Merry Christmas to all. A good year where the promoters of man made Global warming and therefore the utterly undefined and nebulous alleged Climate Change are on the back foot. It is the year where any pretence of a scientific basis for something which is not happening has itself disappeared.
Consider grumpy Greta from Sweden epitomizes a second generation of no evidence true believers. A school dropout addressing the United Nations on science, no less. And addressing COP25 climatebaggers assembled in Madrid. 25 years of this nonsense! What’s next, the Nobel Prize for Nothing? No attempt at logic, no knowledge of science, just spitting vitriol and demanding that unbelievers are lined up against the wall. And congresswoman AOC calling the US a fascist state.
So I have hope that sheer emotion is their last desperate resort to keep the money coming. And then I read that the Australian AISC is instructed to persecute and prosecute companies which do not warn of catastrophic climate change. Even rent seeker Tim Flannery, the man who could not get anything right and nearly destroyed Brisbane, on the front page claiming that Australian bushfires are now Climate Change. Because he says so and Tim is a scientist.
It’s the end game. Not before time. The greatest religious scam in world history. Not a single fact right in 31 years. Such a terrible waste of people and lives and resources. For less money we could have had endless safe non polluting fusion power or 100x the resources in nuclear reactors running on Thorium and no short term unreliable stupid ugly 18th century windmills at all. It would have been cheaper. Maybe one day.
And as a New Year’s wish, I would love to see Professor Ridd countersue the Vice Chancellor in her personal capacity, put her on trial for the illegal sacking and her personal vendetta shielded by the University and its board and their infinite resources, our money, their game. Watch them settle. And watch her get the sack.
Like Israel Folau where a trial would have exposed who really instructed that he was fired for expressing his true belief. People in high places go to water when it’s their own money and reputations at stake. Then the truth of the health of the ancient barrier reef will come out.
Just because he has a credential that has the name science in its title, doesn’t make him a scientist.
A scientist is a person who understands the scientific method and applies it in all the professional work that he undertakes. A scientist is a sceptic. A scientist is a person of high integrity and honesty.
Flannery has a credential. However, he lacks all the other attributes required to be a scientist.
What is he then?
Well, for mine, he’s an environmental activist; a zealot: and, a crack-pot.
He’s a person who has been proven to be wrong on almost all of his “environmental” predictions, forecasts and projections. Accordingly, he should be put in the same category as the astrologers, alchemists and warlocks of the past. Or, at the very least, in the category of flim-flam man.
Agreed. I meant that in parody. It is a long standing complaint of mine that any degree in a science department and people can call themselves a scientist and in Tim’s case this gave him the authority to make presumably informed pronouncements on nuclear energy, hot rocks (the technology is straightforward), desalination, rainfall, climate, meteorology, computer modelling and even basic physics. He is unqualified in all these things.
In fact Dr. Flannery’s degree after school was in English at La Trobe because he couldn’t qualify even for entrance to a science degree. Then ‘whole earth sciences’ at Monash and some sort of marsupial archeology or zoology in Sydney. It is no surprise then that he is almost always wrong on matters of science and you would have to think that if he was ever right, it was accidental. He would be better described as a science writer or even science fiction writer.
I suppose it is also true that a degree in Arts does not make you an artist. In the explosion of degrees after the 1970s when Labor decided a Degree was upper class privilege and a hated meritocracy, the universities went crazy. There are so many degrees, so many universities, so many PhDs now that it cannot all be good. There are no technical colleges left, no polytechnics and you can get a PhD in Halal meat distribution in Australia, or so one treatise went at a ceremony I attended. Gone are the days when you had to get first class honours to even be considered for PhD. You can even do them by correspondence and as an elective?
One of the most explosive areas is in so called ecology, where being concerned is enough and hard sciences are avoided. It’s like history these days, where dates and events are less important than attitude and group think. And extremist and head of the Autralian Republican movement footballer Peter Fitzimmons churns out books on Gallipoli, Tobruk, Cook and more. And actual European history, the foundation of our society, is shunned and even banned.
Climate Change, the fact free, science free activist area is now completely devoid of reason. From the Pope to the Billionaires at Davos to the UN, it is the most important issue for humanity? No, it is utter nonsense, but there is also no discourse, no rationale, no argument, no debate. It’s an unholy marriage between religion, big business and communism (which is called socialism). I can only hope it is the death throes of the world’s biggest scam when a teenage girl lectures the UN on science and responsiblity, to cheers and applause.
And the IPCC would have us believe that CO2, the gas of life, the basis of all life on earth, is not in rapid natural and perpetual equilibrium with the oceans which cover the planet. Whoever came up with that idea deserves a Nobel prize, but I guess science ignorant Al Gore would win again.
And 50% more CO2 means 50% more plant life on earth and 50% more bush to burn. Something no one bothers to consider.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to Joanne, her family, the moderators, the guest-posters, the donators, and the commenters/readers of this blog. Let truth, not hysteria, prevail.
A happy and peaceful Christmas to all of you here at Joanne’s wonderful site, and a special greeting to Joanne, David, and family.
At this time, make sure that children are close to you, be they your own children or grand children, and if you have phones, then take images of their joy at this time. After all, Christmas started with a family, Joseph, Mary, and their newborn Son Jesus.
And how about a happy Christmas song for you all.
This one is from Bony M, and is titled Mary’s Boy Child – Oh My Lord.
The original song was written by an African American, Jester Hairston in the mid 50s. It was picked up by Harry Belafonte, done in a calypso style in 1957 for realease in the UK, and was the first Christmas song to top the popular music charts, and it did that in 1957, and that version sold 1.2 Million copies.
Then, in 1978, Frank Farian reworked it into Reggae style and Disco style as well, and added his own extra lyrics and got his ‘front’ band Bony M to sing it. It again went straight back to number One on the popular music charts in the UK, and sold more than 2 million copies.
So, this one Christmas song is the only one to top Popular Music charts and it did that twice.
Thank you Tony for all the insights on power generation and distribution over the years. The utter nonsense of wind power or solar replacing coal is well exposed. We are leaving nothing for the next generation but unserviceable old replaceables where a coal generator only needs maintenance.
I just wish the vast billions had been spent on something useful as I donate to various needy causes. East Timor for example has no roads and needs everything and could have been a first world country by now with one tenth of what we have wasted. People do not want to leave home, abandoning culture, language and relatives if they can live better where they are. That is the second level disaster which is called climate change, utter waste which could have improved quality of life for everyone, especially Australians. Refugees are always from poverty and oppression.
Thanks for that Tony. I’ve been hearing that on the car radio for the last few days but it was good to see the video again and to be reminded of 70’s fashion.
I looked up the history again. I was reminded that Boney M links to another of your passions; the books by Arthur Upfield, featuring half aborigine inspector Napoloeon Bonaparte. Frank Farian apparently watched the closing credits of a TV series about the detective and noticed the name “Boney”, which he liked.
By the way, don’t toss out your old Boney paperbacks. The prices are quite high on Amazon.
Those Bony novels will never be tossed. They are just so amazing. While Frank Farian got his band’s name from the TV Series, they added that ‘E’ to Bony for that TV Series, so people could not get it mixed up, but Upfield always spelled it as Bony.
When I got back into reading in the mid 80s, I had around 20 of them, gathered across the years. In the mid 80s, at my request, my children got me gift vouchers for Angus and Robertson book stores for a Christmas gift, and I purchased six or so thick novels, thinking that would last a year or so. They only lasted eight Months, and now, back into the habit, I went back to those Bony Novels to try and see if they were written in a sequence of sorts, but each one was a novel set in its own right with very few if any links back to earlier novels, and you had to read them very closely to determine if there were any links. After the first two, I actually decided to take notes as I read them. What I found was that there was now something I was noticing that completely evaded me at the first reading of the novels. I then tracked down the ones I was missing of the 29 of them, and I finally did get them all, with Madman’s Bend the last one I found.
They were just amazing on the second reading, as it was like a whole new novel each time round, and the only sequence was publishing dates, spread from 1929 till 1962. So he was prolific especially after WW2, considering the first three or four he found difficult to get published.
I had a monster collection of novels over the years, especially since I got back into reading, and I couldn’t bear to throw a novel out. I had two pretty large bookcase, totally full, and each time we moved home, those novels would fill around ten or more of those standard moving book cartons.
When we moved to Rockhampton in 2010, I made a conscious decision to rationalise my collection, so I culled. It took me ages as I just didn’t want to throw any of them away. It ended up that I got rid of around 350 of those novels, and they ended up at Vinnies, and I kept around 100 of them, foremost among them, those 29 Upfield novels, now virtually unobtainable without really searching.
My collection has built up again, but nowhere back even close to what it was. Even now, there are some of those novels I culled that I still wished I had on my shelves.
Reading is my guilty pleasure, and there’s nothing like reading the words from a printed page in a novel.
Upfield’s Crime Fiction still stands up to this day. I like Val McDermid, the absolute master and recently I’ve gotten into Michael Connelly, but for just plain outright detection, Upfield is the best, and it’s all done in totally Australian settings. In crime fiction novels, the clues are there ….. for the readers to see, at the time, but with Upfield, it’s almost like those clues are just Bony’s little secret, just for him, and it’s always the case that you skip right past the clue as it’s not obvious at all. He was just so good, and became a victim of PC in the 80s to 2000, but his books stand the test of time.
If anyone wants to give away an old worthless coal mine or coal power station for Christmas, I would love to have one!
I have done absolutely no good to deserve it, so I expect the title deed in the stocking.
I believe they will soon be in great demand. After all, Clive Palmer was given the nickel refinery in Townsville by BHP allegdly for $1 before he stripped it of the spare cash, leaving it insolvent. AGL was given publicly owned Liddell by the NSW Government for $0 but AGL will not sell it for $250Million in cash and would rather close it down.
There is something very wrong with government oversight on these improper transactions. And as we the people pick up the bill for all these disasters, someone should be facing criminal charges. Meanwhile ASIC is hunting coporate Climate Deniers.
There is something very wrong with government oversight on these improper transactions.
Spot on TdF.
I’m reminded of the sale 167 tonnes of the Australian peoples’ gold reserve in July 1997 by the then RBA governor Ian Macfarlane, and then treasurer Peter Costello , reducing Australia’s gold reserves to just 80 tonnes.
And the price of gold in 1987 was…? And the price today is….?
Yes Sam from memory it’s just about doubled , the link unfortunately brings up an error message .
I wonder what the improvement was to the bottom line of the Howard Government.
All the still not mined gold reserves belong to the Commonwealth of Australia, mined based on permits and subject to royalties and taxes, the Australian Mint processes and sells $billions a year of Gold Bars and Coins.
Treasurer Costello was right, Australia has a huge Gold Reserve, and sold for a profit based on the market value at the time, noting the in 1996 value $97 billion debt plus interest and $10 billion budget deficit handed over to the Howard LNP Coalition Government by the Keating Labor Government repaid by June 2006 eliminating the interest liability and that budget surpluses were achieved in all but one financial year, the last 2007/08 $22 billion surplus.
Gold in the ground is not pure gold
And is not there just for the collecting.
It needs to be discovered, mined and processed.
All these processes are costly
And those costs must always be ‘deducted’
From any potential gold sale revenue.
On the other hand the gold sold off by Costello in 1996
Was accumulated pure gold.
I note from the chart it was worth $400 an once then.
And is now worth ~ $1300 an once
But has been as high as $1800 an once in the years since.
Soooooo what to think ?
Frankly Costello boobed badly !
once more – a merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.
this is interesting:
24 Dec: NS Energy: Europe looks to nuclear in face of climate challenge
by Caroline Peachey
With a growing consensus that climate change calls for drastic action, Jeremy Gordon looks to Europe, where recent polls and policy changes suggest renewed optimism for nuclear power.
(Jeremy Gordon is an independent communication consultant with 15 years of experience in the international energy industry. His company Fluent in Energy supports partners of all kinds to communicate matters of clean energy and sustainable development)
Recent developments and public opinion polls in Belgium, France and the Netherlands show how Europe is turning to nuclear as a response to climate change.
“Climate change calls for drastic measures,” Miguel Arias Cañete, the EU Commissioner for Climate Action & Energy told delegates at a EU-US High-Level Forum on small modular reactors in October.
He pointed out that many of the 126 nuclear reactors in the European Union will continue to operate and make a significant contribution for decades to come. It is, after all, the bloc’s biggest domestic source of energy — and counted as domestic because the security of its fuel supply is so good.
“Given the global public pressure to reduce emissions,” he said, “It is therefore time to bring small modular reactors under the spotlight.” Cautious support for nuclear from an EU grandee.
If desperate times call for desperate measures, it seems that it is not only Cañete who feels things may be headed that way…
A year ago, aided by visits from the environmentalist and nuclear advocate Michael Shellenberger and TV comedian Arjen Lubach’s brilliant argument in its favour, opinion polls in the Netherlands showed a 53% majority in favour of nuclear energy.
This liberated more politicians to speak objectively about it and the most recent poll, in October, was stunning.
It returned a whopping 89% agreement that the country cannot fight climate change without nuclear power, while an incredible 91% said the Netherlands should consider building a fleet of new reactors above and beyond the single unit at Borssele.
Next door in Belgium, the folly is sinking in of a phaseout policy that would see seven reactors close in 2025 that today provide half the country’s electricity…
In October a poll found that 83% of Belgians support operation of their nuclear plants and 46% support keeping them after 2025…
Last — but not least — of the good news in this trend has to be the beginnings of a turn-around in French policy.
While nothing is decided, it surely counts for a lot that environment minister Elisabeth Borne and finance minister Bruno Le Maire told EDF chairman Jean Bernard Lévy to prepare to build six new reactors at three sites.
The French government wants to decide in 2022 whether to go ahead with the new fleet, based on a situational assessment finalised in the middle of 2021…READ ALL https://www.nsenergybusiness.com/features/europe-nuclear-climate-change/
It was amusing last year to read a piece in the Australian from a spruiker for nuclear energy, that at least nuclear had no emissions. I suppose you could say that to the residents of Fukishima, Chernobyl and Three Mile Island. They would be much relieved.
The plant is on a small island in the Susquehanna River at Harrisburg in Pennsylvania.
It’s around 20 metres from the shore and a main highway runs along the River bank near there. They set up their own car park with a viewing platform at the closest point on that road to the plant so viewers could stop and look and take photographs or whatever.
The radiation released was less than that of a chest X Ray, around 1% of ambient background radiation.
When the NYT heard of the accident, the Editor asked the newsroom who had see the Movie, The China Syndrome, recently released, and those who put up their hands were sent to report on the matter, hence the monumental beat up.
For real information, read this Post, at the link below.
There’s something very few people know about the Three Mile Island Power Plant.
While Unit Two was the Unit which had the problem, the older Unit One has been kept in operation since it opened in 1974, other than the time it was closed during the ‘problem’ with Unit Two.
That Unit One finally ceased operation in September, just three Months back now.
That Unit One Reactor was running a generator of 820MW. In the lead up to its closure, for the last number of years, this ONE operational unit generated around 6900GWH each year.
For some perspective, the total Nameplate for all wind power plants in Australia is 6702MW, so the Nameplate for wind power here is 8.2 times the Nameplate for this one Nuclear Unit.
However, when it comes to actual generated power, all that wind power generates only 2.5 times the power of the ONE TMI Nuke Unit.
This one TMI Unit operated consistently over the last number of years at a Capacity Factor of 96%.
The TMI Unit closed after 45 years of operation. It was still licensed out to 2034, so it closed 15 years early. The only reason it closed was that the cost of the generated power was higher than other plants. The cost of power in that area has been driven down over the years with the introduction of Natural Gas Fired power, which is considerably cheaper, so nothing to see here for renewable power supporters. The cost of that Natural gas power is around $25/MWH and the average cost in that Harrisburg Pennsylvania area is $39/MWH.
TMI was delivering its power for $44/MWH. They could have stayed in operation. They asked for a small subsidy of $10/MWH but it was knocked back. The subsidy paid to wind power plants in that same operational area is $25/MWH, so they were asking for a subsidy of less than half that being paid to wind plants, and even though a zero CO2 emitting plant, that subsidy to keep operating was refused.
Therein lies the ultimate irony really, because if NG power is at $25, and the average is $39, then those wind plants must be well higher than that average, and then, on top of that is that hidden $25 subsidy.
Anyone can work out the simple Maths in this, surely.
So, TMI Unit One closed down because of bl00dy mindedness really, closed due to unprofitability only, and the plant owners Exelon say that this one Unit is perhaps the Company’s best performing power plants.
The site i call my home site, PA Pundits International is based in Harrisburg PA. the site of TMI, and the site owner has lived there all his life. As he has so often told me over these last twelve years, I show more interest in TMI that 99% of the population of Harrisburg, the State Capital of PA, with a population of half a million (metro area) a little bigger than Newcastle and Canberra.
Incidentally, parts of the Unit Two which had that problem were used in other plants. The 820MW generator from Unit Two was recently refurbished and is in operation at a Nuclear plant in North Carolina. That generator weighs almost 700 tons. Try putting that on top of a wind tower.
Read the article at this link about the closure and see a comparison between this Nuke and renewable power.
I’m amazed at the death toll from Chernobyl with actual figures ranging from 31 – 50 , projected death figure is higher but the actual figure is quite low considering the scale of the disaster .
20 Dec: TheLocalFrance: France tightens grip on polluting cars by ramping up eco taxes
The new fees are part of France’s “bonus-malus écologique” which is an environmental tax system in France that sees drivers taxed more heavily according to how much CO2 pollution their vehicle emits.
As of January 1st 2019, SUV’s (Sport utility vehicles), big sedans and other large cars will be slapped with penalties of between €50 to €10,500 depending on their polluting level, fines that in fact already exist.
The difference is that the emission threshold for cars will be lowered by 3 grams, from 120 to 117 grams of CO2 released per kilometer.
That means the number of cars penalized is likely to rise from the current 16.5 percent to 27.6 percent in 2019, unless there’s a considerable switchover to less polluting cars by the French public.
The average penalty fee will also almost triple from €50 to €145.
Vehicles that release 140g of CO2 per km will see owners having to cough up €1,050 in their next vehicle registration, €5,113 if it’s 154g/km and €10,500 if it’s 185g/km and over.
For non-polluting vehicles, namely electric cars, the bonus system for 2019 has not yet been announced…
French authorities are planning a further reduction of the emissions threshold in the years to come, around 3 grams every year.
The aim is to make sure France’s fleet of approximately 40 million vehicles becomes progressively more and more environmentally friendly.
goog luck reconciling the above figures with the following:
20 Dec: Bloomberg: France to Raise Pollution Tax on SUVs and Trucks to $22,240
By Ania Nussbaum
Under a law adopted by parliament this week, cars emitting carbon dioxide above a certain threshold will be subject to a 20,000 euros ($22,240) penalty in 2020, higher than the existing 12,500 euros. At the same time, the government is considering reducing cash incentives for the purchase of electric cars…
France’s SUV levy comes as the European car industry prepares for the phasing in next year of emissions rules that will see carmakers fined if their total annual vehicle sales exceed an average carbon limit…
There will be rioting in the streets ! Oh wait they already are .
If the voters already think Le – biscuit is out of touch this isn’t going to help anything .
They will be ignoring this tax in their millions
And millions
Let the idiots try to squeeze it out of the millions of unrepentant drivers.
And bugger the pollies with such dopey ideas !
Interestingly, after spending time studying the originals of christmas, from reading biblical archeology academic papers, there is surprisingly little info on the actual hard date of Jesus’ birth. However in the overall scheme of things, Im not concerned.
Interestingly, there is stacks of info on his death date, as Christians we are told to observe this each year.
However, from my perspective, what matters is that Jesus did come into the world for us to allow us to be undeservedly reconciled through Him to God, which is what christians are thankful for.
The bumper sticker that sums it up well is
” Christians arent perfect, just forgiven”.
RT is reporting the following, but can’t find it on their website. No MSM worldwide are covering it. talk about protecting the Greta Mob! had sceptic side tweeted similar, the outrage would be all over the MSM:
what is available is poorly translated:
23 Dec: EN24: Fridays for Future: Tasteless Christmas greetings to grandparents
In the social networks it has been possible to observe for days how terrible Christmas is for the hip, committed young elites…
On the Twitter channel of the climate movement (Fridays for Future), it was widely spread among its own followers that the early death of grandparents would make such annoying interferences of this generation obsolete in the foreseeable future. It literally said: “Why do the grandparents still talk to us every year? They’ll be gone soon anyway.” The whole thing was garnished with the hashtag #weihnachtenundklimakrise…
Luisa Neubauer, frequent flyer and German figurehead of the movement, also liked that and hit the like button. She later deleted it, but the Internet never forgets anything, and one can only hope that clever grandparents will not, even if, unlike many of the grandchildren, they have a great penchant for forgiveness…
Later Fridays for Future rowed back pretty lame. Was just satire. Haha. Hahahahaha! Luisa Neubauer had already deleted her heart there, probably too stupid to recognize such good satire. Or, more likely, smart enough to notice that their organization was just messing with it…
We sincerely apologize to everyone who felt hurt by our satirical tweet this morning. We also don’t want to underestimate the great support of countless grandparents. We wish you relaxing days after this exciting year!
– Fridays For Future Germany (@FridayForFuture) December 23, 2019… https://en24.news/2019/12/fridays-for-future-tasteless-christmas-greetings-to-grandparents.html
23 Dec: EN24: Grandparents tweet: Sawsan Chebli criticizes Fridays for Future
“They’re not around for long anyway,” tweets the official channel of Fridays for Future – and speaks of grandparents. After much criticism, the young climate activists apologize…
The activists first tweet: “Why do the grandparents still talk to us every year? They’ll be gone soon anyway. ”The lack of understanding about this was not long in coming. “Do you actually say that to grandma and grandpa in the face?”, asked a user…
Even the Greens’ social media coordinator, Charlotte Obermeier, found this “joke” more than inappropriate: “My grandma passed away about three weeks ago. It will be my first Christmas without her. I wish she could talk me into something again … Find your tweet as inappropriate “, she wrote…
FDP domestic politician Konstantin Kuhle wrote Twitter addressed to Fridays for Future: “I don’t think you are doing yourself a favor with the tweet.” One cannot “freak out at the slightest criticism or demand, constantly demand more respect and then knock things out. Too bad for your legitimate concerns. “…READ ON https://en24.news/2019/12/grandparents-tweet-sawsan-chebli-criticizes-fridays-for-future.html
23 Dec: MBS News: “Sorry kids, it doesn’t work!” – Fridays For Future with a lousy tweet against the grandparents generation
The day before Christmas, the activists of Fridays For Future provoke with an unfortunate tweet that even gets their supporters upset. So the movement is probably not doing itself a favor…
AfD man GOtz FrOmming described the activists as “arrogant green beaks”…
And Green MP Danyal Bayaz said: “Sorry kids, it doesn’t work”…
forgot to excerpt the only defense of the offending tweet – from “Grandparents for Future” – who go along with the humour claim. the Grandparents for Future appears to be allied somewhat with the Fridays for Future protests – see their Twitter page below:
23 Dec: EN24: Grandparents tweet: Sawsan Chebli criticizes Fridays for Future
The movement “Grandparents for Future” on the other hand, could laugh about it: “After all, the kids haven’t lost their sense of humor even after this year of climatic disasters. We can laugh at this tweet – hopefully others too. Grandparent & relaxed greetings. ” https://en24.news/2019/12/grandparents-tweet-sawsan-chebli-criticizes-fridays-for-future.html
A very merry Christmas to all, and let’s hope the new Year is the beginning of the end for windmills and solar panels. I had a relative tell me today that SA was 100% supplied by renewables and in 10 years petrol cars would be history. He is a big fan of radio national and thinks that The ABC is the only supplier of truth.
But declining every day.
Radio National’s days are numbered !
it’s just the leftist clique’s publicly funded propaganda radio !
Back to state based ABC managements
Reflecting the interests and values of each state.
I live in a southern suburb of Adelaide. Last year a new mayor scraped in with a promise that the council would be 100% solar during her reign, meaning every dwelling would have solar panels. It was going to cost something like $54 million to achieve. “Well not this little black duck” I thought, so it won’t be 100%. Haven’t heard another word about it.
In the long run we will win because the “climate crises” is only man made by assertion. Our challenge is to survive the short run of having to pay for costly fake solutions to the so called “climate crises” that will not and cannot work.
While I realize that Christmas is mostly finished on Jo’s side of The Big Pond, this was sent to me today by a friend; and edits are enclosed in [ … ]:
“To the Democrats [Socialist] & Liberals [totalitarians] with whom I associate:
Please accept with no obligation, implied or explicit intent, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2020 but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country, nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere.
This wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the sender.
To My Republican Friends:
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! In God We Trust, Blessed be the name of Jesus, God Bless America!” [and, as far as I am concerned, Australia, New Zealand, and any place else where limited government governs at the consent of the population]
With Regards to All Freedom-loving peoples everywhere,
And here’s and oldie, but a goodie, especially if you’re into aviation:
Santa was getting ready for his annual trip around the world, so the FAA (the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration) put together a team to go up to the North Pole to help Santa get ready.
The team included a vet, who checked the medical records of the reindeer, surveyed their foodstocks, took blood samples, checked the general health of the reindeer, … … …
A maintenance and avionics specialist went over the logbooks of the sleigh with the elves, and they pulled some inspection panels, checked over the general condition of the sleigh, and he signed off on the sleigh being ready for the flight … …
A Flight Operations Inspector talked to Santa, checked his logbook for recent experience and currency (for the non-aviation among us, one must have a certain number of take-offs and landings, as well as recent experience in instrument flying to be considered ‘current’), checked his knowledge of Federal Aviation Regulations, and once he was satisfied, he indicated to Santa that he wanted to fly with him. He says, “Let’s go out and do some normal procedures, steep turns, some instrument approaches, and so on … ”
Santa directs the elves to hitch the reindeer up to the sleigh, Santa and the Inspector climb into the sleigh, and as they are taxiing out to the runway, Santa looks over and notices that the Inspector has a 12-guage at the ready.
Santa completes his pre-takeoff checklist, but his curiosity has gotten the better of him, and he turns to the Inspector and asks, “What’s the shotgun for?”
The Inspector says, “Well, I’m not supposed to tell you this, but there’s going to be an engine failure on takeoff.”
Just thought I would stop by and wish you all down under a Merry Christmas. Best song video I have found this year. Really brings forth the reason for the season:
No !
Just the hottest Boxing day
Since BOM discovered how to ‘homogenise’
(That is bugger around with )
Temperature observations.
Ohhhh And they deleted a whole lot from before 1919 as well..
Australia’s Bureau of Misinformation !
Albo copped very little flak for his little PR stunt and also Palace chook got away with the cruise while her state burned without a mention .
Typical of radical far left presstitutes deciding on what to be outraged about and what’s nothing to see here .
Yes but to put it in perspective, the Premier of a Labor State Government that is responsible for fire management and the LNP Coalition Prime Minister of Australia who is not responsible is targeted because he like PM Abbott will not get on board the climate change gravy train.
Take heart and be of good cheer,
This Christmas and through the New Year,
As your labours bear fruit,
To give warmists the boot,
For the day of the skeptics draws near.
“Some bench tops are six times more dangerous than asbestos ” , does this mean a bench top made from asbestos is six times safer than some silica benchtops ?
Why would anybody think that it was safe to grind up silica so that you can breathe it in.
Too often the global warming catastrophe has been put up as the greatest danger to humans so as to take attention off real issues. Inert silica dust will clog up the human system and ruin it.
Wear dust masks approved for the job. All cutting to be done in approved factories.
Cutting on the job to increase profit is not smart.
I don’t understand this latest scare (whether legitimate or not) with the grinding/cutting of stone benchtops. The hazards of inhaling silica or any particulate matter has been known for many decades (silicosis at least since 1913). People didn’t need to be told to wear breathing protection, it was a no-brainer.
BBC knows the above is considered to be arson; indeed, they have reported Chilean officials saying so. they also know it is not a wildfire, as this article more correctly reports (btw no-one has died or been injured):
25 Dec: BBC: Valparaíso fires: Dozens of homes destroyed in Chilean city
At least 150 houses have been destroyed by fast-moving woodland fires in the Chilean city of Valparaíso…
Interior Minister Gonzalo Blumel said evidence gathered so far indicated the fires had been started deliberately…
◾How do you fight extreme wildfires? (LINK)
A video ***(LINK) posted on social media showed a car next to where a fire started. Prosecutors were investigating the footage as well as reports from residents that cars were seen in the hills affected moments before the fires began, Emol website reports… https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-50907976
25 Dec: Deutsche Welle: Fire engulfs Chilean port city of Valparaiso
by jsi,jcg/msh (AP, Reuters, dpa, EFE)
Fire ‘intentionally set’
“We’re not certain, but everything indicates that yesterday’s fire was intentional, and began in an area quite close to the homes,” said Ezio Passadore, emergency manager for Valparaiso.
Speaking to Chilean newspaper La Nacion, Agriculture Minister Antonio Walker said there was a “99% chance that the fire was intentionally set.”
“The people who are starting them know exactly how to cause harm,” Walker added.
Interior Minister Gonzalo Blumel went further to acknowledge a social media video that purportedly shows a man in the area where the fire began.
“If true this would be very serious,” Blumel said of the alleged evidence. “We call on people to remain vigilant and report any suspicious behavior,” he added…
25 Dec: Daily Mail: Raging fire tears through Chilean city destroying 80 homes and prompting mass evacuations in Christmas Eve arson attack
BBC OS gives a whopping 18min approx. to a Petra Campbell they’d already featured in Nov, re bushfire in South Arm (Nambucca Valley NSW) where she has a house, but only visits every couple of weeks, according to the audio. her house was saved by a neighbour.
she mentions a sister in Blue Mountains, all of which fits with the info in accompanying links below:
PETRA: 34min in to the END. critical of authorities; BBC’s Ben James hot temp talk. fuel load is just from recent fires. ends with this is what CAGW looks like etc:
AUDIO: 52m59s: 25 Dec: BBC OS with Divya Aria
And we go back to two women we spoke to who were affected by natural disasters in 2019… And Petra has been impacted by the bushfires in Australia, which last month spread to her neighbourhood. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w172wrvykqd4t9j
much from Petra in Hannam’s piece, incl ***pic of her house in South Arm:
PIC: 12 Nov: SMH: Peter Hannam: How Chris Savva died leaving his forest ‘paradise’
Ms (Petra) Campbell said Mr Savva had apparently rolled his car after backing away from the bridge. He might also have suffered a heart attack, something the Coroner would determine.
She was planning to visit Mr Savva’s house to retrieve “his favourite light blue suit” so he could be buried in it at his funeral. By coincidence, Ms Campbell’s neighbours in ***Randwick are Mr Savva’s elderly parents…
Get to know the seven candidates for Kingsford Smith
Daily Telegraph – 30 Apr 2019
PETRA CAMPBELL: SUSTAINABLE AUSTRALIA. A bit about you: Born in Sydney, grew up in the Blue Mountains. Spent 17 years travelling the …
Matt Thistlethwaite retains Kingsford Smith, wants Labor …
Daily Telegraph-19 May 2019
SustainableAustralia: Kingsford Smith NSW: Petra Campbell
Petra has a Master of Environmental Management, Master of Science and Technology, Master of Arts in Development Studies and is currently completing an MBA. She has travelled extensively around the world as a photographer, journalist, and media producer, for Australian and international TV, radio, and print media. She has also founded and run programs in international development aid for over 20 years in India, the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia and the Pacific, as well as running her own communications business. Petra grew up surrounded by superlative nature in the Blue Mountains…
LinkedIn: Petra Campbell
About – read all
After reading the Worldwatch Institute’s “State of the World”, I reinvented myself as a respected journalist and photographer, specialising in environmental and indigenous issues. My work has appeared in print, radio and film, through lauded titles such as the Sydney Morning Herald, Rolling Stone magazine, French GEO, ANIMAN, and the Australian version of 60 Minutes…
In 2004 I founded Pacific Aid Australia (PAA) with the mission of supporting Ecologically Sustainable Development in the Pacific Islands. PAA is now a partner organisation of United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). I run this organisation in a voluntary capacity outside of usual work hours. I was identified by the UN as an “Emerging Leader in Education for Sustainable Development” and am regularly invited to speak on Pacific issues and in particular on Easter Island matters… https://au.linkedin.com/in/petramcampbell
of course, BBC could have talked to an actual resident of South Arm! but they know how to pick them:
followup to comment in moderation re BBC/Petra Campbell/bushfires:
Facebook: PACIFIC AID AUSTRALIA
(SCROLL DOWN)
Pacific Aid Australia
27 de diciembre de 2014
Last month Pacific Aid Australia’s CEO, Petra Campbell, was trained by the Al Gore Climate Reality Project Leadership Team in Rio in Brazil. It was a passionate and rich three days, where some of the world’s top Climate Scientists presented, passionate and gesticulating Brazilians expounded challenges they face protecting the Amazonian Rainforest and the eloquent Al Gore – well what a pleasure to listen to him, and what an incredible leader he is. PAA thanks Al Gore and his Foundation for selecting our CEO for the training.
PIC
Pacific Aid Australia
11 de octubre de 2014
PAA maintains strong ties with universities in Australia. We believe they are a valuable source of knowhow, good will and professionalism. In the 2008-2009 year we worked in partnership with the UNSW on the auditor training program with AusAID funding and UNSW’s School of Safety Sciences headed by Christian Khalil, with UNSW reducing fees and providing tailored assistance to the auditing program. We sought further assistance from UNSW for future global warming programs and continued our affiliation with the University of Technology, Sydney on developing future information technology programs. https://es-la.facebook.com/pg/Pacific.Aid.Australia/posts/
Merry Christmas to you and your family Jo. I want to say how much I appreciate your blog and the comments there on. I was starting to doubt myself and thinking maybe my family is right; I am a crazy old lady. I live in a green/lefty/labour stronghold and felt like a foreign resident in foreign land. But after finding your blog, its the first thing I look at each morning, I feel like I have found my tribe. Thank you
ohhh well…. He’ll be burned out shortly..
And will not have any insurance
Or Certificate of occupancy..
To be frank : Dopey !
But the equally dopey ABC is unable to understand this.
Historic railway badly damaged by NSW bushfire, but ‘God’s own backburn’ saves museum
ABC Central West By Luke Wong
“backburn” removed:
24 Dec: ABC: Gospers Mountain bushfire destroys Zig Zag Railway buildings, infrastructure
ABC Central West By Luke Wong
FROM Key points:
•The fire narrowly missed a museum nearby, with the president crediting an earlier spot fire for clearing bush that would have ignited…
Mr Christison said it was lucky that a spot fire, which sparked nearby on Friday, had burned along the ridge on the western side of the premises and cleared the undergrowth in scrubland.
“I [that] think helped us to save our buildings on Saturday,” he said.
“It was God’s own backburn I think.”
Mr Christison said the ferocity of Saturday’s fire was unlike anything he had seen before.
“It was horrendous,” he said.
“I’ve lived in fire front areas all my life and I’ve never seen a fire move that fast.” https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-24/gospers-mountain-bushfire-damages-zig-zag-railway/11825876
26 Dec: Guardian: The Queen’s speech acknowledges ‘bumpy’ year and climate ***crisis in 2019 Christmas message – video
Source: BBC via AAP
She commends young people for taking action on the climate ***crisis and ‘protecting our environment’, and says ‘it is often the small steps, not the giant leaps, that bring about the most lasting change’…
25 Dec: Sky UK: Queen’s Christmas message: Monarch ‘struck’ by climate ***activists’ ‘sense of purpose’
The Queen’s comments come after a year of school strikes led by Greta Thunberg and marches across the world.
by Rebecca Taylor, news reporter
NO MENTION OF ***CRISIS; NO MENTION OF ***ACTIVISTS:
it is often the small steps, not the giant leaps, that bring about the most lasting change’
This is only true because any giant leap is invariably found to be the end result of thousands of small steps, and progress happens in small steps regardless of whether they culminate in a giant leap.
It’s fine until the next giant leap is a paradigm shift that makes previous small steps obsolete.
Other than this minor nitpick I reckon Lizzie is on a winner there.
The issue I have is getting the motivation to make the 1000 small steps when you know how many great expectations the resulting giant leap is going to create.
Seems like the Beebe has suffered
An “Ohhhh F#ck” day.
I looked to hear the Queens message
And was told it is not currently available https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct03nk
The UK’s Wonderful BBC !
NOT !
I have seen a transcript of HM’s speech; no mention of ‘activists’ as such…another bit of media ‘truthful’ reporting when they say she praised young ‘activists’? I think not.
I’ll try to find the link.
SkyNewsUK beginning their hourly news programs today
with bushfires in NSW. volunteer firefighters in burnt-out forest near Blackheath, Blue Mountains, trying to stop smoldering fire from 10 square metres of coal that has been dumped in the forest!
more water arrives. firefighter says 1000 litres. will that last you through the day, ask Sky’s Katerina Vettozzi? no, that will allow us to quell the coal fire, says firefighter.
plenty of talk of hot temps to return, etc.
Sky Australia has Queen praising climate activists.
meanwhile, RT has video of last week’s anti-coal activists at Kirribilli House, followed by report of PM not willing to dump coal. ex-Darwin mayor, Graeme Sawyer – now president of the NT chapter of the Association of Environmental Education – blames lobbyists who give money to the politicians. coal doesn’t provide much employment, he says. it’s all about the money given to the pollies. no mention of coal being our top export, etc.
Here’s the transcript:
And it includes: “The challenges many people face today may be different to those once faced by my generation, but I have been struck by how new generations have brought a similar sense of purpose to issues such as protecting our environment and our climate.”
26 Dec: ABC: ‘Severe to extreme’ heatwave conditions to test firefighters working across south-east Australia
Updated about an hour ago
A “severe to extreme” heatwave will grip large parts of the country across the weekend, making conditions difficult for firefighters working to control catastrophic blazes in several states.
Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) maps show large parts of South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales are expected to experience temperatures in the high 30s to 40s over the weekend and into early next week…ETC ETC
The heatwave forecast comes just a week after Australia narrowly missed out on making it three in a row for its hottest-ever days, breaking temperature records in parts of Victoria, South Australia and the ACT…
The ongoing heat saw the national location record for December broken twice within the space of a few hours on Thursday — Eucla in Western Australia reached 49.8C before it was eclipsed by SA’s Nullarbor weather station with 49.9C.
The old record had been set at Birdsville (49.5C) in 1972.
The records last week were not just broken, but surpassed by big margins.
26 Dec: OutlookIndia: Freezing cold in Punjab, Haryana; Narnaul coldest at 2.5
Chandigarh: Cold wave with dense fog continued in Punjab and Haryana on Thursday, and Narnaul in Haryana was the coldest in the region with a low of 2.5 degrees Celsius.
Even the maximum temperature hovering around six-nine notches was below average at most places in both the states, including Chandigarh…
A meteorological department official told IANS that the biting cold weather conditions were likely to continue in the region till December 30…
25 Dec: KOAM News: California, Upper Midwest to see snow and rain on Christmas Day
By Eliott C. McLaughlin and Haley Brink, CNN
Snow is expected in parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, Idaho and Montana, and temperatures across the Southwest should be 5 to 10 degrees below average. Snow could reach West Texas by Friday…
25 Dec: LA Times: Southern California ski resorts: How much more snow is on the way?
by Mary Forgione
The holidays have been good to Southern California ski resorts this year…
New storms in the local mountains are predicted to bring more than 2 feet of snow through Thursday evening, just in time for the post-holiday rush to the slopes…
Some are resorts already have received 6 feet of snow this season…
***all MSM quote the 1.5 million pounds – but 448 EVs would cost way more than that:
24 Dec: Daily Mail: Police ‘waste’ £1.5MILLION on electric cars that they admit are useless for chasing criminals because they ‘can’t go fast enough or far enough without a battery change’
•Reports found cars do not meet demands of urgent response or pursuit driving
•Forces have bought at least 448 environmentally-friendly vehicles to help them
•However almost all cars and vans are being used in non-emergency situations
By Martin Beckford
Forces around the country have bought at least 448 environmentally-friendly vehicles to help them meet green energy targets.
But almost all of the cars and vans are being used in non-emergency situations or by chiefs to get to work.
Official police reports conceded that electric vehicles cannot meet the demands of urgent response or pursuit driving. They take too long to charge up to be ready for 999 calls and could run out of battery before a shift ends…
Figures from 30 of the country’s 46 police forces show they have bought or leased 448 green vehicles with many more on order. They have together spent at least £1.49million, according to details obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
***The true costs will be far higher as several forces refused to say how much they had spent…
And while the Democrats have been talking up a US recession, in Canada the CBC has removed the Donald Trump cameo appearance from Home Alone 2, the NASDAQ just cracked 9000 for the first time, Christmas sales boomed and the economy has been in boom conditions by every measure. Britain is booming too with just the anticipation of BREXIT. And here in Australia, the perfectly normal bushfires, November, December in NSW with its tropical climate and January, February in Victoria with a temperate climate are underway unfortunately.
As bushfires are the total responsibility of State governments, as are the police, hospitals, education, coal, mining, it’s a great time to ask the State Governments just how well prepared they are for the bushfire season. Or is it all too little, too late?
I often need to point out that the Federal Government is responsible only for Defence, Customs and Foreign Exchange. Everything else is the legal responsibility of the states. So to see Morrison recalled from holidays when he has never had responsibility is just a sample of the left press attacking a conservative Prime Minister.
I note Tony Abbott who for years has risked his life fighting bushfires was never given credit. Amazingly he was accused of doing it for a stunt. It will be good when Labor rediscovers that professional and sheltered politicians like Bill Shorten, people who have never had a real job are anaethema to the Australia public.
And I guess that the reason the establishment hates Donald Trump is that he is not an opportunistic money hungry lawyer, like the Clintons. They do not understand him at all, just as they have no idea how the world actually works outside the latte circle. Reagan was a successful Hollywood actor, Margaret Thatcher a B.Sc(Hons) in Chemistry from Oxford who did a law degree part time. And Tony Abbott was the best qualified Prime Minister we have ever had and used to run a concrete manufacturer.
Apart from being Conservatives, these people had substantial life experience outside politics. And I would assume Tony Abbott is in the middle of the fires this season, not that the press would notice. Odd that a mysogynist would regularly risk his life for others where most politicians and ABC staff are overseas on holidays. Morrison is also a shock the privileged left, a deeply religious family man who clearly cares about others. That was totally unexpected.
***some surprises for BBC, when they talked to Icelanders. middle section is very interesting – from 11mins in. ends with author/activist Andri Snær Magnason, so no need to listen to the final minutes. otherwise, despite some annoying BBC bits, very interesting:
AUDIO: 31m51s: 26 Sept: BBC: The Documentary Podcast: Iceland: The great thaw
Iceland’s glaciers are melting at an unprecedented rate, with scientists predicting that they could all be gone 200 years from now.
How is this affecting the lives of local people, and the identity of a nation that has ice in its name?
Maria Margaronis talks to Icelandic farmers and fishermen, scientists and environmental activists about their (***sometimes surprising) responses to climate change, and asks why it’s so difficult even for those who see its effects from their windows every day to take in what it means. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p07y5jkw
Sky Australia ran this fake story with a headline along the bottom of the screen for two days straight, from memory:
24 Dec: Breitbart: Fact Check: No, Trump Admin Did Not ‘Begin’ Hold on Ukraine Funds 91 Minutes After Call with Zelensky
by Aaron Klein
The news media and Democrats are quickly seizing on a government email to paint a misleading picture that the Trump administration requested the Pentagon withhold military aid to Ukraine just 91 minutes after President Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The decision to withhold aid was actually announced seven days prior to Trump’s July 25 phone call while the email in question was part of a weeklong discussion about withholding aid and was unrelated to the call, the Trump administration explained.
The email was obtained on Friday along with 146 pages of other documents given to the Center for Public Integrity (CPI) as part of a Freedom of Information Act request.
CPI has been openly funded by billionaire activist George Soros’s Open Society, which formally listed CPI as a media “partner.” CPI is also funded by the Soros-financed Tides Foundation…
Despite the known timeline that the decision to withhold aid was taken on July 18, Senator Chuck Schumer already claimed the “explosive” email underscored the need to call new witnesses with new alleged impeachment evidence… https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/12/24/fact-check-no-trump-admin-did-not-begin-hold-on-ukraine-funds-91-minutes-after-call-with-zelensky/
26 Dec: Breitbart: IG Report Reveals Steele Funneled Claims Through John McCain After FBI Dropped Him
by Aaron Klein; Written with research by Joshua Klein
Late Senator John McCain provided disgraced former FBI chief James Comey with five separate reports from Christopher Steele that the FBI didn’t previously possess related to unsubstantiated allegations of collusion between Russia and President Trump’s 2016 campaign, the Justice Department’s recent Inspector General report revealed.
There have long been questions about why it was necessary for McCain to pass Steele’s anti-Trump dossier to Comey on December 9, 2016, several weeks after the November 2016 presidential election. By then, Steele had already met numerous times with FBI agents to provide them with his controversial reports. Steele, however, was terminated as an FBI source in the fall of 2016 because he spoke to the news media.
The IG report discloses that McCain gave five new Steele reports to Comey that the FBI did not previously possess, showing that McCain served as a conduit for Steele’s information to reach the FBI even after the British ex-spy was formally cut off as an FBI source…
The IG report also verifies that a McCain aid(e) obtained the Steele reports directly from Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson, meaning that when McCain transferred the anti-Trump charges to Comey he had to have known that the material originated with a firm that specializes in controversial opposition tactics.
28 Mar 2017: ZeroHedge: “Something Stinks Here” – CrowdStrike Revises, Retracts Parts Of Explosive Russian Hacking Report
by Tyler Durden
Last week, I published two posts on cyber security firm CrowdStrike after becoming aware of inaccuracies in one of its key reports used to bolster the claim that operatives of the Russian government had hacked into the DNC. This is extremely important since the DNC hired CrowdStrike to look into its hack, and at the same time denied FBI access to its servers.
3 Apr 2018: 7FoxWSAW: Cold weather in California, Mexico to blame for strawberry shortage
Cold, rainy weather in California and parts of Mexico is to blame for a nationwide shortage of strawberries…
26 Dec: WisconsinStateFarmer: 2019 crops: A season of rain and fieldwork delays
by Carol Spaeth-Bauer
Below normal temperatures and frequent rain kept soils wet throughout the cropping season.
The soggy year started out with topsoil moisture at nearly 50%, overwintered crops damaged by ice storms in January and February, followed by spring flooding and multiple freeze-thaw cycles in March, April and May. Late snow and cold soil conditions in April and May delayed planting significantly and suppressed crop emergence and pasture growth, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) 2019 Wisconsin Crop Progress Review…
Late planted crops had a little extra time to mature as the first frost held off until the end of October. Days later, temperatures plunged into the teens and a Halloween snowstorm dumped up to 8 inches of snow across southern Wisconsin.
Early November with its below average temperatures, helped firm the ground, allowing farmers to get on fields, unfortunately, frequent snow and rain kept kept grain moistures unusually highs and some farmers delayed harvest even more…
Winter wheat started off in poor condition due to widespread winterkill. Cold, wet conditions slowed development and meant less than 50% of the winter wheat crop was in good to excellent condition throughout the spring…
Winterkill damage in alfalfa was particularly bad in the north central and northwestern parts of the state. There were many reports of spring seeding of alfalfa to replace winterkilled stands…
An early onset of cold weather combined with some unusually late fourth crop cuttings resulted in concerns for hay stands’ ability to overwinter. https://www.wisfarmer.com/story/news/2019/12/26/2019-crops-season-rain-and-fieldwork-delays/2682051001/
Christmas Gifts from Electricity Generators – The Calm before the Storm?
Wholesale prices per AEMO were all below $70/MWhr for November in all States, and below $60 in December except for SA at $84/MWhr.
For Vic, Nov prices 2017/18/19 have been $96; $98; $68/MWhr
And for Dec: $85; $92: $55/MWhr.
But last Jan/Feb/Mar the Vic prices were $250; $111; $131/MWhr.
As the last and highest bidder sets the price for all, what has changed?
26 Dec: WHBH89.7: AP: Snow, Rain Pound Southern California
PIC: This photo, captured by a motorist on I-15 in the El Cajon pass, shows cars struggling through the kind of snow not often seen in Southern California.
By Stephanie Dazio and John Antzcak
Snow shut down vital Interstate 5 in Tejon Pass through the mountains north of Los Angeles and stopped traffic on Interstate 15 over Cajon Pass in the inland region to the east.
A truck driver was found unresponsive in a rig stopped along I-5 in Tejon Pass and Kern County firefighters pronounced him dead, according to the California Highway Patrol’s online incident log.
It was not immediately known if the death was weather-related. Phone and email messages seeking comment were not immediately returned from Kern County Sheriff’s Office, where the sheriff also serves as county coroner.
After being stuck for five hours in Cajon Pass, motorist Johnny Lim wasn’t sure he could reach Las Vegas, where he hoped to spend some time after Christmas. He worried about driving his car through the pass when it reopens.
“The freeway is full of snow and ice,” he said, adding that his car “is not built for conditions like this.”…
26 Dec: LA Times: Too much snow shuts Mountain High as Southern California storms blanket resorts
by Mary Forgione
But Mountain High in Wrightwood also received plenty of snow — actually too much — from the latest storm and was closed Thursday. It is expected to reopen Friday…
Snow did create some problems at Mt. Baldy Ski resort early Thursday, its website reported. “The roads are mess.” it said. “There is at least 6 inches at the tunnels, 1 inch in the village and 2 inches in the parking lot. The road is jammed at the tunnels….The forecast has 6 to 10 inches more on the way. Stay tuned while [we] get to work.”…
Meanwhile, Mammoth Mountain in the Eastern Sierra received 2 more inches of snow, bringing its totals to a little more than 10 feet at the main lodge. Snow continued to fall Thursday morning, and temperatures were in the teens and winds were brisk.
The storm that lashed Southern California created havoc across the region. The 5 Freeway’s Grapevine was closed because of snow, and trees and flooded roads made travel difficult and hazardous in some places in the Los Angeles area. https://www.latimes.com/travel/story/2019-12-25/southern-california-ski-resorts-snow
26 Dec: Xinhua: Scores die as cold spell continues in Bangladesh
DHAKA: A total of 50 people died in parts of Bangladesh due to the ongoing cold spell accompanied by chilly wind and drizzles since November.
The figure was reported by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) under the Ministry of Health on Thursday…
The cold spell and inclement weather particularly affected people in the northern region and those living in the open.
The Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BND) on Thursday recorded the lowest temperature of this year in a border town in Bangladesh’s north.
AK Nazmul, a meteorologist in Dhaka, told Xinhua Thursday, “Mercury plunged to its lowest 5.7 degrees centigrade in the country’s northern most sub-district, Tentulia, within Panchagarh district, 468 km away of capital Dhaka.”…
The freezing weather may continue for days, Nazmul said. http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-12/26/c_138659667.htm
26 Dec: UnitedNewsOfBangladesh: Bone-chilling cold disrupts normal life in north
A shivering cold has hit the northwestern districts of the country as a mild to moderate cold wave is sweeping over some regions of the country, forcing people to stay indoors.
The cold wave is raging through Rangpur division and the regions of Mymensingh, Rajshahi, Nogaon and Sirajganj and it may continue, said a Met office bulletin…
In Panchagarh, the temperature dropped to 5.7 degrees Celsius in Tentulia on Thursday morning, country’s lowest in the season.
“This is the lowest recorded temperature so far this year,” said Arif Hossain, a meteorologist of Bangladesh Meteorological Department in Dhaka…
Tentulia, the last border town in Bangladesh’s north, experiences extreme cold weather in winter. Temperature dropped to 6.2 degrees Celsius on Wednesday.
***On January 8 last year, mercury dipped to 2.6 degrees in Tentulia, the lowest-ever recorded temperature in Bangladesh’s history…
Although the local administration has distributed 35,000 blankets, cold-hit people said termed it insufficient and residents of many areas are yet to receive warm clothes…
Meanwhile, the number of patients with cold-related diseases has increased here. Panchagarh Modern Hospital has reported a surge in outdoor patients…
Data released by the government on Thursday showed that a total of 5,481 people were affected by cold-related diseases across the country in 24 hours.
A minor girl and a mentally-challenged youth who suffered burn injuries in separate incidents of fire in Sundarganj and Sadullapur upazilas of Gaibandha, died at Rangpur Medical College Hospital early Thursday.
Dr MA Hamid Polash, chief of Burn and Plastic Surgery unit of the hospital, said Sadia and Alam, who sustained burn injuries while warming them in fire, were admitted to the hospital on December 18 and 20 respectively, and both died in the early hours of today.
Hospital sources said 26 burn patients were admitted to the hospital in the last 11 days after they suffered burn injuries in such fire incidents.
In Thakurgaon, an elderly woman was burned to death while warming herself in a fire at Bhomradaha village in Pirganj upazila on Wednesday night… https://www.unb.com.bd/category/Bangladesh/bone-chilling-cold-disrupts-normal-life-in-north/39419
Got back late yesterday Arvo after three shifts on the Currawan and Comberton fire in the Shoalhaven area. Travelled over with a team of 35 collected from across the Riverina-MIA. I doubt that any of them would class themselves as “heroes”, just a bunch of ordinary people who can see something bad happening and can’t sit back.
Conditions were relatively mild, the biggest danger being from working at night, in rough country, around moving vehicles and the occasional falling tree. The biggest obstacles were still a lack of quality information and coordination. We get allocated an area or a task, and have to sort it out ourselves. Not the biggest problem in the world for independent-minded people, but it all takes time and we want to get things done.
First night, we are fed, instructed to sort ourselves into crews and told to man the gaggle of trucks parked behind the shed at the emergency centre. The Strike-team Leader and I dive into the Incident Control Centre in search of tasks, Intel, maps and midnight lunches for the crews. Then it’s an hour down the Prince’s Highway to a location where there is fire and houses – our job being to keep them seperate. As I said, conditions are mild so the fire takes the form of fingers trickling around the gullies and Spurs of the eastern escarpment. We patrol the roads, !ovate residences, assess risk and chat with some wakeful home-owners. That’s how we pass the hours until it’s time to adjourn to the local Services club for a bacon-and-egg breakfast in the back beer-garden.
Next night it is rinse, lather, repeat…. the change in detail being that we are tasked to a smaller fire – only about 8km long – just south of Nowra. It is classed as “contained” but there is still a lot of timber alight within the boundaries, and some of those boundaries are very poorly defined. The boys on the tankers are set to blacking-out… cooling everything alight close to the edge…while we scout for problems and unsecured fire edge. There is a considerable amount of the latter, which is noted for attention by heavy machinery and the daytime crew.
Again, it’s not headline-grabbing work, but if we don’t do it well there will be a live fire very close to densely populated areas.
Third night, after another day of trying to sleep despite what our circadian rhythms are telling us, and we are directed to a 12km stretch of dozer-line stretching down a poser-line easement. We are to light up the edge, back-burning toward the main fire to make that area safe. If we lose control there, the only other control-line between the fire and the heavily-populated costal plain is the Highway. We split the crew, directing half to the southern end, then try to map-read our way in through bush tracks to the northern end.
No dice. We keep coming to sections that are too steep for anything but dozers. Certainly not appropriate areas for our heavily-laden tankers with their high centres of gravity. Then a hacksawed voice comes over the radio, ” Ya can’t send those blokes down there, that’s the bloody escarpment.!” Dennis is the local brigade Captain, pop-eyed for want of sleep, he has been working slave-hours for weeks, but he still has a sense of humour and enough energy to lead us around the hills to another dozer-cut. ” It’ll be a bloody good thing …. or words to that effect… if ya can get that burnt – if we don’t get it done, we’re about out of options!”.
Conditions are almost ideal by this time – almost 10:30 – so the drip-torches are primed, trucks lined up and the burn is started. 90% humidity, temperatures down to 20C and a breeze under 5kph and yet the fire is running up trees and flaring to 3m in height. Our heads are on swivels, constantly checking the unburnt bush behind us as embers are lifting through the canopy. No wonder the fires are breaking containment in the hotter conditions! The work grinds on, tankers creaking and swaying over the rough track, men on the back or on the ground silhouetted against our own version of Christmas lights. Hoses dousing anything that tries to burn too hot and the radio crackling as yet another truck announces and empty tank and a return to fill at the Shire water trucks waiting at the intersection. In the Command Vehicle we are checking, checking, checking. Time and progress, maps and grid-coordinates, tactics, safety, welfare and conditions.
The worst section, we save until late in the night… or what is now early in the morning. It is steep, narrow and without room to turn or pull a tanker out wide if the burn gets too hot. Refill the trucks, do a run with the hoses to camp down the side we don’t want burnt, then the torch-carriers go to work again as the first truck inches down in low ratio. That last 400m takes an hour and a half, but the lead truck pulls through the creek at the bottom, across another flat, then another creek. There is a minor flurry of activity as a tired torch-man misunderstands his instructions and starts dropping fire on The. Wrong. Side. but we get that rounded-up and tell ourselves that it is probably a hint that we should pull the pin before something worse happens. We haven’t completed the whole stretch, but we made it through the timber and out into the short-grazed open country below the escapement.
There have been bigger and more dangerous jobs over the last few weeks, but we have done something seriously worthwhile. We have made a difference.
Back at yet another station, we are fed yet more bacon and eggs by appreciative locals. They are the ones who have done the hard yards, looking after their own communities, but they would help us if the positions were reversed.
You were tasked to the Currawan and Comberton fire.
My brother and niece are members of the local RFS unit that are also combating that fire.
You and 35 volunteers from other communities in the Riverina, sacrificed time from your families, travelled far to the NSW south coast and risked your lives by standing beside those communities and firefighters in their time of need.
I salute you PeterW and the nameless volunteers whom work tirelessly to keep us safe.
Appreciation and quid pro quo are the “wages” of the volunteer.
As for the consequences of some kind of financial support….. most of us hate arsonists with a passion. From what i hear, their primary motivation is excitement and adrenaline , so it seems unlikely that a relatively low level of financial support would make a great deal of difference.
Serp long campaigns the volunteer fire fighters deserve to be compensated , either a part tax break to the employer and or a direct payment to the volunteer .
As I understand it they are a proud bunch and don’t want payment but deserve it .
The Newcastle sun newspaper records Bourke temp at 125F in 1938 and the country in a heatwave .
Also mentions this was a new record beating the previous that was recorded 7 years previous .
banked a small donation Jo today
Does anyone know if the windmills and solar arrays are subject to the rigorous EPA assessments and native title clearances that all exploration and mining operations endure in W.A.? These add years to the start up times of any operation in W. A.
Keep the light burning
Geo John
Thank you John!
Almost certain that new windmills etc are given mostly a wave through — they would face some EPA test (I assume) but since there is very little research done, the all inclusive literature review would declare that there is no known risk or damage….
Merry Christmas to all. A good year where the promoters of man made Global warming and therefore the utterly undefined and nebulous alleged Climate Change are on the back foot. It is the year where any pretence of a scientific basis for something which is not happening has itself disappeared.
Consider grumpy Greta from Sweden epitomizes a second generation of no evidence true believers. A school dropout addressing the United Nations on science, no less. And addressing COP25 climatebaggers assembled in Madrid. 25 years of this nonsense! What’s next, the Nobel Prize for Nothing? No attempt at logic, no knowledge of science, just spitting vitriol and demanding that unbelievers are lined up against the wall. And congresswoman AOC calling the US a fascist state.
So I have hope that sheer emotion is their last desperate resort to keep the money coming. And then I read that the Australian AISC is instructed to persecute and prosecute companies which do not warn of catastrophic climate change. Even rent seeker Tim Flannery, the man who could not get anything right and nearly destroyed Brisbane, on the front page claiming that Australian bushfires are now Climate Change. Because he says so and Tim is a scientist.
It’s the end game. Not before time. The greatest religious scam in world history. Not a single fact right in 31 years. Such a terrible waste of people and lives and resources. For less money we could have had endless safe non polluting fusion power or 100x the resources in nuclear reactors running on Thorium and no short term unreliable stupid ugly 18th century windmills at all. It would have been cheaper. Maybe one day.
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And as a New Year’s wish, I would love to see Professor Ridd countersue the Vice Chancellor in her personal capacity, put her on trial for the illegal sacking and her personal vendetta shielded by the University and its board and their infinite resources, our money, their game. Watch them settle. And watch her get the sack.
Like Israel Folau where a trial would have exposed who really instructed that he was fired for expressing his true belief. People in high places go to water when it’s their own money and reputations at stake. Then the truth of the health of the ancient barrier reef will come out.
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He’s not you know.
Just because he has a credential that has the name science in its title, doesn’t make him a scientist.
A scientist is a person who understands the scientific method and applies it in all the professional work that he undertakes. A scientist is a sceptic. A scientist is a person of high integrity and honesty.
Flannery has a credential. However, he lacks all the other attributes required to be a scientist.
What is he then?
Well, for mine, he’s an environmental activist; a zealot: and, a crack-pot.
He’s a person who has been proven to be wrong on almost all of his “environmental” predictions, forecasts and projections. Accordingly, he should be put in the same category as the astrologers, alchemists and warlocks of the past. Or, at the very least, in the category of flim-flam man.
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Agreed. I meant that in parody. It is a long standing complaint of mine that any degree in a science department and people can call themselves a scientist and in Tim’s case this gave him the authority to make presumably informed pronouncements on nuclear energy, hot rocks (the technology is straightforward), desalination, rainfall, climate, meteorology, computer modelling and even basic physics. He is unqualified in all these things.
In fact Dr. Flannery’s degree after school was in English at La Trobe because he couldn’t qualify even for entrance to a science degree. Then ‘whole earth sciences’ at Monash and some sort of marsupial archeology or zoology in Sydney. It is no surprise then that he is almost always wrong on matters of science and you would have to think that if he was ever right, it was accidental. He would be better described as a science writer or even science fiction writer.
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I suppose it is also true that a degree in Arts does not make you an artist. In the explosion of degrees after the 1970s when Labor decided a Degree was upper class privilege and a hated meritocracy, the universities went crazy. There are so many degrees, so many universities, so many PhDs now that it cannot all be good. There are no technical colleges left, no polytechnics and you can get a PhD in Halal meat distribution in Australia, or so one treatise went at a ceremony I attended. Gone are the days when you had to get first class honours to even be considered for PhD. You can even do them by correspondence and as an elective?
One of the most explosive areas is in so called ecology, where being concerned is enough and hard sciences are avoided. It’s like history these days, where dates and events are less important than attitude and group think. And extremist and head of the Autralian Republican movement footballer Peter Fitzimmons churns out books on Gallipoli, Tobruk, Cook and more. And actual European history, the foundation of our society, is shunned and even banned.
Climate Change, the fact free, science free activist area is now completely devoid of reason. From the Pope to the Billionaires at Davos to the UN, it is the most important issue for humanity? No, it is utter nonsense, but there is also no discourse, no rationale, no argument, no debate. It’s an unholy marriage between religion, big business and communism (which is called socialism). I can only hope it is the death throes of the world’s biggest scam when a teenage girl lectures the UN on science and responsiblity, to cheers and applause.
And the IPCC would have us believe that CO2, the gas of life, the basis of all life on earth, is not in rapid natural and perpetual equilibrium with the oceans which cover the planet. Whoever came up with that idea deserves a Nobel prize, but I guess science ignorant Al Gore would win again.
And 50% more CO2 means 50% more plant life on earth and 50% more bush to burn. Something no one bothers to consider.
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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to Joanne, her family, the moderators, the guest-posters, the donators, and the commenters/readers of this blog. Let truth, not hysteria, prevail.
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A happy and peaceful Christmas to all of you here at Joanne’s wonderful site, and a special greeting to Joanne, David, and family.
At this time, make sure that children are close to you, be they your own children or grand children, and if you have phones, then take images of their joy at this time. After all, Christmas started with a family, Joseph, Mary, and their newborn Son Jesus.
And how about a happy Christmas song for you all.
This one is from Bony M, and is titled Mary’s Boy Child – Oh My Lord.
The original song was written by an African American, Jester Hairston in the mid 50s. It was picked up by Harry Belafonte, done in a calypso style in 1957 for realease in the UK, and was the first Christmas song to top the popular music charts, and it did that in 1957, and that version sold 1.2 Million copies.
Then, in 1978, Frank Farian reworked it into Reggae style and Disco style as well, and added his own extra lyrics and got his ‘front’ band Bony M to sing it. It again went straight back to number One on the popular music charts in the UK, and sold more than 2 million copies.
So, this one Christmas song is the only one to top Popular Music charts and it did that twice.
Mary’s Boy Child – Oh My Lord
Tony
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Thank you Tony for all the insights on power generation and distribution over the years. The utter nonsense of wind power or solar replacing coal is well exposed. We are leaving nothing for the next generation but unserviceable old replaceables where a coal generator only needs maintenance.
I just wish the vast billions had been spent on something useful as I donate to various needy causes. East Timor for example has no roads and needs everything and could have been a first world country by now with one tenth of what we have wasted. People do not want to leave home, abandoning culture, language and relatives if they can live better where they are. That is the second level disaster which is called climate change, utter waste which could have improved quality of life for everyone, especially Australians. Refugees are always from poverty and oppression.
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Thanks for that Tony. I’ve been hearing that on the car radio for the last few days but it was good to see the video again and to be reminded of 70’s fashion.
30
Thanks Tony,
Boney M has been a favourite of mine.
I looked up the history again. I was reminded that Boney M links to another of your passions; the books by Arthur Upfield, featuring half aborigine inspector Napoloeon Bonaparte. Frank Farian apparently watched the closing credits of a TV series about the detective and noticed the name “Boney”, which he liked.
By the way, don’t toss out your old Boney paperbacks. The prices are quite high on Amazon.
30
Those Bony novels will never be tossed. They are just so amazing. While Frank Farian got his band’s name from the TV Series, they added that ‘E’ to Bony for that TV Series, so people could not get it mixed up, but Upfield always spelled it as Bony.
When I got back into reading in the mid 80s, I had around 20 of them, gathered across the years. In the mid 80s, at my request, my children got me gift vouchers for Angus and Robertson book stores for a Christmas gift, and I purchased six or so thick novels, thinking that would last a year or so. They only lasted eight Months, and now, back into the habit, I went back to those Bony Novels to try and see if they were written in a sequence of sorts, but each one was a novel set in its own right with very few if any links back to earlier novels, and you had to read them very closely to determine if there were any links. After the first two, I actually decided to take notes as I read them. What I found was that there was now something I was noticing that completely evaded me at the first reading of the novels. I then tracked down the ones I was missing of the 29 of them, and I finally did get them all, with Madman’s Bend the last one I found.
They were just amazing on the second reading, as it was like a whole new novel each time round, and the only sequence was publishing dates, spread from 1929 till 1962. So he was prolific especially after WW2, considering the first three or four he found difficult to get published.
I had a monster collection of novels over the years, especially since I got back into reading, and I couldn’t bear to throw a novel out. I had two pretty large bookcase, totally full, and each time we moved home, those novels would fill around ten or more of those standard moving book cartons.
When we moved to Rockhampton in 2010, I made a conscious decision to rationalise my collection, so I culled. It took me ages as I just didn’t want to throw any of them away. It ended up that I got rid of around 350 of those novels, and they ended up at Vinnies, and I kept around 100 of them, foremost among them, those 29 Upfield novels, now virtually unobtainable without really searching.
My collection has built up again, but nowhere back even close to what it was. Even now, there are some of those novels I culled that I still wished I had on my shelves.
Reading is my guilty pleasure, and there’s nothing like reading the words from a printed page in a novel.
Upfield’s Crime Fiction still stands up to this day. I like Val McDermid, the absolute master and recently I’ve gotten into Michael Connelly, but for just plain outright detection, Upfield is the best, and it’s all done in totally Australian settings. In crime fiction novels, the clues are there ….. for the readers to see, at the time, but with Upfield, it’s almost like those clues are just Bony’s little secret, just for him, and it’s always the case that you skip right past the clue as it’s not obvious at all. He was just so good, and became a victim of PC in the 80s to 2000, but his books stand the test of time.
Tony.
40
In Moderation, and no idea why!
Very bland text
Tony.
30
Merry Christmas to Every One. Jo, David, Mods, Readers, and anyone who reads this blog.
May the Lord Keep, Protect, and Bless each of you, now and always.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PK-NZc4O6mA
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Season’s greetings.
As is traditional, I hope you all got a lump of reliable coal in your stocking.
Have any news events happened in the last 24hrs that would count as a climate Christmas miracle?
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If anyone wants to give away an old worthless coal mine or coal power station for Christmas, I would love to have one!
I have done absolutely no good to deserve it, so I expect the title deed in the stocking.
I believe they will soon be in great demand. After all, Clive Palmer was given the nickel refinery in Townsville by BHP allegdly for $1 before he stripped it of the spare cash, leaving it insolvent. AGL was given publicly owned Liddell by the NSW Government for $0 but AGL will not sell it for $250Million in cash and would rather close it down.
There is something very wrong with government oversight on these improper transactions. And as we the people pick up the bill for all these disasters, someone should be facing criminal charges. Meanwhile ASIC is hunting coporate Climate Deniers.
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Well yes…the Elite love a bit of sport…. at our expense…
Loved the comment about the coal mine… 🙂
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Spot on TdF.
I’m reminded of the sale 167 tonnes of the Australian peoples’ gold reserve in July 1997 by the then RBA governor Ian Macfarlane, and then treasurer Peter Costello , reducing Australia’s gold reserves to just 80 tonnes.
And the price of gold in 1987 was…? And the price today is….?
Check for yourself and weep:
https://www.kitco.com/scripts/hist_charts/yearly_graphs.plx
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Sam just te;; is !
Stop farting around with links that don’t work
Bugger !
21
Typos galore !
Sam just tell us !
Stop farting around with links that don’t work
Bugger !
40
Apologies Bill.
It’s gettable from where I sent you, but it needs it needs a bit of thought. 🙂
This might make it easier. Scroll down to Multi-year. Click 1995-2019. Then click the “view” button below to get the chart.
https://www.kitco.com/charts/historicalgold.html
Easy peasy.
Weep until your heart’s content.
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Yes Sam from memory it’s just about doubled , the link unfortunately brings up an error message .
I wonder what the improvement was to the bottom line of the Howard Government.
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Yep. Fixed. See under Bill’s whack.
Apologies.
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As I recall the gold was sold for a profit at that time, and as Treasurer Costello pointed out, Australia has substantial god reserves in the ground.
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I assume that the remains in the ground are god reserves, actually I meant gold.
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Yes. And, they (the reserves) don’t appear in the National Accounts.
Now, I wonder why that might be?
Costello’s assertion was a nonsense. It still is.
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All the still not mined gold reserves belong to the Commonwealth of Australia, mined based on permits and subject to royalties and taxes, the Australian Mint processes and sells $billions a year of Gold Bars and Coins.
Treasurer Costello was right, Australia has a huge Gold Reserve, and sold for a profit based on the market value at the time, noting the in 1996 value $97 billion debt plus interest and $10 billion budget deficit handed over to the Howard LNP Coalition Government by the Keating Labor Government repaid by June 2006 eliminating the interest liability and that budget surpluses were achieved in all but one financial year, the last 2007/08 $22 billion surplus.
20
Put another way, future years crops are not shown on farm current accounts, but Gold in the ground is a more reliable hidden asset.
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States rights, Dennis.
It belongs to the states, not the Commonwealth.
Costello, at best, was a potential pirate on this issue.
The yarn-arm could well await him.
Yo ho ho.
40
Gold in the ground is not pure gold
And is not there just for the collecting.
It needs to be discovered, mined and processed.
All these processes are costly
And those costs must always be ‘deducted’
From any potential gold sale revenue.
On the other hand the gold sold off by Costello in 1996
Was accumulated pure gold.
I note from the chart it was worth $400 an once then.
And is now worth ~ $1300 an once
But has been as high as $1800 an once in the years since.
Soooooo what to think ?
Frankly Costello boobed badly !
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Thanks Bill.
QED.
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Gordon Brown, then Minister for the Exchequer in the UK, sold off more gold at a lower price.
30
Gordon Brown : An exceptional dopey ( not Canny ) Scot !
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Ounce…not once (nor twice nor thrice!).
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OK Annie !
I’ve been thinking in Kgs & grams for too long !
Ounces never unless it’s golden rare ones.
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Another link – tracking Australian gold reserves since 2000:
https://tradingeconomics.com/australia/gold-reserves
20
once more – a merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.
this is interesting:
24 Dec: NS Energy: Europe looks to nuclear in face of climate challenge
by Caroline Peachey
With a growing consensus that climate change calls for drastic action, Jeremy Gordon looks to Europe, where recent polls and policy changes suggest renewed optimism for nuclear power.
(Jeremy Gordon is an independent communication consultant with 15 years of experience in the international energy industry. His company Fluent in Energy supports partners of all kinds to communicate matters of clean energy and sustainable development)
Recent developments and public opinion polls in Belgium, France and the Netherlands show how Europe is turning to nuclear as a response to climate change.
“Climate change calls for drastic measures,” Miguel Arias Cañete, the EU Commissioner for Climate Action & Energy told delegates at a EU-US High-Level Forum on small modular reactors in October.
He pointed out that many of the 126 nuclear reactors in the European Union will continue to operate and make a significant contribution for decades to come. It is, after all, the bloc’s biggest domestic source of energy — and counted as domestic because the security of its fuel supply is so good.
“Given the global public pressure to reduce emissions,” he said, “It is therefore time to bring small modular reactors under the spotlight.” Cautious support for nuclear from an EU grandee.
If desperate times call for desperate measures, it seems that it is not only Cañete who feels things may be headed that way…
A year ago, aided by visits from the environmentalist and nuclear advocate Michael Shellenberger and TV comedian Arjen Lubach’s brilliant argument in its favour, opinion polls in the Netherlands showed a 53% majority in favour of nuclear energy.
This liberated more politicians to speak objectively about it and the most recent poll, in October, was stunning.
It returned a whopping 89% agreement that the country cannot fight climate change without nuclear power, while an incredible 91% said the Netherlands should consider building a fleet of new reactors above and beyond the single unit at Borssele.
Next door in Belgium, the folly is sinking in of a phaseout policy that would see seven reactors close in 2025 that today provide half the country’s electricity…
In October a poll found that 83% of Belgians support operation of their nuclear plants and 46% support keeping them after 2025…
Last — but not least — of the good news in this trend has to be the beginnings of a turn-around in French policy.
While nothing is decided, it surely counts for a lot that environment minister Elisabeth Borne and finance minister Bruno Le Maire told EDF chairman Jean Bernard Lévy to prepare to build six new reactors at three sites.
The French government wants to decide in 2022 whether to go ahead with the new fleet, based on a situational assessment finalised in the middle of 2021…READ ALL
https://www.nsenergybusiness.com/features/europe-nuclear-climate-change/
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It was amusing last year to read a piece in the Australian from a spruiker for nuclear energy, that at least nuclear had no emissions. I suppose you could say that to the residents of Fukishima, Chernobyl and Three Mile Island. They would be much relieved.
51
Three Mile Island – Ho Hum!
The plant is on a small island in the Susquehanna River at Harrisburg in Pennsylvania.
It’s around 20 metres from the shore and a main highway runs along the River bank near there. They set up their own car park with a viewing platform at the closest point on that road to the plant so viewers could stop and look and take photographs or whatever.
The radiation released was less than that of a chest X Ray, around 1% of ambient background radiation.
When the NYT heard of the accident, the Editor asked the newsroom who had see the Movie, The China Syndrome, recently released, and those who put up their hands were sent to report on the matter, hence the monumental beat up.
For real information, read this Post, at the link below.
Three Mile Island and Chernobyl: What Went Wrong And Why Today’s Reactors Are Safe
Tony.
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Thanks. I had not read this. I only remember there was a substantial leak of radiation, not quantified.
30
Facts versuss artifacts, ma’am, that is the question.
30
There’s something very few people know about the Three Mile Island Power Plant.
While Unit Two was the Unit which had the problem, the older Unit One has been kept in operation since it opened in 1974, other than the time it was closed during the ‘problem’ with Unit Two.
That Unit One finally ceased operation in September, just three Months back now.
That Unit One Reactor was running a generator of 820MW. In the lead up to its closure, for the last number of years, this ONE operational unit generated around 6900GWH each year.
For some perspective, the total Nameplate for all wind power plants in Australia is 6702MW, so the Nameplate for wind power here is 8.2 times the Nameplate for this one Nuclear Unit.
However, when it comes to actual generated power, all that wind power generates only 2.5 times the power of the ONE TMI Nuke Unit.
This one TMI Unit operated consistently over the last number of years at a Capacity Factor of 96%.
The TMI Unit closed after 45 years of operation. It was still licensed out to 2034, so it closed 15 years early. The only reason it closed was that the cost of the generated power was higher than other plants. The cost of power in that area has been driven down over the years with the introduction of Natural Gas Fired power, which is considerably cheaper, so nothing to see here for renewable power supporters. The cost of that Natural gas power is around $25/MWH and the average cost in that Harrisburg Pennsylvania area is $39/MWH.
TMI was delivering its power for $44/MWH. They could have stayed in operation. They asked for a small subsidy of $10/MWH but it was knocked back. The subsidy paid to wind power plants in that same operational area is $25/MWH, so they were asking for a subsidy of less than half that being paid to wind plants, and even though a zero CO2 emitting plant, that subsidy to keep operating was refused.
Therein lies the ultimate irony really, because if NG power is at $25, and the average is $39, then those wind plants must be well higher than that average, and then, on top of that is that hidden $25 subsidy.
Anyone can work out the simple Maths in this, surely.
So, TMI Unit One closed down because of bl00dy mindedness really, closed due to unprofitability only, and the plant owners Exelon say that this one Unit is perhaps the Company’s best performing power plants.
The site i call my home site, PA Pundits International is based in Harrisburg PA. the site of TMI, and the site owner has lived there all his life. As he has so often told me over these last twelve years, I show more interest in TMI that 99% of the population of Harrisburg, the State Capital of PA, with a population of half a million (metro area) a little bigger than Newcastle and Canberra.
Incidentally, parts of the Unit Two which had that problem were used in other plants. The 820MW generator from Unit Two was recently refurbished and is in operation at a Nuclear plant in North Carolina. That generator weighs almost 700 tons. Try putting that on top of a wind tower.
Read the article at this link about the closure and see a comparison between this Nuke and renewable power.
Tony.
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I’m amazed at the death toll from Chernobyl with actual figures ranging from 31 – 50 , projected death figure is higher but the actual figure is quite low considering the scale of the disaster .
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190725-will-we-ever-know-chernobyls-true-death-toll
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On this day, many, many moons ago Adam said to Eve:
“It’s Christmas Eve”.
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And all you gave me was this lousy apple?
50
Tsk….
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“And all you gave me was this lousy apple”
I one I was told was off limits. !
Must have been a greenie paradise, even apples were banned !! 😀
30
20 Dec: TheLocalFrance: France tightens grip on polluting cars by ramping up eco taxes
The new fees are part of France’s “bonus-malus écologique” which is an environmental tax system in France that sees drivers taxed more heavily according to how much CO2 pollution their vehicle emits.
As of January 1st 2019, SUV’s (Sport utility vehicles), big sedans and other large cars will be slapped with penalties of between €50 to €10,500 depending on their polluting level, fines that in fact already exist.
The difference is that the emission threshold for cars will be lowered by 3 grams, from 120 to 117 grams of CO2 released per kilometer.
That means the number of cars penalized is likely to rise from the current 16.5 percent to 27.6 percent in 2019, unless there’s a considerable switchover to less polluting cars by the French public.
The average penalty fee will also almost triple from €50 to €145.
Vehicles that release 140g of CO2 per km will see owners having to cough up €1,050 in their next vehicle registration, €5,113 if it’s 154g/km and €10,500 if it’s 185g/km and over.
For non-polluting vehicles, namely electric cars, the bonus system for 2019 has not yet been announced…
French authorities are planning a further reduction of the emissions threshold in the years to come, around 3 grams every year.
The aim is to make sure France’s fleet of approximately 40 million vehicles becomes progressively more and more environmentally friendly.
German carmaker Mercedes will continue to bear the brunt of France’s new eco taxes…
https://www.thelocal.fr/20180720/france-tightens-grip-on-polluting-cars-with-stricter-eco-tax
goog luck reconciling the above figures with the following:
20 Dec: Bloomberg: France to Raise Pollution Tax on SUVs and Trucks to $22,240
By Ania Nussbaum
Under a law adopted by parliament this week, cars emitting carbon dioxide above a certain threshold will be subject to a 20,000 euros ($22,240) penalty in 2020, higher than the existing 12,500 euros. At the same time, the government is considering reducing cash incentives for the purchase of electric cars…
France’s SUV levy comes as the European car industry prepares for the phasing in next year of emissions rules that will see carmakers fined if their total annual vehicle sales exceed an average carbon limit…
In 2020, the central government will give as much as 6,000 euros toward the purchase of an electric car costing less than 45,000 euros. The handout is set to drop in 2021 and 2022, the environment ministry has said.
The SUV and electric-car measures have come under fire from the French industry…
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-12-20/france-sharpens-offensive-against-suvs-by-raising-penalties
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There will be rioting in the streets ! Oh wait they already are .
If the voters already think Le – biscuit is out of touch this isn’t going to help anything .
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They will be ignoring this tax in their millions
And millions
Let the idiots try to squeeze it out of the millions of unrepentant drivers.
And bugger the pollies with such dopey ideas !
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The French have ways of making a person pay taxes…
20
The French people
Have ways of not paying
that the bureaucrats know all about
Because they are doing the same
And not paying as well
:-).
20
Interestingly, after spending time studying the originals of christmas, from reading biblical archeology academic papers, there is surprisingly little info on the actual hard date of Jesus’ birth. However in the overall scheme of things, Im not concerned.
Interestingly, there is stacks of info on his death date, as Christians we are told to observe this each year.
However, from my perspective, what matters is that Jesus did come into the world for us to allow us to be undeservedly reconciled through Him to God, which is what christians are thankful for.
The bumper sticker that sums it up well is
” Christians arent perfect, just forgiven”.
Have a great holiday everyone!
120
RT is reporting the following, but can’t find it on their website. No MSM worldwide are covering it. talk about protecting the Greta Mob! had sceptic side tweeted similar, the outrage would be all over the MSM:
what is available is poorly translated:
23 Dec: EN24: Fridays for Future: Tasteless Christmas greetings to grandparents
In the social networks it has been possible to observe for days how terrible Christmas is for the hip, committed young elites…
On the Twitter channel of the climate movement (Fridays for Future), it was widely spread among its own followers that the early death of grandparents would make such annoying interferences of this generation obsolete in the foreseeable future. It literally said: “Why do the grandparents still talk to us every year? They’ll be gone soon anyway.” The whole thing was garnished with the hashtag #weihnachtenundklimakrise…
Luisa Neubauer, frequent flyer and German figurehead of the movement, also liked that and hit the like button. She later deleted it, but the Internet never forgets anything, and one can only hope that clever grandparents will not, even if, unlike many of the grandchildren, they have a great penchant for forgiveness…
Later Fridays for Future rowed back pretty lame. Was just satire. Haha. Hahahahaha! Luisa Neubauer had already deleted her heart there, probably too stupid to recognize such good satire. Or, more likely, smart enough to notice that their organization was just messing with it…
We sincerely apologize to everyone who felt hurt by our satirical tweet this morning. We also don’t want to underestimate the great support of countless grandparents. We wish you relaxing days after this exciting year!
– Fridays For Future Germany (@FridayForFuture) December 23, 2019…
https://en24.news/2019/12/fridays-for-future-tasteless-christmas-greetings-to-grandparents.html
23 Dec: EN24: Grandparents tweet: Sawsan Chebli criticizes Fridays for Future
“They’re not around for long anyway,” tweets the official channel of Fridays for Future – and speaks of grandparents. After much criticism, the young climate activists apologize…
The activists first tweet: “Why do the grandparents still talk to us every year? They’ll be gone soon anyway. ”The lack of understanding about this was not long in coming. “Do you actually say that to grandma and grandpa in the face?”, asked a user…
Even the Greens’ social media coordinator, Charlotte Obermeier, found this “joke” more than inappropriate: “My grandma passed away about three weeks ago. It will be my first Christmas without her. I wish she could talk me into something again … Find your tweet as inappropriate “, she wrote…
FDP domestic politician Konstantin Kuhle wrote Twitter addressed to Fridays for Future: “I don’t think you are doing yourself a favor with the tweet.” One cannot “freak out at the slightest criticism or demand, constantly demand more respect and then knock things out. Too bad for your legitimate concerns. “…READ ON
https://en24.news/2019/12/grandparents-tweet-sawsan-chebli-criticizes-fridays-for-future.html
23 Dec: MBS News: “Sorry kids, it doesn’t work!” – Fridays For Future with a lousy tweet against the grandparents generation
The day before Christmas, the activists of Fridays For Future provoke with an unfortunate tweet that even gets their supporters upset. So the movement is probably not doing itself a favor…
AfD man GOtz FrOmming described the activists as “arrogant green beaks”…
And Green MP Danyal Bayaz said: “Sorry kids, it doesn’t work”…
The bottom line is that the environmental activists around Luisa Neubauer have to see: A sentence with X … And apologize to their grandparents.
https://www.mbs.news/2019/12/sorry-kids-it-doesnt-work-fridays-for-future-with-a-lousy-tweet-against-the-grandparents-generation.html
60
forgot to excerpt the only defense of the offending tweet – from “Grandparents for Future” – who go along with the humour claim. the Grandparents for Future appears to be allied somewhat with the Fridays for Future protests – see their Twitter page below:
23 Dec: EN24: Grandparents tweet: Sawsan Chebli criticizes Fridays for Future
The movement “Grandparents for Future” on the other hand, could laugh about it: “After all, the kids haven’t lost their sense of humor even after this year of climatic disasters. We can laugh at this tweet – hopefully others too. Grandparent & relaxed greetings. ”
https://en24.news/2019/12/grandparents-tweet-sawsan-chebli-criticizes-fridays-for-future.html
Twitter: GrandparentsForFuture
https://twitter.com/GrandparentsFo4
30
Merry Christmas to all true skeps, and to the controlled op lukewarmers, GeeUppers and warmies who make us look good.
121
A very merry Christmas to all, and let’s hope the new Year is the beginning of the end for windmills and solar panels. I had a relative tell me today that SA was 100% supplied by renewables and in 10 years petrol cars would be history. He is a big fan of radio national and thinks that The ABC is the only supplier of truth.
How many more are there out there?
120
Millions.
80
But declining every day.
Radio National’s days are numbered !
it’s just the leftist clique’s publicly funded propaganda radio !
Back to state based ABC managements
Reflecting the interests and values of each state.
60
I live in a southern suburb of Adelaide. Last year a new mayor scraped in with a promise that the council would be 100% solar during her reign, meaning every dwelling would have solar panels. It was going to cost something like $54 million to achieve. “Well not this little black duck” I thought, so it won’t be 100%. Haven’t heard another word about it.
140
Talk is cheap….
70
Marry Christmas!!
In the long run we will win because the “climate crises” is only man made by assertion. Our challenge is to survive the short run of having to pay for costly fake solutions to the so called “climate crises” that will not and cannot work.
110
While I realize that Christmas is mostly finished on Jo’s side of The Big Pond, this was sent to me today by a friend; and edits are enclosed in [ … ]:
“To the Democrats [Socialist] & Liberals [totalitarians] with whom I associate:
Please accept with no obligation, implied or explicit intent, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2020 but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country, nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere.
This wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the sender.
To My Republican Friends:
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! In God We Trust, Blessed be the name of Jesus, God Bless America!” [and, as far as I am concerned, Australia, New Zealand, and any place else where limited government governs at the consent of the population]
With Regards to All Freedom-loving peoples everywhere,
Deplorable Vlad
150
The perfect illustration of our modern enslavement.
🙂 🙂
70
Maybe we need to set up a cult deprogramming charity called “Adopt a snowflake” where warmists can be rehabilitated gently…
90
Happy Whatever.
and 😀
40
And here’s and oldie, but a goodie, especially if you’re into aviation:
Santa was getting ready for his annual trip around the world, so the FAA (the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration) put together a team to go up to the North Pole to help Santa get ready.
The team included a vet, who checked the medical records of the reindeer, surveyed their foodstocks, took blood samples, checked the general health of the reindeer, … … …
A maintenance and avionics specialist went over the logbooks of the sleigh with the elves, and they pulled some inspection panels, checked over the general condition of the sleigh, and he signed off on the sleigh being ready for the flight … …
A Flight Operations Inspector talked to Santa, checked his logbook for recent experience and currency (for the non-aviation among us, one must have a certain number of take-offs and landings, as well as recent experience in instrument flying to be considered ‘current’), checked his knowledge of Federal Aviation Regulations, and once he was satisfied, he indicated to Santa that he wanted to fly with him. He says, “Let’s go out and do some normal procedures, steep turns, some instrument approaches, and so on … ”
Santa directs the elves to hitch the reindeer up to the sleigh, Santa and the Inspector climb into the sleigh, and as they are taxiing out to the runway, Santa looks over and notices that the Inspector has a 12-guage at the ready.
Santa completes his pre-takeoff checklist, but his curiosity has gotten the better of him, and he turns to the Inspector and asks, “What’s the shotgun for?”
The Inspector says, “Well, I’m not supposed to tell you this, but there’s going to be an engine failure on takeoff.”
131
And a Merry Christmas to you.
Thanks
70
Dymuniadau gorau am Nadolig ac y Flwyddyn Newydd i chi pob un.
20
Ar hy d nos.
Or something like that.
KK
30
All through the night.
10
Bore da. Iechyd da!
20
I chi hefyd Robber
00
Just thought I would stop by and wish you all down under a Merry Christmas. Best song video I have found this year. Really brings forth the reason for the season:
80
from Josh at GWPF ! Best global decade evah !!
30
Is this the hottest Boxing Day since BoM records began to be created?
50
Hottest evahhhh !
50
No !
Just the hottest Boxing day
Since BOM discovered how to ‘homogenise’
(That is bugger around with )
Temperature observations.
Ohhhh And they deleted a whole lot from before 1919 as well..
Australia’s Bureau of Misinformation !
20
Will Albo appear with a Bunnings BBQ and sausages with camera crew for the start of the yacht race?
50
Albo copped very little flak for his little PR stunt and also Palace chook got away with the cruise while her state burned without a mention .
Typical of radical far left presstitutes deciding on what to be outraged about and what’s nothing to see here .
80
Yes but to put it in perspective, the Premier of a Labor State Government that is responsible for fire management and the LNP Coalition Prime Minister of Australia who is not responsible is targeted because he like PM Abbott will not get on board the climate change gravy train.
40
Take heart and be of good cheer,
This Christmas and through the New Year,
As your labours bear fruit,
To give warmists the boot,
For the day of the skeptics draws near.
140
“Some bench tops are six times more dangerous than asbestos ” , does this mean a bench top made from asbestos is six times safer than some silica benchtops ?
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-26/silicosis-cases-rapidly-climbing-more-toxic-asbestos-expert-says/11826332
30
Why would anybody think that it was safe to grind up silica so that you can breathe it in.
Too often the global warming catastrophe has been put up as the greatest danger to humans so as to take attention off real issues. Inert silica dust will clog up the human system and ruin it.
Wear dust masks approved for the job. All cutting to be done in approved factories.
Cutting on the job to increase profit is not smart.
KK
40
I don’t understand this latest scare (whether legitimate or not) with the grinding/cutting of stone benchtops. The hazards of inhaling silica or any particulate matter has been known for many decades (silicosis at least since 1913). People didn’t need to be told to wear breathing protection, it was a no-brainer.
90
Profits and exploitation are the explanation for the latest scare not ignorance.
23
How could someone not know to wear breathing protection?
20
David, it happens.
Small businesses that aren’t subject to reminders and checking just forget.
People copy their co workers.
Tragic but real.
KK
20
Mmm..They do know that 90% of the earth’s crust is made of silicate minerals, don’t they? Don’t they….?
130
Ban everything, businesses and workers and everything they do and use.
Sustainability.
Socialism not capitalism, we don’t need no economy.
50
It’ll become illegal to go to the beach
10
Mods, please unblacklist me, I ain’t done nuttin
40
I’d be staying well clear of a chef who stirs up a silica storm from the bench top!
50
Now that’s a saw point.
40
VIDEO: 25 Dec: BBC: Valparaíso wildfire: Dozens of houses destroyed in Chile
At least 120 houses (LATEST COUNT: 150) have been destroyed by fast moving forest fires in the Chilean city of Valparaíso, prompting a mass evacuation.
All the city’s firefighters have been deployed to tackle the fires in the Rocuant and San Roque areas.
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-latin-america-50909992/valparaso-wildfire-dozens-of-houses-destroyed-in-chile
BBC knows the above is considered to be arson; indeed, they have reported Chilean officials saying so. they also know it is not a wildfire, as this article more correctly reports (btw no-one has died or been injured):
25 Dec: BBC: Valparaíso fires: Dozens of homes destroyed in Chilean city
At least 150 houses have been destroyed by fast-moving woodland fires in the Chilean city of Valparaíso…
Interior Minister Gonzalo Blumel said evidence gathered so far indicated the fires had been started deliberately…
◾How do you fight extreme wildfires? (LINK)
A video ***(LINK) posted on social media showed a car next to where a fire started. Prosecutors were investigating the footage as well as reports from residents that cars were seen in the hills affected moments before the fires began, Emol website reports…
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-50907976
***(LINK) TWEET: Senator Francisco Chahuan
VIDEO – (one fire already started on left – second fire starting with people running to a vehicle)
24 Dec 2019
https://twitter.com/chahuan/status/1209595856892157958
25 Dec: Deutsche Welle: Fire engulfs Chilean port city of Valparaiso
by jsi,jcg/msh (AP, Reuters, dpa, EFE)
Fire ‘intentionally set’
“We’re not certain, but everything indicates that yesterday’s fire was intentional, and began in an area quite close to the homes,” said Ezio Passadore, emergency manager for Valparaiso.
Speaking to Chilean newspaper La Nacion, Agriculture Minister Antonio Walker said there was a “99% chance that the fire was intentionally set.”
“The people who are starting them know exactly how to cause harm,” Walker added.
Interior Minister Gonzalo Blumel went further to acknowledge a social media video that purportedly shows a man in the area where the fire began.
“If true this would be very serious,” Blumel said of the alleged evidence. “We call on people to remain vigilant and report any suspicious behavior,” he added…
25 Dec: Daily Mail: Raging fire tears through Chilean city destroying 80 homes and prompting mass evacuations in Christmas Eve arson attack
40
BBC OS gives a whopping 18min approx. to a Petra Campbell they’d already featured in Nov, re bushfire in South Arm (Nambucca Valley NSW) where she has a house, but only visits every couple of weeks, according to the audio. her house was saved by a neighbour.
she mentions a sister in Blue Mountains, all of which fits with the info in accompanying links below:
PETRA: 34min in to the END. critical of authorities; BBC’s Ben James hot temp talk. fuel load is just from recent fires. ends with this is what CAGW looks like etc:
AUDIO: 52m59s: 25 Dec: BBC OS with Divya Aria
And we go back to two women we spoke to who were affected by natural disasters in 2019… And Petra has been impacted by the bushfires in Australia, which last month spread to her neighbourhood.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w172wrvykqd4t9j
much from Petra in Hannam’s piece, incl ***pic of her house in South Arm:
PIC: 12 Nov: SMH: Peter Hannam: How Chris Savva died leaving his forest ‘paradise’
Ms (Petra) Campbell said Mr Savva had apparently rolled his car after backing away from the bridge. He might also have suffered a heart attack, something the Coroner would determine.
She was planning to visit Mr Savva’s house to retrieve “his favourite light blue suit” so he could be buried in it at his funeral. By coincidence, Ms Campbell’s neighbours in ***Randwick are Mr Savva’s elderly parents…
PIC: Petra Campbell’s house was saved by her neighbour, Trevor. The fire burnt part of the deck before he managed to put it out. Credit: Petra Campbell…
https://www.smh.com.au/national/how-chris-savva-died-leaving-his-forest-paradise-20191112-p539qk.html
Get to know the seven candidates for Kingsford Smith
Daily Telegraph – 30 Apr 2019
PETRA CAMPBELL: SUSTAINABLE AUSTRALIA. A bit about you: Born in Sydney, grew up in the Blue Mountains. Spent 17 years travelling the …
Matt Thistlethwaite retains Kingsford Smith, wants Labor …
Daily Telegraph-19 May 2019
SustainableAustralia: Kingsford Smith NSW: Petra Campbell
Petra has a Master of Environmental Management, Master of Science and Technology, Master of Arts in Development Studies and is currently completing an MBA. She has travelled extensively around the world as a photographer, journalist, and media producer, for Australian and international TV, radio, and print media. She has also founded and run programs in international development aid for over 20 years in India, the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia and the Pacific, as well as running her own communications business. Petra grew up surrounded by superlative nature in the Blue Mountains…
LinkedIn: Petra Campbell
About – read all
After reading the Worldwatch Institute’s “State of the World”, I reinvented myself as a respected journalist and photographer, specialising in environmental and indigenous issues. My work has appeared in print, radio and film, through lauded titles such as the Sydney Morning Herald, Rolling Stone magazine, French GEO, ANIMAN, and the Australian version of 60 Minutes…
In 2004 I founded Pacific Aid Australia (PAA) with the mission of supporting Ecologically Sustainable Development in the Pacific Islands. PAA is now a partner organisation of United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). I run this organisation in a voluntary capacity outside of usual work hours. I was identified by the UN as an “Emerging Leader in Education for Sustainable Development” and am regularly invited to speak on Pacific issues and in particular on Easter Island matters…
https://au.linkedin.com/in/petramcampbell
of course, BBC could have talked to an actual resident of South Arm! but they know how to pick them:
10 Nov: Bellingen Courier: South Arm residents speak about the worst fire they’ve ever seen
by Mel Leigh Dee
Jamie Bruce and Claire LeMay moved from Sydney to Menzies Rd in South Arm just two months ago.
“This was supposed to be a new start at going off the grid and getting out of the rat race,” Jamie said…
https://www.bellingencourier.com.au/story/6483681/it-was-like-deliverance-south-arm-residents-on-the-worst-fire-theyve-ever-seen/
30
followup to comment in moderation re BBC/Petra Campbell/bushfires:
Facebook: PACIFIC AID AUSTRALIA
(SCROLL DOWN)
Pacific Aid Australia
27 de diciembre de 2014
Last month Pacific Aid Australia’s CEO, Petra Campbell, was trained by the Al Gore Climate Reality Project Leadership Team in Rio in Brazil. It was a passionate and rich three days, where some of the world’s top Climate Scientists presented, passionate and gesticulating Brazilians expounded challenges they face protecting the Amazonian Rainforest and the eloquent Al Gore – well what a pleasure to listen to him, and what an incredible leader he is. PAA thanks Al Gore and his Foundation for selecting our CEO for the training.
PIC
Pacific Aid Australia
11 de octubre de 2014
PAA maintains strong ties with universities in Australia. We believe they are a valuable source of knowhow, good will and professionalism. In the 2008-2009 year we worked in partnership with the UNSW on the auditor training program with AusAID funding and UNSW’s School of Safety Sciences headed by Christian Khalil, with UNSW reducing fees and providing tailored assistance to the auditing program. We sought further assistance from UNSW for future global warming programs and continued our affiliation with the University of Technology, Sydney on developing future information technology programs.
https://es-la.facebook.com/pg/Pacific.Aid.Australia/posts/
20
joyeux Noël
50
annular eclipse of Sun—97%—at Singapore at 1:23 p.m. local time on 12-26-19
20
Merry Christmas to you and your family Jo. I want to say how much I appreciate your blog and the comments there on. I was starting to doubt myself and thinking maybe my family is right; I am a crazy old lady. I live in a green/lefty/labour stronghold and felt like a foreign resident in foreign land. But after finding your blog, its the first thing I look at each morning, I feel like I have found my tribe. Thank you
80
check the pics. why would ABC think this was a good story to run at this particular time?
PICS: 26 Dec: ABC: Queensland man’s bid to turn a tree house into a permanent home
By Anna Hartley
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-26/queensland-man-wants-tree-house-to-be-permanent-home/11815692
40
ohhh well…. He’ll be burned out shortly..
And will not have any insurance
Or Certificate of occupancy..
To be frank : Dopey !
But the equally dopey ABC is unable to understand this.
10
headline on ABC “Just In” page:
Historic railway badly damaged by NSW bushfire, but ‘God’s own backburn’ saves museum
ABC Central West By Luke Wong
“backburn” removed:
24 Dec: ABC: Gospers Mountain bushfire destroys Zig Zag Railway buildings, infrastructure
ABC Central West By Luke Wong
FROM Key points:
•The fire narrowly missed a museum nearby, with the president crediting an earlier spot fire for clearing bush that would have ignited…
Mr Christison said it was lucky that a spot fire, which sparked nearby on Friday, had burned along the ridge on the western side of the premises and cleared the undergrowth in scrubland.
“I [that] think helped us to save our buildings on Saturday,” he said.
“It was God’s own backburn I think.”
Mr Christison said the ferocity of Saturday’s fire was unlike anything he had seen before.
“It was horrendous,” he said.
“I’ve lived in fire front areas all my life and I’ve never seen a fire move that fast.”
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-24/gospers-mountain-bushfire-damages-zig-zag-railway/11825876
70
The proximity of the trees and undergrowth to the line in the first photo says it all.
Ignorance, neglect and wishful thinking.
KK
40
FakeNewsMSM spinning on this:
26 Dec: Guardian: The Queen’s speech acknowledges ‘bumpy’ year and climate ***crisis in 2019 Christmas message – video
Source: BBC via AAP
She commends young people for taking action on the climate ***crisis and ‘protecting our environment’, and says ‘it is often the small steps, not the giant leaps, that bring about the most lasting change’…
25 Dec: Sky UK: Queen’s Christmas message: Monarch ‘struck’ by climate ***activists’ ‘sense of purpose’
The Queen’s comments come after a year of school strikes led by Greta Thunberg and marches across the world.
by Rebecca Taylor, news reporter
NO MENTION OF ***CRISIS; NO MENTION OF ***ACTIVISTS:
25 Dec: UK Express: Queen’s Christmas speech 2019 IN FULL
by Kate Winfield
“The challenges many people face today may be different to those once faced by my generation, but I have been struck by how new generations have brought a similar sense of purpose to issues such as protecting our environment and our climate…
https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1221091/queen-christmas-speech-2019-in-full-christmas-message-broadcast
AND NO MENTION OF THE QUEEN’S CONFLICT OF INTEREST RE OFFSHORE WIND AND THE CROWN ESTATE.
70
This is only true because any giant leap is invariably found to be the end result of thousands of small steps, and progress happens in small steps regardless of whether they culminate in a giant leap.
It’s fine until the next giant leap is a paradigm shift that makes previous small steps obsolete.
Other than this minor nitpick I reckon Lizzie is on a winner there.
The issue I have is getting the motivation to make the 1000 small steps when you know how many great expectations the resulting giant leap is going to create.
20
Seems like the Beebe has suffered
An “Ohhhh F#ck” day.
I looked to hear the Queens message
And was told it is not currently available
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct03nk
The UK’s Wonderful BBC !
NOT !
10
I have seen a transcript of HM’s speech; no mention of ‘activists’ as such…another bit of media ‘truthful’ reporting when they say she praised young ‘activists’? I think not.
I’ll try to find the link.
40
Small steps, is billions of individuals making their own changes.
What it is NOT, is activists demanding that we jump off their favourite cliff.
30
Merry Christmas to all.
“I am so fed up of being told what we can and can’t do.
80
How dare you.
40
Ummmm ?
J K Rowling has just discovered that she
Cannot call out men trying to pass themselves off as women.
Dozens of loud & nasty ad hominems !
Now she is a ‘TRANSPHOBIC’ !
Me ? I think she’s right …
https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/jk-rowling-accused-of-transphobia-after-backing-researcher-sacked-over-gender-tweet/news-story/6882966cb4373b00ce06c80ab78cfb85
And they say this is Christmas !
50
break in cricket.
SkyNewsUK beginning their hourly news programs today
with bushfires in NSW. volunteer firefighters in burnt-out forest near Blackheath, Blue Mountains, trying to stop smoldering fire from 10 square metres of coal that has been dumped in the forest!
more water arrives. firefighter says 1000 litres. will that last you through the day, ask Sky’s Katerina Vettozzi? no, that will allow us to quell the coal fire, says firefighter.
plenty of talk of hot temps to return, etc.
Sky Australia has Queen praising climate activists.
meanwhile, RT has video of last week’s anti-coal activists at Kirribilli House, followed by report of PM not willing to dump coal. ex-Darwin mayor, Graeme Sawyer – now president of the NT chapter of the Association of Environmental Education – blames lobbyists who give money to the politicians. coal doesn’t provide much employment, he says. it’s all about the money given to the pollies. no mention of coal being our top export, etc.
20
I don’t recall the Queen mentioning ‘activists’ per se. So why are most of the media quoting her as doing so?
60
Because they habitually lie !
80
Here’s the transcript:
And it includes: “The challenges many people face today may be different to those once faced by my generation, but I have been struck by how new generations have brought a similar sense of purpose to issues such as protecting our environment and our climate.”
20
No mention of activists as such but the impression given by the media is that she is praising the likes of ER.
E2R praising ER?
20
26 Dec: ABC: ‘Severe to extreme’ heatwave conditions to test firefighters working across south-east Australia
Updated about an hour ago
A “severe to extreme” heatwave will grip large parts of the country across the weekend, making conditions difficult for firefighters working to control catastrophic blazes in several states.
Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) maps show large parts of South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales are expected to experience temperatures in the high 30s to 40s over the weekend and into early next week…ETC ETC
The heatwave forecast comes just a week after Australia narrowly missed out on making it three in a row for its hottest-ever days, breaking temperature records in parts of Victoria, South Australia and the ACT…
The ongoing heat saw the national location record for December broken twice within the space of a few hours on Thursday — Eucla in Western Australia reached 49.8C before it was eclipsed by SA’s Nullarbor weather station with 49.9C.
The old record had been set at Birdsville (49.5C) in 1972.
The records last week were not just broken, but surpassed by big margins.
Professor David Karoly, a leading climate scientist at the CSIRO, said the cause was clear.
“We’re smashing the extremes by effectively a degree relative to the other cases because that’s by how much the Australian temperatures have warmed,” he said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-26/severe-heatwave-to-move-across-sa-victoria-and-nsw/11827364
31
26 Dec: OutlookIndia: Freezing cold in Punjab, Haryana; Narnaul coldest at 2.5
Chandigarh: Cold wave with dense fog continued in Punjab and Haryana on Thursday, and Narnaul in Haryana was the coldest in the region with a low of 2.5 degrees Celsius.
Even the maximum temperature hovering around six-nine notches was below average at most places in both the states, including Chandigarh…
A meteorological department official told IANS that the biting cold weather conditions were likely to continue in the region till December 30…
25 Dec: KOAM News: California, Upper Midwest to see snow and rain on Christmas Day
By Eliott C. McLaughlin and Haley Brink, CNN
Snow is expected in parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, Idaho and Montana, and temperatures across the Southwest should be 5 to 10 degrees below average. Snow could reach West Texas by Friday…
25 Dec: LA Times: Southern California ski resorts: How much more snow is on the way?
by Mary Forgione
The holidays have been good to Southern California ski resorts this year…
New storms in the local mountains are predicted to bring more than 2 feet of snow through Thursday evening, just in time for the post-holiday rush to the slopes…
Some are resorts already have received 6 feet of snow this season…
20
***all MSM quote the 1.5 million pounds – but 448 EVs would cost way more than that:
24 Dec: Daily Mail: Police ‘waste’ £1.5MILLION on electric cars that they admit are useless for chasing criminals because they ‘can’t go fast enough or far enough without a battery change’
•Reports found cars do not meet demands of urgent response or pursuit driving
•Forces have bought at least 448 environmentally-friendly vehicles to help them
•However almost all cars and vans are being used in non-emergency situations
By Martin Beckford
Forces around the country have bought at least 448 environmentally-friendly vehicles to help them meet green energy targets.
But almost all of the cars and vans are being used in non-emergency situations or by chiefs to get to work.
Official police reports conceded that electric vehicles cannot meet the demands of urgent response or pursuit driving. They take too long to charge up to be ready for 999 calls and could run out of battery before a shift ends…
Figures from 30 of the country’s 46 police forces show they have bought or leased 448 green vehicles with many more on order. They have together spent at least £1.49million, according to details obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
***The true costs will be far higher as several forces refused to say how much they had spent…
Scotland Yard has 134 green vehicles and wants to make its entire fleet green by 2050, in part to avoid having to pay London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s daily £12.50 Ultra Low Emission Zone charge…
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7822791/Police-waste-1-5million-electric-cars-useless-catching-criminals.html
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One for the history buffs that are interested in firefighting, the Brompton rat .
https://www.queenslandcountrylife.com.au/story/6555674/brompton-rat-controlled-grass-fires/?fbclid=IwAR1N1xgTJBIFAhgrO_KtIEz-6_95QXa6kvSUz0UtztNBUTTkRYX3C-1ESkU
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Seems like very useful on the open plains country Rob !
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And while the Democrats have been talking up a US recession, in Canada the CBC has removed the Donald Trump cameo appearance from Home Alone 2, the NASDAQ just cracked 9000 for the first time, Christmas sales boomed and the economy has been in boom conditions by every measure. Britain is booming too with just the anticipation of BREXIT. And here in Australia, the perfectly normal bushfires, November, December in NSW with its tropical climate and January, February in Victoria with a temperate climate are underway unfortunately.
As bushfires are the total responsibility of State governments, as are the police, hospitals, education, coal, mining, it’s a great time to ask the State Governments just how well prepared they are for the bushfire season. Or is it all too little, too late?
I often need to point out that the Federal Government is responsible only for Defence, Customs and Foreign Exchange. Everything else is the legal responsibility of the states. So to see Morrison recalled from holidays when he has never had responsibility is just a sample of the left press attacking a conservative Prime Minister.
I note Tony Abbott who for years has risked his life fighting bushfires was never given credit. Amazingly he was accused of doing it for a stunt. It will be good when Labor rediscovers that professional and sheltered politicians like Bill Shorten, people who have never had a real job are anaethema to the Australia public.
And I guess that the reason the establishment hates Donald Trump is that he is not an opportunistic money hungry lawyer, like the Clintons. They do not understand him at all, just as they have no idea how the world actually works outside the latte circle. Reagan was a successful Hollywood actor, Margaret Thatcher a B.Sc(Hons) in Chemistry from Oxford who did a law degree part time. And Tony Abbott was the best qualified Prime Minister we have ever had and used to run a concrete manufacturer.
Apart from being Conservatives, these people had substantial life experience outside politics. And I would assume Tony Abbott is in the middle of the fires this season, not that the press would notice. Odd that a mysogynist would regularly risk his life for others where most politicians and ABC staff are overseas on holidays. Morrison is also a shock the privileged left, a deeply religious family man who clearly cares about others. That was totally unexpected.
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Christmas Eve and Christmas Night on the fire-line.
Nothing dramatic or particularly dangerous so the “hero” tag isn’t deserved.
Can write it up a little if anyone is interested.
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Xmas gift
https://www.redpowermagazine.com/forums/topic/126622-gift-from-my-father-in-law/
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***some surprises for BBC, when they talked to Icelanders. middle section is very interesting – from 11mins in. ends with author/activist Andri Snær Magnason, so no need to listen to the final minutes. otherwise, despite some annoying BBC bits, very interesting:
AUDIO: 31m51s: 26 Sept: BBC: The Documentary Podcast: Iceland: The great thaw
Iceland’s glaciers are melting at an unprecedented rate, with scientists predicting that they could all be gone 200 years from now.
How is this affecting the lives of local people, and the identity of a nation that has ice in its name?
Maria Margaronis talks to Icelandic farmers and fishermen, scientists and environmental activists about their (***sometimes surprising) responses to climate change, and asks why it’s so difficult even for those who see its effects from their windows every day to take in what it means.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p07y5jkw
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some essential reading.
Sky Australia ran this fake story with a headline along the bottom of the screen for two days straight, from memory:
24 Dec: Breitbart: Fact Check: No, Trump Admin Did Not ‘Begin’ Hold on Ukraine Funds 91 Minutes After Call with Zelensky
by Aaron Klein
The news media and Democrats are quickly seizing on a government email to paint a misleading picture that the Trump administration requested the Pentagon withhold military aid to Ukraine just 91 minutes after President Trump’s phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The decision to withhold aid was actually announced seven days prior to Trump’s July 25 phone call while the email in question was part of a weeklong discussion about withholding aid and was unrelated to the call, the Trump administration explained.
The email was obtained on Friday along with 146 pages of other documents given to the Center for Public Integrity (CPI) as part of a Freedom of Information Act request.
CPI has been openly funded by billionaire activist George Soros’s Open Society, which formally listed CPI as a media “partner.” CPI is also funded by the Soros-financed Tides Foundation…
Despite the known timeline that the decision to withhold aid was taken on July 18, Senator Chuck Schumer already claimed the “explosive” email underscored the need to call new witnesses with new alleged impeachment evidence…
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/12/24/fact-check-no-trump-admin-did-not-begin-hold-on-ukraine-funds-91-minutes-after-call-with-zelensky/
26 Dec: Breitbart: IG Report Reveals Steele Funneled Claims Through John McCain After FBI Dropped Him
by Aaron Klein; Written with research by Joshua Klein
Late Senator John McCain provided disgraced former FBI chief James Comey with five separate reports from Christopher Steele that the FBI didn’t previously possess related to unsubstantiated allegations of collusion between Russia and President Trump’s 2016 campaign, the Justice Department’s recent Inspector General report revealed.
There have long been questions about why it was necessary for McCain to pass Steele’s anti-Trump dossier to Comey on December 9, 2016, several weeks after the November 2016 presidential election. By then, Steele had already met numerous times with FBI agents to provide them with his controversial reports. Steele, however, was terminated as an FBI source in the fall of 2016 because he spoke to the news media.
The IG report discloses that McCain gave five new Steele reports to Comey that the FBI did not previously possess, showing that McCain served as a conduit for Steele’s information to reach the FBI even after the British ex-spy was formally cut off as an FBI source…
The IG report also verifies that a McCain aid(e) obtained the Steele reports directly from Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson, meaning that when McCain transferred the anti-Trump charges to Comey he had to have known that the material originated with a firm that specializes in controversial opposition tactics.
Fusion GPS was paid for its anti-Trump work by Trump’s primary political opponents, namely Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) via the Perkins Coie law firm…
The unnamed McCain staff member is known to be David J. Kramer, who also infamously provided BuzzFeed with the Steele dossier…
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/12/26/ig-report-reveals-steele-funneled-claims-through-john-mccain-after-fbi-dropped-him/
24 Dec: Breitbart: Soros-Backed Org Fuels Deceptive Timeline for Impeachment Case
by Aaron Klein
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/12/24/soros-backed-org-fuels-deceptive-timeline-for-impeachment-case/
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26 Dec: GatewayPundit: Rumors Swirling: Crowdstrike’s Assertion Russians Hacked DNC Faces Scrutiny – Carter Page Weighs In
by Joe Hoft
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/12/rumors-swirling-crowdstrikes-assertion-russians-hacked-dnc-faces-scrutiny-carter-page-weighs-in/
28 Mar 2017: ZeroHedge: “Something Stinks Here” – CrowdStrike Revises, Retracts Parts Of Explosive Russian Hacking Report
by Tyler Durden
Last week, I published two posts on cyber security firm CrowdStrike after becoming aware of inaccuracies in one of its key reports used to bolster the claim that operatives of the Russian government had hacked into the DNC. This is extremely important since the DNC hired CrowdStrike to look into its hack, and at the same time denied FBI access to its servers.
Before reading any further, you should read last week’s articles if you missed them the first time (LINKS)…READ ON
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-28/something-stinks-here-crowdstrike-revises-retracts-parts-explosive-russian-hacking-r
25 Dec: Townhall: NY Post Columnist: We Should Investigate Why The New York Times Is Wrong All the Time
by Matt Vespa
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2019/12/25/ny-post-columnist-we-should-investigate-why-the-new-york-times-is-wrong-all-the-time-n2558526
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potential slayers of “global warming”:
26 Dec: American Thinker: Dem billionaires Steyer and Bloomberg already have spent a combined $200 million in quest for presidency
By Thomas Lifson
Joel Pollak of Breitbart (LINK) points out that so far, the money hasn’t bought much…
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/12/dem_billionaires_steyer_and_bloomberg_already_have_spent_a_combined_200_million_in_quest_for_presidency.html
26 Dec: KREM2: Here’s why there are fewer strawberries in stores
Three major growing regions are having trouble keeping up with strawberry demands.
by Nicole Hernandez
California in particular is having trouble growing enough strawberries because of colder than normal temperatures, and Mexico has seen slow production the past few weeks as well…
https://www.krem.com/article/life/food/fruit-shortage-why-theres-less-strawberries-in-stores/293-5198a98f-1698-4fb4-aacd-152b7f80578c
3 Apr 2018: 7FoxWSAW: Cold weather in California, Mexico to blame for strawberry shortage
Cold, rainy weather in California and parts of Mexico is to blame for a nationwide shortage of strawberries…
26 Dec: WisconsinStateFarmer: 2019 crops: A season of rain and fieldwork delays
by Carol Spaeth-Bauer
Below normal temperatures and frequent rain kept soils wet throughout the cropping season.
The soggy year started out with topsoil moisture at nearly 50%, overwintered crops damaged by ice storms in January and February, followed by spring flooding and multiple freeze-thaw cycles in March, April and May. Late snow and cold soil conditions in April and May delayed planting significantly and suppressed crop emergence and pasture growth, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) 2019 Wisconsin Crop Progress Review…
Late planted crops had a little extra time to mature as the first frost held off until the end of October. Days later, temperatures plunged into the teens and a Halloween snowstorm dumped up to 8 inches of snow across southern Wisconsin.
Early November with its below average temperatures, helped firm the ground, allowing farmers to get on fields, unfortunately, frequent snow and rain kept kept grain moistures unusually highs and some farmers delayed harvest even more…
Winter wheat started off in poor condition due to widespread winterkill. Cold, wet conditions slowed development and meant less than 50% of the winter wheat crop was in good to excellent condition throughout the spring…
Winterkill damage in alfalfa was particularly bad in the north central and northwestern parts of the state. There were many reports of spring seeding of alfalfa to replace winterkilled stands…
An early onset of cold weather combined with some unusually late fourth crop cuttings resulted in concerns for hay stands’ ability to overwinter.
https://www.wisfarmer.com/story/news/2019/12/26/2019-crops-season-rain-and-fieldwork-delays/2682051001/
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Merry Christmas everyone!
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Christmas Gifts from Electricity Generators – The Calm before the Storm?
Wholesale prices per AEMO were all below $70/MWhr for November in all States, and below $60 in December except for SA at $84/MWhr.
For Vic, Nov prices 2017/18/19 have been $96; $98; $68/MWhr
And for Dec: $85; $92: $55/MWhr.
But last Jan/Feb/Mar the Vic prices were $250; $111; $131/MWhr.
As the last and highest bidder sets the price for all, what has changed?
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26 Dec: WHBH89.7: AP: Snow, Rain Pound Southern California
PIC: This photo, captured by a motorist on I-15 in the El Cajon pass, shows cars struggling through the kind of snow not often seen in Southern California.
By Stephanie Dazio and John Antzcak
Snow shut down vital Interstate 5 in Tejon Pass through the mountains north of Los Angeles and stopped traffic on Interstate 15 over Cajon Pass in the inland region to the east.
A truck driver was found unresponsive in a rig stopped along I-5 in Tejon Pass and Kern County firefighters pronounced him dead, according to the California Highway Patrol’s online incident log.
It was not immediately known if the death was weather-related. Phone and email messages seeking comment were not immediately returned from Kern County Sheriff’s Office, where the sheriff also serves as county coroner.
After being stuck for five hours in Cajon Pass, motorist Johnny Lim wasn’t sure he could reach Las Vegas, where he hoped to spend some time after Christmas. He worried about driving his car through the pass when it reopens.
“The freeway is full of snow and ice,” he said, adding that his car “is not built for conditions like this.”…
Southbound I-15 also was closed by snow in the community of Primm, Nevada.
Snow also stopped or slowed traffic on other California roads, and numerous trees were toppled…
https://www.wgbh.org/news/national-news/2019/12/26/snow-rain-pound-southern-california
26 Dec: LA Times: Too much snow shuts Mountain High as Southern California storms blanket resorts
by Mary Forgione
But Mountain High in Wrightwood also received plenty of snow — actually too much — from the latest storm and was closed Thursday. It is expected to reopen Friday…
Snow did create some problems at Mt. Baldy Ski resort early Thursday, its website reported. “The roads are mess.” it said. “There is at least 6 inches at the tunnels, 1 inch in the village and 2 inches in the parking lot. The road is jammed at the tunnels….The forecast has 6 to 10 inches more on the way. Stay tuned while [we] get to work.”…
Meanwhile, Mammoth Mountain in the Eastern Sierra received 2 more inches of snow, bringing its totals to a little more than 10 feet at the main lodge. Snow continued to fall Thursday morning, and temperatures were in the teens and winds were brisk.
The storm that lashed Southern California created havoc across the region. The 5 Freeway’s Grapevine was closed because of snow, and trees and flooded roads made travel difficult and hazardous in some places in the Los Angeles area.
https://www.latimes.com/travel/story/2019-12-25/southern-california-ski-resorts-snow
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26 Dec: Xinhua: Scores die as cold spell continues in Bangladesh
DHAKA: A total of 50 people died in parts of Bangladesh due to the ongoing cold spell accompanied by chilly wind and drizzles since November.
The figure was reported by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) under the Ministry of Health on Thursday…
The cold spell and inclement weather particularly affected people in the northern region and those living in the open.
The Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BND) on Thursday recorded the lowest temperature of this year in a border town in Bangladesh’s north.
AK Nazmul, a meteorologist in Dhaka, told Xinhua Thursday, “Mercury plunged to its lowest 5.7 degrees centigrade in the country’s northern most sub-district, Tentulia, within Panchagarh district, 468 km away of capital Dhaka.”…
The freezing weather may continue for days, Nazmul said.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-12/26/c_138659667.htm
26 Dec: UnitedNewsOfBangladesh: Bone-chilling cold disrupts normal life in north
A shivering cold has hit the northwestern districts of the country as a mild to moderate cold wave is sweeping over some regions of the country, forcing people to stay indoors.
The cold wave is raging through Rangpur division and the regions of Mymensingh, Rajshahi, Nogaon and Sirajganj and it may continue, said a Met office bulletin…
In Panchagarh, the temperature dropped to 5.7 degrees Celsius in Tentulia on Thursday morning, country’s lowest in the season.
“This is the lowest recorded temperature so far this year,” said Arif Hossain, a meteorologist of Bangladesh Meteorological Department in Dhaka…
Tentulia, the last border town in Bangladesh’s north, experiences extreme cold weather in winter. Temperature dropped to 6.2 degrees Celsius on Wednesday.
***On January 8 last year, mercury dipped to 2.6 degrees in Tentulia, the lowest-ever recorded temperature in Bangladesh’s history…
Although the local administration has distributed 35,000 blankets, cold-hit people said termed it insufficient and residents of many areas are yet to receive warm clothes…
Meanwhile, the number of patients with cold-related diseases has increased here. Panchagarh Modern Hospital has reported a surge in outdoor patients…
Data released by the government on Thursday showed that a total of 5,481 people were affected by cold-related diseases across the country in 24 hours.
A minor girl and a mentally-challenged youth who suffered burn injuries in separate incidents of fire in Sundarganj and Sadullapur upazilas of Gaibandha, died at Rangpur Medical College Hospital early Thursday.
Dr MA Hamid Polash, chief of Burn and Plastic Surgery unit of the hospital, said Sadia and Alam, who sustained burn injuries while warming them in fire, were admitted to the hospital on December 18 and 20 respectively, and both died in the early hours of today.
Hospital sources said 26 burn patients were admitted to the hospital in the last 11 days after they suffered burn injuries in such fire incidents.
In Thakurgaon, an elderly woman was burned to death while warming herself in a fire at Bhomradaha village in Pirganj upazila on Wednesday night…
https://www.unb.com.bd/category/Bangladesh/bone-chilling-cold-disrupts-normal-life-in-north/39419
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Got back late yesterday Arvo after three shifts on the Currawan and Comberton fire in the Shoalhaven area. Travelled over with a team of 35 collected from across the Riverina-MIA. I doubt that any of them would class themselves as “heroes”, just a bunch of ordinary people who can see something bad happening and can’t sit back.
Conditions were relatively mild, the biggest danger being from working at night, in rough country, around moving vehicles and the occasional falling tree. The biggest obstacles were still a lack of quality information and coordination. We get allocated an area or a task, and have to sort it out ourselves. Not the biggest problem in the world for independent-minded people, but it all takes time and we want to get things done.
First night, we are fed, instructed to sort ourselves into crews and told to man the gaggle of trucks parked behind the shed at the emergency centre. The Strike-team Leader and I dive into the Incident Control Centre in search of tasks, Intel, maps and midnight lunches for the crews. Then it’s an hour down the Prince’s Highway to a location where there is fire and houses – our job being to keep them seperate. As I said, conditions are mild so the fire takes the form of fingers trickling around the gullies and Spurs of the eastern escarpment. We patrol the roads, !ovate residences, assess risk and chat with some wakeful home-owners. That’s how we pass the hours until it’s time to adjourn to the local Services club for a bacon-and-egg breakfast in the back beer-garden.
Next night it is rinse, lather, repeat…. the change in detail being that we are tasked to a smaller fire – only about 8km long – just south of Nowra. It is classed as “contained” but there is still a lot of timber alight within the boundaries, and some of those boundaries are very poorly defined. The boys on the tankers are set to blacking-out… cooling everything alight close to the edge…while we scout for problems and unsecured fire edge. There is a considerable amount of the latter, which is noted for attention by heavy machinery and the daytime crew.
Again, it’s not headline-grabbing work, but if we don’t do it well there will be a live fire very close to densely populated areas.
Third night, after another day of trying to sleep despite what our circadian rhythms are telling us, and we are directed to a 12km stretch of dozer-line stretching down a poser-line easement. We are to light up the edge, back-burning toward the main fire to make that area safe. If we lose control there, the only other control-line between the fire and the heavily-populated costal plain is the Highway. We split the crew, directing half to the southern end, then try to map-read our way in through bush tracks to the northern end.
No dice. We keep coming to sections that are too steep for anything but dozers. Certainly not appropriate areas for our heavily-laden tankers with their high centres of gravity. Then a hacksawed voice comes over the radio, ” Ya can’t send those blokes down there, that’s the bloody escarpment.!” Dennis is the local brigade Captain, pop-eyed for want of sleep, he has been working slave-hours for weeks, but he still has a sense of humour and enough energy to lead us around the hills to another dozer-cut. ” It’ll be a bloody good thing …. or words to that effect… if ya can get that burnt – if we don’t get it done, we’re about out of options!”.
Conditions are almost ideal by this time – almost 10:30 – so the drip-torches are primed, trucks lined up and the burn is started. 90% humidity, temperatures down to 20C and a breeze under 5kph and yet the fire is running up trees and flaring to 3m in height. Our heads are on swivels, constantly checking the unburnt bush behind us as embers are lifting through the canopy. No wonder the fires are breaking containment in the hotter conditions! The work grinds on, tankers creaking and swaying over the rough track, men on the back or on the ground silhouetted against our own version of Christmas lights. Hoses dousing anything that tries to burn too hot and the radio crackling as yet another truck announces and empty tank and a return to fill at the Shire water trucks waiting at the intersection. In the Command Vehicle we are checking, checking, checking. Time and progress, maps and grid-coordinates, tactics, safety, welfare and conditions.
The worst section, we save until late in the night… or what is now early in the morning. It is steep, narrow and without room to turn or pull a tanker out wide if the burn gets too hot. Refill the trucks, do a run with the hoses to camp down the side we don’t want burnt, then the torch-carriers go to work again as the first truck inches down in low ratio. That last 400m takes an hour and a half, but the lead truck pulls through the creek at the bottom, across another flat, then another creek. There is a minor flurry of activity as a tired torch-man misunderstands his instructions and starts dropping fire on The. Wrong. Side. but we get that rounded-up and tell ourselves that it is probably a hint that we should pull the pin before something worse happens. We haven’t completed the whole stretch, but we made it through the timber and out into the short-grazed open country below the escapement.
There have been bigger and more dangerous jobs over the last few weeks, but we have done something seriously worthwhile. We have made a difference.
Back at yet another station, we are fed yet more bacon and eggs by appreciative locals. They are the ones who have done the hard yards, looking after their own communities, but they would help us if the positions were reversed.
We’ll be back.
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PeterW,
You were tasked to the Currawan and Comberton fire.
My brother and niece are members of the local RFS unit that are also combating that fire.
You and 35 volunteers from other communities in the Riverina, sacrificed time from your families, travelled far to the NSW south coast and risked your lives by standing beside those communities and firefighters in their time of need.
I salute you PeterW and the nameless volunteers whom work tirelessly to keep us safe.
Thankyou.
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William…
My thanks in return.
Appreciation and quid pro quo are the “wages” of the volunteer.
As for the consequences of some kind of financial support….. most of us hate arsonists with a passion. From what i hear, their primary motivation is excitement and adrenaline , so it seems unlikely that a relatively low level of financial support would make a great deal of difference.
Cheers…… Peter.
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Question: What will be the unintended consequences of arranging payment for volunteer firefighters?
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Serp long campaigns the volunteer fire fighters deserve to be compensated , either a part tax break to the employer and or a direct payment to the volunteer .
As I understand it they are a proud bunch and don’t want payment but deserve it .
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Unintended consequences? Possible rorting by a few, lowlife opportunists. Keep a fire going indefinitely, you keep being paid indefinitely.
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The Newcastle sun newspaper records Bourke temp at 125F in 1938 and the country in a heatwave .
Also mentions this was a new record beating the previous that was recorded 7 years previous .
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Thank you so much for such a great forum Jo and the support team – please have a great New Year!
Some guy who’s voice and songs I love to hear.
Trust Somebody – Richard Clapton
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1pAhNLW72E
Distant Thunder – Richard Clapton
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yh5hbB6oH4s
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Top lady, top blog.
Keep on sticking it to the corporate blob, gween loonies/ alarmunists.
Jo Nova, she’s simply the best.
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banked a small donation Jo today
Does anyone know if the windmills and solar arrays are subject to the rigorous EPA assessments and native title clearances that all exploration and mining operations endure in W.A.? These add years to the start up times of any operation in W. A.
Keep the light burning
Geo John
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Thank you John!
Almost certain that new windmills etc are given mostly a wave through — they would face some EPA test (I assume) but since there is very little research done, the all inclusive literature review would declare that there is no known risk or damage….
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