Weekend Unthreaded

Perth, beach, WA. Photo.

Just another day at a suburban beach in Perth at sunset. See the hordes…

Clearly Perth has too many beaches.

The weekly wrap:

Renewables will have a minor place,
As future power for the human race.

Renewables can’t make the Vic. grid blossom,
Because of debris and a brushtailed possum.

Some eco-activists have necks of brass,
To shut a pipeline and its flow of gas.

The I.P.C.C. leaks a warming scare,
To fool the world that warmists really care.

A state grid that runs smoothly on the cheap,
Will give its people much reward to reap.

-Ruairi

8.2 out of 10 based on 53 ratings

154 comments to Weekend Unthreaded

  • #
    PeterS

    All I like to say right now is that both Turnbull and Joyce should resign. Both have been a disgrace to the country in so many different ways, and both are helping to destroy this once great nation while they play silly buggers. I hope they succeed in destroying the Liberal Party given it no longer represents what is used to represent.

    214

    • #
      ScottMuz

      I made a promise to myself upon seeing Turnbull’s tantrum on election night, that I would put LNP 2nd last (the Greens are always last) in all elections until Turnbull is deposed. His giant whinge about the Mediscare campaign, told me, this man is too vain to be a successful leader.

      I’ve concluded that the LNP needs to defeated, for the sake of conservatism. I’ve joined the Conservative party. 3 years of Shorten as PM are a price I’m prepared to pay.

      130

    • #
      Dennis

      The Coalition consists of the once great Australian Liberal Party and the National Party of Australia.

      Turnbull and Joyce are the leaders of those separate political parties and therefore while in coalition government as the two parties have been on and off since the late 1940s or early 1950s the party having the most MPs provides the Prime Minister and the other provides the Deputy Prime Minister. Cabinet Ministers are selected from both sides and there is a Joint Party Room for meetings on parliamentary business matters.

      Turnbull does not have the power to dismiss Joyce, both are accountable to their own party MPs.

      As some journalists have acknowledged there is nothing new about MPs, journalists and staffers having affairs, it has been taking place, probably since Parliament was established in Canberra. In fact right now there persons of interest sitting on the opposition benches who are attacking Joyce and as the Minister for Foreign Affairs & Trade remarked when a journalist mentioned the attackers replied: “Glass Houses”.

      There are married MPs who have “got together” while still with a married partner, journalists have had affairs and have even married MPs, there are hundreds of stories in that naked city, until now most of those stories have remained unpublished but at the same time an open secret around the House. Apparently the on and off again Joyce marriage and reconciliations were public knowledge there, as was the “affair”.

      I hope that Barnaby returns from leave to Canberra and throws mud in revenge at some of the sanctimonious windbags opposite who being the hypocrites they are exposed him and fan the fire to maintain their faux rage.

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      • #
        robert rosicka

        I hope Barnaby does extract his pound of flesh on the labor and green hypocrite’s Dennis but there is more to this story and like always throw enough mud and some will stick .
        IMO both leaders have shown themselves to be unfit for any party other than Labor or Green and their wrecking ball at the moment is a gift for an even worse coalition of Shorten and Di Natale.
        No chance the coalition were going to be re-elected but now it’s a case of can they retain enough seats to survive at all .
        I say buy heaps of popcorn and vote green this election then sit back and watch the carnage unfold .

        50

        • #
          Dennis

          I am really disappointed that Barnaby and other Nationals bowed to PM after saying when PM Abbott was pushed aside that no policies agree to in the Joint Party Room would be changed.

          That included not ratifying the Paris Agreement, getting rid of the RET and subsidies (as they had failed to achieve in the hostile Senate that reinforced the Labor 23 per cent RET) and much more. It appears to me that the Nats rolled over.

          230

          • #
            toorightmate

            How come our journalistic genius’ do not roll out the affairs of Gillard, Keating, Hawk, Shorten Evans, Peacock, etc, etc, etc. Instead we hear this crap that it is “unprecedented”.

            And while they prattle on about conflict at the top between the PM and Deputy PM, what about Hayden/Hawk, Hawk/Keating, Howard/Treasurer, Gillard/Rudd, Rudd/Swan, etc, etc, etc. Again we get the crap about it being “unprecedented”.

            161

            • #
              GreatAuntJanet

              Even the Australian can no longer be trusted to report properly. I’ve just cancelled our subscription as I am sick of their inept drivel.

              70

              • #
                glen Michel

                You’re quite right GAJ; there being very little at the 4th estate to bother about. I get the feeling our civilisation is nearing its end.Chaos is near!

                70

      • #
        PeterS

        The Libs are now a bunch of incompetent and gutless wonders who are stupid enough to fall for the global warming hoax and should know better, and probably did under Howard but so many of them including Howard were too chicken to stand up to the nonsense. Either that or they are part of the scam and that would make them even worse. Either way they do not deserve to be in government any longer. As for the ALP, well at least they are honest and consistent about their policies, which is much more than what I can say for the Libs of late. We might as well go all the way and go through the crash and burn scenario sooner rather than later to give us a quicker path through the hell we have to go through. Going through a long drawn out torture with the Libs would be simply unbearable and delay our revival out of the ashes. Once they are gone perhaps they can reform as a new and more suitable party worthy of notice. There is the possibility the voters will force them to align with AC and ON to drop the global warming nonsense but that requires a lot of voters to wake up and make the move. I don’t see that happening as yet and I have my doubts they will at the next election. So crash and burn here we come.

        170

        • #
          Dennis

          Most Labor MPs are remnants from the Rudd and Gillard Labor government years, and they offer not much different in policies, but plan to reinforce them and ramp them up.

          Most UN member nation leaders accepted the original UN IPCC report at the Kyoto Conference and therefore signed the Agreement, but a few such as Australia would not agree to ratify it and expose their nations to penalties for not meeting “greenhouse gas emissions” targets. PM Howard said that we would do our best but were only prepared to deploy common sense actions that did not damage our economy. Their TRIAL RET was for 3 per cent, and recently John Howard said that trial 3 per cent should never have been changed.

          Later PM Abbott said he would not stand for socialism masquerading as environmentalism. The government he led tried hard to abolish RET and subsidies but were blocked by the Labor Green & Others in Senate Opposition. They blocked the Bill and reinforced the 23 per cent RET. Abbott decided that the Paris Agreement should not be ratified and that the lowest manageable targets should be demanded at the Conference. And much more. But he was handicapped by a Cabinet containing people who we now know plotted against him.

          The Australian Liberal Party still has good people such as Abbott, recently Major General Jim Molan joined the Senate and in the Lower House Captain Andrew Hastie is the Member for Canning WA, both former SAS officers and patriots. Molan headed up Operation Sovereign Borders before he left the ADF.

          Peter Dutton has proven to be an excellent Minister, no nonsense, tough and reliable. But there are many other Liberals who we can trust to get back to the politics most Australians crave, centre to centre-right. What we have now is the centre-left of Turnbull Liberals and the far-left leader and deputy leader opposite, their mixed bag of factions and their colleagues the Greens.

          I disagree that Union controlled and managed ALP/Labor are “honest and consistent”, maybe consistently following their brand of leftism hand in hand with the extreme Greens?

          Then again, so are the Turnbull leftists.

          Voters next election need to impose shock treatment to all the MPs who are not conservative patriots and vote for minor parties and independents in each electorate who present as trustworthy and prepared to “back a President Trump list of objectives” to make Ausrralia great again.

          The 2010 hung parliament and the almost hung parliament in 2016 indicates that if a voter revolt takes place the next government could be of several alliances in minority positions. If that hangs the left side out to dry in the wilderness three cheers.

          94

          • #
            el gordo

            ‘ … vote for minor parties and independents in each electorate …’

            A wasted vote.

            Make a difference, vote informal.

            52

        • #
          Geoffrey Williams

          PeterS, I agree with the sentiment you have expressed.
          The sooner we ‘bring it on’ the better; let people find out what it is like to live without the certainty of reliable and cheap electricity. Maybe then they will come to their senses . . maybe, just maybe.
          Regards GeoffW

          50

      • #
        Ted O’Brien.

        What I see here is.a very good man and his family broken by his dedication to my/our service.
        For all that, we still desperately need Barnaby Joyce in our service until the AGW juggernaut is turned around. If he can do that in two months, he can take leave of absence.

        70

        • #
          Sceptical Sam

          Ted, I don’t think Barnaby or the Nationals will do anything about the AGW juggernaut.

          The response I received from him to my most recent representation on just that was nothing more than a mealy-mouthed extravagance of platitudes.

          At this stage I can’t vote for any of them and it has nothing to do with who Barnaby bonks. Rather, it has everything to do with their ignorant policies on AGW and renewables.

          They’re all delusional.

          70

          • #
            Ted O'Brien.

            As leader of a coalition party, BJ must not rock the boat from the outside. Any criticism he has must be kept behind closed doors. I have no doubt that there would have been plenty of criticism, and that this has had a bearing on published policies.

            20

          • #
            robert rosicka

            He brushed my concerns about BOM and data fiddling at Rutherglen aside with the same platitudes, once called it for what it was now they’re all on board the Paris gravy train .

            20

    • #
      rollo

      Agreed. Sadly we’ll have to endure a term of Shorten with Plibersek looking over one shoulder and Di Natale the other. Hopefully they’ll close down one coal fired power station too many and awaken the sheeple.

      250

      • #
        Dennis

        Labor is already threatening to close down all offshore detention centres, to raise the 23% RET to 50%, to increase taxes for “the rich” etc.

        Rudd-Gillard on steroids.

        120

        • #

          By giving yr comment a tick doesn’t mean I support those
          terrible policies designed to bring down the country. So Soros
          -like,’hit western democracies where it hurts most,their energy
          security and national border security.’

          How to make our politicians more accountable?

          150

      • #
        Ted O'Brien.

        Do not fail to understand, the ALP/Greens now need only one term in office to achieve their goal of destroying the capitalist system. Forget about any returning to an alternative. Scorched earth is what we are facing! The complete abolition of private management of industry, and the complete abolition of ownership of land, including housing.

        They have already twice shut huge numbers of young people out of the Australian dream of home ownership.

        20

    • #

      Not that excited by who’s in or out politically, except I’d prefer non-appointees over appointees. In fact, I’d insist in future.

      Alarms rang when Mike “Macron” Baird just appeared because…because…because Grange Hermitage? His good surfing mate Abbott had the opposite fate and got disappeared because…because…some old sheila took a helicopter ride? Because Kochie and Miranda and Leigh and the red-bandana guy or his blabbing missus thought it was time, and told us so very regularly? And they would keep nagging in every medium and time-slot till we surrendered and copped Turnbull with all his weird globalist ravings about agile/green/smart thingummyjigs? (Okay, the oiler subs are clearly not agile, green or smart…but they won’t exist any more than the mini-cities or New Federalism will ever exist.)

      It’s not that I’m an enthusiast for O’Farrell or Abbott, but I regard an elected leader (ie acknowledged leader at election) as preferable to a more corporate-friendly and globalist appointee. War and debt would have still gone their merry way under Abbott, but a less green and luvvie-friendly leader is what we opted for and what we did not get. The deal with Turnbull is that the slave media from ABC to Murdoch will stay onside if the electorate wears Turnbull. Otherwise Shorten, with one eager hand on that voting-fodder migrant tap and the other hand on the debt tap. Probably true, and a creepy thought.

      This is not about totally taking back democracy etc, but elections mean a bit and who leads the winning party at election time means a bit. Those bits and shreds of say-so are something we’ve still got of democracy. There’s a measure I can take right now: turn off the corporate media, or turn them right down if I can’t turn them off. Also, I need to be skeptical of the alternate media, from Infowars to Wikileaks, and ask myself who is funding/supporting anything big in the way of news and opinion and why.

      If an elected leader, however mediocre or vulnerable, can feel supported and that his/her main support is coming from the electorate, not the media, that’s at least a start. This can only be achieved if the media is put in its proper place, a very low one. This gives the electorate at least a chance to get a little bit of what it voted for. Otherwise…marching bands and monorails for you lot, right here in River City.

      150

    • #
      peter

      PeterS, be careful, you get rid of the Libs and Nats in government, you will end up with Bill Shorten in power. Would that be good?

      But that is a distraction from the real issue. Jo’s posted beach photo clearly shows what looks like global sea-level rise coming into snatch her beach umbrella! With sea-level rise, at least the higher water should make the Swan River navigable up to Perth City for the first time. 🙂

      30

      • #
        el gordo

        ‘Would that be good?’

        Not much different, except that they want to join Beijing’s Belt and Road.

        Bullet trains and satellite cities, mass migration and decentralisation is on the agenda, albeit in the bottom draw.

        30

  • #
    Dennis

    You should see what beaches we have to offer along the New South Wales coastline.

    Not knocking WA beautiful beaches.

    70

    • #
      toorightmate

      Where will the sand come from when the sea level rises 50 metres? – which could be next year if you listen to some of the imbecilic Gutless Green vermin.

      72

      • #
        TdeF

        It’s fascinating that they are now talking 1 1/2 feet of rise by 2100 and how devastating it will be. Even that is quite uncertain as these things vary but it is not the 100 metres of Robyn Williams fame, our own ABC Science Guy.

        Of course the carpetbaggers have to hunt around the world to find an area which cannot cope with a 1 1/2foot rise and have chosen Miami.

        Now Amsterdam is 1-4 metres (not feet) below sea level. Parts of Holland are 6 metres below sea level and parts of Belgium are at or below sea level, but they seem to be quite happy and carefree. Not so Miami where American engineering cannot cope with 18″ of average change?

        Before Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans sank suddenly by 1 metre. This is what caused the problem with the sea walls, but you won’t hear that from Tim Flannery.

        The area of the Nederlands (means low lands, neder being nether or below) have been low lands and reclaimed land for a thousand years. In WW1 what stopped the Germans was the flooding of the Nederlands by opening the gates at high tide and closing them, reversing the use of the gates. The land was not productive again for 20 years but it stopped the invasion before the terrible battles of the Somme and others.

        So we are now down to 18″, 0.5 metres and that is questionable. How low can the purveyors of doom go and maintain any sort of credibility. Now I know tidal waves are dangerous, but this is a 1 1/2 foot tidal wave which will take 70 years to arrive. Maybe. Run for your lives!

        How the scares have collapsed. Is there a credible scare left or are they just restarting old deadlines?

        231

        • #
          toorightmate

          Venice has been disappearing for a few centuries, yet whenever you peep over the fence, Venice is still there!!!
          It’s as magical as CO2 gas!!!

          71

          • #
            Graeme#4

            When in Venice last year, heard that rubbish so did some research. Seems the Venetians were to blame by pumping too much ground water in the 60s. Now that this has been stopped, there is a lot less sinkage. Not a SLR issue at all.

            60

            • #
              TdeF

              Venetians also cut through the protective shoreline to open a gap into the Lagoon south of Venice’s ancient entrance past the Lido. The new one is twice as wide. Now the buffer of the narrow, shallow entrance is gone. This is what slowed King tides in the Adriatic from drowning Venice. No one talks about the two other entrances. It’s as if they did not exist.

              The problem is all the industry in Margera opposite Venice, on the mainland. It is a major petrochemical industry.
              The ugly tankers sneak in the Southern Entrances while the Cruise liners come in the ancient entrance.

              Nothing to do with rising seas and Climate Change.

              50

              • #
                TdeF

                Looking at Google earth, it is different to what I had read, which was that the single new entrance was twice as wide. There appear to be two such, but collectively wider than the ancient entrance to the Lagoon.

                50

        • #

          The Evil Tide which swept away Le Havre in 1525 (five years after the port’s founding by Francis I) was commemorated every year until the French Revolution. It’s now a forgotten event, even by the French, which should be a lesson how climate and weather are dependent for their uniqueness on recent memory and reportage. You also have to wonder how Le Havre could still be above the waves and functioning in 2018 if sea level rise is engulfing us all.

          Me, I’d build my cities away from subsidence, glacial rebound effect etc. And only buy Qld real estate at high tide.

          70

      • #
        Graeme#4

        I’m more worried about the extra distance I’ll have to travel when the next glacial drains the beaches.

        20

    • #
      Geoffrey Williams

      Absolutey Dennis . .
      There are many great beaches, but one my wife and I visit often is at Kurrarong on the Beecroft Peninsula.
      Would love to get to West Ausralia one day.
      GeoffW

      20

  • #
    • #
      el gordo

      ‘Oh, and there is a disturbing irony to consider as well. Some of that $245 million will undoubtedly flow to researchers at James Cook University, where Professor Peter Ridd is fighting for his academic career after questioning alarmist colleagues’ dubious scholarship, false findings and unverifiable results. Ridd insists the Reef is nothing like the disaster zone so often claimed by catastropharians in receipt of grants and fellowships, but actually doing rather well.’

      Roger Franklin

      130

    • #
      James

      Australia is good at Economic Vandalism. Between blowing up power plants, closing down all industry and this example. What will it take for Australians to wake up and elect an Australia First type PM! (Trump like, but perhaps not, quite so abrasive)

      50

      • #
        GreatAuntJanet

        I do enjoy a good raspy leader; looking for one I can be proud of – one who does what he/she/it says.

        20

    • #
      James

      Australia is good at Economic Vandalism. Between blowing up power plants, closing down all industry and this example. What will it take for Australians to wake up and elect an Australia First type PM! (Trump like, but perhaps not, quite so abrasive)

      10

  • #
    robert rosicka

    WA has the best beaches and lots of them .

    40

  • #
    Mark M

    Too many beaches …

    Soaring Temperatures Will Make It Too Hot to Work, UN Warns

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-19/soaring-temperatures-will-make-it-too-hot-to-work-un-warns

    Wait. What?

    Iqaluit reader fed up with cold weather service stoppages

    “Never did the city come to a screeching halt just because of temperature”

    http://www.nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/65674iqaluit_reader_fed_up_with_cold_weather_service_halts/

    40

  • #
    • #
      Extreme Hiatus

      Thanks. Good news. I hope that is a sign of the tide turning. Seems too serious and solid to just be another token piece to show they’re fair and balanced.

      Also quite the dramatic thunderstorm photo there!

      30

    • #
      pat

      kevin george –

      very interesting. thanks for posting.

      20

  • #
    Dennis

    I hope that the biggest sanctimonious windbag of all, the PM, is forced to leave the party leadership. He has been playing a dangerous Machiavellian political game for a very long time, the following taken from a website of his history reveals a lot;

    “Turnbull has particular scorn for the Country Party and rural Australians, saying “For 73 years the rural interest has perverted the electoral system…”. He proposes changes to the constitution that would facilitate a coalition between Labor and Liberal, shutting out the Country Party. He says:

    So the man who knew about the “affair” and marital situation for some time decided to spill the beans at this time.

    Hmm

    140

  • #
    Graeme No.3

    When Tony fought the Greens and annihilation was near,
    Who was there to lead the charge that took him in the rear?
    Why it was Jubilation T. Cornpone;
    Old “Toot your own horn – pone.”
    Jubilation T. Cornpone, a man who knew no fear!

    When he almost had ’em but the issue still was in doubt,
    Who suggested the retreat that turned it into a rout?
    Why it was Jubilation T. Cornpone;
    Old “Tattered and torn – pone.”
    Jubilation T. Cornpone, he kept us hidin’ out!

    When it seemed like our brave boys would keep on fighting for months,
    Who took pity on them and ca-pit-u-lated at once?
    Why it was Jubilation T. Cornpone; Unshaven and shorn – pone.
    Jubilation T. Cornpone, he weren’t nobody’s dunce!

    Who went to out flank the enemy’s rear,
    Circled through the indecision, and disappeared for a year?
    Why it was Jubilation T. Cornpone;
    Old “Treat ’em with scorn – pone.”
    Jubilation T. Cornpone, the missing mountaineer!

    Stonewall Jackson got his name by standing firm in the fray.
    Who was known to all his men as good ol’ “Paper Mache?”
    Why it was Jubilation T. Cornpone;

    Jubilation T. Cornpone, he really saved the day!

    Readers, any thoughts on what the T. stands for?

    80

    • #
      Dennis

      Toot your own horn pone!

      Thank you for that, fits perfectly, but there are several Australian slang words I could add to the description.

      30

    • #
      Hanrahan

      There is another verse “Who was it who burned the crops and left them nothing to eat”.

      Burning crops sounds like destroying industry with high power costs.

      90

  • #
    Hanrahan

    More madness.

    Korea Zinc refinery in Townsville is installing 1.2 mill PV panels. There was always going to be a Stage II but that can never happen now.

    60

  • #
    Annie

    Nice photo Jo.
    Eating fish and chips while watching the sunset at Scarborough Beach (Perth) was a great experience some years back. We had the company of a bobtail lizard too!

    50

  • #
    Robber

    Enjoy Perth beaches while they last. Haven’t alarmists told you that sea level rise will soon destroy them all?

    70

    • #
      Extreme Hiatus

      Yes. Do it before it is too late. The rising ocean already looks too close. Are there enough emergency exits?

      Beautiful photo of a beautiful beach.

      60

    • #
      yarpos

      Sydneys beaches will be the worst affected. Everything is bigger, better, louder , more catastrophic and unprecedented in Sydney. The next big sea level story is just one decent storm away.

      60

    • #
      TedM

      Yeh I reckon that the beaches will be along the SA NT border in a week or two.

      60

  • #
    DonS

    Hi Jo

    Clearly Perth has too many beaches?

    Or do we have too many big sharks and not enough shark nets? 🙂

    Don’t get me started on the closing of the shark fishery in WA to appease the eco-tards!

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  • #
    • #
      tom0mason

      Oooh, look a sudden stratospheric warming … http://ds.data.jma.go.jp/gmd/tcc/tcc/products/clisys/STRAT/index.html

      Move along now, normal natural NH winter event.
      Happens often, gives the cAGW catastrophists something to blather on about (the Arctic is too warm! etc.,)

      51

    • #
      Environment Skeptic

      I have already written a paper on it in a comment below where i explain…

      “The pulse that split the PV’s (polar vortex) in two was caused by the polarisation of CO2 molecules.

      The driving force that caused the sudden heating in the stratosphere was a huge mass of dormant CO2 molecules that had settled there. The poles had been shifting and caused the CO2 masses to polarise and form a shape roughly like that of a lens which in turn concentrated the suns rays in that area more or less causing a surge of heat that basically vaporised the polar vortex down the middle and caused it to split in two..”

      20

      • #
        Environment Skeptic

        You can check that this is correct, even though the quote does not include polarised CO2 molecules in the stratosphere that in effect form a gigantic optical magnifying glass.. This was first discovered my me personally recently whilst pondering the recent splitting of the polar vortex to make sense of it from a scientific perspective.

        From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_refraction
        Atmospheric refraction is the deviation of light or other electromagnetic wave from a straight line as it passes through the atmosphere due to the variation in air density as a function of height.[1] This refraction is due to the velocity of light through air, decreasing (the refractive index increases) with increased density. Atmospheric refraction near the ground produces mirages and can make distant objects appear to shimmer or ripple, elevated or lowered, stretched or shortened, with no mirage involved. The term also applies to the refraction of sound. Atmospheric refraction is considered in measuring the position of both astronomical and terrestrial objects.”

        If the deviation of light occurs at a high enough altitude, for example caused by the build-up of dormant CO2 molecules in the stratosphere that are not able to undergo photosynthesis, the intensity of the lens effect is increased by many orders of magnitude. and can cause splitting.

        20

        • #
          Environment Skeptic

          Consider also

          From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_optics

          “Other optical phenomena associated with this include the Novaya Zemlya effect, where the Sun appears to rise earlier or set later than predicted with a distorted shape.”

          The Novava Zemplya effect also contributes to increased stratospheric temperatures of CO2 molecules because if the sun rises earlier and sets later, then there is more time for heating to occur and concentrate the suns rays through the polarised stratospheric CO2 molecules.

          I could go on….

          20

  • #
    Peter C

    I am doubtful about tropical cyclone Kelvin!

    BOM did not declare it as a cyclone until it reached the coast at Mandora (WA) this am.. Max gust recorded was 76kph (anywhere). Now a few hours later it does not even look like a cyclone.

    Tropical low wold have been appropriate. But then there would not be enough cyclones this year on the WA coast.

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  • #
    Mike Borgelt

    That looks like Hilary’s in the distance which would make the scene just a few hundred meters north of Mettam’s Pool.

    10

  • #
    robert rosicka

    Just when it couldn’t get any worse politically.

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-18/facebook-post-mp-george-christensen-feel-lucky-greenie-punks/9459476

    Now even I think the greens have a pretty thin skin but what was George thinking .

    30

    • #
      Bushkid

      Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young criticised Mr Christensen, saying his behaviour was particularly inappropriate in a time of mass shootings and called him a “dangerous idiot”.

      Well, after cleaning the screen and keyboard, I can only say that Ms Sarah Sea-Patrol sounds like a pot in search of a kettle.

      My second thought of, course, was “Does George actually think?”

      Really, the calibre of our politicians has been deteriorating, but we must surely be getting close to the bottom of the barrel by now. All this time, effort and treasure being wasted on rubbish while the nations economy is ruined by government-imposed stricture via CO2 taxes, RET, “green” subsidies and all the rest of the rubbish based on the outright fib of CAGW. And that is by political parties of all stripes, not just the ALP/greens. The Libs under Turnbull are every bit as bad. They don’t deserve feeding – any of them!

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    • #
      MudCrab

      What was he thinking?

      Well probably “How many Swampies can I trigger with this photo?”

      And now, a few days later, I think we can safely answer that with “All of them”.

      50

  • #
    yarpos

    Made the quarterly visit to the cinema down where the big buildings are. Various off spring make to trip also and we view someones choice (thankfully we rotate the strike).

    So, Black Panther was on the menu and it was an OK movie, more cable channel filler than outstanding epic the hype was saying. I found it puzzling that the supposedly advanced hidden society that looked down on the troubles and ineptitude of the surrounding world, had no better process for leadership succession than violence. In fact if you withdrew the three (yes three) leadership fight/battle scenes you wouldnt have much left in terms of a movie. Those people seriously need to look at their succession planning.

    The character that steals the show is homicidal maniac Sth African that is the leader of the bad guess. Gloriously over the top 🙂

    I thought they were having a lend of us with the name of the magic material that was the foundation of the magic society. “Vibrainium” mmm, vibrant diversity and all that.

    20

    • #
      yarpos

      “bad guess” = bad guys

      more red wine please

      40

    • #
      Richard Ilfeld

      Carping critic here.
      A bit strange we can’t make movies about people/issues anymore without the deus ex machina of superpowers or
      magic metals. Postulate, but do not explain, something extra-worldly or extra-human…blame/credit it for situations and circumstances, and go on from there.
      Being a comic book allows the “black” to be idealized, and just enough distant from black experience to attract attention based
      on race without really being based on race, nod nod wink wink.
      “purple panther” (like Green hulk?”) would be as much fun as a movie, but would not allow low-grade virtue signalling by getting to the box office quickly.
      Setting box office records whilst being about superior beings of color sets off tingly little bells in some minds and hearts….
      one could be superciliously cruel by suggesting it in those who see comic books as literature.

      Movies allow one to escape from reality, yet some of the best have been a mirror held up to show us an aspect of reality.
      Others are just fun stories. But, nowadays, when everything is political, it’s no effort to draw y’all into a consideration of
      all kinds of social relevance crap in a (bad) movie review.

      And it’s the ruining of discourse, in the same way that many good pieces leave me with a bad taste when twenty good paragraphs are destroyed by an obligatory reference to climate change, that make me curse those who wish to manage the lives of others through any means necessary, yet seem to rise on a fountainhead of public failures.

      Walking on the beach is a really good idea —

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        yarpos

        we can and do make better movies, there are some great independent movies and the Scandinavian countries in particular produce wonderful movies and TV series. I hope everyone here kept up with Follow the Money 🙂 Hollywood on the other hand just churns out the stuff you describe and remakes

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      MudCrab

      The stuff I like about this Black Panther movie is how triggered the Left has become over it.

      Some reviewers have seen it and gone ‘well off country? check. Zero immigration policy? check. Protective barriers? check. Ruler seeking to protect what is seen to be the culture and integrity of his people? check. Yup. Black Panther is Trump.’

      Marvel Cin Universe bores me to be honest. Massively self important and often not as good as all the fan boys want to believe. Last one I paid to see was Guardians of the Galaxy which still wasn’t ‘great’. Deadpool doesn’t count. It’s not formally MCU. Also awesome fun, mostly because it knows it is ONLY a movie.

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    pat

    the beach looks lovely, jo.

    David “Bumbles” Lloyd, at the cricket in NZ, was enjoying the weather over there, and mentioned his wife in England is complaining about snow (don’t know where she lives). however –

    17 Feb: DailyStarUK: Severe Feb FREEZE: Record-breaking cold snap and snow to hit next week
    BRITAIN will enjoy a brief respite from the cold this weekend before another icy blast roars in next week.
    Douglas Patient
    Scotland and northern England will be back on snow alert with wintry showers expected to hit the region…
    James Madden, forecaster for Exacta Weather, said February is already shaping up to be one of the coldest on record.
    He said: “Currently the mean Central England Temperature (CET) is hovering at 1C below-average for the month.
    “With the possibility of another severe cold snap on the horizon there is the potential for February to be a record-breaker.”…

    The Met Office said there is a 30% chance of very cold weather setting in towards the middle of next week.
    Forecaster Craig Snell said temperatures will nosedive from Wednesday although it is still ***uncertain how cold it will get…
    https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/682573/weather-forecast-uk-britain-met-office-snow-rain-february-bbc-london

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      Peter C

      It does look like the onset of Global Cooling, or at least Northern Hemisphere Cooling which is almost the same thing. USA and GB suffer very cold weather at the same time.

      For some unknown reason UAH has not picked it up yet.

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      el gordo

      ‘The strongest pulse of energy transfer from the troposphere to the stratosphere this winter is predicted to end this week. The pulse is resulting in a significant polar vortex (PV) disruption. One PV center previously over the Canadian Arctic archipelagos has begun to split into two sister vortices with the dominant/primary PV center over Northern Canada and the secondary PV center over northwestern Eurasia.’

      Judah Cohen (AER)

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      • #
        Environment Skeptic

        What about ‘brother vortices’s’……i want to know what happened to the brothers??
        Did they escape?

        Were they blown to smithereens by the pulse energy transfer??

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          Environment Skeptic

          Many of you are puzzled by how the polar vortex split. I for one became concerned there were no ‘brother vortices’s at the time in the area expecially in view of equal rights for male climate phenomena.

          The pulse that split the PV’s (polar vortex) in two was caused by the polarisation of CO2 molecules.

          The driving force that caused the sudden heating in the stratosphere was a huge mass of dormant CO2 molecules that had settled there. The poles had been shifting and caused the CO2 masses to polarise and form a shape roughly like that of a lens which in turn concentrated the suns rays in that area more or less causing a surge of heat that basically vaporised the polar vortex down the middle and caused it to split in two.

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            el gordo

            What is so notable at the moment is the positive NAO and AO, but its still freezing in NH midlatitudes.

            I’m calling it a global cooling signal.

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            toorightmate

            What distinguishes a brother vortex from a sister vortex?

            20

            • #
              Environment Skeptic

              Climate genetics determines the male or female spin on a vortex. The climate is a mammal, not just anthropogenic…for example, we know that sometimes it rains cats and dogs, They recon this guy called Grant Funding has all the answers.

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      yarpos

      He should tell her to just wait a day. Once its homogenised, it will be much warmer.

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    pat

    18 Feb: Guardian: Should we give up half of the Earth to wildlife?
    Populations of all kinds of wildlife are declining at alarming speed. One radical solution is to make 50% of the planet a nature reserve
    by Robin McKie, Observer science editor
    This grim scenario will form the background to a key conference – Safeguarding Space for Nature and Securing Our Future – to be held in London on 27-28 February.
    The aim of the symposium is straightforward: to highlight ways of establishing sufficient reserves and protected areas to halt or seriously limit the major extinction event that humanity now faces…

    The idea is supported by E O Wilson, the distinguished Harvard biologist, in his most recent book, Half Earth. “We thrash about, appallingly led, with no particular goal other than economic growth and unfettered consumption,” he writes. “As a result, we’re extinguishing Earth’s biodiversity as though the species of the natural world are no better than weeds and kitchen vermin.” The solution, he says, is to fill half the planet with conservation zones – though just how this division is to be decided is not made clear in his book…

    Simply setting aside half the planet as wilderness and using the other half for giant cities and farms poses other difficulties. Pollution, poaching and climate change triggered by carbon emissions and other human-caused problems would constantly seep from the human half of the planet into the wildlife “zone”…

    Other issues will be less easily dealt with, however. Of particularly concern is Africa. The continent is still fairly rich in wildlife, but is expected to change far more drastically than any other part of the world as humanity’s growth continues throughout this century. According to the UN’s most recent population figures, there are around 7.5 billion men, women and children living on our planet, and this is likely to rise to around 11.2 billion by the end of the century – with virtually all of that increase happening in Africa. That continent’s population is expected to swell from 1.25 billion today to around 4.25 billion in 2100. By contrast, population growth in other continents will be relatively low…

    As one observer pointed out: “Africans are not likely to be happy with the non-Africans in the international community telling them where and when they should set up reserves and telling them to halt logging or farming, given the plight they will find themselves in.”…
    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/feb/18/should-we-give-half-planet-earth-wildlife-nature-reserve

    came across this GRUMP study during the week, & checked today to see if WUWT had discussed it. they had, but very close to Christmas, so not the usual amount of comments. anyone wish to add anything?

    23 Dec 2010: WUWT: 3% of Earth’s landmass is now urbanized
    This study, from 2005, is not one I’ve covered here before, but I thought it was relevant to have a look at as a logical followup to the recent announcement from NASA at AGU that satellites have identified strong UHI signatures in cities…

    •GRUMP data indicate that roughly 3% of the Earth’s land surface is occupied by urban areas, an increase of at least 50% over previous estimates that urban areas occupied 1-2% of the Earth’s total land area…

    GRUMP is a collaborative project with partners from IFPRI, the World Bank and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture. Primary financial support was provided by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration, IFPRI, and the World Conservation Monitoring Center for the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (www.maweb.org)…

    from Comments:
    Bernie McCune: Anthony: Is there any way to calculate how many temperature stations are in urban areas? If a high percentage of stations are in urban settings, it would be safe to assume that a high percentage of warming is actually UHI.
    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2010/12/23/3-of-earths-landmass-is-now-urbanized/

    I gather a lot of the uninhabited landmass is in Russia, but it’s an interesting topic nonetheless.

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      Another Ian

      Pat

      IIRC northern Canada scores pretty well also

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      One of the most dangerous notions entertained by our Green Betters is that regrowth = wilderness. Even now, maintaining clapped out country as national park or whatever means abandoning it to fire and ferals. Already the money and will are not there without some economic imperative like forestry or watershed. Huge areas of regrowth across the world, fondly classed as “wilderness”, will be a world-wide nightmare.

      But I guess all the potty ideas of the globalists will be a nightmare if implemented. Deep down, they’re only commos. Commos in suits with all the smarties of media and academia to boost them…but still just dopey old commos, for all that.

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      yarpos

      Not sure what to make of the wildlife question. Species have come and gone since our planets time began otherwise we would be waist deep in dinosaurs. Like temperature level what is the correct number of species? what target time period is to be saved forever and why? are some meant to dissapear? are we doing the right thing by saving them or are there unexpected consequences in doing that? and how would we know?

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    RAH

    Good post and discussion on the obviously fallacious lawsuit brought by the attorneys general of New York and Massachusetts and various municipalities against Exxon.
    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/02/17/exxon-hits-back-hard-at-gore-mckibben-inspired-attorney-general-witch-hunt/

    I don’t think this is going to turn out well for this Gore inspired bunch of shysters that are wasting the peoples resources on this stupidity. The Tiger has decided to fight back and it’s big enough to have the resources to do so very effectively.

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    RAH

    And the beat goes on in Washington DC. A place once aptly described as 68 square miles surrounded by reality.

    The way to remove a great deal of power from the deep state is to stop the flow of selective leaks and hold those responsible for them accountable.
    CIA Argues The Public Can’t See Classified Information It Has Already Given To Favored Reporters

    http://dailycaller.com/2018/02/15/cia-argues-the-public-cant-see-classified-information-it-has-already-given-to-favored-reporters/

    once the information has been given to ANYONE without a security clearance which has no legal obligation to not reveal it then it has “entered the public domain”
    And whoever in the CIA that does release classified information to those without the appropriate security clearance had better have the statutory authority to declassify the information and be required to do so BEFORE that information is released to persons without the appropriate clearance and the need to know.

    The “need to know” is a vital component of keeping secrets. It does not matter how high ones security clearance is, if they don’t have a demonstrated or authorization for the need to know then they are not authorized to have the information and it is illegal to reveal it to them. This principle was driven home to all of us in the Army which had security clearances.

    Thus no matter how one cuts it, unless it can be demonstrated that the release of the information was part of a counter intelligence operation, or that the person to which it was released had both the needed security clearance and the need to know, the release was illegal. An act of treason in the common sense of the word. But this is and has been common practice in DC and it has to be stopped.

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    Another Ian

    An amazing coincidence!

    The Queensland Government is re-opening the Queensland tree management saga. The on-line material from the 2016 inquiry into same seems to have gone missing in action, including something like 800-odd submissions. For instance

    https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/documents/committees/AEC/2016/11-VegetationMangt/submissions/214.pdf

    returns

    “404 – File or directory not found.
    The resource you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.”

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    GD

    Just another day at a suburban beach in Perth at sunset. See the hordes… Clearly Perth has too many beaches.

    So you’re saying that Perth needs an influx of migrants and refugees.

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    pat

    partially taxpayer-funded SBS tonite:

    SBS: TV Movie Guide Highlights: 12 – 18 February
    SUNDAY 18 FEBRUARY
    The Yes Men Are Revolting
    11:15PM, SBS
    They are now in their 40s, and their mid-life crises are threatening to drive them out of activism forever as they take on climate change.

    previously:

    The Yes Men Are Revolting | SBS On Demand
    Oct 31, 2016
    They are now in their 40s, and their mid-life crises are threatening to drive them out of activism forever as they take on climate change.

    June 2015: NYT: Review: In ‘The Yes Men Are Revolting,’ Prankster Activists Take On Climate Change
    By Stephen Holden
    The action that causes them the most trouble in the new film is a 2009 prank designed to make fools of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the vast lobbying agency that the Yes Men contend is overwhelmingly controlled by the oil industry. The Yes Men rent a space in the National Press Club in Washington and hold a briefing at which Mr. Bichlbaum impersonates the communications director for the Chamber of Commerce and reverses its position, voicing support for climate change legislation pending in Congress. So irate were the chamber’s leaders that the group sued the Yes Men for “commercial identity theft masquerading as social activism.” Four years later, the lawsuit was dropped…

    At an international climate-change conference in 2009 in Copenhagen, they collaborate with Benadette Chandia Kodili, a Ugandan activist, in announcing that Canada has agreed to pay off billions of dollars in “climate debts” to third world countries that contribute less to carbon dioxide emissions than industrialized ones. Canada is cornered into denying that any such plans exist.

    In the silliest prank, they pose as officials with the Energy Department the Bureau of Indian Affairs at a Homeland Security conference and declare their intention to have the United States rely on renewable energy sources for 100 percent of its needs by 2030. Power plants would be turned over to Native Americans as partial reparation for “genocide.” Then the attendees, who include defense contractors, are asked to form a circle and do an Indian dance. The compliant guests obey instructions, and the ritual that follows is a delectable moment of pure farce.

    2009 – and no mention of Climategate! lol.

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    pat

    17 Feb: Weather Channel: Active Storm Track Makes Montana This Winter’s Epicenter of Snow and Cold
    By Jonathan Belles
    ▪ The higher elevations of the Rockies have seen more than 40 feet of snow this season
    Montana has been in the cross-hairs of active storm tracks through much of this winter, and several cities in the Treasure State have gotten record-setting snowfall during this extreme winter…

    Billings, Helena and Harve, Montana, have all had an extreme winter, according to the Accumulated Winter Season Severity Index (AWSSI). Glasgow, Montana, has had a severe winter season according to the AWSSI.
    The AWSSI aggregates how bad temperature, snowfall and snow depth is daily into a single score at 52 locations in the continental United States, and it is maintained by the Midwestern Regional Climate Center.
    Of the stations in the Lower 48, eight stations are currently in the “extreme” or highest category of severity. Three of those stations are in Montana: Harve, Helena and Billings…

    Harve is currently enduring the snowiest season on record. In the 138 day period between Oct. 1 and Feb. 15, the town typically receives 24.8 inches of snow, but this year it has received 72 inches of snow. That’s almost four feet of snow above average through mid-February.

    They’ve also had the sixth highest average snow depth on record, with an average of 4.6 inches on the ground through this period.

    Harve is also experiencing the 12th coldest winter during the same time frame. On average, if you factor in highs and low temperatures, the temperature in Harve has been 23.1 degrees.

    ***The cold hasn’t let up into February either. Through the 16th, Harve has recorded an average temperature nearly 22 degrees below average for the month!

    In Billings, the numbers are very similar. More than 70 inches of snow has been recorded since Oct. 1, which puts this season in second place for the snowiest winters through Feb. 15, just behind 1977, which recorded more than 72 inches. 2017-2018 comes in sixth as far as average snow depth goes for Billings, where an average depth of 2.7 inches has been recorded over the last 4.5 months…

    This snow isn’t entirely unwelcome in the state. Parts of eastern Montana are in a severe drought…
    How has this state recorded so much snow while still being in a drought? The drought in the northern Plains is considered a flash drought that developed rapidly in Montana and the neighboring states last May.

    At one point last September, nearly one-quarter of the state was in “extreme drought,” or the second highest level of drought possible. Since then, the statewide drought has been reduced considerably in both real extent and severity. The rapid succession of winter storms has chipped away at the drought…
    https://weather.com/news/weather/news/2018-02-16-2017-montana-extreme-winter

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    Serp

    There’ll be a biggish Melt Event sometime soon?

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    Richard Ilfeld

    Rarely, it seems worthwhile to sully this truly original and thoughtful forum with a cross posting.
    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/02/16/encouraging-an-environmentalists-slow-motion-moment-of-clarity/
    Worthwhile. I am thinking of sponsoring a young-people’s nature hike through a windfarm.

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    Roy Hogue

    See the hordes…

    Hey Jo,

    A couple of days ago I was in an email discussion about dangerous critters in Australia with my brother-in-law. I looked up the population and as of 2016 it’s listed as just over 24 million. With Oz being so large that it’s map covers most of the map of the USA and so few to inhabit every last square meter it’s no wonder your beach at Perth has such small hordes.

    You ain’t got even close to a horde of anything compared to here. And I suspect you’re glad of that fact. 😉

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      yarpos

      One of the things I noticed when we lived in Europe for a while. I dont recall going anywhere accessible (except going out in bad winter weather) where the wasnt an accompanying horde of people.

      The other thing was the blandness of nature. The range of plant and animal life here ranging across the continent is amazing, and for me not properly appreciated till it was absent.

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      • #
        Annie

        Wot?! The Alps and the Cairngorms are far from bland. So too the Yorkshire Moors and Dales. There is plenty of far-from-bland wildlife, flora and scenary.
        The cities in Aus. are just as crazily crowded as most European ones…think Melbourne and Sydney in particular.

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          yarpos

          Very much so, nice to look at (I was living in Switzerland) but scratch one layer deep and the environment is very same same. Compared with Australia/Asia a very limited pallet of flora and fauna. Its why things like the Eden Project in Cornwall attract so many visitors, people come to see the variety they never see. As an Australian you walk around it ands it a bit meh! apart from the fact its sitting it some bubbles in Cornwall.

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      Graeme#4

      When working in Europe, folks used to ask me what Perth was like. My response was “Mediterranean without the crowds.”

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        Annie

        I would go along with that. I haven’t visited a lot of WA but what I have is wonderful. There is plenty of space around anyway.

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          Graeme#4

          Really had a problem convincing the folks in Europe that we had beaches where you would be the only person there. They never believed me.

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  • #
    Another Ian

    Carbon tax in action – Alberta


    Dead Rose Country
    By Kate on February 18, 2018 12:01 PM | 19 Comments

    Got my first natural gas bill for 2018 today.

    Cost of gas: $77.

    Cost of carbon tax, er, “levy”: $52.

    The total bill was $235.

    So that’s like:

    The carbon tax, er, “levy” amounted to a 67.5% tax on natural gas.

    Or it’s like paying a 23% GST rate.

    Thanks Rachel!
    — D.B.Cooper (@GuardOfForever) February 17, 2018″

    http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2018/02/dead-rose-count-11.html#comments

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    Ruairi

    Renewables will have a minor place,
    As future power for the human race.

    Renewables can’t make the Vic. grid blossom,
    Because of debris and a brushtailed possum.

    Some eco-activists have necks of brass,
    To shut a pipeline and its flow of gas.

    The I.P.C.C. leaks a warming scare,
    To fool the world that warmists really care.

    A state grid that runs smoothly on the cheap,
    Will give its people much reward to reap.

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    PeterS

    For a glimpse as to where we are heading very soon in the social, cultural and political gender senses study this: Documentary: A Glitch in the Matrix (David Fuller production)
    One key point is responsibility is as important if not more so than rights because without responsibilities our rights are subjective and meaningless, and in the end rights without responsibility only lead to complete chaos. We are seeing this more and more all around us today. The actions of Turnbull and Joyce are recent examples.

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    robert rosicka

    When I read the headline I thought abc had turned on their lefty mate .

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-19/scam-ads-on-weather-bureau-website/9459570

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    Another Ian

    Careful with that shampoo!

    Cartoon at

    “Friday Funny – ‘Passing the Sniff Test’ over Los Angeles smog”

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/02/16/friday-funny-passing-the-sniff-test-over-los-angeles-smog/

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    Another Ian

    Forget about that asteroid

    This might blow the IPCC emissions estimates

    https://chiefio.wordpress.com/2018/02/16/japanese-supervolcano-has-2000-feet-of-dome-lift/

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    pat

    behind paywall. u’d think this would be all over the MSM, but this appears to be the only article so far:

    (Trade Minister Steven)Ciobo lauds free trade for export income boost
    The Australian-11 hours ago
    A rising iron ore price bolstered Western Australia’s exports by more than 18 per cent to $131 billion last year, while higher coal prices pushed Queensland’s export values 30 per cent higher to almost $84bn. The two resource states were Australia’s largest exporters in the year to June 2017 as Australia’s terms of trade registered a surplus of $11bn compared to a deficit of … Western Australia exported $62 billion of iron ore last year, while coal was the major export for Queensland ($29bn) and NSW ($15bn)…

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    Lance

    Here’s a quiz that everyone in AU ought to see if they can make passing marks on.

    http://theclimatescepticsparty.blogspot.com/2018/02/renewables-quiz-containing-good-data.html

    Might help to explain a bit of current reality.

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    David Maddison

    What do you think of this? It’s a self-powered water pump. Don’t worry, it doesn’t disobey any laws of physics.

    https://youtu.be/MDfG6nhfdkA

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    pat

    climate chutzpah!

    18 Feb: York Daily Record Pennsylvania: Our Planet Is Getting Hotter and Colder and Wetter and Drier
    by Keith Peterman
    Is our planet getting hotter or colder, and is it getting wetter or drier? Simply put, the answer is “Yes”…
    Shortly after the New Year, I traveled with a group of York College students to Costa Rica to investigate impacts linked to climate change…
    I’ve shuttled back and forth to Costa Rica more than two dozen times for research and education trips during the past two decades…

    In an evening lecture, Dr. Pounds presented compelling evidence with numerous supporting graphs. The amount of mountaintop moisture has remained relatively constant. However, the amount due to rain is increasing. The number of rainy days are increasing, and they group into contiguous days of rain. The number of dry days are increasing and they group into more consecutive dry days. The number of contiguous warm days are increasing. The number of contiguous cool days are increasing. In other words, Monteverde is experiencing longer stretches of rainy days with much rain, and significantly longer stretches of dry days with no rain and no canopy drip from cloud cover. Dr. Pounds summarizes, “it’s getting wetter and drier, and hotter and colder.” Cloud forest species lack the resiliency to endure these changes…

    What can you do? Participate in the April 14 ‘March for Science’. More than a million people participated in last year’s March for Science–the largest ever science advocacy event. The purpose of the March is “to hold our elected and appointed officials responsible for enacting equitable evidence-based policies that serve all communities and science for the common good.”

    Demand action on climate change from your legislators. Demand action on climate change from President Trump. The time for climate denial is over. It is time for our leaders to enact national energy, social, and economic policy informed by the well-documented science.
    https://www.ydr.com/story/news/world/blogs/global-hot-topic/2018/02/18/our-planet-is-getting-hotter-and-colder-and-wetter-and-drier/110587900/

    he writes for HuffPo too:

    HuffPo bio: Keith Peterman, Professor of Chemistry, York College of Pennsylvania
    Keith Peterman is a Professor of Chemistry at York College of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the American Chemical Society Committee on Environmental Improvement. He has served as a Fulbright Scholar in Germany and in Russia, a National Academy of Sciences Scholar in Poland, a Research Fellow at the Naval Research Laboratory in DC, and as a visiting professor in China and New Zealand. His current pedagogical activities, research, and writing focus on issues related to climate change and sustainability. He takes a student group to Costa Rica each year to investigate climate change issues linked to impacts, adaptation, and mitigation. He participates in the United Nations climate conferences as an accredited member of the press.

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    el gordo

    East coast low to strike the land of the long white cloud.

    ‘West Coast residents still reeling from a devastating storm a fortnight ago could be among those worst hit when Cyclone Gita, which wreaked havoc in Tonga, makes landfall.

    ‘MetService has issued a severe weather watch, warning the cyclone – likely to cross the country late Tuesday or early Wednesday – could bring highly impactful severe weather” to central New Zealand.

    ‘More than 100 millimetres of rain could fall within 24 hours in regions including Canterbury, Marlborough, Nelson, parts of the West Coast, Wellington and Horowhenua.’

    National Suff

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    pat

    trillion dollar Marga:

    17 Feb: GreenBiz: Why mobilizing private capital towards the SDGs is good for business
    by Marga Hoek
    The following is an edited excerpt from “The Trillion Dollar Shift” by Marga Hoek (Business for Good, 2018).
    The investment landscape shows a large gap between the amount of capital it will take to achieve the SDGs by 2030 and the financial resources from government and development aid that are currently available.
    Therefore, private capital is urgently needed…
    This is precisely the trajectory from billions to trillions, which each country and the global community must support together to finance and achieve the vision of the SDGs…
    With the necessary global investment of $5 to $7 trillion (ANNUALLY), as reported by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), to achieve the SDGs worldwide, we need all parties to participate…

    The funding available for this is estimated to fall short. Current levels of both public and private funding cover only $1.4 trillion. Taking the lower estimate of $5 trillion needed annually leaves a yearly investment gap of $3.6 trillion worldwide (see Figure 26)…

    The UNCTAD report shows that in 2016, the total ODA reached a peak of $142.6 billion, which is significantly smaller than the $3.9 needed for developing countries. Therefore, the estimated gap for key SDG sectors in developing regions is about $2.5 trillion…
    By 2030, that should amount to cumulative 25 percent of assets under management having a direct positive contribution to the SDGs. As the movement accelerates, we need all capital throughout the entire finance spectrum to make the necessary shift…
    Due to the sheer size of the capital markets — estimated to hold more than $200 trillion — they offer the ability to make the SDGs a reality in a way that public and philanthropic budgets simply cannot match…

    If we take green growth, for example, and invest in businesses that combat climate change, ***investments which influence 13 of the 17 SDGs, they will enjoy 18 percent higher returns on the investment than companies that do not address climate impacts…
    According to some sources, inaction to combat climate change could cost $28 trillion globally by 2050…

    According to new research, temperature change due to unmitigated global warming will leave global GDP per capita 23 percent lower in 2100 than it would be without any warming. So how much capital is out there to help cover these costs and fill the gaps?…
    In terms of assets held by the world’s ten largest pension funds, there is about $2 trillion; assets held by the world’s largest insurance companies, $4.5 trillion; assets held by the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, $5 trillion; and global bond market, $100 trillion…
    https://www.greenbiz.com/article/why-mobilizing-private-capital-towards-sdgs-good-business

    Marga writes for HuffPo too:

    HuffPo bio: Marga Hoek is a visionary, international Non-Executive, author and speaker and partner at Chairman Mentors International. She has gained international recognition over the years, for her ongoing thought- and business leadership on sustainable business and capital. Ms. Hoek is a frequently asked motivational speaker and author of the award-winning book New Economy Business and numerous articles in magazines such as The Huffington Post, Executive Finance and as a global voice for G7 Climate Change and Cop23. She is now finishing her newest book The trillion dollar shift, which will be released in January 2018 during the World Economic Forum Annual Conference, on the enormous impact and opportunities the SDGs offer to both business and capital. She founded Business for Good, a Foundation supporting innovative solutions for the SDGs to scale up.

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    Kneel

    From my vague memories of Perth during the Amercia’s Cup, that looks like Cottesloe(Sp?) beach, with City beach on the other side of the headland. City beach would be busier…

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    el gordo

    ‘Wind power producer Infigen Energy has advised it has inked a $525 million debt deal as it looks to refinance its debt early amid improving profits.

    The five-year deal with Goldman Sachs, which is targeted to close by March 31 and was flagged by Street talk last month, is part of a broader refinancing where Infigen is also seeking a further $80 million facility.

    ‘The market responded positively to the news, with Infigen shares up 7.4 per cent at 65¢ at 10:18am AEDT. The shares hit a 22-month low last week.’

    Read more: http://www.afr.com/business/energy/wind-energy/infigen-energy-seals-525m-debt-deal-as-profits-rise-20180218-h0wac9#ixzz57WgPVmoZ
    Follow us: @FinancialReview on Twitter | financialreview on Facebook

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    pat

    17 Feb: Youtube: 12mins59secs: Joe Digenova: Rosenstein’s Press Conference|Judge Sullivan|Improper Conduct in General Flynn Case
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_eabEQ6V2A

    satire…very funny:

    18 Feb: ThePeoplesCubeBlog: 13 Russians and 63 million Trump voters indicted
    by Kommissar Chernobylski
    http://thepeoplescube.com/peoples-blog/13-russians-and-63-million-trump-fans-indicted-t19968.html

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    Michael Spencer

    But what about the sea-level rise?

    Aren’t you terrified?

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    Greg in NZ

    Re: Jo’s pic of Perth beach at sunset – whoa! So crowded! Went for a bodysurf after work in ex-Cyclone Gita’s carbon pollution perfect grunty groundswell and there was at least a dozen LESS people out in the water…

    Every February I put out the call for a white birthday – snow in NZ in our high summer – my scientific predictions are about as accurate and trustworthy as all other climate communicator experts… 50:50, give-or-take. Yet I called it again in 2018: snowing today, snowing tomorrow, snowing Wednesday, “snow to 1200 metres”. Dilemma – go snowboarding or surfing? Global Warming™ now causes too many options!

    http://www.metservice.com/mountain/aoraki-mount-cook-national-park

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    Bob Peel

    21.15 19 Feb. Queensland importing energy. Several lines down due to lightning strikes.
    Can anyone throw some light on this? And the question begged, what would have happened had the southern states been unable to supply.
    Cheers

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    Serp

    I’ve yet to see “beg the question” correctly used in recent times; “put the question” is the go.

    Question begging obtains in the realm of philosophy and logic as discussed here:

    https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/tools/lp/Bo/LogicalFallacies/53/Begging-the-Question

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    Hanrahan

    Is virtual power as good as real power?

    In our local paper today. I don’t know what they mean. Are they saying that it is cheaper to have a transmission line than a power station? DOH!

    TOWNSVILLE households could have cheaper and more reliable electricity thanks to a new virtual power plant, according to the State Government.

    Energy Minister Dr Anthony Lynham, who was in Townsville yesterday, said the hi-tech control room at Ergon’s CBD headquarters, drew electricity from customers around the state to bolster supply during peak demand.

    “The virtual power plant has already proved its worth during last week’s heatwave,” he said.

    “When demand spiked for those airconditioners last week, the plant drew 44 megawatts from a supplier in the southeast corner to help meet record peak demand.”

    The virtual plant is managed by Yurika, an arm of publicly owned Energy Queensland.

    Mr Lynham said the plant could have a flow-on effect in reducing the cost of power for consumers.

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