Midweek Unthreaded

8 out of 10 based on 21 ratings

144 comments to Midweek Unthreaded

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    Sceptical Sam

    Viv Forbes has a very well written piece in American Thinker;

    The Despotic Green New World is coming. Climate alarm is the stalking horse, “sustainable development” is the war cry, and global government is the goal.

    https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2018/03/tomorrows_grim_global_green_dictatorship.html

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      PeterS

      That’s their plan – destroy the West. By the time most Westerners wake up to that fact it will be too late, if it isn’t already.

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        Peter C

        Thanks goodness for American Leadership, and Donald Trump.

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        • #
          Sceptical Sam

          Yes indeed.

          However, it seems that the UK and Australia are destined to get the stupidity of the mad Prince instead:

          https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-charles/nature-cant-take-unrestrained-growth-prince-charles-idUSTRE5677CO20090708

          You can’t fix stupid.

          Time for an Australian Republic is rapidly approaching.

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          • #
            Hanrahan

            It has taken time but Germany has formed a coalition government with Merkel having her wings clipped. The big loser is the energy minister, father of energiewende, who has been given the boot. Italy has made a definite move to the right in their elections and Canadians must be embarrassed every time Trudeau goes public [his trip to India was truly cringe-worthy]. Surely they can’t reelect him.

            Hopefully Trump will not be standing alone for long. Pity Canberra and the press despise him, he has some good ideas.

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            • #
              Phantor 48

              “Surely they can’t reelect him.”

              The only thing that matters to some people is that Trudeau has nice hair. The fact that there is no brain beneath it is of little consequence.

              Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.

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          • #
            Kinky Keith

            Charles can have no influence on the operation of Australia’s government, but if we vote for a republic now there may be two problems.

            If we decide to go republic who will guarantee that the pollys don’t write up a system that makes our Democratic process weaker.

            It may also be taken as a vote of confidence in the current leadership and I can’t imagine many Australians really think we have good leadership.

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            • #
              OldGreyGuy

              > I can’t imagine many Australians really think we have good leadership.

              I just sprayed coffee all over my monitor at that thought

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          • #
            glen Michel

            It is high time that monarchists abandon their attachment to the crown.Prince Charles has spent too long living with the little people at the bottom of his organic garden.

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            • #
              Hanrahan

              I couldn’t care less about Charlie, the SYSTEM has served well. And we get it free, the Poms keep Ma’m in the luxury to which she is accustomed, we don’t pay a penny.

              And I’m not a Monarchist, I dislike royalty in general and the Windsors in particular.

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          • #
            James

            I don’t see how Australia becoming a republic would help. After all Malcolm Turnbull led the failed yes campaign for the referendum to become a republic back in the late 90’s.

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            Dennis

            “The word “Commonwealth” is of course the more English term for the essentially Latin derived word “republic”. When Australian constitutional monarchists refer to Australia as being a “crowned republic”, they will sometimes contrast this with the republican models proposed in the 1998 Constitutional Convention, describing these as “politicians’ republics”. Indeed, this term was used by the No case campaign in the 1999 referendum. It would of course be tedious to refer repeatedly in this paper to a “politicians’ republic”. Instead I refer to the alternative to our constitutional monarchy as a vague and undefined “republic”, without in any way conceding that Australia is not already a republic, that is a crowned republic.
            Australia’s rich experience in assessing attitudes to the Crown is a direct result of the long campaign for change to a republic, which was such a dominating feature of political life in the country in the last decade of the 20th century.”

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          • #
            OriginalSteve

            You dont think whoever you will be allowed to “vote” for wont be hand picked by the Elite to further the green madness?

            Our history to date suggests this will occur. The Elite will control both sides of the argument – they are already doing so.

            I suspect Donald Trump is a closet leftist, hes just been a very good actor so far.

            Watch what he does on gun control and NAFTA ( NAFTA is about creating a Canada-US-Mexico Socialist super state ). Its also interesting to note that free trade agreements are a central plank of communism….which is why many govts around the wall who are UN flunkies are all in for them….

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        • #
          PeterS

          He’s just one man against a whole tribe of anti-Trump haters. He might or might not be a great leader – history will decide, but the American voters selected him so give him a fair chance. If he doesn’t do well then they can vote for someone else next time – that’s their version of democracy in action, which in some ways is better than ours which allows a PM to be pulled down because the polls say they don’t like the PM despite the fact the polls represent a tiny fraction of the voters, and possibly many that do respond to the polls aren’t even eligible to vote! We should modify our system such that if the party wants to replace their leader as PM they have to go to another federal election. That would be a much better democracy than the one we currently have.

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          • #
            PeterS

            Better still let’s become a republic as Sceptical Sam noted. Trouble is we better make sure we get the right version of a Republic. The one Turn bull tried to push some time ago was useless.

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            • #
              Graeme No.3

              PeterS:

              What is necessary is to exclude ALL current republicans from being part of the planning. They have no ideas just a slogan.

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              • #
                PeterS

                This clears up the confusion between a Republic and a Democracy. Yes there is a difference and it’s very subtle and difficult to see without a thorough analysis of history. The founding fathers of the US Constitution hated Democracy and instead went with a Republic. Why America is a Republic, not a Democracy

                Having said all that, we use the term democracy (lower case) to describe a system where the people elect representatives to form government. This can apply to both a Democracy and a Republic.

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                Hanrahan

                There is no “reply” button on PeterS’s post but thank you, I have often heard that the US is not a democracy but a republic. Now I know the difference.

                It also explains their near decline into an oligarchy since they did in JFK, that was Act 1. The election of Clinton was to be the Final Act with the Bushes and Obama setting scene. And it explains why there is so much opposition to Trump by people who would deny being communists, they want a democracy so they can vote to confiscate the wealth of others. The fools don’t know how fleeting that period would be before the oligarchy took over. Even the AGW scam is explained.

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                PeterS

                Yes Hanrahan; the reason I suspect there is no reply button is that there is a limit on the number of levels in a thread. As for your point, yes history is full of the same playback. All Republics end up being a dictatorship before collapsing. Sometimes they go through a Democracy phase, such as the modern West today, including the US. A byproduct of that is the ballooning of the size of the government. Clearly today have far too many public servants and so called expert advisors, most of whom do either nothing useful or do more harm than good.

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            • #
              Hanrahan

              America is a Republic with a strong constitution but is a nation divided. What we see now is not a Dam – GOP thing it is coup – counter coup. The deep state would assassinate Trump without a second thought but it is not 1963, the population would not quietly accept that again. But Trump can’t arrest Clinton, Obama and their co-conspiritors for sedition without a similar uprising. What we are observing is a deadly dance as in cobra V mongoose.

              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyuIAUlL5IU

              I think Trump will win, he is setting up his chess pieces for the checkmate. Nothing is mentioned here but he signed an EO a couple of months ago which gave himself extraordinary powers to seize assets of a list of people, some named some described but paedophiles were included. Also a couple of months ago Gitmo underwent a refurbishment, it is said to now be suitable for VIP clients. A National Guard provo battalion has been called up and sent to Gitmo. Late last week there was a rewrite of the military code of justice redefining “enemy combattants” among other things. If you think about it, if the Administration put high profile democrats on trial in civil courts it would a bigger circus than the OJ trial with probably the same results. Military courts solve this problem.

              Find a comfortable chair, get your popcorn and let’s watch the show.

              Sorry I’ve gone off topic but if that’s a republic I’ll put up with Charlie, as long as he stays home.

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            • #
              Bodge it an Scarpa

              Let’s just make voting non compulsory! Then only those wh really care about the country and the important issues facing us would be bothered to drag ourselves away from the idiot box and vote legitimately.

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              • #
                el gordo

                ‘Let’s just make voting non compulsory!’

                Better to keep compulsory voting, we can always vote informally.

                That is scribbling across the ballot paper ‘a pox on both yer houses, CO2 does not cause global warming’ is a gratifying experience.

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              • #
                Russ Wood

                In the last South African election, the “not voting” was a vote against President Zuma, without the voters having to go so far out on a limb as to vote against their “holy” ANC.

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            • #
              Hanrahan

              I would never vote for a popularly elected prez. The last thing we need is a Senate vetoing legislation and THEN a Prez having final authority, if elected he/she would claim legitimacy. OTOH whats the point of a re-badged GG?

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              • #
                Kinky Keith

                I think we are safer from the depredations of the political class under the present system.
                Just imagine President Shorten or Trumble.

                Both the Queen and Charles have no effect on us but the idea of turning Tasmania into an Aussie gitmo with a battalion of Gettup Guards ready to “look after” the troublesome opposition isn’t something to look forward to.

                Until Australian politics improves I would vote for the status quo as the more “democratic” option.

                KK

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            • #
              Another Ian

              A term to keep in mind around any move towards republics IMO

              “They Admire His Basic Pricktatorship”

              http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2018/03/they-admire-his-9.html

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            • #
              Glen Michel

              I reflect sometimes about the sum of history – it’s falsity,tendency and fact.When it all come down to is this certain feeling of temporarality. So be the winds; best to ride with them .

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    • #
      Serp

      Thanks SS, it’s a succinct piece.

      I note that improved education does not feature among the green desiderata; indeed one can correlate the decline of our education system with the rise of support for green agendas. It’s no coincidence the Australian greens oppose selective schools.

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    • #
      Bushkid

      It’s a good article, also appears at Pickering Post. Viv’s a regular there.

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  • #

    They already tried sustainable development with suddenly and drastically reduced population along with regrowth to wilderness over vast areas. The accidental experiment in global cooling and people culling is called the 14th century. It wasn’t good.

    Get yourselves another hobby, warmies.

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  • #
    Bodge it an Scarpa

    Tony from Oz. I posted a question for you on the ‘weekend unthreaded’ post #54,probably a bit late and too far down for you to have seen it. I won’t repeat the post in its entirety again here. Could you be so kind as to clear up some confusion I have re relative installed capacity of Wind farms in both the country of Denmark with 6100 turbines for 5300mw and here in OZ with 2106 turbines for 4327 MW. How is it that OZ claims roughly around 80% installed capacity of Denmark with only a little over one third as many turbines ? I would have assumed Denmark, being a major manufacturer of turbines to have the latest and greatest in turbine technology compared to the duds we get here!

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    • #
      Graeme No.3

      Are we talking name plate or actual capacity? I suspect the former.
      A lot of Danish wind turbines went in years ago so are quite small capacity. That would reduce the average capacity to the 0.87MW as above figures suggest (v Australia’s 2.0MW). Indeed quite a number of smaller Danish turbines (rumoured to be over 1000) are apparently no longer working because the cost of maintenance makes it uneconomical to keep them running.

      As for actaul capacity you must allow for a lower capacity factor for on-shore Danish turbines (around 21-23%) v Australia 30%. The newer (and larger) turbines being installed in Denmark are off-shore so have higher capacity figures (and costs). The economics are complicated, and usually hidden, as much Danish wind electricity is exported cheaply to the larger Norwegian and Swedish markets; the price being reduced (even to negative) because of the growth of the German turbine numbers and their need to export surges and prevent destabilisation of the grids. More so as the Poles and Czechs now have phase shifting transformers installed to stop the Germans crashing their grids. The Swedes and Norwegians are quite happy to sell electricity back to Denmark when the wind isn’t blowing, but they charge a lot more for that, one of the reasons for the high cost of electricity in Denmark.

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      • #

        Bodge it an Scarpa,

        it’s basically what Graeme No.3 mentioned above as correct. They started way earlier than we did, and in those early days, the Units in the nacelles were a lot smaller than they are now.

        They have offshore wind turbines (higher Nameplate per Unit) which we do not, so that bumps up (slightly) the Capacity Factor. Even so, with 5300MW of Installed Capacity (also called Nameplate) and 4700GWH of generation, that CF still only comes in at a little more than 31%, compared to similar here in OZ. (30%)

        Also keep in mind here that while you think of Denmark as a Country, hence naturally big, it is only two thirds the area of Tasmania, and while they have significantly more people than Tasmania, the total power consumption of Denmark is only 10.5TWH compared to Tasmania at around 8.5TWH, (Tasmania 4% of the Oz total power consumption) so Denmark is basically a relatively tiny consumer of electrical power. Consider that South Australia consumes around the same power as Denmark, and they also claim (around) 40% of their power from wind power. So here for Denmark, you have a large nameplate for wind in a very small area, more wind Nameplate than Oz, only in an area 0.55% the size of Australia.

        It (wind power) works better with smaller overall power totals than on larger ones.

        Closer area, tighter also, hence less losses also.

        Tony.

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      • #
        Bodge it an Scarpa

        Cheers Graeme, those figures from both the Danish and Australian Wind Industry, via Google both stated “installed capacity” which I assume would be nameplate. Or maybe the Danes are being more honest than the Aussies and are quoting actual delivered capacity !
        Other than auto engineering, I know little about anything else, but with Denmark being blessed with ideal conditions for WindPower, I would have expected that their onshore turbines would have delivered better efficiency % than our 30% average ! What factors are involved that cause them to be less efficient?

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        • #

          What factors are involved that cause them to be less efficient?

          In answer to that particular question, Denmark has lower onshore wind speeds than optimal for wind power, hence the greater concentration of offshore wind power, where wind speeds are a lot higher.

          Further to what I mentioned above, we have the largest wind plant in Australia, the Macarthur wind plant, and that’s around 250Km as the crow flies from Melbourne.

          This may be a little difficult to imagine. Make a rectangle with the vertical sides at Macarthur and Melbourne. For the horizontal sides, draw them through Warrnambool and Ballarat, so now you have a rectangle. The area of that rectangle is a little bigger than the area of Denmark.

          Now, shoehorn every wind plant in Australia into that area, and then add a further 20% more in Nameplate value.

          That’s now the same wind power in the same area as for Denmark.

          Copenhagen is the largest city in Denmark and has a population of of just under 800 thousand people. The population of Melbourne is six times greater than Copenhagen, and Melbourne of itself consumes almost twice as much power as the whole of Denmark.

          It’s all relevant to the area and population being supplied with electricity, and the grid is commensurately tiny by comparison with Australia, hence considerably less losses than we would have here in Australia.

          Tony.

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          • #
            Bodge it an Scarpa

            It would be bad form for me to retire from commenting here before thanking you Tony, Graeme, Elgordo etc for happily and patiently sharing your wealth of collective knowledge, mostly in easy to understand language, for those of us with little scientific experience. Keep up the good work.

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            • #

              Bodge,

              thanks for that.

              I tried to do facebook, and not just in a cursory manner either, as I did sink some time into it for a year or so, but what I did find was that there were not enough hours in the day, literally.

              I like to take my time to explain things in a manner people can more easily understand, not all that easy with something which is so technical, and with what I do already at my home site, and that’s more than just my own Posts, then the time element of it all becomes (and became) too much. What I have found is that others will take (what I may perceive to be) my knowledge on the subject, and they will then take those facts to sites like facebook. My home site and here are the two places I do the most at. I spend more hours a day in front of the computer now than what I ever did in any job I was doing in earlier lives.

              It’s not laziness on my part, or even what might be seen as an unwillingness to engage, just a case of time management.

              Tony.

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              Graeme No.3

              Thanks, but one further thing. Wind varies (despite what Greenies assume) and from year to year. In the UK the average capacity factor is listed is 26% but that has varied between 21+ and 27.5% on an annual basis. Also location as turbines in England are less productive than those in Wales or Scotland (hence the rush to build turbines in Scotland). The best I have heard of in the UK is the 3 turbines outside Lerwick in Shetland that average about 47% (no surprise if you’ve been to Shetland). ** German on-shore turbines average 16-18%.
              Australia (and Texas) get good results at 30-33% CF. I would expect the west coast of Tasmania to be a bit more as the closer to the Poles the stronger the winds. Heard Island would do better but their isn’t that much need for electricity down there.

              ** Shetland intends relying on diesel generators but using the variable wind turbine output to heat large tanks of water for house heating and reducing the demand for conventional electricity. The Tasmanians would be sensible to use any wind power for pumped hydro (although that is a bit expensive) and avoid variable supply.

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    • #
      MudCrab

      You must also allow for the fact that when it comes to ‘Renewables’ using SI units is openly frowned upon.

      The Politically Correct power units for reporting these wonders of modern science is of course The Household. Exactly what a Household is in terms of energy requirements is slightly vague and ill defined, but being able to fill the ABC nightly news with the words ‘will bring power to 2000 households’ does bring a nice warm fuzzy to our social elites.

      Remember, you should never give a solid answer you might be held to later when you can make a soft general statement instead.

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  • #
    Bodge it an Scarpa

    Once again, I appeal to members here who may also be Facebook users to assist the few of us who bother to engage with and counter the dubious claims of the various Renewable Energy firms that regularly attempt to spruik their wares on that medium. I’m feeling lonely,outnumbered and outgunned out there -:)

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    • #
      Geoffrey Williams

      Bodge, I would love to help and give the facebook crowd a bit of an arse-kick regarding their ‘climate illusions’ (good name for a website).
      However my wife uses ‘our’ desktop computer for her her own facebook and I dare not intrude into her space there!
      If I was to create an account of my own on facebook I have to be sure that my blogs are completely separate to hers though we might have to share some friends.
      I have my own Samsung iphone, and I may attemt to create my own account using my own password etc. Any advice would be appreciated. GeoffW

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      • #

        Try using two different browsers such as chrome and firefox. It worked for me until I got another desktop. Facebook may ask who you are not or something to that effect but entering your password by hand should fix that.

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      • #
        GreatAuntJanet

        Have been on FB for about 3 years but can no longer stand the wasting of time and the drivel all over it – so I deactivated my account at the beginning of the week, and am still de-toxing. Sorry, but my advice would be – don’t start, just like smoking or heroin…

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      RAH

      Can’t help you man. I’m not on FB. never have been. and don’t think I ever will be. Nor do I twitter or tweet.

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      MudCrab

      I tolerate FBook because of the groups I am a member of who use it as a quick and easy method to group communicate, and for the people I stay in touch with overseas or interstate.

      I certainly don’t want to encourage the thing or give it a false sense of legitimacy.

      You are on your own, sorry.

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      • #
        Bodge it an Scarpa

        So you both prefer to just comment among this cosy little club, where your opinions and knowledge rarely reaches the great unwashed and misinformed in the outside world. Attitudes like that explain why we are losing this Climate Change/ renewable energy war!

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        • #
          Annie

          Sorry Bodge but one has to know one’s own limitations.

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          • #
            Annie

            I have enough of a fight on with a couple of things atm and have only so much mental and nervous energy. I do engage locally and with others overseas spreading the word but will not use FB et al.

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          • #
            Bodge it an Scarpa

            A retired motor mechanic,I personally have severe scientific limitations, Annie ! But that doesn’t stop me from sharing on FB information and some comments from this site that I deem credible, in an attempt to try to counter bogus claims by the Climate Change/ Renewable Energy protagonists ! In my humble opinion, those that replied in the negative are displaying an elitist, snobbish attitude toward any form of social media. How the hell do you all expect to inform the fence sitters re subjects important to us here when you are simply happy to just comment and agree on ing each other, save the one or two trolls that occasionally make a appearance ?
            Anyway, I’ll continue to visit this blog and occasionally share information and comments, but I am done commenting here. Best of luck to you all.

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            • #
              Annie

              It’s nothing to do with elitism or snobbishness Bodge and I’m sorry that you intepreted it as such. Actually, it is unfair of you to make that assertion.

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            • #
              OriginalSteve

              Bodge, its really easy – I have mates who are concreters and farmers who I email regularly, who talk to their mates at the pub. Word is getting around, people know farcebook censors anti-leftist / anti-green talk, and most of them exist in their own active network outside social media, and its quite powerful.

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            • #

              Bodge, insisting that people join FB to fight the good fight is like telling us to turn on the TV to watch Q&A, Kochie, the ABC harpies etc so we can know the “issues” and respond in some way. Obviously one can interact more readily with FB, but that is also a source of its power.

              My extreme opinion is that all the corporate media are one giant pestilence and that even much of what passes for alternative media is an extension of that giant pestilence. (Pretend enemies/allies like Wikileaks, Infowars, Young Turks are examples of how people can be lured in by off-centre opinion, sometimes authentic and sincere, only to be herded back to the mainstream on the really critical matters. And, yes, I know I just lost a few friends.)

              It’s not as simple as ditching CNN and the ABC for me. The media need to have their power broken by starvation, indifference and ridicule. If you see arguing on FB as a good thing, I can’t criticise. You may be right. You’re a guy with a lot of good stuff to say.

              But my way is to turn them off. In the case of FB, I took one look and never turned it on in the first place. We often hear of the “Deep State”. It’s time we we talked about the “Privatised State”, where rock star entrepreneurs like Zuckerberg, Bezos and Musk are not just extensions of government but are agents of the very worst side of government: snooping, fibbing, muddling and bilking. What globalists do.

              I’m not above FB. I just don’t want to be under it, or under that giant Privatised State of which it forms an important part.

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              RickWill

              There are three things that should not be discussed in polite company – politics, religion and money. So debating CAGW on Facebook breaks that rule on all three counts.

              If there is a “friend” you care about who has a misguided view, address that view in private one-on-one.

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                Hanrahan

                I sometimes listen to Scott Adams and he says that he has lost a lot of friends and that his work outside his cartoons has dried up since he started speaking of Trump in a positive way. Best stay anonymous.

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                RAH

                Ya know, this truck driver keeps his CB off most of the time on the road and the reason I do is because of the constant stream of ignorant, worthless, whining, juvenile drivel that comes over the speaker. One has to wade through tons of manure before they find a pearl of wisdom there. I figure much of social media is the same. It’s not a fear of verbal confrontation because as an SF soldier in training I learned to laugh that stuff long ago. You have to when you and your combined family are being denigrated verbally in about every way imaginable.

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                James

                @RAH do you have truckies apps in Australia? Hardly anyone talks on the CB anymore in the US. We use the trucker path app to keep tabs on the DOT (scalies or rotamixer). Also show if there are parking spot available at truck stops and rest areas.

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                RAH

                Yes we have an app we use that does all that plus has driver reports and directions and ratings for various consignors and consignee facilities. I find I can get by the majority of the time without using it for the most part though. Other than at customer facilities where they have you use the CB I use mine only when there is a back up to either figure out if I’m going to go around or stay put or to find out the lane I need to be in when some lanes are closed.

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              robert rosicka

              Bodge it and scarpa I’m on faceache just type my name in and I’ll help where I can however I feel the world won’t fix till it’s broken but we can try .

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                Bodge it an Scarpa

                Just a quick reply to say thanks Robert, but there appears to be two of you with the same spelling, so if I tag you for help, the other bloke will wonder WTF am I on about lol. Also want to add that Mosomo overstates the Facebook censorship in his reply to me below. I do give the MMGW and Renewable energy protagonists a good arse kicking in my replies, and none of them have disappeared, and I have never been banned. What’s more, some of my more heated replies are acknowledged by members I don’t know and are not on my list of friends. El Gordo, I always try to reference Jonova in my anti GW/ RE posts.

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                Bodge it an Scarpa

                Sorry, I meant that Mudcrab over states FB censorship, not Mosomo.

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              Bushkid

              Bodge, I do do the face book thing, but only in a personal way to keep in contact with a few people; and for my small business, as it is a free connectivity and spruiking platform if used correctly. Unfortunately, because my business is connected, I do have to be careful to keep my posts neutral when I can. While I would rather shout to the rooftops what people really need to hear, I would lose enough of my livelihood to make it prohibitive. It’s a sorry pass we’ve come to when I have to curtail my commentary to protect my income, but there it is. I do, however, have an alias under which I post freely……

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          MudCrab

          No Bodge, I prefer to reinforce success.

          By commenting in this cosy little club we are adding both to the page hits and, occasionally, our professional input towards the discussion. We add to the strength of this page by being here.

          The counter argument is why don’t you do the same thing on the websites of the foaming at the mouth leftie science deniers?

          Simple answer is the same one I like to use against blog trolls on right wing blogs – ‘Yet you are still here, reading our articles and pushing up our page hits.’

          The longer answer is that you don’t change opinion by trying to sway the people who vote against you. You change by convincing the swinging voters that what you are offering has some merit. Okay, that is actually the argument I put forward to political types about winning elections but same principles. As I often tried to explain, do NOT chase the Green Vote. They are not going to vote for you and by sucking up to them you are only going to piss off your core. You expand your core by making your core more attractive, not by trying to be all things to all people (cough… Turnbull… cough…)

          This is even before you get to the platforms.

          Twit is a cesspit of bile and hate hiding behind the badge of whatever the Woke call themselves these days. And Donald Trump who uses Twit because deep down he knows it annoys the drokk out of his enemies.

          Facebook is mildly better because of the format. Twit is a global LOOK AT ME, while FBook is (nominally) a system to socialise with friends. That is nominally. In practice it is a heavily regulated environment controlled by the New World Order of Zuckenburg (sp?) and his openly ‘progressive’ friends. They control FBook so they control what gets posted, what gets forwarded on automatically and what gets banned for being Fake News. You play in FBook and you agree to their terms and conditions.

          OR… you can play somewhere else.

          Remember, you are a Rightie. Lefties moan, cry and demand things they don’t like get banned. Righties vote with their feet and find something else that suits their needs. What happens then is either they discover they are a minority, (and in that case why should you have the right to try and enforce your minority opinion on everyone else?) or you are actually part of the silent majority and the platform, newspaper or newsbroadcaster wakes up one morning with their audience no longer big enough to keep them running. You destroy their argument by removing their platform and you remove their platform by not supporting it in the slightest.

          So in summary yes, you are correct, I am going to spend my time here in ‘cosy’ land and if you want to fight people in FBook then again, sorry, you are on your own.

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          RAH

          Only so many hours in the day and climate is not the only thing I spend my time learning about or posting about online. Besides I choose not to give my clicks to leftists that censor opposing views if I can help it.

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      Hanrahan

      Sorry Bodge, having no grand kids I have no need for social media. Besides I value what sanity I have left.

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      el gordo

      Bodge we cannot win this war of words on facebook, it has to be the blogosphere.

      On this platform we are preparing ourselves for the end of mass delusion, brought on by a nasty change in the weather outside the script.

      In your battles on facebook put in a brief quote or graph to support your hypothesis, also highlight Jonova as an alternative news source.

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      • #

        As much as I dislike Facebook and agree that the blogosphere is where the main battles will be fought, I think it is absolutely necessary to utilize social media to promote material from the blogs. Google plus, twitter, Pinterest, Tumbler and many more can all be used effectively to promote blogs.

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          el gordo

          Facebook will be particularly useful in educating the brainwashed, but it’ll come in the wake of global cooling.

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      Mark M

      I tried facistbook once.

      I posted this and it shutdown the account.

      I haven’t been back because they need me more than I need them.

      Yes, I realise they are tracking me still.

      Greens say sorry for past paedophilia ties

      http://www.thelocal.de/20141112/greens-say-sorry-for-past-paedophilia-ties

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        robert rosicka

        If you search really hard you will find info on the founding member of the OZ greens and his mate and their policies in this regard and can I say they are a sick bunch of individuals and would be shunned in our society if their policies on sex were to ever see light of day .
        And I’m not talking about the current out in the open policies , I’ll see if I can find the link in question but it was well hidden last time I looked .

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        toorightmate

        Mark M,
        How much did it cost you to send Christmas cards to all of your Facebook “friends”?

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    Alan

    Another doozy from somebodies ABC

    Had a quick look over at the NemWatch site and @ 14:50 nem time, for all Aus small solar was pushing 2500 MW out of the total demand of 28,450 MW, less than 9%. Wonder what that % will be tonight 🙂

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    yarpos

    Just returned from a run with my locar car club. 15 cars, all at least 25 years old, with some going back 50. Buring fossil fuels, just for fun. Outrageous, I know.

    50

    • #
      Dennis

      I understand that the EV Club is holding a rally soon but having difficulty route planning via recharge stations and avoiding energy draining hills.

      The owners believe that so called renewable energy only will be used, and the electricity companies have offered “green energy” for premium prices, something like premium unleaded petrol they understand, but 80 per cent of it will be generated by the less efficient fossil fuel coal.

      The NRMA has warned that despite them being the motorist club EV that run out of energy cannot be recharged at roadside but could be towed.

      I wonder if NRMA has yet worked out that all but a tiny percentage of its members use and like ICE vehicles, will not pay large vehicle price for a mini car or put up with the inconvenience of even a 30 minute 80 per cent fast charge?

      Or that the longer term socialist plan is to deny vehicle ownership of EV to individuals after banning ICE?

      And that would be the end of NRMA.

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      • #
        Peter C

        I will be helping man (person) a booth for the Batman by election.

        The Australian Conservatives candidate (candida – the pipe clay whitened toga was worn by roman citizens seeking election) is Kevin Bailey.
        “Australian Conservatives’ Kevin Bailey trained with the SAS to survive in hostile territory and operate behind enemy lines.”

        He is definitely contesting enemy territory in Batman (Vic).

        What woulkd be a good result for him? I am hoping that there a some right thinking people in the largely lefty electorate. I think 10% of the primary vote would be enough to send a message to the major parties.

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      • #
        Peter C

        EV RALLY

        If they make it to Dunkeld, Vic. the Royal Mail hotel has just installed 2 charging points with a Tesla plug and is giving patrons “Free Fuel”.

        Room rate is $225/night. They should be able to charge all the club vehicles in about a week. Then they can probably make it back to the border!

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  • #
    dinn, rob

    a bit complicated–http://balance10.blogspot.com/2018/03/overview-of-submarine-programs-mostly.html

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  • #
    Graeme No.3

    For those who are interested in Australian Conservatives and the SA Election

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rsX2gr5j9U&feature=youtu.be

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    Peter C

    ARE WE IN FOR A COLD WINTER?

    David Taylor is predicting a very cold winter for the whole of Australia this year. Northern regions a bit cooler than usual but very cold in the south.
    https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/the-map-every-australian-should-see-with-the-country-set-to-shiver-through-the-coldest-ever-winter-just-how-low-could-the-temperature-get-near-you/ar-BBJXfDK?ocid=spartanntp

    In 5 of 6 months we will know but you read it first right here.

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      toorightmate

      Too bad – it will still be the hottest year EEEVVVAAAAHHH – no matter how cold it gets.

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    RickWill

    Super capacitors using graphene in construction are beginning to challenge lithium batteries:
    https://arvioshop.com.au/supercapacitor
    Would be attractive for home use at half that price. The actual capacitors should last decades but in-built electronics might not give that life.

    On a per cycle basis these are a fraction of the cost of lithium batteries. However the sweet spot for cycle life in a solar system will be around 50,000 cycles(100+ years). Anything above that is likely to be superseded by new technology.

    Will be interesting to see how price for supercapacitors goes over the next 5 years.

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    • #
      Peter C

      Thanks Rick,

      Electric motors for self launching gliders are a viable option now (with Lithium batteries). But the fleet has been grounded by some in flight fires. Also the battery packs are still quite heavy, which is a problem.

      Do you know anything about the weight of the capacitor packs?

      Anything less than half the current weight of batteries makes electric power a very attractive option.

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      • #
        RickWill

        PeterC
        The super capacitors are likely very well suited to gliders because they have extremely high power density. The energy density is presently a long way behind lithium. These figures show recent data:
        https://www.supercaptech.com/battery-vs-supercapacitor
        I assume gliders will get airborne in the order of minutes. That is at the fast discharge end for lipoly batteries. 5 minutes is 12C rate which is OK for the lipoly used in model aircraft. The bigger ones used in drones are typically rated at 10C, corresponding to 6 minutes.

        A super capacitor could be pulled at 100C. So maybe 2 minutes to discharge with tapering power output as the capacitor discharges, which probably suits a glider launch. If that is long enough and taking a motor rating of 10kW (I am guessing) then it requires 300Wh or some 100+ of these capacitors:
        http://www.capcomp.de/fileadmin/Webdata/partner/NESSCAP/Datasheet-cell/NCE_2014_Data_2.7V3000_T.pdf
        Realistically more like 200 so the bank is going to be around 100kg. (That is a lot of extra weight in a a glider)

        The technology is still developing so it may have some room yet. That spec gives galvanic density at 5.56Wh/kg.

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        • #
          Chad

          Supercaps are useless for energy storage or as a EV power source.
          Several reasons..
          Voltage level is low ..2.7-2.8 v max , so any practical pack needs many in series to get to a useful working voltage …and then, caps in series lose their capacitance inversly proportional to the number in series . So then you need an equal numbe rof parallel series strings to get the capacity back ! So the size, weight , and cost multiplies.

          Also , they release their energy over the full voltage range 0-2.8v so a pack that starts at say 300v is down to 100v before its 66% discharged ( that also means its dropped 66% of its power (kW) ability

          Their only advantage is ultra fast charging and discharging with long cycle life…..if that is useful to you.

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          • #
            RickWill

            The pack I linked to offers 3.55kW working from 54V to 44V for AUD4260. That is comparable with Tesla powerwall in price per unit storage but it essentially has unlimited cycles life.

            It would be a good buy at half the price, which may be realistic in 5 years as it is less developed than lithium batteries. Would make solar/storage for domestic use economic in most states.

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            • #
              Chad

              Rick,
              Google that Sirus supercap pack a little and see if you would still think about buying one !
              It defies several of the known limits of electriacal physics…to say the least…..
              Its a scam !

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            • #
              Chad

              Buses with supercapacitors of Sunwin brought in their 2010 version an autonomy from 3 to 6 km. Supercapacitors are then charged on each bus stop with a pantograph (like a tram).

              How big do you think that pack was ?
              What did it cost ?
              That report is 9 years old !
              So where are they now ?
              The same report goes on to say they chose busses with Batteries and Supercapacitors ..!!
              If it walks like a duck, sounds like a duck, etc ……

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              • #
                Chad

                Rick,
                Several Car companies use Supercaps for “mild hybrid” systems ..
                Mazda’s i-Eloop regen system and PSA Citroen have similar also
                Supercaps have their uses, but traction drive packs and large capacity storage are not yet technically or economically practical.
                Many people would like them to work, and will try to sell that idea,..but they are dreaming.

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  • #
    el gordo

    BoM’s Autumn forecast.

    http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/outlooks/#/overview/summary

    My forecast differs slightly.

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    • #
      Glen Michel

      They certainly messed up on NW QLD rainfall. Surely too late to see the feed in that affected Townsville etc that moved into that area.So predicated is BoM on this meme that they fail to keep the eye on the ball. media keep saying that Winton has been in drought for 5 years yet I could not travel from Boulia to Winton for 3 weeks in 2016.

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      • #
        Glen Michel

        Due to floodwater I might add.

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        • #
          robert rosicka

          Wasn’t it the same rain that isolated Julia creek and damaged the railway line ?

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        • #
          el gordo

          It made big headlines at the time because it broke the drought, just like now.

          Looking ahead, I disagree with this ….

          ‘The autumn (March to May) rainfall outlook, issued 28 February 2018, shows large parts of central and southeastern Australia are likely to have a drier than average season.’

          The IOD and ENSO are neutral, but they haven’t factored in the blocking high.

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      • #
        Hanrahan

        Mrs H was born in Boulia.

        Many years ago the Mayor said: “There’s nothing to see in Boulia, but you’ve got to come and see it”. the only thing that has changed is the dirt ‘n dust triathlon.

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      robert rosicka

      Just read the forecast and OMG are kindergarten kids doing these forecasts ?

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    • #
      yarpos

      Just have a look at the layout of that page. Talk about displaying their mindset with layout and labelling. Max temps gets highlighted on the front page , even though when you look at it, it is unremarkable. When you find min temps, the anomaly scale only has +ve range.

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    el gordo

    North Atlantic Oscillation untouched by AGW.

    ‘Recent studies using climate models suggest that even the most catastrophic effects of global warming, such as major melting of the Greenland ice sheet, will not have a major effect on the NAO.

    ‘The natural variability of the NAO, and associated climate and ecological effects, are phenomena that we will continue to experience throughout this period of anthropogenic global warming.’

    The Conversation

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    Ian1946

    Another laughable article from renew economy.

    http://reneweconomy.com.au/myth-south-australias-high-electricity-prices-46061/

    They actually believe that windmills and solar panels are really cheap. If it is that good why not disconnect from Victoria

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    • #
      yarpos

      That site is in la la land most of the time and residents dont really want to hear anything else. Its nice they have somewhere to play as reality swirls around them.

      20

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    el gordo

    Warwick Hughes on that Four Corners program.

    http://www.warwickhughes.com/blog/?p=5651

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    Analitik

    According to Bloomberg’s Mark Cudmore, Gary Cohn resigning from his position as the White House top economic advisor means

    the U.S. financial industry sector just lost its key ally in the administration

    Oh dear, how sad, never mind.

    https://heisenbergreport.com/2018/03/07/global-markets-react-to-gary-cohn-news/comment-page-1/

    I have to wonder if Trump has been canny enough to let the swamp creatures think they were ruling the roost while he worked on his election promises in the background. I’ll start believing in him again if he continues to let the financial markets implode from The Fed’s attempt at a controlled write down of its bloated balance sheet.

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    pat

    ***thought bullying was bad!

    6 Mar: DesmogUK: Mat Hope: These Are the Fringe MPs Against the UK’s Coal Phase Out
    A cross-party group of MPs have signed an early-day motion that says “coal can be, and should be, part of that UK low carbon energy generation mix beyond 2025” — effectively signalling their opposition to the government’s plan.

    ***18 MPs initially signed the motion — though two have since asked to have their signatures removed after being alerted to the motion by DeSmog UK, saying they were added in error.
    The motion was proposed by Labour MP Ronnie Campbell, a pro-Brexit, former coal miner who represents Blyth Valley in Northumberland. He has been joined by 11 of his party colleagues.

    Their votes would appear to go against party policy. Labour has previously expressed its support for the coal phase-out, alongside additional support for clean energy.
    LIST

    Two Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MPs have also signed the motion, including notorious climate science denier Sammy Wilson.
    Wilson is a former environment minister in Northern Ireland, who believes human-caused climate change is a “gigantic con” and an “hysterical semi-religion”, and denies that there is a scientific consensus on the causes of climate change.
    The Conservative government currently rely on DUP votes to pass key pieces of legislation in parliament.

    Three Scottish Nationalist Party MPs have also signed the motion.
    One of those is Chris Law, the SNP’s Climate Justice and International Development spokesperson. Law told DeSmog UK that he voted for the motion because:
    “There are coal fired power stations in the UK and across Europe particularly in Germany and Poland.”…

    The SNP told DeSmog UK that another of its MP’s, John McNally, had his name added in error and has now had his signature removed.
    The one Liberal Democrat to sign the motion, Christine Jardine, told DeSmog UK it was also an “administrative error” and that her signature would be removed…

    The motion also says “coal provides low cost electricity generation capacity, thereby helping keep consumer bills low and maintaining electricity market flexibility”.
    But this is not true, according to (Jonathan Marshall, energy analyst with the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit thinktank).
    “Even if it was built in the UK, the cost of generating power from coal is now undercut by that from gas, which is set to be increasingly outcompeted by renewable technologies.
    “Building new capacity or propping up our ageing coal fleet even longer not only boosts pollution, but delays building new, low-cost and low-carbon generating capacity which is springing up in vast quantities around the world.”
    https://www.desmog.uk/2018/03/06/these-are-fringe-mps-against-uk-coal-phase-out

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    pat

    comment in moderation re: DesmogUK: Mat Hope: These Are the Fringe MPs Against the UK’s Coal Phase Out

    7 Mar: CarbonrBrief: Zeke Hausfather: Analysis: UK carbon emissions in 2017 fell to levels last seen in 1890
    Carbon Brief analysis shows the UK’s CO2 emissions from fossil fuels fell by 2.6% in 2017, driven by a 19% decline in coal use…
    https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-uk-carbon-emissions-in-2017-fell-to-levels-last-seen-in-1890

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    pat

    all the gossip Megan can find to date:

    6 Mar: ClimateChangeNews: Megan Darby: Fiji climate lead challenged consultants’ influence before losing job
    Nazhat Shameem Khan was removed from her role in the UN climate talks presidency after a protracted power struggle with Australian and European advisers
    At the centre of the fight is a group of Australian and European consultants brought in to assist the Fijian government to deliver its biggest diplomatic challenge. Shameem Khan had increasingly objected to the prominent role these outsiders had within Fiji’s presidency…

    In exclusive interviews with Climate Home News, insiders said this eventually led to her deposal, with prime minister Frank Bainimarama taking the consultants’ side. They raised concerns that Fiji ceding control to unaccountable professionals jeopardised a critical year of climate talks.
    “In the world of [UN climate negotiations], to see a small island state in the presidency being closely managed and controlled by consultants from developed countries is not good for trust and goodwill,” a source from the Fijian delegation told Climate Home News. “But [the consultants] refused to take a back seat and we had difficulties in relation to this.”…

    Another member of the national staff, contacting CHN independently, said: “Most of their advice and interference was harmful rather than helpful… They undermined us and didn’t understand the local dimensions.”
    Both sources spoke on condition of anonymity…

    Fiji’s presidency of the climate talks centred on the UN conference of parties (Cop) in Bonn in November 2017 and will continue throughout 2018.
    To help with the huge undertaking, the Fijian government hired consultants, including law firm Baker McKenzie, climate experts Systemiq and public relations specialists Qorvis. An Australian, John Connor, was appointed as executive director. It is not unusual for national delegations, particularly small or poor countries with limited capacity, to take external advice.
    They were paid through funds donated by other countries, with the bulk coming from the developed world…
    “The balance of power was wrong from day one,” said the first Fijian delegation source. “They were telling us how to run the Cop at a visionary level.”…

    Closer to home, Pacific campaigners were outraged to discover Fiji was not planning to make “loss and damage”, UN jargon for support for the victims of climate disaster, a key theme of its presidency…READ ON
    http://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/03/06/fiji-climate-lead-lost-job-challenging-consultants-influence/

    6 Mar: TheEconomist: The Economist explains: Why climate migrants do not have refugee status
    On the surface, the problem is bureaucratic. Environmental migrants are not covered by the 1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, which is designed to protect those fleeing persecution, war or violence. The UN agencies most involved in refugee rights, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the UN Development Programme, agree that the term “climate refugee” should not be used to describe those displaced for environmental reasons. The UNHCR already struggles to provide adequate support for the world’s 22.5m refugees (from war and persecution)…

    Nina Birkeland, senior adviser for disasters and climate change at the Norwegian Refugee Council, says that the process of renegotiating the existing refugee treaty or creating a new one could take decades. Experts also worry that political opportunists, who regard the current refugee convention as being too generous, would use its renegotiation as an opportunity to dilute current obligations. Perhaps more importantly, some of those affected do not want to be called “refugees”. The former president of the central Pacific nation of Kiribati, Anote Tong, resisted the label, stressing that his people wished to “migrate with dignity”. Slowly unfolding disasters brought about by rising sea levels, desertification and droughts result in complex and often gradual patterns of movement. Their victims resist easy classification…

    At the same time, New Zealand is set to become the first country to recognise the impact of climate change as grounds for a claim of asylum. The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has plans to create a special visa for Pacific Islanders forced to relocate because of rising sea levels. Though the scheme will only offer 100 visas annually, it sets a precedent. Indeed state-led solutions offer the best hope for such refugees…

    With climate change set to cause new waves of migration, states cannot implement new rules quickly enough.
    https://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2018/03/economist-explains-3

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    pat

    7 Mar: Fox News: Jennifer Earl: Tens of thousands of dead sea creatures wash up on British beach
    When British photographer Lara Maiklem heard tens of thousands of sea creatures washed up on a beach near her hometown of Kent, England, over the weekend she had to see the scene for herself…

    Maiklem described the scene as “shocking” and “sad,” but at the same time, she had to admit it was an “incredible” sight. In fact, it was “almost biblical in scale,” she added.
    “There were thousands upon thousands of starfish, with crabs, sea urchins, fish and sea anenomies mixed in with them,” Maiklem told Fox News. “Someone even found a lobster.”
    The creatures covered the sandy beach like a thick blanket…

    The animals were the victims of a cold spell – what Maiklem called a “beast from the east” – that hit the U.K. last week. Similar scenes were reported down the coast, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, a wildlife conservation charity, said in a news release on Wednesday…

    “There was a three degree drop in sea temperature last week which will have caused animals to hunker down and reduce their activity levels,” Bex Lynam, North Sea marine advocacy officer for Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, said in a statement provided to Fox News…
    Maiklem said she also found several dead sea birds washed up along the same stretch…
    Yorkshire Wildlife Trust is working with local fisherman to clear the beach and rescue any remaining species that are still alive…

    Dr. Lissa Batey, senior living seas officer with The Wildlife Trusts, an organization made up of 47 local wildlife trusts in the U.K., said the government can help the creatures by designating more marine conservation zones…
    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/tens-of-thousands-of-dead-sea-creatures-wash-up-on-british-beach/ar-BBJXicK?li=BBnb7Kz

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    pat

    28 Feb: TheLocalFrance: AFP: Greenpeace protesters jailed for fireworks stunt at French nuclear plant
    A French court on Tuesday sentenced two Greenpeace activists to a minimum of two months in jail for breaking into a nuclear power plant and setting off fireworks last year.
    Six other protesters were handed five-month suspended sentences for the October stunt at the plant in Cattenom, near the border with Luxembourg, which was intended to show the facility’s vulnerability to attack…
    “Greenpeace crossed a red line,” said prosecutor Christelle Dumont, adding that any debate about nuclear safety “must be in accordance with the law”.
    Greenpeace lawyer Alexandre Faro said the protesters were fighting for ideals and “they do not deserve hard time in prison”…

    28 Mar: Reuters: French Greenpeace activists convicted over nuclear plant intrusion
    by Geert De Clercq
    Late on Tuesday, a court in northern France fined Greenpeace 20,000 euros ($24,440) for breaking into the Cattenom nuclear plant in October and ordered it to pay 50,000 euros in damages to the plant’s operator, state-owned utility EDF. EDF had asked for compensation of 700,000 euros.
    Nine Greenpeace activists were sentenced in connection with the case.
    Seven received five-month suspended jail terms. Two who had taken part in similar protests before were sentenced to two months in jail, although in France such short terms are usually converted into work in the community.

    Greenpeace said it would appeal against the fine, damages and sentences, saying it was the first time that its members had been convicted to firm jail terms in France.
    No date has been set for the appeal hearing, but appeals often take a year or more…
    “EDF wanted to hit our budget in order to block future actions. This will not stop us from denouncing the security risks of its nuclear plants,” Greenpeace’s Cyrille Cormier said.

    On May 17, Greenpeace will appear in a second court case in Privas, southern France, for a similar intrusion in the Cruas nuclear plant in November.

    5 Mar: IOL South Africa: OPINION: Benefits and risks of a nuclear energy programme
    The Department of Environmental Affairs recently granted an environmental permit for a new 4000-megawatt nuclear plant, close to the continent’s only existing nuclear site, at Koeberg in the Western Cape.
    This is despite former finance minister Malusi Gigaba recently stating that construction of a new plant was unaffordable.

    ***Greenpeace Africa has vowed to protest the construction of the new nuclear plant, saying it would infringe on the environmental rights of present and future citizens of the country…

    Nuclear energy is not the panacea to the world’s growing energy demands, but it is an option…
    https://www.iol.co.za/business-report/opinion/opinion-benefits-and-risks-of-a-nuclear-energy-programme-13601502

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      yarpos

      Sadly, whether South Africa builds a nuclear plant or not is of little consequence. They appear intent on reading the well worn road that Zimbabwe took and have learned nothing from observing what happened there. History repeating.

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    pat

    7 Mar: Morning Bulletin Rockhampton: Mayor tells Shorten to back off over Adani
    by Leighton Smith
    SEEING the Adani Carmichael mine project become a reality is a dream fast turning into a nightmare for Rockhampton Region Mayor Margaret Strelow.
    She was so determined to champion Adani’s cause on behalf of CQ that she cast off her long-time Labor Party membership to run as an independent candidate in the last State Election.
    As someone who has bled Labor, it would have been infuriating to see her work towards securing the Adani Project being unravelled by comments like “I don’t support Adani mine” made by Labor leader, and possibly the next prime minister, Bill Shorten, splashed all over the front page of The Courier Mail yesterday.

    Trying to get ahead of the media storm, Cr Strelow convened a press conference yesterday afternoon to chastise the man who could soon be running the country.
    “We have watched as Adani have met every requirement put in front of them,” Cr Strelow said.
    “They’ve gone through hoops that no other project has had to go through.
    “And when Rockhampton got to the stage where we realised the cavalry wasn’t coming and decided to back (them) ourselves, we stand back and watch a would-be prime minister try to shoot the horse out from underneath us.”
    Cr Strelow said Labor’s Adani stance was at odds with running coal miner Russell Robertson as a candidate for Capricornia.

    “Rockhampton will not fall for the ploy where Labor stands a pro-Adani candidate when the general direction of the party is heading in the opposite direction,” Cr Strelow said.
    “What we have is some fairly weak-kneed politicians who have given in to what I see as intimidation.
    “We need to see the party of the worker, the party of the miners back this project for us, to see the leadership of the Labor party is strongly behind this project.”

    The mayor reaffirmed her council’s steadfast commitment to see the project succeed and backed the company “100 per cent”.
    “Council has been prepared to step forward, we’ve backed ourselves, we have offered to put significant money on the line to win a very large number of jobs for our community. We’re not pulling away from that,” she said.

    “This is a project that we need, that we are supporting strongly, that the proponents believe they have a pathway forward. They are telling us they are confident, I’m putting my faith in that and trusting that these jobs will be here for our community, we need that to happen.
    “I have confidence that they know a direction forward for the project and we’re with them.”

    Cr Strelow recognised how extraordinarily tough the last six months had been for Adani as it sought to find a new way to deliver the project.
    “Council is really keen to see the Adani project get off the ground and begin. It’s been delayed by activists, it’s been delayed by one court case after the other.
    “They are up against forces that are quite extraordinary for an Australian project.
    “I think we should not underestimate the sort of pressure that is coming to bear, not just from the anti-Adani activists but now also from some of the politicians playing in the field.
    “The Adani representatives have conveyed to me their determination to keep going, I think they’ve read the landscape and found other ways to deal with the project and to get going and to get ahead.”

    Cr Strelow said the time had come now for politicians who weren’t backing in Adani to back off.
    “Now we are in a position where we really need to have our leaders understand this project is important to us,” Cr Strelow said.
    “What we do need is for politicians who don’t know the ins and outs of it or have other motives to leave us to create job opportunities for our community.
    “At this stage, what we have is an election process going on and an election still to be held to determine the future Prime Minister of Australia and we are believing and needing a Prime Minister who will get behind this project for Central Queensland.”…

    In a statement, Adani Australia welcomed Mr Shorten’s comment that Labor would not seek to overturn the project’s 112 existing approvals, which have been tested and upheld in 12 legal challenges.
    https://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/news/desperate-for-an-adani-win-strelow-tells-shorten-t/3354114/

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    pat

    7 Mar: Toowoomba Chronicle: Troy Kippen: Christensen holds crisis meeting with Adani
    FEDERAL MP George Christensen has met with the head of Adani in Australia today after more political attacks on the Carmichael project.
    Mr Christensen requested the urgent meeting with Adani’s general manager corporate affairs Raj Guruswamy just days after Federal Opposition leader Bill Shorten said he did not support the project.
    “Raj has expressed to me his company’s concerns about the impact of these ongoing political attacks on their project,” Mr Christensen said.
    “We expect these attacks from the extreme green movement but now they’re coming from the Labor Party.
    “Every time Bill Shorten comes out and says something negative about the Adani project, it sends shudders through this community.”

    He said it also knocks investor confidence in the project.
    “The brutal reality is that companies will be less likely to look to Australia for any projects,” he said.
    “This is putting real jobs at risk; they’re real jobs, not ‘fake jobs’ as Bill Shorten says they are.
    “Many of my constituents are employed already because of Adani. Some are in Townsville, some are at Abbot Point, and some are contracted or waiting for contracts to start.”

    Mr Christensen’s comments echo those made by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull this morning.
    Mr Turnbull said Bill Shorten’s approach to business would have a ‘shocking, chilling effect’ on jobs and investment.
    What Bill Shorten is doing is not just threatening that project, he is threatening every other project,” Mr Turnbull said
    “And he is threatening future projects because what he is saying is that he is prepared to cancel a project, to do as he promised to Geoff Cousins, to overthrow a project for which hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars have been committed already.”
    https://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/christensen-holds-crisis-meeting-with-adani/3354946/

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    Richard Ilfeld

    re: tariff panic in the US!
    I call B”””S**T!
    https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/statis_e/statis_bis_e.htm?solution=WTO&path=/Dashboards/MAPS&file=Tariff.wcdf&bookmarkState={%22impl%22:%22client%22,%22params%22:{%22langParam%22:%22en%22}}
    The US has been the worlds commercial dump for many years, our consumers buying all kinds of stuff from all over the world,
    our aspiring world citizen leaders ignoring both huge trade imbalances and huge intellectual property theft.
    Australians, for different reasons, can share the feeling of having been exploited to the profit of our adversaries by leaders who can’t give good reasons for their actions.
    The US isn’t starting a trade war — a small number of us are sick and tired of losing productive sectors of our economy while the elites sail merrily along. If the Universities were threatened by foreign competition, and a third of their number were closing, the pseudo arguments on trade would flip overnight.

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      RAH

      Yep, Trump isn’t starting a trade war, he just has the guts to fight back in a trade war that has been going on with little resistance from the US for years. He, unlike every single POTUS that I can remember since I’ve been politically/socially aware is actually trying to fulfill every single one of his campaign promises he ran on and not just paying lip service to some.

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      yarpos

      meanwhile the EU has had tariffs on Chinese steel for a while and nobody has said anything

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        Hanrahan

        The EU has tariffs on US cars, ie the whole item, not just the steel. India has a 100% tariff on Harleys and it think Indonesia has a 90% one.

        This is a trade war Trump could win.

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    Hanrahan

    According to a “citizen reporter” webcast the FBI is investigating $88 mill donated by Australia to the Clinton Foundation. Why would we donate to a US non-profit when there is no tax advantage for us. Our aid money should be spent directly.

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      robert rosicka

      I’m sure we donated more than that to the Clinton slush fund .

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        Hanrahan

        It was worth it, Gillard has her cushy job with the Global Partnership for Education. What does a [debarred?] lawyer know about education?

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    robert rosicka

    BOM staff accused of mining crypto currency at work at least now we now why they have trouble doing the job they’re supposed to be doing .

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      toorightmate

      They must be the only two people at the BoM who are actually doing something.

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      Hanrahan

      I just listened to a Ted talk on blockchain, a topic I have not bothered about ’til now, and it seems that you can do well mining with a super computer. What order of magnitude could the profits be?

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    Hanrahan

    Does anyone know a pilot who has a switch on his console “Chemicals on/off”?

    I never cease to be amazed at the people who present themselves as smarter than us plebs, pontificating on all things but then assert that we are being poisoned from above.

    How can this be?
    a/ RR P&W and GE would not honour warranty on engines with contaminates in the fuel, so we can exclude nano-oxides added to fuel.
    b/ Airport aprons are open to view from the terminals, so has anyone ever seen any tanker other than AVTUR fill up an aircraft?
    c/ If they did secret the nasties on board, how can they carry a full compliment of passengers and baggage?
    d/ Would thousands of pilots from hundreds of countries swear to an oath of secrecy to the CIA?
    e/ But there are pictures of big tanks on passenger aircraft. Have you ever seen one? The most common picture is of a 747 with tanks on board so they could pump ballast around to test stability during certification. This plane is still on exhibit with tanks still installed.
    f/ They are military aircraft. Hang on, the services can’t keep their F 18s in the air, how can they fly thousands of sorties a day dumping stuff?
    g/ Turbofan engines don’t create contrails. BULL!!!
    h/ Looking out my window I see them landing: No trails. Occasionally I see a Bris-Cns flight at altitude. Without the contrail I would never see them.
    i/ B17 crews over Germany would love to have been able to with off their “chemtrails”.

    There are more but that’s enough for now. I have this theory that a uni graduate class was given the task of getting a lie into the mainstream and succeeded so well they got A++s.

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      yarpos

      oh oh, can I play?

      a) they are in on it;
      b) its premixed, the chemtrails are just a ruse, the real conspiracy is that it happening all the time;
      c) see b);
      d) see b) , they are not in on it;
      e) gee, arent you listening? see b);
      f) that’s how they keep the chemtrail sorties going, stop flying those expensive fighters, correct!
      g) any standard engine combusting fuel at altitude can generate a contrail if conditions are right;
      h) see b);
      i) given b) we cant accept the WW2 argument any more

      like to talk more but must go , a QANTAS flight just went over and I left my respirator in the garage.

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    feral_nerd

    Greetings everyone. Occasional poster here from Austin, TX USA, blue dot in a red sea. Not THE Red Sea, thank goodness.

    Anyway, I recently wrote an essay for my blog to sort of summarize for my well-meaning Lefty friends why I think as I think. You can find it here.

    http://www.computermedicaustin.com/2018/02/path-greater-resistance/

    Constructive feedback, comments, suggestions, and corrections are welcome.

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    RAH

    The snow comes and this driver goes. This morning to Vandalia, Oh and back. Usually a simple short run but not this morning. Took me over 3 1/2 hours to make a 92 mile run one way this morning because of ice, a back up due to a crash, and then a detour around a crash that had I-70 E bound closed in western Ohio. Not only was there a crash on the interstate that shut it down there was a crash on US-40 that would be best alternate route that shut that road down. These situations are when you use the CB because you find out about things before Apps get updated to inform you. So I pulled out the old Atlas and plotted my course old school and ended up using 3 different hwys to get around the mess and I’m glad I did. When I came back on I-70 W they were still backed up 10 miles on the East bound side because of that wreck. What a mess. Though I am supposed to go off duty at 06:00 Friday and be off until 06:00 Sunday I will be out on the road working Friday and part of Saturday. 950 mi round trip to Paragould, AR and back and an extra $500.00 in my pocket for working when I’m supposed to be off. This is the time of year I LIKE that kind of work. During the summer I prefer my home time.

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    Tezza

    I see at the Australian (paywalled) one explanation for the Bureau of Meteorology’s poor performance in measuring temperatures and maintaining records: two of its staff are under investigation for using work computers to mine Bitcoin.
    Also of interest: “Australia is one of the most expensive places in the world to mine bitcoin, due to high energy prices. It costs on average $9913 to mine one bitcoin in Australia, according to figures released today by Elite Fixtures. The least expensive place to mine bitcoin is Venezuela, clocking in at $531 per bitcoin.”

    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/technology/police-raid-bureau-of-meteorology-over-cryptocurrency-operation/news-story/36f6b5ea199d02892e57904754519c81?link=TD_www.theaustralian_all_business_.128cf7dc74979def&utm_source=www.theaustralian_all_business_.128cf7dc74979def&utm_campaign=circular&utm_medium=THEAUSTRALIAN

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    Hanrahan

    This could be interesting:
    WASHINGTON
    A federal judge in San Francisco has ordered parties in a landmark global warming lawsuit to hold what could be the first-ever U.S. court hearing on the science of climate change.

    The proceeding, scheduled for March 21 by U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup, will feature lawyers for Exxon, BP, Chevron and other oil companies pitted against those for San Francisco and Oakland — California cities that have accused fossil fuel interests of covering up their role in contributing to global warming.

    “This will be the closest that we have seen to a trial on climate science in the United States, to date,” said Michael Burger, a lawyer who heads the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University.

    Experts on both sides say Alsup’s call for a climate change “tutorial” is unlike anything they’ve heard of before.

    From Drudge.

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    Will Janoschka

    From Cliscep blog TinyCO2 says: 09 Mar 18 at 1:16 am

    At this rate our multinational output is going to need a translation button or at least a glossary. Brad already has me Googling at least one word a day I refuse to have Google Translate on standby too. LOL. If you persist I’ll have to unleash some native British words such as gruts, ginnels and chincough. Not to mention ee by gum, by ‘eck and reet gradely.

    Perhaps your good translate button idea need some verniers! (A) ‘my cultural background’. (B) Their cultural background. (C) Political party of writer\speaker\spouter. (D) Range from ‘attempting to politely inform’ else way over to deliberate SCAM! Where is this needed modern technology? 🙂

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    RAH

    Before I hit the road.

    Joe Bastardi is forecasting another Nor Easter (#3) to hit in 4-5 days. This one appears to be going to take a more southern route and hit Virginia then turn north. Good chance this one will be worse than #2 which left 1 million without power due to heavy snow combined with high winds. The SST anomaly along the East Coast is still very high and as long as that is the case and the blocking pattern in eastern Canada holds, the eastern US is going to continue to get slammed by these storms but with a more southern track to the systems one has to start watching for tornado outbreaks in the SE.
    One thing Joe said that struck me is that the analog between this kind of pattern and colder than normal temps lasting for a month AFTER the pattern ends is very strong. So based on what has happened in the past even after this blocking pattern in eastern Canada ends or moves back to the west it would seem we in the eastern US are going to be in for colder than normal temps lasting well into April!

    Have a great weekend. Catch you on the flip side.

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    Barry

    Can we see any parallels with what is happening in Australia?

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/08/european-clocks-lose-six-minutes-dispute-power-electricity-grid

    Political shenanigans cause highly engineered systems to degrade.

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    Hanrahan

    Time is slowing down in Europe.

    Mains clocks are now 6 mins slow because of a spat between Kosovo and Serbia.


    https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2018/03/ovens-across-europe-display-the-wrong-time-due-to-a-serbia-kosovo-grid-dispute/

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