Tuesday Open Thread

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105 comments to Tuesday Open Thread

  • #
    Jojodogfacedboy

    I am hoping our cops finally arrest our Prime Minister in Canada.
    This is the 3rd time he broke the law with handing out millions to charities that he has or family members have been paid. The Finance Minister too has his children being employed by this charity that is being reported now.
    The Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has even admitted on tv in he knows he has broken the law and hopes his apology will suffice.

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    • #
      Richard Ilfeld

      Both the US and Canada have double standards.
      Apologies, sincerity not required, are sufficient for the guilty the left.
      For those accused the right, termination, banishment, and permanent reputation destruction with no possibility of parole are normal.

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    • #
      Jojodogfacedboy

      Since this Pandemic has started, he has blown through $340 billion dollars on anything and everything with very little actually helping businesses and it’s citizens. Only $14 billion is going to the Provinces and cities. This is just 20% of what the Provinces and cities actually need. The Prime Minister can create the money which comes from the Bank of Canada while the Provinces and cities have to borrow it and were heavily indebted before the Pandemic.

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      • #
        OriginalSteve

        It gets more interesting…why defect unless the powers that be were going to clean house, maybe?

        I cant verify any of this, so take it as is…

        https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8513631/Scientists-Wuhan-virus-lab-defected-West-reveals-Steve-Bannon.html

        “Scientists from the Wuhan virus lab have ‘defected’ to the West, reveals senior Trump ally Steve Bannon – as FBI gathers evidence that coronavirus pandemic was caused by an accidental leak.

        “Experts from the Chinese laboratory at the centre of global suspicion over the coronavirus pandemic have ‘defected’ and are in the hands of Western intelligence, the architect of Donald Trump’s presidential victory claimed last night.

        Advertisement

        “Steve Bannon, who was Trump’s White House chief strategist and retains close links to the administration, told The Mail on Sunday that spies were building a case against Beijing on the basis that the global pandemic had been caused by a leak from the Institute of Virology in Wuhan and that the subsequent cover-up had amounted to ‘pre-meditated murder’.

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        Jojodogfacedboy

        The city of Toronto is looking at a 1.35 billion dollar deficit and would need to raise taxes 60% to meet the current needs…meanwhile they are renting 17 hotels for homeless and immigrants. Drastic cuts may need to be implemented to childcare and homelessness and transit says the mayor.

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  • #
    Yonniestone

    Ok waiting for an open thread to let some here know my CV-19 test came back negative last Friday, as I thought it was just a bad cold/mild flu but at least I’m clear and finally got some time off all be it a sick one.

    After watching Sky News Outsiders last Sunday some critical points were raised regarding CV-19 in Australia, the total lack of public information on where and how many actual cases are out there and how many deaths are officially recorded as CV-19 regardless of other factors.

    Also the dreaded term “herd Immunity” was used a few times as a question not an opinion, for what we know now of this virus what is the opinion of the good sceptics here on this topic?.

    Also the test itself isn’t pleasant but not terrible, two swaps up each nostril going deep into the sinus is better than risking others well-beings, hot tip bring a tissue.

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    • #
      GD

      That’s great news, Yonnie.

      You provided wonderful support to me some months ago when I reported feeling some symptoms of the virus. I didn’t get tested then, because at that time in Victoria they were only testing very sick people.

      Thanks for your support then and all the best getting over your cold/flu.

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      • #
        Yonniestone

        Thanks GD, I still want to catch up as Geelong’s not that far and we might be in another lock down soon?, I’m back at work and still kicking.

        00

    • #
      yarpos

      this site may interest you Yonnie

      it gives some more accessible breakdown info

      https://covidlive.com.au/

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    • #
      David-of-Cooyal-in-Oz

      G’day Y,
      Glad it was negative. And best wishes.
      SMH has today published the following, from work in Britain:

      New research casts doubt on coronavirus immunity
      Experts also warn on heart damage, while a top health official says the virus can linger in the air for an hour.
      http://www.smh.com.au/world/new-research-casts-doubt-on-coronavirus-immunity-20200712-p55bgh.html?btis

      Paywall. It says that the the antibodies developed decrease over a period of about 3 months.
      Cheers
      Dave B

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    • #
      Annie

      I hope you’ll soon be be fully well again Yonnie.

      10

  • #
    James Poulos

    I still don’t know of anyone in our community with Covid 19.

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    • #
      yarpos

      Its the sizzle rather than the steak they are selling James. The fear of the masive outbreak, the overflowing hospitals, ventilators and death.

      In other news, BBC online had a report on a study that showed likelehood of death from a Covid19 infection strongly tracked your statistical chance of death from any cause in the next 12 months. Interesting, statistics are like that though. Very low chance of a shark attack, but really cr@p if its you.

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    • #
      beowulf

      • In my small Hunter Valley town (pop 2,800) — 2 hospitalised (don’t know how serious) plus 1 dead (about 70 yo).
      • In my mother’s retirement village in a small city (pop 86,000) — 3 positive with no real illness (mostly mid to late 60s), all from the infamous Ruby Princess trip.
      • In another nearby retirement village 3 hospitalised, plus 1 dead (don’t know how old).

      These were all fairly early on during the scare and possibly all linked to the Ruby Princess. Granted, all those hospitalised were seniors with probable underlying conditions, but CV was around. The local government areas near me had other cases in the community too, but no details were available. The authorities liked to keep details of the locality and condition of those infected as vague as possible, but the numbers were greater than what I listed above. No other deaths though that I am aware of.

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      James Poulos

      But I do know dozens of people with the flu… maybe the media should report Covid Detections rather than Covid Infections.

      50

    • #
      Dennis

      Same for me, no Sydney based or NSW Mid North Coast and elsewhere.

      40

  • #
    Travis T. Jones

    A myth of a myth?

    ‘Baseload’ and renewable energy generation: exposing the myths

    “Federal Liberal MP Craig Kelly:
    “In Australia we need to get at least one or two of these [coal-fired power stations] built to ensure there’s enough baseload power in the grid.”
    https://www.energymatters.com.au/renewable-news/baseload-energy-generation-expose-myth/

    Defining baseload power.
    Baseload is the term commonly used to describe the amount of electricity demand required on a continuous basis, i.e. 24 hours a day all year round, to power continuous industrial processes, and essential services such as traffic lights, hospitals etc.
    https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp0809/09rp09

    Wait. What?

    Giant flywheel project in Scotland could prevent UK blackouts

    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jul/06/giant-flywheel-project-in-scotland-could-prevent-uk-blackouts-energy?CMP=share_btn_tw

    “The task of keeping the electrical frequency of the grid steady is becoming more challenging because Britain’s growing stable of renewable energy projects do not use the same giant spinning turbines that typically help to keep frequency stable. ”

    Myth busted!

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    • #
      Broadie

      Giant flywheel project in Scotland could prevent UK blackouts

      That’s the Falkirk wheel. Just took the brakes of and it is now spinning like a water wheel. Mind you, it has launched a few Scottish Mars missions in their canal boats.

      So now back to something equally ridiculous. You are celebrating using energy to spin a large mass to mimic something that previously existed. The purpose being to maintain a stable frequency of the grid. Pray tell how will this large additonal capital cost to the grid aid in restarting a grid after a blackout. This was South Australia’s problem after they removed the spinning inertia of the turbines from their grid.

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      • #
        Graeme No.3

        Ah, but it is an excuse to spend more money trying to make renewables work.
        SA is putting in 4 of these synchronous condensers at a cost of $160 million, or $95 a head.
        On top of that they want $1,700 million for a useless interconnector to the Outback.

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    • #
      AndyG55

      As proven several times over the last month, there needs to be enough reliable, dispatchable, COAL, GAS or hydro electricity supply available to cover 100% of electricity requirements.

      So why bother with the the massive expense of wind and solar, and their integration costs into the grid, when they still regularly fail to supply.

      The whole renewable economy is a total FARCE !!

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    • #
      Graeme#4

      Huntington Beach in the U.S. converted some of their old turbines in the disused coal power station to act as spinning synchronous condensers to stabilise their frequency.

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    • #
      Chad

      Travis T. Jones
      July 14, 2020 at 6:02 am ·
      A myth of a myth?

      ‘Baseload’ and renewable energy generation: exposing the myths

      Wait. What?

      Giant flywheel project in Scotland could prevent UK blackouts

      Myth busted

      Sorry Travis, …what myth exactly is exposed/busted here ?

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      • #
        Kalm Keith

        If you have a look at the “giant flywheel” it might complete one revolution every two or three minutes, flat out.

        Electricity as we know and love it has an oscillation frequency of 50 cycles/sec; Hz.

        Maybe Travis was being ironic.

        KK

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    • #
      Analitik

      There are 3 issues with these flywheel devices (of which synchronous condensers/ex generators are a subtype) for grid stabilization.

      The first is that they only store energy so that only help reduce the initial impact of a generation shortfall (or excess) event.

      The second is that the inertia they provide also acts as a drag on the recovery of the grid when generation is increased (or decreased) or demand is decreased (via load shedding/”demand management”) which increases the overall generation response required to cope with the event unless these flywheel devices are detached from the grid during the recovery phase (in which case they need to be resynchronized with the grid frequency and phase which generally would consume power from a local source).

      The third is that the working fluid in a thermal generator adds to the inertia the system so the contribution of these to system inertia is more than the simple mechanical flywheel effect of the components, understating the contribution of thermal generators to grid stability

      In short, a passive flywheel is nothing more than a bandaid and not even a stitch

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      • #
        Chad

        Analitik
        July 14, 2020 at 12:31 pm ·

        In short, a passive flywheel is nothing more than a bandaid and not even a stitch

        Yes…an EXPENSIVE bandaid, attempting to cure the SELF INFLICTED , septic wound , resulting feom excessive introduction of Solar and Wind to the grid supply.

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    • #
      Rowjay

      So the City of Sydney is now powered by 100% Renewables – except when its not.

      I respect them for the decency to put in the caveat:

      The city’s lights will still go on when there’s no sun or wind – We’re still connected to the national electricity grid, like most people. The grid receives and distributes electricity from all the generators (coal, hydro, wind and solar) in the country. Under the terms of our agreement, we pay the wind and solar farms to produce a certain amount of electricity and this feeds into the grid.

      Reminds me of the early days when starting out in family life with young kids and 18% mortgage rates. We used to get together with other families similarly struggling and have “bring a plate” dinners – a group took their own meals to someones house to share and have company – a cheap night out. There were always a few who weren’t sure whether they would make it, and if they did only brought crackers and dip – always accepted the regular shared meals though.

      Renewables are the crackers and dip of the power generator party – all carbohydrate and no protein.

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    • #
      John

      I didn’t know Amazon banned books. I wonder what other books they have banned.

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    • #
      yarpos

      There is an interesting video on Youtube of Ezra being interviewed by some quite smarmy govt official in Canada, electoral office i think. Its comes across as an Orwellian fishing expedition designed to shut him up.

      10

  • #
    OriginalSteve

    Possible concrete proof that Victorian lockdowns are not needed:

    Italian doctor says virus is now a bit lame :

    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-italy-virus-idUSKBN2370OQ

    And it seems the italian virus is dominant around the world, here – Cell article seems to indicate that what we have here is also the tame version:

    https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/public-global-health/505762-scientists-say-strain-of-coronavirus-dominant-around
    https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(20)30820-5
    ( need to see PDF version – has all the info toward last pages – detailed graphics etc )

    “A strain of the coronavirus that was first seen in Italy is now the dominant strain of the virus, a group of scientists said Thursday.

    In an article published by the peer-reviewed science journal Cell, researchers working with the Sheffield COVID-19 Genomics Group announced that the new strain “has become the most prevalent form in the global pandemic.”

    “The strain is different than what appeared in Wuhan, China, the city where the coronavirus is believed to have originated.
    “According to the science journal, tracking of the virus frequency revealed a prevalence of the dominant strain, labeled G614, that took over the prevalence of D614, the original strain.

    Ergo, assuming we have the same tame variant here, we should be opening up, not playing “destroy the economy by lockdowns”.

    I suspect the authorities would already know this, which makes you wonder……

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  • #
    el gordo

    This next US mission to Mars is going to test helicopter flight.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=163&v=vnH4yD0s8QM&feature=emb_title

    00

  • #
    Travis T. Jones

    Audi Snubs EVs, Says Will Continue To “Massively” Invest In Combustion Engines

    Audi CEO Markus Duesmann: combustion engines will be “alive for a very long time. This is why we continue to invest massively in the development of combustion engines.”

    https://cleantechnica.com/2020/07/11/audi-snubs-evs-says-will-continue-to-massively-invest-in-combustion-engines/

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  • #
    Graeme#4

    A local in Margaret River in the SW corner of WA noticed that the BOM official rain gauge wasn’t reporting any rain, so he advised the BOM. Three weeks later, the rain gauge still hadn’t been fixed. No doubt that region will be reporting a very low rainfall this winter…

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    • #
      Graeme No.3

      You surely don’t expect someone from the BOM to go out in the weather (cold and maybe rain)?
      At least it proves that none of them are avid wine buffs looking for an excuse to go there.

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      Dennis

      Not a problem, the BoM computer modelling has the projected Margaret River rainfall creatively accounted.

      sarc

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  • #
    David Wojick

    Climate models getting worse not better:

    http://www.drroyspencer.com/2020/06/cmip6-climate-models-producing-50-more-surface-warming-than-observations-since-1979/

    The hot CMIP6 models are embarrassing the modeling community. About time.

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  • #
    Chad

    https://www.energymatters.com.au/renewable-news/baseload-energy-generation-expose-myth/

    The CSIRO is investigating how that new system could operate. Engineers and scientists are working on how to forecast the output of a large solar farm, for example, because the good thing about coal-fired electricity generation is its predictability. To operate an electricity system with large amounts of renewable energy you need ways to store it so that when the wind dies or the sun sets, the energy is still available from a battery or hydro storage system.

    “We need to store energy and we can do that in large batteries that participate in energy markets, or we can store energy in tens of thousands of small batteries in people’s homes. They can participate in the same market,” Platt says.

    This means there is room for large batteries like the Tesla battery in South Australia to contribute to the electricity grid when need. But equally, solar batteries like the Tesla Powerwall 2 in people’s homes could play a part. By connecting tens of thousands of residential batteries through a smart network, an energy retailer or distributor could use them as one large power source.

    Why do inteligent, educated, experienced, people ignore obvious lessons from the past , and information from current experience ?
    Australia has been conductiong “real time” small and latge scale research projects on RE energy generation for 20+ years, and the results are readily available .
    King Island is a working “pilot for multiple mixed RE technologies ..solar, wind, batteries, dynamic capacitors, back up generators etc etc, and of course there is the ongoing daily feedback from S Australia to learn from.
    It is very obvious from these and many other examples, that Wind and Solar are not effective as a reliable generation system on any scale..
    ..so why do our decision makers continue to ignor this evidence.?

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  • #
    rowingboat

    A blogger named Tom who assisted us with our holiday a few years ago, has written a personal account of life in Vietnam during the pandemic, a country with no deaths and zero community transmissions for three months. It is nicely written, an engaging story and Part 1 of a trilogy, “Pre-Covid”. I’ve pasted a few snippets below.

    https://www.vietnamcoracle.com/pandemic-season-in-vietnam-pre-covid-lock-down-post-virus/

    “By mid-February, Vietnam had been dealing with coronavirus for almost a month, and it was very much in the public consciousness… Most notably, each new case since the first domestic patient was announced in late January, was reported in detail on every national news platform. We all knew exactly when and where the latest case was confirmed and the patient’s movements leading up to their testing positive…

    But, everywhere we went, people wore masks, people washed their hands with sanitizer and carried it with them about their person, pharmacies were open day and night, and the ‘Covid awareness campaign’ – in all its forms – was a constant presence…

    In Vietnam, the reaction to the unfolding catastrophe in Europe was, at first, quiet disbelief. But soon it threatened to become anger and outrage, as events transpired that led many in Vietnam to view the negligence and lack of discipline in Europe as a direct threat to the health and security of the Vietnamese people. Vietnam was about to experience its second wave (although the first had hardly been more than a trickle), and it arrived by plane from Europe…

    The next morning, a new Covid case was announced in the online news sites: a foreign man on Phu Quoc, who’d been on the island for a week during the same time my parents and I were there. Fortunately, because the government’s contact tracing was so thorough and the details made public immediately, I was able to read about the man’s movements on the island – and deduce from this information that neither I nor my parents were ever in proximity to him….

    The next morning, I paid my landlady three months’ rent in advance and rode out of the city again, this time with my tent, full camping gear, and food supplies. This may seem paranoid and absurd now, but at that time we really didn’t know what was going to happen in Vietnam, or the rest of the world for that matter… I only knew that I wanted to be anywhere but Saigon. As much as I love the city, it’s not the place I wanted to wait out a pandemic of unknown proportions…”

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  • #
    el gordo

    China floods have peaked.

    ‘Water level at Hankou hydrologic station in Central China, a crucial point of the Yangtze River, dropped Monday, as the flood peak passed through the section, according to the Bureau of Hydrology of the Changjiang Water Resources Commission.

    ‘Statistics provided by the bureau showed that the Hankou station in Hubei province registered a water level of 28.74 meters at 5:00 pm Monday, lower than the peak of 28.77 measured at 11:00 pm Sunday.

    ‘The peak level this time ranked fourth in history since 1865, after the levels in 1954, 1998, and 1999, according to the bureau.’

    China Daily

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  • #
    Kalm Keith

    Just noticed WXCycles extraordinary diatribe where I cop a spray.

    In clarification, I offer:

    Any small business owner who can’t withstand a 4 week “lockdown” probably doesn’t know enough to run a business and would probably be out inside two years anyhow.

    Unfortunately it’s been three and a half months and any small business that can survive that has my undying admiration.

    Given that I’m not fully convinced of the need for full lockdown as opposed to other available measures there’s a lot of potentially unnecessary damage out there on top of the CV19.

    Here’s the aggro.

    http://joannenova.com.au/2020/04/its-not-just-lungs-coronavirus-can-affect-brains-may-increase-stroke-risk/#comment-2316621

    KK

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    • #
      Peter C

      I have noticed that there are more and more people who are questioning whether the cure (economic lockdown) is worse than the disease.
      I notice that the mortality has dropped drastically almost everywhere now. Getting our freedom back is now a priority.

      People can act to limit their exposure to the virus and that is a matter of personal responsibility.

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      • #
        Peter C

        In Brazil the new cases seem to have peaked and are declining.

        President Bolsanaro has tested positive to Corona virus. He has been taking his hydroxychloroquine. His condition seems to be a mild illness, much less severe than Boris, who did not take his medicine.

        40

    • #
      Chad

      Kalm Keith
      July 14, 2020 at 12:41 pm ·
      Just noticed WXCycles extraordinary diatribe where I cop a spray.

      ?..? ..from 3 months ago !?..really ?

      01

      • #
        Kalm Keith

        Yes Chad.

        I was looking for something else and it popped up.

        My earlier comment on that “lost item” will be up soon.

        🙂

        10

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      • #
        Kalm Keith

        Here it is.

        Kalm Keith
        May 18, 2020 at 2:03 pm
        Age distribution a possible effect on CV19 spread.

        I suspect that one of the most interesting factors at play in Vietnam could be seen in the population dynamics.

        At the end of the Vietnam war in 1975, the population of the country was about 43 million.

        Currently it is just over 95 million.

        This means that at a bare minimum there are at least 52 million under the age of 45 years.

        Assuming that half of the original population has passed on, it is entirely likely that upwards of 75 million Vietnamese are under the age of 45 years.

        From the known behaviour of the virus elsewhere it would explain the low rate of serious issues.

        Also, given the absence of nursing homes, there is not the large number there just waiting for the CV19 to come calling so another factor to help reduce numbers.

        I believe that an area near Saigons main airport was used to hold incoming passengers after a certain date, for quarantine.

        Although the Maccas- Pizza Hut syndrome has struck, the bulk of the population still probably doesn’t present with the “large” western profile that seems to attract the CV19 bug.

        The border shutdown with China was enforced to the point that component parts from China for use in Vietnam’s factories were unavailable. This caused factory shutdowns and unemployment initially but there may have since been a workaround.

        KK

        http://joannenova.com.au/2020/05/weekend-unthreaded-311/#comment-2330839

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    Peter C

    Freidman 8, international Liberty Conference

    It is a few days now since the Freidman 8, international Liberty Conference was held as a 24 hour viewathon by computer.
    The conference has formerly been held at this time in Sydney over a weekend but that was scuppered by the Coronavirus pandemic.
    The alternative was a 24 hour presentation running from 8am (Sydney time) on Saturday 11 July 2020 until 8 am Sunday.

    I bought a ticket and watched about 16 hours, including 2-5am. I got up at 2am to watch a session called F.Hayek vs Ayn Rand. As it happens I have not read either of these authors. They are both heroes of the Libertarian movement. I may get around to reading Ayn Rand. In any case I know a bit more about them than I did before.

    There was an excellent line up of speakers, some of whom I had heard of before and many that I had not.

    Two topics which were discussed at some length were China (which is viewed as a big threat to the current world order) and the Cancel Culture (which is all about the intolerance of Wokeness). Of the two the Cancel Culture is the bigger threat because it is rot from within the Western democracies.

    By the end of the 24 hours I began to wonder if I really am a Libertarian. I did a test of my political compass and found that I am economically liberal but socially conservative, which is the same quadrant as Milton Freidman.

    Hopefully I can attend a real conference this time next year.

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    • #

      Peter C,

      When I started to read regularly, back in 1987, the aim was to get to a point where I felt comfortable reading some of the ‘classics’. In my late teens, with virtually not much history of reading, other than for high school book reviews, I started with one of those classics, and I struggled. I tried, but it was hard going, and in fact it put me off reading, thinking that if this was what it was like, then I really didn’t need to do it. A couple of years later, I started reading regular fiction, and found I enjoyed it. I read on a sporadic basis, and in January of 1987, I started to read constantly. Other than building up to those classics, I also wanted desperately to read Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand, as it was one of those ‘monster’ books, many many pages and small writing, and so, part of that regular reading process was to build up to that novel also, as being so long, it was a long investment of time.

      Why that particular novel?

      Years earlier in my twenties, so, in the early 70s, and during that first phase of reading I got back into, I got hold of The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. It was perhaps one of the best of the novels I read in that time, and because of that, I wanted to read Atlas Shrugged, but I felt I had to (just like with those classics) build up to it, as Atlas was a 1000+ pages novel, so it needed considerable time.

      I got around to Atlas in 1993, and I was not disappointed, well, a little, after finishing the novel, thinking that I would never read anything as good every again.

      I still read regularly, but now I’m really picky.

      The point here is that if you want to read Atlas Shrugged, there is that good lead in novel for that, The Fountainhead, which is similar in nature (the premise) but only half as long.

      You’ll have to look around for either novel, whichever way it goes.

      Tony.

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      Kalm Keith

      I’m looking forward to next year.

      As for the political nomenclature, I’ll just have to leave that.
      I am what I am.

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    For those living in Australia: I received an SMS this morning, allegedly from Centrelink, stating that they were going to call from a hidden number, and that I should have my ID documents ready. Most likely it’s a scam. So beware, and tell your friends.

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    Graeme No.3

    Re the ABC:

    Rather than trying to reform it, a sisyphean task at best, or shutting it down which would result in unrest among the gullible I suggest that it be turned into a subscription service. Not everyone would want the whole lot so I suggest the subscription be split into 5 parts
    News and Current Affairs
    Children’s channel
    Teenagers/ music channel
    Country service + emergency info.
    BBC repeats
    People could subscribe for as many channels as they want but each bit would cost $29.20 a year (8¢ a day). If only one third of the population purchased 5 packages then the income would be around $1.2 billion. The ABC would be free of government interference, and most of the general public left with a bit more money for stimulating the economy.
    If 45% of the population (as claimed by the ABC as viewers) took only 3 channels then the ABC would still be OK. If they all took the 5 channels then the ABC would have 50% more and could give their employees a big pay rise and they would be as happy as Peppa Pig.

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      Peter C

      Great idea G3.

      All my friends and Reles say the ABC is essential. Would they pay? Many of them take foxtel so possibly they would do so.

      I might even consider one channel so that I could watch reruns of Father Ted.

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      Kalm Keith

      Sounds good.

      00

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    Another Ian

    Essential reading IMO

    “BBC Asks Dr. Willie Soon to Respond to Climate Conspiracy Claims”

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/07/13/bbc-asks-dr-willie-soon-to-respond-to-climate-conspiracy-claims/

    10

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    Another Ian

    “Ban Neonics – Hurt Farmers and Bees”

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/07/13/ban-neonics-hurt-farmers-and-bees/

    Another “Fire, Aim, Ready”

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    Another Ian

    For those who played with Daisy type air rifles

    https://utahairguns.com/fx-impact-mkii-power-plenum1/

    Up to 30 calibre!

    Mind you Lewis and Clark took a high powered air rifle on that first trip across North America

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      Kalm Keith

      A friend had a Daisy back in the 50s.

      We were occasionally able to fire a few shots at a matchbox or similar.

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      el gordo

      Pre Pandemic

      ‘For those who look to horoscopes for guidance, the big event for the 2020s is that Pluto and Saturn will align in the sign of Capricorn for the first time in 500 years. This is a big deal: the conjunction of Pluto and Saturn rarely happens (it was last seen in 1982), and it’s sparked some of history’s most significant moments, such as the start of the first world war, the second world war, the cultural revolution of the 1960s and the economic recession of the 1980s.’

      Vogue / Dec 2019

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        Bill In Oz

        EG, No doubt Vogue knew that this conjunction
        Would also lead to the sun having less sunspots
        And the Earth climate cooling.
        But when will they tell it’s female readers in Australia ?
        Or the Holy blessed Greta in Sweden ?
        🙂

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    • #
      Chad

      dinn, rob
      July 15, 2020 at 3:36 am ·
      try this if you dare
      https://balance10.blogspot.com/2020/07/conventional-vs-unconventional.html

      It would appear that my much tested “Bull5h1t / drivell” filters,….prevent me from comprehending anything from that link !
      Excellent !

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      • #
        el gordo

        Mr Dinn is mixing his memes, its complex enough without the mumbo jumbo, so we take one step at a time.

        ‘The Saturn Pluto conjunction in Capricorn of 2019-2020 will be a milestone in the History of humanity.

        ‘This conjunction happens every 40 years and every 500 years in a specific sign. For this reason, if we want to understand how it is going to manifest in the sign of Capricorn shortly, we need to use the time machine that is, the ephemeris, go back and check the historical context of last time it happened.’ Patrick Giani

        In 1520 the Aztec civilisation was wiped out by a pandemic and Martin Luther created a schism.

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  • #
    David Wojick

    Message to the President of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences
    By David Wojick
    https://www.cfact.org/2020/07/14/message-to-the-president-of-the-u-s-national-academy-of-sciences/

    The beginning: “In the ongoing effort to clearly summarize their position, CLINTEL has published a Scientific Manifesto in the form of ten propositions. These specifically address, among other things, the role of National Academies in protecting the integrity of science, in the face of alarmist dogma.
    Since the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has evolved from guardians of science to an alarmist fortress, I thought it interesting to contrast the basic CLINTEL Manifesto with the statements of NAS President Marcia McNutt.”

    There is a lot more in the article.

    Please share this.

    David

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  • #
    David Wojick

    Big battery scam: https://www.power-eng.com/2020/07/14/gateway-energy-storage-projects-brings-62-mw-online-to-california-grid/

    Taken from the LS press release. All MW, which is just the discharge capacity. Storage capacity in MWh never revealed or mentioned. I see this all the time. Making batteries sound like generators.

    No doubt the storage capacity is trivial compared to the wind or solar it is supposed to backup, typically 20 minutes or less. But people think it is real and big.

    An industry-wide renewables scam.

    David

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    • #
      Dennis

      Renewables industry reporters never use accurate data, battery exaggeration is one example, like magician’s trick illusions.

      Capacity Factor is hardly ever mentioned, never when advertising new “farms”, in fact the woke NSW Minister for Environment stated recently, according to Sky News, that a new solar business in Western NSW will have the capacity to replace all of the NSW power stations. Not even if Nameplate was achievable 24/7.

      It’s called marketing hyperbole and puffery, or as PM Gillard said: hyperbowl.

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  • #
    Peter C

    NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian seems to understand the problem

    https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/nsw-premier-shuts-down-lockdown-talk-as-cases-rise/ar-BB16J057?ocid=msedgntp

    “We can’t shut down every time we have a cluster of cases,” Ms Berejiklian told A Current Affair.

    “We can’t keep shutting down and reopening, that is not a good way for us to manage the pandemic.”

    The initial shutdown brought time to get organised and work out how to manage the ongoing coronavirus situation. That having been done (or not done in the case of Victoria) it is time to move back toward freeedom, prosperity and economic life.

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    • #
      Chad

      And on the subject of state border closures..
      It is now confirmed that the latest NSW outbreak (Crossroads hotel hotspot). Wa linked to a commercial truck driver from Victoria.
      As N Latham pointed out, interstate trucking is essential , not just for commerce and the econonmy, but also for food and fuel etc supplies around the country, and those vehicles cannot be prevented from interstate travel.
      So , until we have robo trucks, or lock the drivers in their vehicles 24/7,… its going to be difficult to stop interstate “leakage” .

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      • #
        Bill In Oz

        Drivers doing such trips need to be quarantined while in a clean state.
        OR
        Swap prime movers & drivers at the borders..
        Awkward for a while
        But it works.

        03

        • #
          Chad

          Drivers can spend days at a time out of their home state.
          Do you prevent them using public facilities, cafe’s, toilets, motels, etc ??
          And unless you are going to completely rearrange and manage the logistics, how will an owner driver organise a prime mover swap at a border ( or multiple borders ?) and somehow get HIS trailer returned with his return load ?
          The complications are numerous and the economics destroyed…= end of owner drivers. !
          These guys are truck drivers not logistics guru’s.

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          • #
            Dennis

            Having used owner drivers for interstate branch warehouses and customers direct for over twenty years at my last and final place of employment I know what prices are charged by the big trucking firms if there is no owner driver alternative.

            I also know the value of long term owner driver relationships with a business, like driver offloading his own truck at a company warehouse using a forklift truck after business hours and then having a sleep as required by log book law.

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      • #
        Dennis

        If most coastal people could see the Road Trains inland and what they carry maybe trucking and essential service would be a surprise?

        Prime movers towing four fuel tanker trailers or similar with all kinds of cargo.

        10

  • #
    robert rosicka

    Here’s one for the aluminium hat brigade.

    A car in SA at the airport with number plates “COVID19” is causing some alarm at the ABC , seems it may have been first registered in September last year .

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-13/car-with-number-plate-covid-19-parked-at-adelaide-airport/12448962

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