals output methane which is 30x more potent as a green house gas, so it is tempting to start the list.

      What is odd is that the % of fossil CO2 is absolutely scientifically measurable as it has no C14, so there is no need at all for speculation. The 50% increase in CO2 is not man made. That should have been the end of the argument the day it started

      Fossil fuel contributions to increased CO2 are less than 2%. New CO2 vanishes with a half life of 14 years, swapping with the 98% of CO2 which is in the ocean and the world’s temperature as measured now by satellites has hardly changed in the last 20 years. That is why the new phrase is Climate Change which is apparently caused by cars too without changing the temperature at all. As Tony Abbott said, climate science is crap. Donald Trump agrees. Great.

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        TdeF

        However to take your point further, human CO2 is only 3% of total CO2 emissions but over 100 years they argue 300%.

        So argument you imply is that a very slight natural variation of the 97% could easily explain any change in CO2.

        The other necessary and unstated argument is that the human released CO2 all hangs around in the atmosphere, even for thousands of years. Of course the IPCC know that is not true, so their estimate vary from 80 years to thousands of years. In fact all air exchanges rapidly with the vast oceans which have much more air than the thin atmosphere, 50x as much CO2. All fish breathe.

        The more obvious observation for increased CO2 is a very slight heating of the ocean surface over the same hundred years, but you never read that.

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      toorightmate

      Hat Rack,
      We are not thinking anything.
      FULL STOP.

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    Peter C

    The King Island electricity supply is at this moment being powered 100% by the diesel generator.
    http://www.kingislandrenewableenergy.com.au/

    The wind turbines are actually taking a small amount of power.

    I have asked Hydro Tasmania (by email) for some sort of cost estimate for the system compared with a simple diesel generator alone. I might get an answer, but I am not confident about it. They would much rather boast about how much diesel fuel is saved each year.

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  • #

    I’m screwed: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-11/the-rise-of-cat-men-antidote-to-toxic-masculinity/8082618.

    Cat men an ‘antidote’ to toxic masculinity

    I’m allergic to cat fur, but I much prefer dogs anyway. Is there any other option to rid myself of my ‘toxic masculinity’?

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      Graeme No.3

      Ignore any nonsense emissions from the ABC. If that is too hard file them for consideration at some future date, by which time they will have contradicted themselves. As “true believers in AGW” they know Black is White whenever that is required, otherwise black is grey or purple or, on very rare occasions, black can actually be black.

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      Glen Michel

      What about the poor catamites? Por bed wetting types.Queer bar joke: Bloke tries to get to the toilet but is partially obstructed by a gay sitting at the bar.Man says”Mind if I push your stool in……..!?

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    • #
      Annie

      What a load of rubbish! Our pilot son loves cats and has four of them but you wouldn’t want to cross him. He also pretends to be less keen on dogs but actually is quite soft about them too.

      I couldn’t read the whole of that article; typical ABC junk. Heaven help the people who believe it!

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    • #
      stan stendera

      Don’t worry about it. Disclosure: I like dogs and cats.

      00

    • #
      Mari C

      Counter to toxic masculinity? Hmm. How toxic is it? Are you killing the ladies just by walking into the room, waves of toxins pouring from your sweat, or is it just when you get up close? It could just be your deodorant if you need to be -very- close.

      00

  • #
    Shane

    A major confluence of events [or a literal turning of the tide ],all within weeks of each other.
    Looks like Trump & Monckton are proving that Canute was wrong in his thinking .

    ”Infowars speaks with Lord Christopher Monckton at the Freedom Force International conference in Phoenix, Arizona, who says he’s pinpointed the mistake climate scientists made in their exaggerated projection equations.

    Publication of the error in a major scientific journal could spell the end of the climate change scare.”

    http://www.infowars.com/breaking-news-climate-scare-is-over/

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      John PAK

      For a long time I’ve wondered what the explanation is for the increasing divergence between 95% of the models and reality so I find this very interesting. The problem appears to be the IPCC’s wrong application of advanced mathematics. It sounds like a subject for a future Nova/Evans article given that they know Monckton and Evans is a real maths-head.

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      • #
        tom0mason

        From Dr. Curry’s Executive Summary of her report to a group of attorneys:

        “Key summary points:

        ▪ GCMs have not been subject to the rigorous verification and validation procedures that is the norm for engineering and regulatory science.

        ▪ There are valid concerns about a fundamental lack of predictability in the complex
        nonlinear climate system.

        ▪ There are numerous arguments supporting the conclusion that climate models are not fit for the purpose of identifying with high confidence the proportional amount of natural versus human causes to the 20th century warming.

        ▪ There is growing evidence that climate models predict too much warming from increased atmospheric carbon dioxide.

        ▪ The climate model simulation results for the 21st century reported by the IPCC do not include key elements of climate variability, and hence are not useful as projections for how the 21st century climate will actually evolve.

        Climate models are useful tools for conducting scientific research to understand the climate system. However, the above points support the conclusion that current GCM climate models are not fit for the purpose of attributing the causes of 20th century warming or for predicting global or regional climate change on timescales of decades to centuries, with any high level of confidence. By extension, GCMs are not fit for the purpose of justifying political policies to fundamentally alter world social, economic and energy systems. It is this application of climate model results that fuels the vociferousness of the debate surrounding climate models.”

        In other words, they may be useful but not for predicting anything worthwhile. As a klimate seace games machine perhaps?

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          stan stendera

          Dr. Judith Curry from the university I love and attended, Georgia Tech, is an international treasure. I compare her to JoNova frequently.

          20

      • #
        KinkyKeith

        It’s not really so much about advanced mathematics as a failure, deliberate obviously, to identify and quantify all of the relevant factors and then actually include them.

        These “things” that they keep calling models are NOT.

        They are ill informed flights of fantasy.

        KK

        20

  • #
    David Maddison

    This is about a wind subsidy farm in Iowa. I think since these subsidies are written into law, not even our saviour Trump will be able to do anything about it without the Government paying compensation.

    QUOTE
    “In total, Wind XI could generate up to $1.8 billion in tax credits for its backers over the next decade.”

    “The winners? Warren Buffett; MidAmerican Energy’s other investors; and Facebook, Microsoft, and Google—MidAmerican’s biggest customers, who will receive tax benefits of their own for using wind energy. The losers? Taxpayers and other ratepayers footing the bill.
    Unfortunately, this is part of an ongoing trend in wind energy across the country. It’s not the demand for more electricity that’s driving construction, but rather the government’s preferential tax treatment and counterintuitive energy mandates.”

    http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/energy-environment/299405-iowa-wind-farm-generates-more-tax-credits-than

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    Another Ian

    David

    If laws weren’t able to be changed you’ll still be following the person with the red flag in your 2017 Youbeautmobile

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    pat

    9 Dec: ClimateDepot: Marc Morano: Media recognizes new reality: ‘Climate deniers prepare for domination’ – ‘A new dawn for climate skepticism’
    Climate deniers prepare for domination
    Scott Waldman, E&E News reporter
    Published: Friday, December 9, 2016…
    And yesterday, at an event at the conservative Heritage Foundation headquarters in Washington, the side of the climate fight that has viewed the last eight years of increasingly aggressive environmental regulations as a setback laid out its plan of attack…

    Wei-Hock “Willie” Soon
    Willie Soon, who bills himself as an “independent scientist,” speaks yesterday at the Heritage Foundation. Photo courtesy of the Heritage Foundation.
    “I’m here with a call to action to you guys; it’s time to go on offense,” he said. “Develop a series of newspaper foldouts, develop a series of newspaper foldouts that explain CO2s, life on Earth and its beneficial effect on plant life. CO2 always was and always will be.”
    Willie Soon, who has produced climate research that blames solar activity for global warming and whose work has been seized upon by skeptics as definitive evidence of its cause, was seen privately chatting with David Schnare, a member of the incoming administration’s EPA transition team…READ ALL
    http://www.climatedepot.com/2016/12/09/media-recognizes-new-reality-climate-deniers-prepare-for-domination-a-new-dawn-for-climate-skepticism/

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    beowulf

    Can any of our Victorian commenters give us an update on the CFA bushfire fighting situation? Has Dirty Dan won the battle with the volunteers? Are volunteers pulling out? Has the state’s bushfire fighting capacity been knobbled?

    30

    • #

      The battle is still ongoing.

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    • #
      Yonniestone

      This particular attack on its citizens by Andrews et al will be the turning point where Victorians finally “get it”

      From recent excellent posts at Catallaxyfiles,

      The Revenge of their Nazgul of yarragrad continues.

      The insults delivered by the obsolete and deplorable grain truck owner drivers of the old volunteer CFA when they refused to accept caliph andrews taking over the CFA for progressive totalitarianism and funding the takeover by taxing capital through the council rate system would never be forgotten or forgiven.

      This vicco harvest has seen the most relentless politically ordained roadworthy blitz on owner driven grain trucks ever endured , the brutal reality is that once a hundred trucks in a remote district are ticketed, this overwhelms the repair shops and the ability to get a truck booked now back on the road before Christmas/New Year [how many vicroads branches open over the holidays to clear the defect notice?.] is pretty crap.

      Remember the crushing power of the state to take its revenge next time anybody with something worth taking objects to the relentless progression of totalitarianism.

      [Owner driven trucks in a protest convoy to become a relic of Australias deplorable past.]

      and;

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      • #

        Good Ol’ Dan the Man Andrews has added another achievement to his long list of how to screw Victoria and Victorians. He has now commenced the ‘safening’ of rural roads by incrementally making them all 80kmh and, who knows, maybe even 60kmh.

        Our area looks to be the first, with around half a dozen roads that were 100kmh, now reduced to 80kmh, all in the name of saving lives. Oddly enough no long term resident can remember any major road accidents or fatalities on these roads, which is the excuse used by Dan the Man.

        Mind you, we haven’t seen any money spent on these roads for years.

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          Yonniestone

          Sure you’ll never have your roads repaired but I’ll bet you’ll have speed cameras set up to nab dangerous speedsters in the new 80 zone quicker than yo can say hypocrisy.

          80

          • #
            Annie

            Not only that; our local road is narrow and rough but still 100kmph speed limit! Nearby main roads are down to 80kmph though wide and with a good shoulder (excuse being that people have died in accidents… like the police officer’s daughter who was using her ‘phone). On our road you see crazy overtaking at speeds well over 100kmph by large SUVs towing massive boats. One of these clowns ran our daughter off the road, writing off her vehicle but fortunately not her. The clown was well over the double white lines on a bend and jack knifed the boat; pretends he knew nothing happened and didn’t stop. Despite that and a few other similar incidents we are still set at the higher speed limit and the road quality is very poor. This wasn’t such a worry when we first bought the place but is very bad now.

            10

        • #
          Angry

          Is this “Andrews” for real ?

          Seriously, get rid of the imbecile !

          41

        • #
          Robert Rosicka

          We have a bridge with no Armco rails on one side and the other side the posts so rotten they have used a “reduce speed” sign to prop it up , the solution is to reduce speed to 40 .

          40

        • #
          Graeme No.3

          Standard practice in SA. Saves on road repairs, annoys a lot of people who might not vote for you and pleases intercity types who bicycle to work – on the footpath of course, as the road is too rough.

          40

  • #
    Oliver K. Manuel

    False 97% consensus models of reality are unintended consequences of a noble plan to save the world from nuclear annihilation.

    https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10640850/Truth_or_Consequences.pdf

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    David Maddison

    The masses seem to think electricity from whirlygigs is just as good as electricity from proper nuclear, gas, coal and hydro generators.

    I think we need to start describing whirlygig and solar power as “dirty” in the sense that the wildly varying power output of these things would be intolerable and unacceptable in any properly engineered system and requires major management and infrastructure to deal with it.

    We haven’t had to put up with such unstable power sources since the beginning of the industrial revolution and the steam engine.

    There was a very good reason why the Western world got rid of windmills the first time around!

    72

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    el gordo

    On the climate front we need Donald to speak of reality and the awkward situation we are in, the gods are smiling upon him so he should strike while the iron is hot.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4020376/Series-cold-blasts-hit-week-temperatures-set-dip-zero.html

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      RAH

      I have been wondering how their going to handle this transition. Are they going to call the main players before Congress and demand they justify their adjustments to the temperature record and methods of compiling and adjusting the current data? Then once they have publically exposed them get rid of them? Or will it be the more expedient method of just move them out and replace them with honest competent people and then start working to correct the temperature record? There are pros and cons to both methods I think.

      30

  • #

    Some people may say that I’m just cherry picking this data here, but this is indicative of what happens when there is a reliance on Wind Power alone to supply electricity, and anyway, what would they do when something like this happens, if Wind is all you have to rely upon?

    Look at the image at this link, and this is for the total power generation on just one day (Tuesday Dec06 2016, last Tuesday) from what is the largest Wind Plant in Australia, the Macarthur Wind Plant in Victoria, a wind plant with a Nameplate of 420MW, one which has 140 of those huge towers.

    As you can see, during the main period when the wind was actually blowing, the plant delivered an average of around 18MW for that time period between 9AM and 9PM. That should be worry enough, the fact that on average, only 6 of those 140 towers actually had their blades turning during that time period.

    However, note that period of time prior to 9AM, and then that time after 9PM. See how not only were there no blades turning on the whole complex of 140 towers, but the Plant was actually drawing power from the Victorian grid, around an average of 5MW. Now while that may not seem much, that’s the power that will run 5,000 average Victorian homes.

    So then, see how this is for just that one day. As an exercise, I went back to the previous day, and then again to the following day to see just how long there was actually zero output.

    At around 9PM on the Monday it fell back to, and then below zero, and then, from the image, it fell again back to, and below zero on the Tuesday at around 9PM, and stayed at or below zero until Midday on the Wednesday, so overall, here we have a time period of 39 hours.

    For 25 of those hours, this Wind Plant was sucking power from the Victorian grid at a continuous rate of 5MW. The time period shown in the image from 9AM until 9PM on that Tuesday was the only time power was actually being delivered by this Wind Plant, the biggest in Australia.

    Keep in mind here that period of time when no blades at all were turning and the plant was drawing a continuous 5MW from the grid, because what that indicates is that the pant requires a constant 5MW to stay operational, so even while the plant is actually delivering power, 5 MW of that power is being consumed by the Plant itself, so, while there was that 12 hour period when it was delivering an average of 18MW, 5MW of that was for the plant itself, so actual power delivery to the Victorian grid was only at an average of 13MW per hour.

    So, over that whole 39 hour period the plant only delivered what you see there in that image. When you take into account the continuous 5MW draw when the plant was totally stationary, then the overall power delivery to the grid comes in at only an average of a little more than HALF a MegaWatt per hour. (12 hours at an average of 18MW per hour minus 39 hours at 5MW, and divide that by 39, so 0.54MW average per hour)

    So, with a Nameplate of 420MW, then the Macarthur wind plant operated at a Capacity Factor of 0.38%, for 39 hours.

    If anything else, anything operated at a delivery rate similar to this, it would be laughed out of existence.

    True, there are times when this Plant actually does deliver (relatively) goodly amounts of power, but hey, you never know ….. FOR CERTAIN when those times will be, and then you have periods like this, when other plants which actually are reliable are needed to keep a wind plant ready for when the wind actually does start to blow again.

    At any one time during this 39 hour time period, ancient old Hazelwood had at least 5 or 6 of its 200MW units running, not sitting there idle waiting for the wind to start blowing again, but actually delivering stable large amounts of power into that same Victorian grid, and some of that power was actually being consumed by this Wind Plant.

    This one image shows once and for all that wind power just CANNOT be relied on for any State which actually wants to have a stable and reliable source of power for when it is needed, 24 hours of EVERY day.

    Tony.

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      David Maddison

      This is the reason the Civilised world abandoned the windmill the first time around after the steam engine was invented.

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      Graeme No.3

      Thanks Tony.

      So now we know that turbines use 35-36 kWh when not running. For one model of 3MW (very nominal) capacity.

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      • #

        So now we know that turbines use 35-36 kWh when not running.

        For some perspective, the average Australian home consumes around 20KWH of power each DAY, and each turbine consumes almost double that daily household power consumption ….. every HOUR.

        There are around 2,100 plus turbines in Australia.

        The peak power delivery from every Australian turbine during the last 24 hours was a spike at around Midnight last night, and that was around 1100MW, so even then, they were only operating at a Capacity Factor of 28% at the top of that spike, late on a Saturday night. Right now, Midday Sunday, EVERY wind tower in Australia is currently delivering 100MW, and that’s a Capacity Factor of 2.5%, so of those 2,100 plus turbines, barely 50 of them are actually turning, providing around HALF the output of ONE unit at ancient Hazelwood.

        Tony.

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    • #
      James

      Does anyone have an idea of how whether the energy consumption of a turbine that is not delivering to the grid is inversely proportional to the ambient temperature. Here in Northern NY, we get some mornings in January with -20 to -30 degrees Celsius, with dead calm, no wind. A lot of power is used then heating peoples’ homes, and this is mainly supplied by nuclear, gas, or hydro power. Do these windmills draw appreciably more in those conditions.

      We do also get ice storms about once every 10 years. The last one occurred in December 2003. This caused a lot of damage to the power grid, and wind farms being in more isolated areas would be the last to get powered restored. Does a long time without power to a turbine cause damage to it or shorten its life?

      Are the blades heated to prevent ice from building up and damaging the blades, and also from flying off the blades which would cause an imbalance, and a lot of vibration, plus be hazardous to any below them?

      They seem to be wanting to build more windmills in NY. Given the above conditions we are as bad a place as any to put them, and most people around here do not want them.

      40

      • #

        James,

        one of the major problems here is, at temperatures like those, the lubricating oil freezes solid, and the turbines cannot operate.

        So now they have to utilise heaters to heat the oil and keep it the correct temperature.

        Tony.

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      • #
        Graeme No.3

        Some have de-icing built into their blades but not many.
        Another way https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2016/12/08/helicopter-de-icing-for-wind-turbines/

        The main use of electricity is to turn the blades every so often so the main shaft doesn’t bend under the unbalanced load. A well known problem in big ship’s propellor shafts and steam turbines. If not rotated regularly the shaft may bend slightly and the out of balance can result in the turbine self destructing.

        30

      • #
        toorightmate

        James,
        Those ultra cold mornings in January are due to global warming.
        The lack of wind is due to global warming.
        The ice storms are due to global warming. In December 2003 we were all burning coal like it was going out of fashion.
        Donald Trump winning the election was due to global warming.
        The sun coming up tomorrow is due to global warming.

        I think the warmists should put wind turbines up themselves – literally.

        31

    • #
      Robert Rosicka

      Yeah but Tony they are zero emission , the way of the future and 420 mw capacity you are cherry picking because on a couple of days in every year they do produce copious green electrons but you don’t seem to mention that do you .
      Do I really need the sarc .

      31

  • #
    Mark M

    Best Apocalypse. Ever. Undeniably.

    If the future of Doomsday Global Warming is more girls in bikinis, I say best apocalypse. Ever!

    Queensland weather: Temporary cool relief from hot and stormy conditions

    20

    • #
      Graeme No.3

      Mark,
      back in 1976 England had a very long, hot summer with lots of sunshine. There had been another of the predictions of a coming Ice Age earlier that year so The SUN newspaper used to fill its front page with girls in brief bikinis splashing in, say, the Trafalgar square pool. This they deemed an appropriate response.
      It should be noted that the girls wore both pieces unlike those who appeared on page 3. The SUN knew what its readers(?) wanted. I bought a copy of it in 1977 when there and never bothered again. It was a dreadful newspaper, although its competitor The Daily Mirror was worse. I am sure you know the old explanation of english newspapers.
      The Times is read by those who run the country.
      The Telegraph is read by those who think they still run the country.
      The Guardian is read by those who think they ought to run the country.
      The Daily Mirror is read by the people who think they run the country.
      The Morning Star is read by the people who think the country ought to be run by another country.
      The Independent is read by people who don’t know who runs the country but are sure they’re doing it wrong.
      The Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country.
      The Financial Times is read by the people who own the country.
      The Daily Express is read by the people who think the country ought to be run as it used to be run.
      And the Sun’s readers don’t care who runs the country providing she has big tits.

      That’s the older version, not what appeared on Yes Minister. But it shows that newspapers do tend to be biased to their market. Interestingly the conservative Daily Telegraph is still the leading paper as The Times has been Murdochized and The Guardian is rapidly heading up its own orrifice. The Independent has gone and the Daily Star changed its name but in 2013 was as bad as it ever had been.

      50

      • #
        Annie

        We now have an online subscription to the Daily Telegraph and I’m beginning to think the paper is being taken over by the Daily Mail (with photo’s of ‘adorable’ animals and’hilarious’ mishappenings and ‘terrifying’ storms and aircraft incidents; all grossly exaggerated). At other times I wonder if it’s being taken over by the Grauniad, with many mispellings and very poor English usage. Will we bother to renew our subscription? Hmmm…maybe. We love the Matt cartoons and articles by Charles Moore and one or two others but a lot of the content is trashy.

        20

        • #
          Annie

          I forgot to add the ‘in your face’ over-made-up and very underdressed females, not to mention far too many topless unshaven yukky males.

          20

    • #
      el gordo

      Weatherzone synoptic has eastern Queensland enjoying a mild damp breeze, how unusual is this pattern?

      20

  • #
    pat

    9 Dec: WSJ: As Al Gore Told Donald Trump . . .
    Forget climate change. Green handouts have become a political end in themselves.
    By Holman W. Jenkins, Jr.
    During the decades we’ve been waiting for actual climate data to validate or invalidate our climate models (we’re still waiting), at least one phenomenon has been reliably observed. This is the political domestication and co-optation of the once-vexing global warming hypothesis.
    A pioneering shaman of this transmutation was BP CEO John Browne, who in the 1990s declared his company “beyond petroleum,” then proceeded on a series of mergers that made it an even bigger petroleum company…
    A credulous piece in the New York Times tells us Elon Musk makes a “compelling case” that Tesla would be better off without federal subsidies yet the paper doesn’t tell us what the case is. Here it is: Mr. Musk would certainly be better off without federal fuel-mileage mandates that cause his competitors to make and dump electric cars on the market at a $9,000 loss. But those rules aren’t going away even under President Trump. And there is no sign Mr. Musk is eager to do without his own subsidies. He was last seen berating the California Air Resources Board for failing to create enough “zero-emission” credits to suit Tesla.
    A new study (LINK) from Arthur D. Little finds that, over its lifecycle, an electric car will generate just 23% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than a gasoline-powered car. If every car on earth were electric, this translates into a mere 1.8% decline in total emissions.
    Yet even a small electric car will cost its owner $20,816 more to own and operate than a comparable gas-powered car, and its total “human toxicity”—mainly due to heavy metals and graphite—will be three to five times greater.
    This is hardly the first study to demonstrate that electric cars solve no environmental problem. Will it make a difference? No. We’re way beyond that now…READ ON
    http://www.wsj.com/articles/as-al-gore-told-donald-trump-1481326892

    9 Dec: CNBC: OPEC just created a big opportunity for US oil companies: Exports to Asia
    by Tom DiChristopher
    OPEC’s agreement last week to cut oil production is creating an opportunity for U.S. oil producers to get crude into the hands of very valuable customers: Asian crude buyers.
    The members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries have vowed to cut a collective 1.2 million barrels a day and are asking other oil producers to reduce output by 600,000 barrels a day.
    The long-awaited output limits are expected to make it possible for U.S. producers to ply the expensive, complicated route to Asia from the United States. The stage was set when the United States lifted a 40-year-old ban on exporting American crude last December. Since then, much of the oil has gone to Europe, but now industry heavyweights are attempting to extend those exports to Asia, a region whose oil consumption is growing.
    “It is still in testing the phase. The export ban was lifted last last year, and since then, we’re seeing this evolution of the U.S. export industry, as there’s this period of exploration to figure out how best to get these exports out, how to make this work economically,” said Matt Smith, director of commodity research at tanker-tracking firm ClipperData…
    This week, Reuters reported that British oil giant BP was using its global shipping and trading network to embark upon an ambitious four-month pilot project of sorts: charting a 16,000-nautical-mile sea route involving seven tankers and a number of transfers to profitably get crude oil from Texas to Asia…
    http://www.cnbc.com/2016/12/09/opec-output-cuts-make-us-exports-to-asia-possible.html

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  • #
    tom0mason

    There appears to be a little up-swing in the number of bright meteors and fireballs reported over the three years or so —

    Large meteor explodes over Norway
    December 06, 2016.

    December 06, 2016
    Siberian meteor up to 15 meters in diameter

    December 06, 2016
    Meteor explodes over Siberia, turns night into day

    December 05, 2016
    Bright Sigma Hydrid fireball burns over central Wales, UK

    October 31, 2016
    Rare fireball shoots across the sky over Japan

    October 12, 2016
    Sunrise meteor breaks apart over Mississippi and Alabama, US

    October 05, 2016
    Orionid meteor lights up sky over Pennsylvania, US

    September 08, 2016
    Daylight meteor seen over North Carolina, US

    September 09, 2016
    Meteor explodes over Cyprus, parts of it believed to have fallen north of the island

    July 08, 2016
    Bright Alpha Capricornid fireball recorded over Northern Africa

    June 10, 2016
    Meteor lights up early morning sky over Puget Sound, Washington

    June 07, 2016
    Asteroid 2016 LT1 to pass close to Earth (0.4 LD) on June 7, 2016

    June 03, 2016
    Bright, slow moving meteor over Puerto Rico

    June 02, 2016
    Extremely bright fireball observed over Arizona, US

    May 21, 2016
    Bright fireball accompanied by sonic boom over central Mexico

    May 17, 2016
    Very bright fireball over Northeastern US, ground shaking reported

    April 27, 2016
    Bright green fireball streaks across the skies of Southern California, US

    February 29, 2016
    Dazzling meteor lights up skies over Scotland

    February 19, 2016
    Impressive fireball events light up skies over Iberian Peninsula

    November 03, 2015
    Large fireball lights up Thailand sky

    September 07, 2015
    Large fireball accompanied by two explosions reported over Thailand

    September 07, 2015
    Slow moving, very bright fireball turns sky green over Argentina

    July 31, 2015
    Large fireball observed over UK on April 26, 2015

    April 06, 2015
    Daylight fireball explodes over Kosice, Slovakia

    March 15, 2015
    Large green fireball accompanied by sonic booms observed over Europe

    February 27, 2015
    Two craters found after bright fireball explodes over Kerala, India

    February 17, 2015
    Very bright fireball seen over Pennsylvania, US

    January 18, 2015
    Slow-moving daylight fireball recorded over Houston, US

    January 07, 2015
    Extremely bright fireball recorded over Bucharest, Romania

    August 03, 2015
    Fireball explodes producing small meteorites near Lake Weiss, Alabama

    June 30, 2014
    Huge fireball caught on camera by a Devon observatory, UK

    May 16, 2014
    Longlasting fireball accompanied by sonic boom streaks over southeastern US

    May 02, 2014
    Three significant fireballs over the weekend

    September 29, 2013
    Two large fireballs spotted over the skies of Ohio, US

    September 29, 2013
    50 kg meteor explodes and illuminates sky over southeastern US

    August 28, 2013
    Bright fireball streaked across the sky above Madrid, Spain

    March 22, 2013
    Bright meteor streaks over eastern United States

    February 16, 2013
    Exploding fireballs reported all over the globe: Europe, Japan, Russia, Cuba, US, Australia, Timor

    September 10, 2012
    Jupiter hit by a fireball

    April 22, 2012
    Mysterious “fireball” exploded over Sierra Nevada mountain range, US

    January 01, 2012
    New Year’s bolid fireball seen over New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado, US

    August 28, 2011
    A bright meteor lit up the night sky above Atlanta

    As reported by https://watchers.news/tag/fireball/1/

    Now maybe watchers.news’ policy on reporting these things have changed, or perhaps who they get reports from has changed, or maybe more people are noticing these phenomena. Who knows? There are however, more being reported after February 16, 2013 when exploding fireballs where reported all over the globe: Europe, Japan, Russia, Cuba, US, Australia, Timor.

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    pat

    novel-length & too boring to read:

    10 Dec: SMH: Tim Eliott: How does Naomi Klein’s plan to save the planet weigh up?
    For Naomi Klein, the only way to save the planet is to smash capitalism. But are the ideas of the No Logo author too radical to be useful?
    One wet Wednesday night in early November, I found myself backstage at Sydney’s City Recital Hall, sitting with a small group of people who looked as if they were one sad song away from slashing their wrists. There was a union leader, a couple of human rights activists, an environmentalist and an Indigenous spokeswoman, all of them waiting for the arrival of author and activist Naomi Klein, with whom they were due to share a panel discussion on climate change. Sponsored by the Sydney Peace Foundation and Greenpeace, the event was meant to be a happy one, a mini Woodstock for local progressives, a chance to celebrate hard-won victories and explore future strategies.
    Unfortunately, it was the same night the US federal election results rolled in. With Klein yet to show, those in the room stared aghast at their mobile phones, watching as Donald Trump – who has described global warming as a hoax instigated by the Chinese – stormed to victory. By the time Klein appeared, looking uncharacteristically flustered, Trump was on stage in New York, giving his acceptance speech. “So,” Klein said, looking around the room. “This is obviously deeply f**ked up.”…
    http://www.smh.com.au/good-weekend/is-naomi-klein-idea-on-saving-the-planet-too-radical-to-be-useful-20161207-gt5ybe.html

    10 Dec: MalayaMail: AFP: New UN chief to be sworn in amid uncertainty over Trump
    Incoming UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will take the oath of office on Monday, hoping to show he is primed for action despite anxiety over the US role in the world under unpredictable Donald Trump…
    The first former head of government at the UN helm, Guterres will take over from Ban Ki-moon on January 1…
    Trump’s victory has put a question mark over the Paris climate deal championed by Ban during his 10 years at the UN helm and stirred unease over the prospect of a new-style diplomatic dealmaking from the White House that could sideline the United Nations…
    The key to getting the new Trump administration on board may lie in Guterres’ plans for reforming the world body to “turn it into something the US can support,” said a Security Council diplomat.
    He will have to show that “he is shaking up the system enough in order to really make it effective, slimming it down in some places, realigning it in others, in a very pro-active way,” said the diplomat, who asked not to be named.
    The United States is by far the biggest financial contributor, providing 22 per cent of the UN’s operating budget and funding 28 percent of peacekeeping missions which currently cost $8 billion annually…
    Guterres may on Monday announce the appointment of the deputy secretary-general and of his chief of staff – two powerful posts in the new leadership team.
    Nigeria’s Environment Minister Amina Mohammed is tipped to be the UN’s new number two while the chief of staff post is also expected to be filled by a woman, in line with Guterres’ pledge to push gender equality at the United Nations…
    http://www.themalaymailonline.com/world/article/new-un-chief-to-be-sworn-in-amid-uncertainty-over-trump

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    Dennis

    Snow in Hawaii … not unusual however it is unusual for it to fall at low altitude;

    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38199730

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    Dennis

    Renewable energy …. check this story out;

    http://www.outbackmag.com.au/bright-sparks/

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    pat

    helping the poor, Naomi Klein style?

    11 Dec: UK DAILY MAIL: David Rose: Hot air: Bombshell report shows green levies backed by government will cost the economy £319bn by 2030
    The radical shift to green, renewable energy will have cost £319bn by 2030
    The huge sum is three times the annual NHS budget for England
    The policy will be adding an average burden of £584 a year to every household by 2020 and £875 by 2030
    Shocking report takes its calculations from official figures issued by government
    A bombshell report reveals today that despite years of promises by Labour, Coalition and Tory governments, the radical shift to ‘green’ renewable energy will have cost the economy £319 billion by 2030 – three times the annual NHS budget for England.
    Instead of cutting energy bills, the policy will be adding an average burden of £584 a year to every household by 2020, and £875 by 2030. Yet this is only the start. By 2050, green energy policy will be costing every household £1,390 a year, based on 2014 prices.
    The report’s calculations are derived entirely from official figures issued by Government departments and the Office for Budget Responsibility. They reveal for the first time the true cost of levies on bills to fund the shift to renewable energy.
    The impact results from the 2008 Climate Change Act, and will be felt mainly by the poorest and so-called JAMs – those families who are ‘just about managing’…READ ALL
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4021200/Hot-air-Bombshell-report-shows-green-levies-backed-government-cost-economy-319bn-2030.html

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    el gordo

    A new paper gives the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation the credit it deserves.

    ‘Here we show that the largest IPO contributions occurred in its positive phase during the rapid warming periods from 1910–1941 and 1971–1995, with the IPO contributing 71% and 75%, respectively, to the difference between the median values of the externally forced trends and observed trends.

    ‘The IPO transition from positive to negative in the late-1990s contributed 27% of the discrepancy between model median estimates of the forced part of the GMST trend and the observed trend from 1995 to 2013…’

    – See more at: http://notrickszone.com/#sthash.tCEBLrau.bHAGMe4d.dpuf

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    James

    Tonight I am watching on youtube the transfer train (to NSW) of the coal hoppers which were used to move Leigh Creek coal to Port Augusta. This took place on December 2nd. There was an interesting collection of vintage locomotives powering the train. There are a lot of train buffs out taking photographs. I wonder how many realize that this train represents part of the process of taking South Australia back to the dark ages?
    Prior to this coming on I was contemplating how much longer before BHP pulls the pin on doing business in South Australia. They cancelled the big expansion several years ago.
    I am glad that I no longer reside in South Australia. The happenings there are best observed from afar, on this website, and on youtube! The current events with the change of administration here in the United States are much more interesting to experience in person. The consumers are much more upbeat, and my retirement account is up over 20 percent since the election!

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      Another Ian

      James

      At least they were recycled on wheels

      Rumour hath it that when QRail went out of rail tankers for fuel they were sold for scrap with a proviso that they were NOT to be resold to another user

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        James

        They may have use for the new mine in Queensland, if they fit the loading gauge, on narrow gauge. Those hoppers have swivel couplings so they can be dumped out the top. Scrap price is not too good right now, so they are probably worth hanging onto intact, even if the have to be stored on a disused branch line somewhere.

        Scrapping to limit competition is reasonably common with some of the rail companies in Australia.

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      toorightmate

      SA isn’t so bad.
      Just remember to wind your watch back 150 years when you pass west through Bordertown.

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        James

        I will bring a hand crank emergency radio, so I can get some idea when the lights will come back on. Best not to go in January and February, they run out of electricity most often then.

        The electric supply in South Australia is now making Lucas auto electrical look good and reliable!

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        Totally Irrelevant

        I misread your comment as “… when you pass west through Bartertown.”
        For a moment, I thought things had become even worse than I have been led to believe.
        But, what do I know? I’m just a crazy American. 🙂

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    DonS

    Hi All,

    Here in Aus in the lead up to xmas we are being assailed with TV commercials from the WWF saying that for just $15 (per month?) we can adopt a Polar Bear or Penguin. The reasons for this, they say, are that the ice in the Artic and Antarctic is disappearing and all these cuddly animals are doomed if we don’t help NOW! Mind you, the though of cuddling a Polar Bear leaves me somewhat cold:)

    A few questions come to mind:

    What legal authority does the WWF have to offer these wild animals up for adoption? Is this trafficking in wild life?

    Does the WWF have the technological capability to track and report on the health and well-being of the individual animals they adopt out?

    Will the WWF be able to show in an annual report how my $15 per month was spent to “save” my specific Polar Bear/Penguin?

    We all know that the money they gather from this campaign will be used to fund political activities and nothing more. So how do these commercials get past the Advertising Standards Board? The young and gullible will be bilked out of their xmas money and no one bats an eye lid!

    By the way, the Smith Family charity is also advertising a similar scheme to raise money so needy kids can be provided with school uniforms, books, etc. I’d encourage Australians to give to this cause and forget the cuddly animals.

    Polar Bears and Penguins have been around for millions of years and survived far more dramatic changes in climate than what is predicted (not happening) by the global warming scare mongers.

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      Angry

      The only this WWF deserves is a giant piece of lead !

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      Robert Rosicka

      I’ve said this before the WWF has reserves for elephants,Tigers etc and what do you think happens to the surplus animals ? Hint it involves a bit of lead .

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    Angry

    Catholic Church: New Priests Will be Expected to Preach Global Warming

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/12/10/catholic-church-new-priests-will-be-expected-to-preach-global-warming/

    FING UNBELIEVABLE !

    We a practicing Catholics will stop attending services if this CRAP is preached at our local church !

    F.CKING COMMUNIST BS @#@!#$@#$#$%$&^&!

    This current pope will NEVER be our pope !

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    James Murphy

    I’m not sure why Australia is worrying about reducing CO2 emissions if one is to believe the modelling published in this paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences; “Low-latitude arc–continent collision as a driver for global cooling”.

    Australia is moving northwards, thus eventually exposing mafic and ultramafic rocks in Java. When these rocks weather, they absorb CO2. This is the essence of the modelling and discussions in the paper – such large-scale obduction 80, and 50 million years ago, in what is Africa, and India today, lead to the drawdown of atmospheric CO2, and caused (or helped to cause) the 2 ice ages at about these times.

    Abstract is here:
    http://www.pnas.org/content/113/18/4935.abstract?sid=8ded0696-369a-4dcd-abb7-a54e88732a2e

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    el gordo

    The Trump Effect

    ‘Conversations and information gleaned at the Heritage Climate Conference on Thursday assures me accurate climate science is in charge. The challenge is to deprogram the people, remove the exploitative agencies and rules they created, and set up a system that is as free of politics as possible.’

    Tim Ball (WUWT)

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    David Maddison

    I am very disappointed we don’t have windmill fires in Australia like they do everywhere else.

    Why don’t we get these beautiful events here? It’s not fair!

    https://youtu.be/wfzgIxMEo8g

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    john

    Rick Perry may be the DOE pick according to Zero Hedge moments ago.

    I am not a fan at all…This is going to be a very big mistake. Just ask Australia about all those recent statewide wind generated blackouts, ERCOT issues and all those former Enron cats still running amok out there that received billions in stimulus funds, got rich and crashed all those green companies costing us dearly (and in the future with double to triple electric rates and and grid problems). This is crap in no uncertain terms.

    http://e360.yale.edu/feature/how_conservative_texas_took_the_lead_in_us_…

    Furthermore…

    http://www.masterresource.org/pickens-t-boone/governor-rick-perry-r-tx-…

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    RAH

    BTW the solar disc is once again spotless. The earth is in the stream of a large coronal hole but nothing expected from it.
    http://sidc.oma.be/silso/eisnplot

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    RAH

    Now I got to get ready to go and drive the big truck up Grand Rapids, MI where they have received 8″ of global warming today.

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    Andrew McRae

    Looks like that fool Malcolm Roberts is about to embarrass Australian climate skeptics on the world stage again.
    http://realclimatescience.com/2016/12/scientists-prove-washington-dc-is-the-most-beautiful-it-has-been-since-1988/
    Can he get through this session without saying something demonstrably false? Not if it’s anything like the last performance.

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      Will Janoschka

      Andrew McRae December 12, 2016 at 2:14 pm

      ‘Looks like that fool Malcolm Roberts is about to embarrass Australian climate skeptics on the world stage again.
      Can he get through this session without saying something demonstrably false? Not if it’s anything like the last performance.’

      Can you give even one example of written or spoken falsehood on the part of Sen Roberts?

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        Andrew McRae

        On ABC Q&A 15 August, Sen Roberts stated that human activity doesn’t affect global CO2 levels.
        That is disproven by applying conservation of mass to the available measurements.
        My comment about it was the next day http://joannenova.com.au/2016/08/malcolm-roberts-on-q-a-right-now/#comment-1826928

        He said it again on 16 Nov when he held his public forum/debate in Canberra, refer to 1:54:36 in the video https://youtu.be/d7cdgITRc-s?t=1h54m36s
        It’s the same falsehood being said a second time, which shows despite the increased attention he has gotten, after 3 months he was incapable of learning why he was wrong.

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          Will Janoschka

          Andrew McRae December 12, 2016 at 11:58 pm

          “On ABC Q&A 15 August, Sen Roberts stated that human activity doesn’t affect global CO2 levels.”

          This is absolutely correct. The activity of 7,600,000,000 earthlings cannot ever measurably affect Earth’s atmospheric CO2 concentration at any location! Cow farts et all! 🙂

          “That is disproven by applying conservation of mass to the available measurements.”

          That is nothing but arrogant academic alphabet soup BS with no science at all!

          “He said it again on 16 Nov when he held his public forum/debate in Canberra, refer to 1:54:36 in the video”

          Again please give example of any incorrect statement\writing of Sen Roberts!

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    el gordo

    Give me a grant and I’ll prove CO2 is related to temperature, its a chicken and egg thing.

    ‘Australian Antarctic Division glaciologist Tas van Ommen said finding the Million-Year Ice Core, and pushing that record back, was the “holy grail of climate science”.

    “We’re particularly interested in the link between CO2 and temperature,” he said.

    “We know for the last 800,000 years from ice cores that these two things march in lockstep but we don’t know what happened beyond that 800,000-year mark.”

    ABC

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    Analitik

    Fairfax claim the government is beholden to the conservatives and is seriously unhappy.

    Look at last week’s appalling capitulation on constructive climate policy debate to see how dysfunctional and beholden to the Abbott forces that the Turnbull government has become.

    Boohoo

    http://www.smh.com.au/comment/smh-editorial/turnbull-buckles-on-effective-climate-action-20161209-gt7qsc.html

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    Will Janoschka

    WTH:!! from https://cliscep.com/2016/12/09/doug-mcneall-on-climate-scicomm/#comment-9676
    Clive Best says: 12 Dec 16 at 12:48 pm

    “WILL JANOSCHKA, No it’s my graph. I calculated it from scratch using the absorption cross-sections for each vibrational line of CO2. It just assumes a temperature gradient in the atmosphere and barometric pressure. Of course you have to write software to do it.”

    Clive,
    Thank you for the clarification! Sorry ’bout seeing similar from NCAR, apologies! Your graph seems to be based on using the HiTran database to calculate the attenuation of spectral EM flux, lotsa work.
    That database cannot do that, and was never intended to do that. There is no way to distinguish thermal EM flux proceeding ‘through’ an absorptive gas constituent from that thermal EM flux originating ‘from’ that same absorptive gas constituent at its own temperature!
    It was back in the 1970s that such was recognized. For field verification and correction of that database, some amplitude modulation of the ‘source’ was always used to distinguish ‘source’ from intervening ‘junk’. The dispersion of the ‘flux amplitude modulation’ consisted of both a low pass filter effect never changing atmospheric sensible heat (absorption of flux), and also the scattering effect from ‘mass in the atmosphere’. This approach was, and still is, fully compliant with the military effort to ‘determine atmospheric limits to “seeing” either temporal or spatial modulation’, over yonder. It has nothing to do with “flux”, the DC component of information transfer, which may well be zero as exemplified by ‘double sideband suppressed carrier communication’

    “My point is that sceptics should not bother to argue against basic physics like the GHE. Instead we should concentrate in exposing the exaggeration of AGW by climate evangelists and the political posturing of CS.”

    I agree with ignoring a basic fantasy diversion such as GHE. What needs to be exposed is the intentional criminal FRAUD, generated by ‘few politically connected individuals’ at the public forum of NASA GISS!! At that time they were all well warned “not to do that”, by all that worked so hard learning a bit of useful science!

    [Will, I’m not commenting on whether what you say is true or not but we would need some substantiation of “intentional criminal FRAUD” in the last paragraph before we could publish this. Or you could reword it and resubmit it without the accusation.] AZ

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    Will Janoschka

    [Will, I’m not commenting on whether what you say is true or not but we would need some substantiation of “intentional criminal FRAUD” in the last paragraph before we could publish this. Or you could reword it and resubmit it without the accusation.] AZ

    AZ,
    I was there, arguing with the the fraudsters, I are very lucky that I have not yet been ‘disappeared’. Kitten ‘shadow’ would would be disappointed not having me to scowl at with ‘whers my food’! 🙂

    [Real name? Check. Was there arguing with the F? Check. Posts approved. And please continue to argue with the F’s of the world.] ED

    [I just saw this while browsing around and I’m sorry I didn’t get back to see this reply. I’m pleased that ED saw it and approved the original.] AZ

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    Will Janoschka

    Will Janoschka December 13, 2016 at 1:56 pm ·

    “[Real name? Check. Was there arguing with the F? Check. Posts approved. And please continue to argue with the F’s of the world.] ED”

    Thank you ED. Poor kitten ‘shadow’ is concerned of whether they get me or I just die. What now? Do I do now Catch all manner of critters for food, or wait for my earthling to fetch ugly edibles from Safe-way?
    All the best! -WILL-

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