Thursday Open Thread

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210 comments to Thursday Open Thread

  • #
    el gordo

    This is worth discussing.

    ‘The study of the humanities will be scaled back, while Indigenous histories, cultures and perspectives will get greater prominence in a new national school curriculum.’ (The Australian)

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    • #
      robert rosicka

      We should learn about our own backyard first then maybe America etc.

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      • #
        Chris

        Without history you are nothing, for history explains the present and how we got to where we are and who we are. We all need to know who our ancestors were and what their accomplishments and failures were.

        Indigenous people had a diverse culture, what was permissible in one tribe was a death sentence in another. What was food for one was forbidden in another. Aboriginal law was mostly mens business and could not be open to women . Will the horrendous violence towards women that the early settlers recorded be part of new curriculum – I don’t think so. ?

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    • #
      Mal

      Getting us ready to return to the stone age?

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      • #
        John R Smith

        They certainly want to return us to some previous harmonious age, when we co-operated with nature and each other.
        Have they decided which one?
        So many to choose from.

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        • #
          el gordo

          I can’t get behind the paywall, but History, Geography, Literature and Religious Education seem to be the basis of Humanities.

          Geography involves climate change, the linear perspective, so that will need to be rectified. Whereas history might be altered to take out the narrow Eurocentric perspective and replace it with a cosmological viewpoint.

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          • #
            OldOzzie

            The study of the humanities will be scaled back significantly, while Indigenous histories, cultures and perspectives will be given greater prominence in a new national school curriculum that seeks to improve declining student performance.

            Overall content in the Australian Curriculum, which has been under review for 12 months, has been reduced by about 20 per cent to address longstanding concerns about overcrowding.

            In English, texts by Indigenous authors will be promoted, however, in a blow to advocates of phonics, the curriculum will continue to promote whole language practices for teaching reading, despite several states recently adopting a more structured, evidence-backed approach.

            The proposed curriculum revisions, to be published on Thursday, also reveal a shift towards problem solving in mathematics and inquiry learning in science amid a push to have students move beyond the recall of facts to applying their knowledge to “real world situations”.

            Primary students will no longer study world navigators and explorers, significant dates and sites, or celebrations and commemorations as humanities content is reduced after complaints teachers had been “overwhelmed

            In Year 7 history, the Investigating the Ancient Past topic, which examines events across Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, Greece, Rome, India, China and the Maya, is to be removed and replaced by Deep Time History of Australia focusing on Indigenous history spanning back 60,000 years.

            Relationships and sex education also gets a makeover, with more explicit guidance on the teaching of consent in the wake of widespread community concern about rates of sexual assault and harassment, particularly among young people.

            The review, undertaken by the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority, based each subject around a set of “core concepts” or “big ideas”, which has become a popular premise in overseas jurisdictions.

            It was ordered by the federal government in the wake of the nation’s long-term declining performance on international student tests, including the OECD’s PISA, which students last sat in 2018.

            https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/curriculum-changes-designed-to-focus-on-the-real-world/news-story/cfe807614ed89e2991b9962239ac70f0

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              • #
                OldOzzie

                Australia, once a top-10 nation in maths, has fallen to 29th place, while reading and science scores have also taken a hit. In reading, Australia was once ranked in the top five, and most recently ranked in 16th place.

                ACARA chairwoman Belinda Robinson said the curriculum review process had sought to ensure “high expectations” for Australian students.

                “Our students deserve our best efforts and these revisions come at a time when our students’ performance in recent international assessments demonstrates that we need to raise the bar and set challenging but achievable standards,” she said.

                The review – the first since the Australian Curriculum was endorsed in its current form in 2015 – is expected to attract keen interest and robust debate, with different jurisdictions and sectors endorsing varied approaches to teaching and learning. Some states, particularly NSW and Victoria, prefer to develop their own curriculum documents.

                The new maths curriculum has already sparked division within ACARA itself, with the authority’s board understood to have twice rejected a draft that proposed to base the teaching of mathematics around core concepts that included “structures”, “approaches” and “mathematising”, with a strong focus on developing ­problem-solving skills.

                It is not yet clear whether those core concepts have survived to the final draft.

                An elevated focus on problem solving remains, however, and a new topic on computational thinking has been introduced for Years 3 to 10. According to an outline of the changes to maths, “this results in a mathematics curriculum that supports deeper conceptual understanding to make mathematical learning more meaningful, applicable and transferable to students”.

                The Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia has endorsed a “more authentic approach to mathematics learning and inquiry”, however there are ample critics concerned that a focus on problem-solving activities will come at a cost of explicit teaching and student acquisition of core knowledge.

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              • #

                The part we most need to fight against:

                In Year 7 history, the Investigating the Ancient Past topic, which examines events across Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, Greece, Rome, India, China and the Maya, is to be removed and replaced by Deep Time History of Australia focusing on Indigenous history spanning back 60,000 years.

                How useful would it be for our citizens to know about the cultural history most relevant to our current situation and the reasons for their demise?

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              • #

                News reports like this about proposals that don’t use words like “removed” and “replaced by” crap me off to be honest. Note that this example is in year 7 and says nothing about whether those things that are being “removed” are not still in the curriculum. Are they being added to year 8? We don’t know because the reporting is selective.

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              • #
                Don B

                Jo –
                “In Year 7 history, the Investigating the Ancient Past topic, which examines events across Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, Greece, Rome, India, China and the Maya, is to be removed and replaced by Deep Time History of Australia focusing on Indigenous history spanning back 60,000 years.”

                I have a prose English translation of Lucretius’s 7,000 line poem “The Nature of Things,” written about 50 BC in Latin. Thomas Jefferson had 4 or 5 copies in his library, and historians believe Lucretius influenced some things Jefferson wrote in documents founding the USA.

                Jo is correct, some history is more important than others.

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              • #
                ghl

                There is no point “raising the bar” if you don’t improve your training techniques.
                What we have here is a deep and fundamental stupidity. An incoherent world view.

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              • #
                OldOzzie

                National curriculum: Christian heritage sacrificed in school shake-up

                Australia’s Christian heritage has been erased from a proposed new national school curriculum that promotes Indigenous history, culture and perspectives and teaches children that British colonisation was an “invasion”.

                Secondary school students will no longer be taught that Australia is a secular nation and a multi-faith society with a “Christian heritage”, according to the revised curriculum documents released by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority on Thursday.

                Instead, they will learn the nation is a “culturally diverse, multi-faith, secular and pluralistic society with diverse communities, such as the distinct communities of First Nations Australians”.

                Experts, including Australian Catholic University research fellow Kevin Donnelly who oversaw an independent review of the ­national curriculum in 2014, ­expressed alarm at the proposed direction for school education, which includes a significant cut to humanities content across both primary and secondary years.

                “The entire curriculum is awash with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history and culture and spirituality to the detriment of teaching students about Australia as a Western liberal democracy with a Christian heritage,” Dr Donnelly said. “It smacks of cultural relativism.”

                Among the proposed changes, primary school students will no longer study internationally significant commemorations such as Bastille Day in France, Independence Day in the US or Chinese New Year. Instead, they will focus on the importance of Australia Day, Anzac Day and National Sorry Day and will examine British colonisation through the perspective of First Nations people.

                From Year 4, students will learn about the “arrival of the First Fleet and how this was perceived by the First Nations Australians as an invasion”. And while students in Year 4 have previously been required to study at least one world navigator, that topic has been replaced by an exploration of the significance of trade to First Nations People of Australia.

                The influence of the Indigenous perspective is also visible in the proposed new civic and citizenship curriculum. Where Year 8 students previously studied “values and beliefs of religions practised in contemporary Australia, including Christianity”, they will now learn about Australia as a “culturally diverse, multi-faith, secular and pluralistic society with diverse communities”.

                New content under the topic Laws and Citizens will teach students about the effectiveness of the justice system “in achieving equality of access, equity of outcomes, procedural fairness, the right to appeal, and remedies for injustices, particularly for First Nations Australians”.

                Curriculum documents will also no longer reference the terms Aboriginal and Indigenous, which will be replaced by First Nations Australians or Australian First Nations Peoples, after the advisory group raised concerns about the “accuracy and adequacy” of the overarching themes of the ­Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures cross-curriculum priority.

                Other feedback from the advisory group included that the current national curriculum did not include enough “truth telling” about the experience of First Nations Australians since the arrival of Europeans; failed to recognise that the First Peoples of Australia experienced colonisation “as invasion and dispossession of land, sea and sky”; lacked mention of the Native Title Act 1993 as a law passed by the Australian parliament that recognises the rights and interests of First Nations Peoples of Australia in land and waters according to their traditional laws and customs; and failed to showcase the sophisticated political, economic and social organisation systems of the First Peoples.

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              • #
                el gordo

                ‘A nation of cretins: class revamp fail.

                ‘State and federal education ministers are set to oppose elements of a proposed new school curriculum that bolsters Indigenous perspectives and recommends unsubstantiated teaching methods.’ Oz

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            • #
              Sceptical Sam

              while Indigenous histories, cultures and perspectives will be given greater prominence

              Oh good.

              It’ll be interesting to see how they deal with the “Dark Emu” fictional novel of Bruce Pascoe. Honest critique or lefty endearment? Apparently, he’s had some difficulty getting his own ancestry right, let alone Aboriginal culture. The many Aboriginal nations that he sought to belong to have all said: “nup -not us”.

              https://www.heraldsun.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/timeline-how-bruce-pascoe-became-aboriginal-or-not/news-story/7752a670bd176873e8a6094d35a5711c

              If facts no longer count, then it doesn’t matter what students are taught in the left’s new world order.

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              • #
                Richard Owen No.3

                I gave away my copy after reading about 20 pages and deciding it was CR*P.
                Gave it to an ex-Green Farmer who had dealt with local aborigines for over 10 years. He gave away his copy as he couldn’t finish it.

                He asked “How did those very early aborigines learn how to farm on the bottom of the Arafura Sea? Sure, the water level dropped during a cold period but the soil would have been left very, very salty.

                It is the acceptance, nay, the pushing of this sort of CR*P that makes me wonder why we fund the ABC.

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              • #
                Geoff Sherrington

                From some experience with aboriginal affairs in the Top End, there is very little authentic record of traditions, stories, interpretations of rock art.
                Most of what is destined for teaching youngsters was written by anthropologists in the era before about 1980.
                You need to ask about the value of teaching fiction as genuine history. Fairly dishonest, I think. Geoff S

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            • #
              Serp

              Thanks OldOzzie for posting this dismal news; maybe professor Bruce Pascoe can rustle up some indigenous mathematics and stop the capsizing of our education system.

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            • #
              Harves

              The modules about inventions, government, transportation and cultural advancement will be taught between 9:00 and 9:17 on the first Monday.
              I wonder which historic documented records will be referenced … oh wait?

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    • #

      I’ve not read this but how is “the humanities” defined? These subjects that are replacing humanities (which?) are themselves humanities subjects.

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      • #
        Graeme#4

        Out: Studies on world navigators and explorers, significant dates and sites, celebrations and commemorations, ancient history. Primary school maths: Naming and ordering of seasons. Science in occupations.
        In: Shift towards problems solving in maths, inquiry science learning, application knowledge to real world situation. Subjects organised around big ideas, understandings, skills or process. Science: intercultural inquiry practices. English: Increased emphasis on Indigenous authors.
        No increase in phonics teaching however.

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    • #
      el gordo

      ‘The humanities include the study of ancient and modern languages, literature, philosophy, history, archaeology, anthropology, human geography, law, politics, religion, and art. Scholars in the humanities are “humanity scholars” or humanists.’

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      • #

        At what level are these being changed?

        Ancient languages has not been in the core curriculum for generations. G3 shows that many of these fields are still included eg literature” has an increased emphasis on indigenous authors means literature is still in with a shift in focus

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    • #
      Pauly

      As long as Dark Emu remains firmly in the fiction section of the library!

      Given the hundreds of unique languages, and commensurate distinct tribal lands, the next challenge will be to ensure we do not discriminate by only teaching some of the aboriginal histories. After all, we need make sure we are inclusive.

      Then again, in the spirit of intersectionality, schools shouldn’t use texts from recognised historians, because they could be accused of cultural appropriation. And we need to ensure that school programs only source their indigenous materials from suitably certified indigenous publishers!

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    • #
      MichaelinBrisbane

      It’s not only an attack on the Humanities. The new Maths is now just “one, two, plenty . . .”

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    • #

      Just made relevant post on my blog. Some readers may enjoy.

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    • #

      If you learn about the practices of people with an IQ of less than 80, you will become wiser. It’s just common sense.

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    • #

      I’ve sent a letter to ‘The Australian’ newspaper on the changes of curriculum and of rote learning teaching in our phonics-based language. A dumbing-down of our children.Heres my draft…

      Responding to Indigenous Studies in, humanities cut in curriculum cull article,The Australian, April 29th, this is
      a trend undermining our vibrant western culture and the literacy of our youth. Parents need to be concerned.

      We Should not forget the role the Western World played in forging equality before the law for all our people
      and universal literacy for our nations’ children. Significantly,our language is phonics based, less than one third
      of words don’t conform . Once children learn to sound words like ‘cat’ and ‘cat-ch-ing,’ they can take an active
      role in learning to read, whereas the whole-word-memory approach is passive learning. With rote-learning,
      a word like ‘recapitulate’ has to be taught, and if not then it is beyond the child”s sight reading experience.

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  • #
    RicDre

    A Request For Peer Preview

    Guest Post by Willis Eschenbach

    Well, for my sins I’ve been working on a paper with the hope of getting it published in a journal. Now that it’s nearly done, I realized that I have the worlds’ best peer-reviewers available on WUWT. So before seeing if I can get this published, I thought I’d take advantage of you good folks for some “peer preview”, to point out to me any problems you might see with the title, format, style, data, conclusions, or any other part of the following paper. All of the graphics are in grayscale because that’s what the journals want.

    Many thanks for any and all contributions.

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/04/28/a-request-for-real-peer-review/

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  • #
    RicDre

    Music Industry Demands Funding So They Can Stop Climate Change by Eliminating Live Tours

    Guest essay by Eric Worrall

    They would also like an effort to “nurture local artists”, to reduce the influence of foreign artists, so fans are less tempted to fly overseas to see live concerts.

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/04/28/uk-music-industry-demands-government-handouts-so-they-can-save-the-climate-by-eliminating-live-tours/

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  • #
    RicDre

    Andrew Bolt on Biden’s Climate Summit

    Mr Bolt said Biden’s recent climate summit was a “disgraceful farce”. “I am just gobsmacked that Biden … insulted the intelligence of 39 other world leaders — including our Prime Minister Scott Morrison — by making them listen to the ravings of a bizarre parade of alarmists, mystics, New Age tribal women and even a teenager”.

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/04/27/andrew-bolt-on-bidens-climate-summit/

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  • #
    Peter C

    Methane a potent green house gas?

    Our local green Councillor is pushing a new scheme to recycle food scraps in the garden waste.
    The reason that we need this new scheme is that decomposing food scraps produce methane gas. Methane is a green house gas 25 times more potent than CO2.

    I asked her a question:

    Thank you for sending out the “News from our Neighbourhood” newsletter.

    There is one thing I have not been able to understand, so I hope that you can help me here.

    In the news letter it says that methane is a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than CO2.

    I don’t understand how that can be. Methane (CH4) has a tiny absorption spectrum in the infrared range, compared to CO2. Can you explain how this statement is derived,

    Lets see if I get a reply.

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    • #
      Klem

      There are about 230 co2 molecules for ever CH4 molecule in the atmosphere. This renders methane an insignificant GH gas,it’s a nothing burger.

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      • #
        another ian

        As that thread heading used at Small Dead Animals has it

        “Mischief is important”

        And (IIRC) as CO2 is about 0.04% of the atmosphere wouldn’t that ne a

        “Nothing – nothing burger”?

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        • #
          Kalm Keith

          ,,,, and further, the human origin CO2 component is 0.0016% of the atmosphere.

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          • #

            Kalm Keith

            Yes Keith.

            And further if we reduce the human origin CO2 by 70 % it will only represent 0.00048% of the atmosphere, and we will all be saved from catastrophic man-made global warming, rebadged as climate change, more recently rebadged as climate emergency.

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    • #
      Annie

      While we were living in Gloucestershire we had such a scheme. A small closed bucket was supplied by the local council and was supposed to be emptied weekly. One week, not long before Christmas, it wasn’t emptied. I rang the council; a truck (!) duly apoeared, tossed the contents into the back and trundled it off with the waste! How environmentally aware was that?!
      A little bit of methane to break down into plant food; I should have buried it. We have very little anyway; most is recycled, composted or burnt in the stove (like chicken bones from stock).

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      • #
        Peter C

        Do you have a wood stove Annie?

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          • #
            Peter C

            Raeburn or AGA?

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            • #
              Annie

              Neither, PeterC. It is an Australian-made stove that came from Metal Dynamics in Wodonga (iirc). The model is called The Gourmet and consists of a firebox with water-jacket, oven below the firebox, cooking top with room for up to 5 pans (depending on size). It gives us plenty of hot water and feeds 5 hydronic radiators. Mostly we use just 3 of them, in the bathrooms and study. The bedrooms also have them but they are not much used.

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    • #
      Lance

      Not sure you’ll get a reply, but if you do, compare that reply to relevant benchmarks.

      GWP of CO2 is normally calculated on a 100 year atmospheric lifetime. The 195K and 295K absorption is 118.7–175.5 nm.

      Methane has an atmospheric lifetime of 12 +/- 3 years. The 2007 IPCC report lists the GWP as 72 over a time scale of 20 years, 25 over 100 years and 7.6 over 500 years. The mid IR absorption cross section is 2.9 – 3.6 micrometers or 2900 – 3600 nm. Quite different absorption frequencies.

      Total methane released to the atmosphere is about 590 million tons / yr, 40% natural, 60% human caused.
      Total CO2 emissions from fossil fuel usage is about 50 Billion tons/yr, and represents about 4% – 5% of the total CO2 emissions, the largest portion, 95% – 96% , being naturally occurring. So, total methane is approximately 1% of total human CO2 emissions, and that is dwarfed by the ~ 1000 billion tons of naturally occurring CO2.

      Methane is a shorter lived GHG but more potent in short time frames. That being said, it is rather meaningless as compared to that large yellow thing in the sky and the naturally released CO2 as regards the atmosphere. Humans overestimate their importance, and politicians take great advantage of that flaw.

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    • #
      sophocles

      That “Woke” Warmer may soon be welcoming any extra warming she can get. But methane? It’s a trace of a trace gas. The world wouldn’t miss it’s contribution. What? A 400th of CO2?

      I noted the La Nina, which has just expired, back in November last year (the La Nina started in August, according to NASA) and pointed out then that it was a cooling one. It’s finally ended and we’re now in what NASA has called a “La Nada” or neutral conditions — neither warming nor cooling. If you’ve got methane to dispose of, now is a good time.

      Because, because, it’s going to get worse: your “Woke Warmer” Peter C, is worried about Warming, but we, The Human Race, are being taken into a geomagnetic excursion without our permission or help. We need to be worried by cooling of the f-f-f-f-freezing kind. The planet’s magnetic field has declined, so far, by at least 15% and that rate seems to be accelerating, with the crunch time appearing to be somewhere between 2030 and 2050. One of a Magnetic excursions properties, is they are extinction level events™. Remember the Svensmark effect?. We haven’t reached Peak Cosmic Rays yet, nor Grand Solar Minimum. (SC 26 may be GSM.) Both of those are yet to come. The increasing cloud cover will lower the average temperature significantly. Tilba Tilba’s eagerly awaited cooling is a-coming in… but it’s still at least a year away.

      If you don’t know what a geomagnetic excursion is, you should look it up.
      Geomagnetic excursions: knowns and unknowns Andrew P Roberts.
      https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1029/2008GL034719

      (This is possibly the best one:)
      Geomagnetic Excursions Laj and Chanell:
      https://booksite.elsevier.com/brochures/geophysics/PDFs/00095.pdf

      Mono Lake Geomagnetic Excursion:
      Liddcoat and Coe:
      https://www.researchgate.net/publication/252711227_Mono_Lake_Geomagnetic_Excursion

      And thank you to David Wojick et al’s work enabling me to get at papers. Thank you David.

      The following link is Not A Paper but an NYT article:

      One intriguing fact though emerges from the graph of “Heat Wave Deaths”. What the hell happened in the decade 2000/09?

      You will then be able to enjoy the “Woke” blaming it on “Klimate Change.™” 😀 😀
      I will be 😀

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      • #
        Annie

        There was some nonsense in yesterday’s Daily Mail (mailonline) actually claiming that the geomagnetic excursions were due to, guess what? climate change (implied human-caused). They really are scraping the barrel. I had to go out and didn’t bookmark it, so sorry, no link.

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        sophocles

        I’ve been having a Hair Tearing Time™ with the latest version of Firefox. It’s about to be tipped again.
        I’m back on Dissenter. The block quote (I’m making an assumption here) at the end of my post, is not part of my post, so please
        ignore.

        If you don’t want to ignore it, the answer is: “The Pause” or “The Hiatus.”

        The text which should be there is:

        The Ngawha Springs Kauri Log (2020) from the Laschamp Excursion. Age c. 41,000Yrs.
        https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/18/science/laschamp-earth-magnetic-climate.html
        — an article from the NYTimes

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        • #
          Richard Owen No.3

          Not another one tree study? And by Turney the Ship of Fools leader who didn’t even look up the Antarctic ice area before trying to sail there.

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          • #
            sophocles

            Yep, and Yep. One tree. Excavated from 42,000 Year old mud. What a find!
            In his favour, it was very well preserved.

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          Serp

          I too held Firefox in low esteem until my Opera and Vivaldi environments became tainted with moderate-Serp tags necessitating a reprise of Firefox which I had banned along with IE, Edge and Chrome –Dissenter fell by the wayside and Safari on Windows is not a pretty sight. Eventually I’ll disable the tiresome prompting for download new version but the benefits of not having to follow up any comment with an email to support at jonova requesting unlock are manifold.

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          • #
            sophocles

            I had years of trouble-free use from Firefox. Since late 2019, it’s become a pain and a highly disrespected browser. Each new version seems to add to and reinforce the previous version’s unreliability. It’s almost an attitude.

            Opera-Vivaldi is OK, and so is Dissenter, but I wouldn’t call either of them outstanding or scintillating.

            Fortunately, MS don’t make IE for Linux, so I’m spared that.

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    • #
      Chris

      Peter , you need to tell your councillor that all carbon based life forms produce CH4 when they rot in an anaerobic environment . Any good compost maker will tell you to add brown stuff ( dead leaves etc) to soak up the excess moisture and provide live microbes. Give it a good stir to add oxygen and … voila ! the microbes will begin digesting the compost which produces heat, and the gas given off will be CO2 as per normal decomposition.

      As for Methane once it enters the atmosphere it is broken down by sunlight ( uv light) from CH4, it bonds with O2 to produce CO2 and H2O .

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    Yarpos

    3 people i know have hit kangaroos in the the last 7 days. I guess this means they must be nearing some tipping point risk of extinction and I will start to see adverts in hushed weepy tones about how my $s are needed to save them. And then there are the kangaroos.

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    • #
      PeterS

      It’s just a sign of the times. Telling lies get people to higher postilions and/or much more wealth. Most people don’t appear to give a damn otherwise there would be protests at the ballot box causing a rash in voter support of both major parties. We reap what we sow.

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      robert rosicka

      About one every day dead by the roadside on the way into town the panel beater must be doing ok but the greenies still insist they are too endangered to be taken for the pet food industry or human consumption .

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        Sceptical Sam

        If it wasn’t for the greenies, panel beaters would be nearly extinct here too. My red cloud “Duco” loves to get his ram pullers into them whenever he can.

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      Klem

      Where I live they tried the same thing with White Tailed Deer, now people drive into them by the dozens every day, and the ticks they carry are making people sick.

      Now they are focussing on an obscure lichen that grows in the forest. It is so obcure almost no one has ever seen it, and only a handfull of biologists have the training required to identify it. They claim it is going extinct, but they have no idea if it is growing or shrinking in numbers. But if all goes according to plan, this lichen that no one has seen, will put an end to the logging and mineral exploration industries where I live.

      Don’t you just love the Left?

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      • #
        sophocles

        Don’t you just love the left

        Not when it comes to ticks!
        I get very cross at having to deal with them…

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  • #
    Laurie

    We often hear how CO2 is being released from fossil fuel into the Atmosphere by the ton. But what we don’t hear is the percentage of CO2 that is reabsorbed back into the environment. It doesn’t just keep building up, one obvious example is plants on land and in the ocean consume huge amounts of CO2.

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    • #

      What a revelation about what you don’t hear if you don’t listen.

      What is important is the net affect as shown in the nice wavy staircase graphs of CO2 vs time. What you also didn’t mention (which we do hear) is that the ocean and plants etc on land have a balance point with the atmosphere. CO2 is released from the terrestrial biosphere (eg from rotting plants, cow farts) and from the ocean. The [equilibrium] is what you see changing on that stair case.

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        Kalm Keith

        I totally agree that human origin CO2 is separate from the rest of nature and therefore cannot be in the same accounting as nature.
        I heard it on the ABCCCC radio yesterday, so it must be true because the speaker was a visiting adjunct professor speaking on behalf of one of his associates, a lady, who worked at another university where she was conjoint professor emeritus at their centre of excellence for communication on nature.
        Very impressive; her salary I mean, much more than the highest paid building workers union reps could dream of.
        True.

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        Peter C

        Good work Professor,

        You seem to have absorbed some of last weeks lesson (from TdeF) on CO2 equilibrium between the oceans and the atmosphere.

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        Richard Owen No.3

        Rotting plants and animal manure in anaerobic conditions release (or rather bacteria) methane. If methane has 14, 25, 32, 47, 74 times** stronger effect on the Greenhouse than CO2 the answer should sure be to burn it and reduce the risk.

        The other scare tactic is to claim that a temperature rise of (select latest scary figure) would melt the permafrost and release enormous amounts of methane, leading to runaway temperatures “we are all doomed etc”. The previous interglacial (Eemian) was about 2.5℃ warmer than present yet there was no runaway effect (although sea levels were 6 -12 metres above current due to ice melting). Also the Holocene optimum was definitely warmer (at least 1℃ above present time, as was Greenland + Iceland in Viking times where we have archeological evidence that the permafrost melted without the sky falling.

        **the figure keeps getting higher as the level of hysteria rises. It was originally 14 n the IPCC Report.

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        Disco Stu

        Equilibrium? Balance point?

        What utter drivel. It is a chaotic system. Can anyone prove that the reason CO2 atmospheric concentrations are increasing are due to anthropogenic causes? The answer is no. There are only estimates for natural causes and estimates for anthropogenic. Until there are decent measurements there cannot be worthwhile discussions and cause and effect.

        What is important is that what we hear in the media is propaganda not science. That was Laurie’s point.

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          Yes they can attribute the origin of CO2 and the increase is steady and in no way chaotic.

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            Peter C

            Yes they can attribute the origin of CO2 and the increase is steady and in no way chaotic.

            As you now know, thanks to TdeF, the increase is due to the ocean/atmosphere equilibrium.

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      Lance

      From what I can find, plants and soils absorb about 30% of CO2, oceans about 25%-30%, and doubling CO2 levels increases plant/forest growth by about 12%/ year.

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      el gordo

      Laurie there are CO2 sinks in oceans and on land. The argument goes that the sinks are incapable of maintaining balance with the build up of human induced CO2.

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      Chris

      A recent study by the University of Leeds has shown that “Katla”a non erupting volcano in Iceland is venting huge amounts of CO2.The results of the study indicate that Katla emits 12-24 kilotons of CO2 per day( Iceland magazine 9-13-2018). Apparently very few non erupting volcanos are monitored for gas emissions.

      Lets see the greenies put a plug in that.

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    Sometimes I wonder how to get this message across, because if more people knew this was the case, then I’m sure that some pretty stern questions would be asked.

    Take a look at the image at this link. This is total the total power consumption across the AEMO coverage area, for yesterday, 28April2021. (and that’s all of Australia, minus WA) The black line across the top shows the total power consumption. The green colour at the bottom of the image (Look closely now, and squint a bit) shows the contribution from wind generation. That’s the TOTAL contribution from wind generation, just three percent of all power generation from every source. The average across the day was just 700MW per hour, with the low at 288MW. That’s a Nameplate of 8132MW and a daily operational Capacity Factor of 8.6%, so less than one in ten of those (around) 4100+ individual wind towers had their blades turning over.

    Okay, now look at the image at this link, showing the same power consumption (black line again) and the contribution from fossil fuelled sources, with the bulk of it from black coal sources, and the next highest brown coal sources. In that white area, the largest contributor was from hydro sources. (10% of the total generated power, and 42% of just that white area) These fossil fuelled sources delivered 77% of all generated power, so wind, commercial solar and rooftop solar manged 13% of all the generated power.

    Okay then, how about a comparison.

    Let’s look at the ancient old clunker Liddell, now coughing its last, after 50 years of operation. Only two of its four Units are in operation, and both of them are operating at much reduced Capacity. Liddell delivered more power across the day than did EVERY wind plant in the Country, in fact nine percent more power across the whole 24 hour recording period.

    So, on this day, every single wind plant in Australia cannot match the delivery from HALF of the oldest coal fired plant in the Country.

    Now look, even I understand that just one day like this is not every day, but hey, if wind power is the way we have to go for the future, what the hell are we going to do when there are days like this?

    Tony.

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      Incidentally, and with respect to that Nameplate of 8132MW.

      For more than 800 days now, I have been collecting the data, and the highest wind generation over that time was 5310MW, for ONE five minute recording period. That’s a CF of 65% ….. for FIVE MINUTES in 800DAYS.

      Tony.

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        Lance

        From your graph images, I’m struck with the observation that Wind had a “dispatchable equivalent” to about 0.5 GW on average ( calibrated eyeballing of chart).

        That’s laughable.

        As regards dispatchable energy, Wind is irrelevant.

        The way to stop this nonsense is to require the wind generators to bid “firm quantity, firm time” delivery into next day dispatch and then you’d see them drop out of the energy market.

        Or, in all fairness, assess the wind generators with all costs associated with thermal generator losses from ramping down and force wind to pay to have the thermals ramp up, as well as paying for voltage and frequency support, in addition to wheeling costs for using the utility grid.

        Lowest cost generators? Wind? Only in a “rigged market”. At parity, they are a Joke.

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        sophocles

        …for FIVE MINUTES in 800DAYS.

        … sounds like an absolute waste of money …

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          another ian

          Lemon laws for renewables

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          Based on the cost of the largest wind plant in Australia, and here, keep in mind that wind generation is now the cheapest form of power generation, (/sarc) then the total Nameplate for wind in Australia comes in at a cost of a tick under $16 Billion, (and the actual cost over all these years is way more than that) for the equivalent power (on this day) of half of the oldest coal fired plant in the Country, and over the last 12 Months, the total yearly power delivery has just surpassed the power delivery from one coal fired plant, Bayswater.

          As to the year round average. The image at this link is the closest for the last twelve Months of overall power generation. The Black line translates to the generation/consumption of 556GWH. (yearly average 555GWH) Now the average for wind power is a straight line across the page, but this total here, the green colour at the bottom of the graph indicates the closest total to that year round average, and here that comes in at 50GWH, (year round average is 49.3GWH) so the year round average for wind generation is 9.00% of the overall total power generation.

          So if wind is to become the greatest part of the mix of power generation at (Huh!) nett zero emissions, then there is a long way to go, an awfully long long way to go.

          Tony.

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            Peter Fitzroy

            So according to your statement Liddell is running at around 30% of nameplate. woop woop

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              Chad

              PF……you really do not have a clue, do you !..
              Consider yourself lucky that breathing is a muscular reflex ,rather than a brain controlled function,……
              ..or you would have dies long ago . !

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            • #

              Liddell is running at around 30% of nameplate. woop woop

              Oh dear!

              Please link to a wind plant that is 50 years old.

              Tony.

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                Peter Fitzroy

                Why – but since you lack the skill on the internet, Tvind wind turbine 42 years old, and still producing at the same rate as it was when commissioned.

                You harp incessantly on wind and the low capacity factor for each installation. But you can not bring yourself to mention the capacity factors of your beloved though polluting coal plants.

                Why is that I wonder?

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                Peter, good try, But we all know that if it were legal to run Liddell and sell into a free market instead of a Wind-favoured-market, they’d fix Liddell and run it, like all coal plants at 80% or 90%.

                go on, keep talking about capacity factors of old coal. It’s just a chance for us to remind you how rigged the market is.

                And should I mention predatory cross ownership of different generators? Where an owner benefits from trashing an asset worth half a billion dollars that the state gave them for nothing? These are the real obstacles stopping coal from being ran at normal capacity.

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                Sceptical Sam

                I’m a bit late to this discussion but to add my tuppence worth, I note that today’s “the Australian” has a page one report about potential Government action of energy security. It says, in part:

                “Energy Minister Angus Taylor will on Friday deliver the government’s response to a shortlist of options from the Energy Security Board to redesign the electricity system as the threat to grid security and the economics of coal and gas plants posed by the rapid growth of wind and solar reaches unacceptable levels.

                Under the government’s preferred strategy, electricity retailers would pay the owners of dispatchable generators such as coal-fired, gas-fired and hydro plants as well as batteries to guarantee future capacity when the grid is facing periods of peak demand that threatens reliability.”

                https://theaustralian.smedia.com.au/HTML5/default.aspx?publication=NCAUS

                {Paywalled}.

                At long last Federal Government is starting to understand that the only way to secure reliable and cheap electricity for the Eastern seaboard is to make a “contract to supply” mean what it says, and not at contract to supply but only when the wind is blowing or the sun is shining.

                This is something that has been repeatedly recommended by all the clear thinkers who visit Jo’s site. Some others are not so clear in their thinking unfortunately. Peter?

                I think we’ll eventually get to where we need to be. However, the unreliables are going to take a haircut. And not before time, if Australia is to save what little manufacturing industry it has left.

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              yarpos

              because that is the way it has been maintained

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              GlenM

              Comprehending anything is beyond you.[Snip. Getting a bit too personalized! – XT]

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      RicDre

      “…what the hell are we going to do when there are days like this?”

      Well, Mama said there’ll be days like this:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L842mz-tNBQ

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    Hanrahan

    The Climate Catastrophe™ was officially on hold this past summer in Qld.
    GBRMPA [I think was the issuing “authority”] said the GBR repaired itself over summer in the absence of cyclones and excessively hot days.

    But how can you have benign weather AND Climate Catastrophe™ at the same time? They are mutually exclusive.

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      GlenM

      But try telling people and they just won’t believe you. The reef is dead. Gone forever.

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      sophocles

      But how can you have benign weather AND Climate Catastrophe™ at the same time? They are mutually exclusive.

      It’s not a catastrophe for the GBR but not having a catastrophe there is a catastrophe for those who need one there.
      See? It’s not at all exclusive. Just Green.

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    David Maddison

    Here is an essay (downloadable, free) by Libertarian Butler D. Shaffer discussing essentially how the more unnecessary laws and regulations societies have, the less people will respect the law, leading to violence in some cases.

    QUOTE FROM THIRD PARTY
    He suggests that the imposition of structured forms of order by a political-legal system (the “structuring” function) in conflict with the system’s role of preventing acts of victimization (the “hygienic” function) produces a frustration of citizens’ personal, economic, and social expectations.

    https://repository.law.miami.edu/umlr/vol29/iss4/4/

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    Peter C

    Desperate Democrats still trying to upset the audit of votes in Maricopa county, Arizona. Judge declines to issue a temporary restraing order.

    Court Hearing:

    (1) The audit will continue. The Arizona judge denied a temporary restraining order.
    (2) Judge made clear that democrats have provided no evidence to support their claims of audit impropriety.
    (3) The lead auditing firm must release their auditing process and systems to the public.
    (4) After the Arizona Secretary of State previously refused the invitation to participate in the audit; the democrats have no reversed course and argued with the court to have the SoS and legal counsel present. The judge gave both sides until 5pm to work it out.
    (5) Auditing firm Cyber Ninjas continues as previously outlined.

    https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2021/04/28/arizona-gop-chairwoman-kelli-ward-provides-update-on-court-drama-and-maricopa-county-ballot-audit/

    And more here;
    https://richardsonpost.com/howellwoltz/21573/arizona-vote-fraud-is-24-x-bidens-alleged-victory/

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    Tides of Mudgee

    I was wanting to look up America’s Frontline Doctors and did a Google search and page 1 nothing but many articles criticising the AFLDS with words like malinformation, incorrect, spreading medical misinformation, conspiracy theories, and debunked data. Page 2 same same, Page 3 same etc. Eventually found their website on Page 8 of the Google search pages. Went into Duck Duck Go and their site was the first entry on Page 1. Interesting. ToM

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      Annie

      I went to search for WUWT on DDG. Recently I could get it just by typing in ‘watts’, then I had to start putting in ‘wattsu’. Today the full title was needed before it cooperated. WUWT?

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        Peter C

        Clear evidence of Big Tech manipulating the search results to suppress WUWT.

        I did a GOOGLE search on “Clobal Warming skeptic sites”:
        No 1 was SkepticalScience!

        WUWT did not appear in the top 40, even though it is the most read blog site.

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          In the last two months the search engines have changed algorithms again. I used to easily find my pages by typing joannenova and keyword, but now I need to search the full url, and usually several words from the headline. It’s much harder and sometimes impossible.

          But I have been using Tags for a long time and now are using Categories more. Now that seems very useful.

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      Custer Van Cleef

      Same here, I just tested your search and got similar results.

      If people have time, try this search: “happy white women”. Then select Images, from the Filter bar.

      DuckDuckGo – no surprises – pictures of white women, smiling, laughing.

      Google, on the other hand, I get, on the first 3 pages:
      • a furious woman restrained by a man
      • Rachel Dolezal, who wasn’t happy as a white woman, so calls herself black.
      • lots of interracial couples.
      • a retarded woman, not looking happy.
      • white women holding black babies.

      I use Google as little as possible, even the Premier League table doesn’t come up like it used to. They screwed that up.

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      James

      Why are you still using google? DDG for me, and sometimes Yandex if you want to find a site in the Former Soviet Union!

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    David Maddison

    What’s the latest marketing term for the anthropogenic global warming fraud?

    Is it “climate emergency” or “climate catastrophe”? I thought it was the former but I am seeing a lot of usage of the latter.

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    OldOzzie

    Quick question to Jo’s US Contributors – as someone who had been to US 55 times between 1970 and 2005 – 40 out of the 50 states

    One things that I disliked was the constant hand out for Tipping – I understand the rationale.

    Having Been to LAX Disneyland 14 times and 3 times to Disney World Orlando, I am looking forward to trip across America when Covid finishes.

    Given one does not use Cash any more, how will Tipping work in the Future in the US?

    This was brought home to me the other day when stopped at crazy construction zone traffic lights, Annandale where WestConnex comes to Anzac Bridge.

    An old guy was walking along with a sign and bucket for money, but no one in any of the cars stopped for the traffic lights had any Cash.

    Always use Paywave even for small amounts, especially since Covid19 and buy mainly online.

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      James

      There will be a tip line added to your credit card slip for you to sign.

      I still pay with cash most of the time. Easier to keep track of your spending.

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        OldOzzie

        James,

        we don’t get credit card slips to sign – just paywave over the machine and usually no receipt either

        It was more bellhops, etc how will they be tipped if no cash?

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    David Maddison

    Brown coal is considered the least acceptable fossil fuel because of supposedly high CO2 emissions, but is that really true? The only difference between it and regular coal is high water content. Is the extra CO2 emitted attributed to drying it or is there another reason?

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      Yes, David, that’s correct. However, as I have mentioned previously, Germany have adapted the newer technology UltraSuperCritical coal fired process for brown coal, Lignite, as shown in the text for the Neurath F and G Units at this German plant. (shown at this link) They have added an extra process at the front end, the pulverisation and injection of the powdered coal into the furnace.

      The lignite mills pulverise the lignite and, to lower its high moisture content (48 to 60%), dry it using hot flue gases taken from the furnace. Next, together with heated air from the flue-gas air heater, the pulverised lignite is blown into the combustion chamber of the steam generator.

      This has brought these brown coal fired plants into the same efficiency rate of black coal burning USC plants, 43%, almost the same as for those black coal plants.

      There was a much earlier version of this text, from around seven years back now, (when I first came across it) where it was mentioned that the process was going to be retrofitted at the Hazelwood plant to further extend its life, that plant long since blown up now.

      The CO2 emissions are comparable with those black coal fired plants.

      Tony.

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    Peter Fitzroy

    There are, according to ‘The Hill’ several state of the art factories around the borders of India, which can not operate at full capacity because the USA and GB refuse to release patents and feedstocks which would enable them to ramp up production

    Capitalism = red, greed = green

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    MP

    A study on the spike protein of the SARs Cov 19

    SARS-CoV-2 can induce microclots formation in the vasculature of periphery tissues and within the vessels of the CNS. In fact, Bryce et al.32 found that 6 out of 20 cases had microthrombi and acute infarction in the brain(Bryce et al., 2005). Here we report the evident breakdown of the BBB by SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, thus offering a possible avenue for counteracting the consequences of acute ischemic stroke observed in COVID-19 patients younger than 50 years old(Oxley et al., 2020). However, future studies should place focus on interrogating the connection between virus-mediated barrier disruption and coagulation to determine the unique cerebrovascular mechanisms responsible for heightening the risk of strokes in COVID-19 patients.
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7547916/

    Doesn’t the mRNA vaccine also create these spikes?

    How does mRNA vaccines work, well they multiply the spike protein. Vaccines by Pfizer and Moderna carry mRNA instructions to produce the spike protein SARS-CoV-2 uses to infect human cells. After vaccination, our cells read the instructions and pump out copies of the spike. Our immune system spots them and quickly develops antibodies against them – giving us immunity to COVID-19.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/how-do-you-make-an-mrna-vaccine-and-how-do-they-work-20210421-p57l8o.html

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    MP

    Other study is in moderation.

    Another study done on the spike protein. However, recent observations suggest that the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein can by itself trigger cell signaling that can lead to various biological processes. It is reasonable to assume that such events, in some cases, result in the pathogenesis of certain diseases.
    Thus, it is important to consider the possibility that the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein produced by the new COVID-19 vaccines triggers cell signaling events that promote PAH, other cardiovascular complications, and/or complications in other tissues/organs in certain individuals (Figure 3). We will need to monitor carefully the long-term consequences of COVID-19 vaccines that introduce the spike protein into the human body. Furthermore, while human data on the possible long-term consequences of spike protein-based COVID-19 vaccines will not be available soon, it is imperative that appropriate experimental animal models are employed as soon as possible to ensure that the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein does not elicit any signs of the pathogenesis of PAH or any other chronic pathological conditions.
    However, we need to consider their long-term consequences carefully, especially when they are administered to otherwise healthy individuals as well as young adults and children. In addition to evaluating data that will become available from SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals as well as those who received the spike protein-based vaccines, further investigations of the effects of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in human cells and appropriate animal models are warranted.
    https://www.mdpi.com/2076-393X/9/1/36/htm

    Sounds good, when’s my turn.

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      William Astley

      All covid vaccines must understand and manage the risk, if they use the spike protein. Interestingly where in nature did the spike protein come from?

      Covid has designed to damage the body and the spike protein is one of the weapons covid has to attack the body. Another is covid anthesizess the throat to reduce the pain when the virus attacks the throat first before going to the lungs. This helps the virus spread because it hides the pain, initially.

      Logically it would be safer and more effective to correct populations Vit. D deficient, as the first course of action, rather than use a vaccine. This would be faster and safer as this approach uses our natural systems to protect the body.

      The body’s protection systems and operating systems cannot work without VItamin D. Every cell in our body has a copy of our DNA in them. The Vit. D enables our cells to access this DNA to get ‘blueprints’ to build biochemical producing modules and cell to build apparatus to protect the cells/organs. Like the brain, throat, lungs, heart, … and so on.

      All of the people in nursing homes are severely Vit. D deficient. Vit. D deficiency long term cause organ failure, depression, dementia, type 2 diabetes, and so on. Which makes sense as the body’s protect systems is not operating correctly, cannot operate correctly.

      The problem is we (the medical industry) treat ‘sickness’ by giving man made chemicals, treating the symptoms. We wait for example for people to get cancer, before ‘treatment’. People who are Vit D optimum (blood serum level greater than 20 ng/ml or 50 mmol/L) have a roughly 70% less ‘chance’ of getting most common cancers. The results are even better if the calcium deficient is correct at the same time as the Vit D deficiency. The magnesium and zinc deficiency should also be correct.

      Rather than correctly the Vit. D deficient before the ‘illness’ manifests itself. We are also deficient in magnesium, calcium, and zinc. Our food contains roughly half as the amount of minerals as it did 100 years ago. The plants absorb/use the minerals and we eat the plants. The minerals go to the sea. Modern farming does not replace the minerals.

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        MP

        “Our food contains roughly half as the amount of minerals as it did 100 years ago. The plants absorb/use the minerals and we eat the plants. The minerals go to the sea. Modern farming does not replace the minerals.”

        Not making much sense old mate, any evidence that the plants contained 100% more minerals 100 years ago?
        How do the minerals go to the sea, sneak past the plant roots do they. If minerals continually get washed to sea then they must be being replaced from below.
        The Pharmaceutical industry was started by Rockefellers to push products derived from their oil industry, he then destroyed the natural medical industry with science paid to do just that, as is still happening now. He funded the Universities medical programs to push his science. The medical industry is a corrupt entity.

        I would not know if every old person is D deficient, I assume they would supplement and if they don’t then that’s their call.
        “People who are Vit D optimum (blood serum level greater than 20 ng/ml or 50 mmol/L) have a roughly 70% less ‘chance’ of getting most common cancers.” Evidence of this claim?

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  • #
    TdeF

    As I have always said, CO2 is in rapid equilibrium and 98% is in the ocean. However as aerial CO2 increases with warming ocean surfaces according to Henry’s law, the plants around the world have two of the essential ingredients for growth and creating oxygen. CO2 and sunlight. This phenomenal growth in photosynthesis includes the phytoplankton which feed nearly everything in the oceans, as almost none of the fish are vegetarians. And both the CSIRO and NASA have admitted that the greening of the planet is obvious.

    So a very interesting question is whether the increased plant and plankton coverage consumes more CO2 than ever, far more than all our industrial CO2 and cow farts.

    And the reason total CO2 does not go down in response is that it is in the aforesaid equilibrium, which is a proof in itself that CO2 levels are independent of the ‘biosphere’. Or put another way, the extra vegetation, as much as 30% more, has not had any impact on reducing CO2 levels.

    But a interesting secondary political observation is that there is no point reducing our CO2 (grown allegedly over 150 years) if the extra CO2 is responsible for more than eliminating our relatively tiny annual output. In other words, the whole world is already past carbon neutral’ and likely massively carbon negative.

    Politically then we have no reason to cull our cattle, shoot our sheep or pulverize our power stations. Our extra vegetation has done the job and it didn’t cost a cent.

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      Deano

      Bloody funny! I’m in WA (that’s Western Australia, not Washington, for our US readers) and masks have been made mandatory for another week for indoor public gatherings such as workplaces. Not a single case of community transmission has been detected for 5 days now yet masks will continue to irritate me at work until Saturday 8th at least. I know I’ll get abused but that’s just how I feel.

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    David-of-Cooyal-in-Oz

    Afternoon Jo,
    Wow, must imagine Switzerland being drowned by 7.2 metres of water, with mount Blanc’s tip just sticking out above the flood.
    But the numbers are interesting.
    Area of Switzerland = 41,285 sq kms; (As)
    Area of Australia = 7,617,930 sq kms. (Aa)
    Ratio Aa/As = 184.5.
    So Switzerland’s flood gives:
    Depth in Oz = 7.2 x 1000/184.5
    = 39 mms across Oz = welcome rainfall for the country.

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-29/satellites-show-world-s-glaciers-melting-faster-than-ever/100103340
    (Great picture of a glacier.)

    Cheers
    Dave B

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  • #
    Richard Owen No.3

    Rolls-Royce are boosting their small Modular nuclear reactors, expected by 2030. (where did I hear that Date before?)
    They expect that it could produce electricity at $A71-72 per MWh. Or supply a new desalination plant which could be electrolysed with supply from another module. At 60% efficiency (continuous electrolysis) this would make hydrogen rather expensive.

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    R.B.

    The news is weird. They show funeral pyres in India claiming that it shows how bad the pandemic is.

    The death rate from Covid is now 2300 a day. A lot but 20 000 a day died before Covid. A 10% increase is not the reason for funeral pyres in the streets. Its just what they do.

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      yarpos

      A bit like Covid deaths in VIC. The same number of people died per month in nursing homes as normally died all through 2020. We just decided to notice some of them, give them a label and pretend it was a greater tragedy than normal business. All so Dan could keep the populace scared.

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    Peter C

    Thanks Richard,

    I am a bit impatient with Rolls Royce here because I don’t think they are ambitious enough; both on costs and time to build.
    I recently joined the Australian Nuclear Association. I received a newsletter just 2 days ago.

    They say that there are currently 54 Nuclear Power Reactors under construction, meaning that first concrete has been poured. Five of those projects are currently suspended (Brazil, Japan and Ukraine) but 49 are proceeding!

    The reactors range from 25 to >1000Mwe power. While 5 of them could be in the range of small reactors they cannot be described as small modular reactors (SMR) because they are not designed as factory produced modular units.

    SMRs likely have a big market but some countries are not going to wait. The are going ahead with current technology. China is a major supplier, even though it has no background in the field.

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      Chad

      China is a major supplier, even though it has no background in the field

      Do you mean in the fiels of SMR’s ?….
      If so , i think that may apply to every potential supplier !
      China has more Nuclear Reactors operating (48), than any other country…
      ..so they have plenty of Nuclear experience
      China announced plans in 2016 to build its own state-funded floating SMR design..

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    John R Smith

    Meanwhile in the place formerly American…
    The former lawyer for the last President has been raided by agents of the reputed election victors.
    Lawyers and experts that represent unpopular accused are having their livelihoods and safety threatened.
    Those that question the new political status quo are being labeled ‘insurrectionists’.
    To be of the opinion that X and Y chromosomes are determinate can cost you your job.
    Irony is being labeled vicious speech.

    I may owe and apology to citizens of Oz.
    You may be the last holdouts.
    Canada and the UK are gone.
    Now my Republic has gone full banana.

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      David-of-Cooyal-in-Oz

      G’day John,
      Rudy is not alone.
      Dr Simone Gold was also exposed the glories of the FBI, arrested, at gun point in her own home as a result of her presence at that rally at the Capitol. She describes it, at the request of her host, in this video, starting at about 36 mins into the 67 min total.

      https://www.americasfrontlinedoctors.org/videos/awaken

      I commend the whole video to you (all). Her speech is an impassioned 30 minutes followed by questions, which she answers, and clearly.
      Cheers
      Dave B

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        John R Smith

        Ya, I know.
        Along with Brandon Straka, Karlyn Borysenko, Nick Fuentes and likely untold others.
        This on the heels of all is what is so chilling.
        We should of seen this coming just based on the promotion of the slur ‘climate denier’.

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    RicDre

    John Podesta Threatens “Consequences” Over Australia’s Weak Climate Policy

    Guest essay by Eric Worrall

    As demand for Australian coal soars to new records, Democrat John Podesta has threatened “consequences” over Australia’s defiance of Biden’s global climate initiative. But there are forces in motion which make the Biden administration’s climate demands a geopolitical irrelevance.

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/04/28/john-podesta-threatens-consequences-over-australias-weak-climate-policy/

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      el gordo

      India is the third largest emitter of CO2 fertiliser and said they aren’t going to alter their output, so Podesta is talking nonsense if he expects Australia to put on sack cloth.

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  • #

    Aunty Pravda’s rolling news feed of unacceptable articles for the 29th Apr – https://thepointman.wordpress.com/rolling-headlines/  #freepointy

    Pointy

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    Raven

    Question without notice, if I may:

    When warmists talk about “the science”, is that like “the vibe”?
    Because if it is . . straight to the pool room.

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    Hanrahan

    In case you think it couldn’t get weirder, Professor Hunter Biden, along with other lefty luminaries, will teach a course on “Media polarisation’, more commonly referred to as “fake news”, at Tulane U.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xDMwG2gxaA

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      Kevin kilty

      Fantastic isn’t it? I mean the way Hunter Biden can go from one job to another without certificate or experience. How his many joint ventures, often without office, staff, or phone, managed to make millions. The fellow is obviously genius, so I say hurray for Tulane.

      Here is a scary thought. Maybe he can, like Bush II and Adams II, follow in his father’s footsteps.

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    William Astley

    My above comment is not correct. Optimum Vit. D is a blood serum level above, 150 nmol/L or 60 ng/ml, not 20 ng/ml which is severe deficiency.

    Interesting the Vit. D researchers …. ‘discovered’ that the body regulates calcium reducing calcium levels in the bloodstream during the day after eating, to enable calcium absorption; and increases calcium levels at night to enable bone repair and so on.

    And they found the calcium regulation system requires a Vit. D blood serum level that is greater than 37 ng/ml or 75 nmol/L to operate correctly. Calcium supplements are not safe if the Vit D blood serum level is less than 75 nmol.

    What happens is if people take calcium supplements and then blood serum level is less than 37 ng/ml their body cannot reduce the calcium level during the day which will paradoxically reduce calcium absorption and can long term, cause heart problems.

    Analysis of ancient human excrement has determined that our natural/ancient diet had roughly 1 gram more calcium per day than our current diet. Why that is true is not know. As noted above the other element deficiencies are caused by depletion of elements in the soil that we grow our food in.

    Breast cancer studies have found increasing calcium supplements levels reduces the incidence of breast cancer with the caveat that adequate Vit. D supplements (4000 UI/day is sufficient for a small person, large people require 6000 to 8000 UI/day) are first required or calcium supplements are not safe. The following is a short lecture explaining what Vit. D does in the body and summaries the ‘diseases’ that prevented if Vit D is optimum.

    https://www.grassrootshealth.net/project/our-scientists/

    Robert P. Heaney Creighton University

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_G-uy_QztKE

    Vitamin D: What’s a Vitamin D Deficiency?

    This is a copy of a fake Vit. D ‘study’. The key to fake Vit D studies is to set the threshold for Vit D deficiency super low.

    Another technique has been to give all study participants placebos, rather than give half Vit. D. The fake Vit D studies do not measure the level of Vit. D in the bloodstream (to confirm it increased and to determine before and after level) as that would expose the ‘scam’.

    Medical science should be repeatable. When it is not, there is a physical reason/agenda reason. In this case, there is an organized effort to hide the population’s Vit D deficiency.

    This 2018 Vit D ‘study’ uses theoretically calculation of UVB available in the UK (ignoring the fact that the sun may not shine at noon or people might not be able to get outside at noon because they are working inside or the people may have pants on) to calculate the theoretical summer Vit D gain for white people on optimum conditions who have bare legs and arms and who can be exposed to full sunshine for 9 minutes everyday at noon. There are theoretical ‘mistakes’ in this fake study concerning the theoretical available UVB, according to the lead Vit D researcher who found, twenty years ago, the incidence of most common cancers was latitude dependent and UVB dependent.

    Dark skin people are excluded, from the fake study, because is it is impossible for black skin people to get sufficient Vit D from sunlight at high latitudes. That is why humans adapted to produce white skin for people that live at high latitudes.

    This is a link to a fake Vit. D study. This study set the level for Vit D deficiency at 25 ng/ml which is ridiculously low and then theoretically calculated that white skin people can achieve this ridiculously low Vit D level by 9 minutes a day of leg and arm skin exposure to sun.

    Why produce this Vit D study? Why fund it? Why are the UK Vit D ‘researchers’ not aware of what Vit D does not the body?

    “Meeting Vitamin D Requirements in White Caucasians at UK Latitudes: Providing a Choice”(William: To be severely be Vit D deficient.)

    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29673142/

    Results show that, in specified conditions, white Caucasians across the UK need nine minutes of daily sunlight at lunchtime from March to September for 25(OH)D levels to remain & age; 25 nmol/L throughout the winter.

    “This assumes forearms and lower legs are exposed June-August, while in the remaining, cooler months only hands and face need be exposed. Exposing only the hands and face throughout the summer does not meet requirements.”

    This is real Vit D study that measure Vit D levels in the blood to confirm people took the supplements and the supplements were not all placebos. Type 2 Diabetes and type 2 pre Diabetes is the single most expensive ‘disease’. 80% of the blacks in the US and in almost all countries are severely Vit D deficient.

    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960076015300091?via%3Dihub#bib0105

    Incidence rate of type 2 diabetes is >50% lower in Grassroots Health cohort with median serum 25–hydroxyvitamin D of 41 ng/ml than in NHANES cohort with median of 22 ng/ml.

    According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), diabetes afflicts 29.1 million people in the United States, about 9.3% of the population [1]. Type 2 diabetes accounts for 90–95% of adult diabetes cases.

    The CDC expects the number of cases to double or triple in the next 40 years.

    Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, non-traumatic lower limb amputations, and new cases of blindness among adults and is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States. The estimated total yearly cost of diabetes in the United States is $245 billion [1].

    This is a study that shows the incidence of cancer is reduced by greater than 65% by raising the average Vit D blood serum level about 40 ng/ml for the entire year.

    https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0152441&utm_source=Dr+Sircus+Newsletter&utm_campaign=df6f8c08dc-Article_367_5_23_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_ea98c09673-df6f8c08dc-9532024

    Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Concentrations 40 ng/ml Are Associated with >65% Lower Cancer Risk: Pooled Analysis of Randomized Trial and Prospective Cohort Study

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    OldOzzie

    Hitchcock Lives

    ‘Opportunists’: Nightmarish video shows hundreds of corellas descending on Nowra street

    Disturbing footage has captured the moment hundreds of corellas, which are known for decimating crops, swarmed a quiet street on the NSW south coast.

    The shocking incident was filmed on Tuesday night at Jindalee Crescent in Nowra.

    Footage shows hundreds of the birds landing on roofs and nature strips. Many sought refuge on power lines and on top of residents’ cars.

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    OldOzzie

    China takes great leap backwards as its population falls

    China is expected to record its first population decrease in several decades when Beijing releases official census figures after weeks of delay, revealing an intensifying demographic crisis.

    The fall would be the first since the famines 60 years ago and would mean the population had peaked – at just under 1.4 billion – a decade earlier than many had forecast. It would also mean that China, the world’s most populous nation for centuries, will soon be overtaken by India. Beijing had planned to release the 2020 census data in early April, but it has been delayed because of some “very sensitive” figures, according to officials. No new date has been set.

    Analysts say the signs of a looming crisis have been clear, but the delay has fuelled suspicions that officials, who have not always been honest about population numbers, are massaging the figures. If they show a fall, it would suggest China’s population was entering a slide almost impossible to reverse, with profound economic implications.

    Independent experts have long warned of a crisis as decades of restrictive birth policies drastically cut the number of women of child-bearing age. High housing and nursery costs and discriminatory practices against women in the workplace have also damped the desire to have children.

    The declining birthrate is straining China’s ability to support a rapidly ageing population: the workforce is shrinking as the number of pensioners soars. It also restricts consumer spending. Smartphone sales declined by 20 per cent last year, and fewer new cars were bought.

    This has become a concern for policymakers, who want to see the export-oriented economy buoyed by more domestic consumption. The central bank has called for an easing of curbs on the number of children parents can have.

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      el gordo

      They will have to import workers from more populous countries, but I think Beijing would prefer to replace Chinese nationals with AI robots.

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      Lucky

      Interesting – but link does not work. Not for several years ago is it?

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    el gordo

    A vertical wave took the sub down to a perilous depth.

    ‘Many theories have been put forward but authorities now say there is evidence an underwater wave — that can exert an intense vertical pull below the sea surface — occurred in the Bali Sea around the very time the submarine disappeared last Wednesday morning.

    ‘The sub was passing through dangerous waters, the Lombok Strait between the islands of Bali and Lombok is said to be famous for generating intense internal waves on an almost fortnightly basis.’ (ABC)

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    Hanrahan

    Australia is still the lucky country.

    Overnight Cu surpassed $10,000/ton, highest since 2011 and iron ore is abt $200/ton. People still want our coal.

    ScoMo is kissed on the ring. Record receipts give him flexibility in his upcoming budget that he could have only hoped for last year.

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    el gordo

    ‘NSW to resume focus on privatisation for new infrastructure. Gladys Berejiklian says NSW will go it alone on fast rail instead of waiting for consensus from state and federal governments.’ (SMH)

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    Tel

    This is really astounding. Thankfully no global warming involved but it’s an amazing story.

    https://www.podbean.com/site/EpisodeDownload/PB101B2E9QHYKG

    I will put a “Not suitable for children” warning on this one.

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    el gordo

    UK shivers because of a negative NAO, an Arctic chill just in time for the long weekend.

    https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/orthographic=-312.84,73.56,844/loc=1.609,48.510

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    CHRIS

    How interesting that Cu, Li, Pb, Fe etc must be mined to charge up the so-called “renewable energy” revolution. As I have told people: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS RENEWABLE ENERGY. Solar, Wind, Batteries, Hydro and Nuclear are based on non-renewable sources (just like coal, oil and gas). All resources run out…eventually. In our industrialised society, the trick is to maximise the benefits of ALL forms of energy, in order to continue a comfortable life (and this includes the current ‘have nots’ of third world countries, who are only now beginning to enjoy the benefits of electricity). I, for one, do not want to go back to living in caves.

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    Kim

    Western democratic societies are bottom up societies. The voter and the customer are king. Socialist – feudal – societies are top down societies – the government and the corporation are king. When big business and politics merge that produces a fascist society. When the government is the business, when it owns everything, that produces a communist society. In western societies when you use free web sites – free commercial services – big tech – you become the product. This is a top down relationship. When the corporation is politicised it is a fascist relationship. When the corporations take over the body politic it becomes a fascist society.

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