Open thread

Some days there is too much to discuss.

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230 comments to Open thread

  • #
    Vlad the Impaler

    Serious question, even if it sounds flippant:

    Not too long ago, there was some informal discussion that Alberta and Saskatchewan might initiate secession from Ottawa.

    The subject has also been broached within the Lower 48, viz., distancing ourselves from D. C.; it is not widespread, but it has been mentioned here and there.

    Just wondering if this might be the time for those two provinces to make a serious effort to carry out this event. I can guarantee that this Yank would be fully supportive of such an effort. It might incentivize some ‘fence-sitters’ here in the States.

    Regards to all,

    Vlad

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    • #
      grant

      As a resident of Saskatchewan, I feel a frustration with the country that leads me to want to secede. The current protest in Ottawa has lead me to think that it may just be possible that I could once again have pride in my country. Even if my hopes are dashed, and as much as I might wish for separation, I do not think it will happen. As an independent country, we would be much more poorly off than as the downtrodden subjects of Canada and thus I think that most people would vote to maintain a better life style even while treated as 2nd class citizens. If the NEP (National Enegery Program under Piere the elder) failed to push Alberta to quit Canada, I do not know what it would take now.

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    • #
      Kevin Kilty

      Alaska, NWT, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Montana, Dakotas, Wyoming, Colorado (might have to isolate the Front Range cities), Kansas, OK, NM, Texas, Louisiana … world energy powerhouse….All others welcome to join.

      80

  • #
    RicDre

    Health officials are hinting at ending COVID restrictions (and not because of the truckers)

    Author of the article:Tristin Hopper = Publishing date:Jan 31, 2022

    While viruses such as smallpox and polio can be stamped out through aggressive vaccination, COVID-19 is simply too infectious to be eliminated entirely

    https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/health-officials-are-hinting-at-ending-covid-restrictions-and-its-not-because-of-the-truckers

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    • #
      Fran

      Of course the truckers have nothing to do with dropping restrictions/sarc

      The comments in the various legacy media in Canada are almost all supporting the protests. GIVESENDGO passed $3,000,000 this morning despite it taking hours to get onto the site. And a lot of people are saying they will double their donations when GOFUNDME refunds the money. Also, the “Health Officials” are seeing the protests spread to other countries. Trudeau still being in hiding is hurting his credibility even with his supporters. The firms with tow trucks big enough to move the big rigs have “all staff off with Covid”. The leader of the opposition (O’Toole) got the push for lukewarm support for the truckers. The farmers are joining the truckers.

      The message is, if you force people to get vaccinated, a lot of them resent it and support the ending of all mandates.

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      • #
        Kevin T Kilty

        Fran, I got the vaccine because my age suggested it was in my best interest. But I resent the mandates; and there is no way I’d allow vaccines like these poorly tested as they were, and novel, to be used on my children who have zero risk from COVID. It is absurd to think otherwise.

        I am sure many people think the same.

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    • #
      OldOzzie

      Booster mandate a possibility for NSW healthcare workers

      The NSW government has left open the possibility of mandating COVID-19 boosters for healthcare workers, but Health Minister Brad Hazzard says he’s still hesitant to impose the measure.

      Mr Hazzard on Sunday said the state was taking a “gentle, nuanced” approach to the booster uptake for healthcare workers, who have been under intense pressure for two years, after consulting several unions representing the sector.

      Mr Hazzard said while NSW was awaiting advice from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) whether a booster would be required to be considered fully vaccinated, a strict mandate was not on his agenda.

      However, he added that if ATAGI recommended the measure, the government would need to reconsider the mandate for healthcare workers.

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  • #
    James Murphy

    Far be it from me to prevent anyone from proposing whatever crazy policy or legislation they want, but the Greens just don’t get it, do they?

    …The Greens would demand an immediate moratorium on new coal, oil and gas projects in return for supporting Labor, if the federal election leads to a hung parliament… “We want a pause on coal and gas while talking. It’s a pretty reasonable position,” Mr Bandt said…

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-07/greens-set-climate-terms-for-backing-labor-hung-parliament/100809182

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  • #
    Bright Red

    The Victorian Government are now clearly punishing those not fully vaccinated. The department of Health made a decision 3days before a Tarmac Rally (Targa High Country) was to start that both of the cars crew must be fully vaccinated to drive the car on sections of road closed to the public. It remains legal for the same two people in the same car to drive on sections of the same road that are open to the public. This decision is clearly unjustified punishment of those not fully vaccinated as the cars crew are not likely to come into contact with others on the closed road sections. On the other hand filling with fuel at service stations on open road sections will result in contact with others but remains legal.
    It’s my view that despite having months to tell the organisers VIC Health waited to the last minute to maximise financial losses and prevent a review of the decision before the event starts.
    The tyrants are now clearly in charge.

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    • #
      Plain Jane

      I suspect “they” are swapping around which state is being draconian instead of all doing it at the same time. Vic has been nutty the most, but still is. Qld was OK but has gone nuts now NSW has opened up. Maybe their psy ops folk think we might jack up too much if they lock down and stay locked down all together for a long time.

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      • #

        Disgusting Bright Red.

        What are they afraid of? That the winners of the Tarmac Rally might be unvaccinated, and might use their success to hail Freedom? They fear the unvaxxed star?

        And no one could get “fully vaccinated” in three days anyhow. It’s all so pathetically non-medical.

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    • #
      KP

      At the Whiteline Tarmac Rallysprints last year I could build the car in the workshop with the driver and navigator as we always do. But they both had to be vaxxed to enter, but I couldn’t attend in case they gave me Covid. Fortunately the organisers have reversed that for this year.

      This madness made even less sense when rallying in NSW said we all had to be vaxxed to attend an event outside, in the forest, generally a long way from any other people. Like all private organisations, suddenly they were “just obeying the law..”

      Don’t look for logic, it is all about forcing you to comply!

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      • #
        Forrest Gardener

        The medical purpose of the exclusion of the uninjected has always been unclear to me.

        I’ve never been sure whether it is to protect the uninjected from the injected or to protect the injected from the uninjected. Either option seems to be based on the premise that the injections don’t work.

        Or maybe it is that the uninjected just require more coercion.

        In my own case I was considering the novavax injection but that won’t be available for another two or three weeks and by then the risk of infection will be low enough I won’t bother.

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        • #
          Gerry

          You can bet your house on it that the goal is to protect the Protected from the Unprotected. This would be consistent with the logic most other decisions around the pandemic have been made.

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    • #
      Broadie

      both of the cars crew must be fully vaccinated to drive the car on sections of road closed to the public.

      The question is what is more dangerous?
      A driver catching a cold after exposure to an un-vaccinated navigator.

      or? A driver having a heart attack or a stroke, both adverse events associated with the Emergency use authorized Gene Therapy.

      Potentially 2 deaths in healthy individuals or a 0.1% chance someone may lose their sense of smell.

      A difficult choice!

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      • #
        Forrest Gardener

        Maybe a little like the risk of me being involved in a traffic accident while driving to NSW to play on a golf course rather than a few km to my local course.

        It is as though the powers that be start with faulty premises and work from there through to the illogical conclusions.

        In defense of the governments I am more than happy that there have been no stampeding elephants in my local village. They can chalk that down to effective regulations.

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        • #
          Bruce

          ALWAYS look at situations like this within a framework of the guilty bastards having a “Solution” in search of a “Problem”.

          They have a GOAL and an ideologically determined way of achieving it. However, they feel obliged to play “theatre-sports” to provide a ‘rationale” “acceptable” to the gullible, compliant peasants.

          Malice aforethought, basically.

          20

      • #
        yarpos

        Hard to imagine what they are thinking of. Perhaps the “risk” to first responders in the event of a crash on the closed road sections , where they are more likely?

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        • #
          Bright Red

          I’ve seen first responder do plenty of work in the open road sections. It’s vary rare to have an accident that requires first responders. Most are slow speed with only car damage as the cars have extensive occupant protections. There is also a satellite communication system in each car that can be used to summon medical if required. In any case they would be just as likely to catch Covid from a vaccinated person. They could easily just require RAT tests if they are concerned about someone being infectious. The rules also require anybody that has symptoms to withdraw along with there close contacts.

          40

  • #
    Richard+Ilfeld

    Secession is really difficult to manage but changing the degree of separation has been evolving for many years to a greater level of central control in Ottawa / Washington DC and may well have reach the tipping point of devolving back to greater state/provincial independence. As is often the case, the left has created the legal wedge that can now be turned 180 degrees: “Sanctuary” need not only be for illegals and “disparate impact” need not only refer to race. If the courts permit laws to be mooted on a theory such as these, it becomes relatively easy to turn the tables; in the US system you can often defacto fubar the system with a single friendly federal judge issuing an injunction. There is much talk about the supreme court of the US revisiting the “great” social issue of our time; there is little about revisiting what constitutes a “taking” by the federal government, or indeed, the slim reed upon which agressive implementation of federal regulation of interstate commerce hangs. Many States in the US are large enough to support domestic industries which might be very cost-effective without the heavy hand of federal regulation, which hands upon a rather bizarre ruling;
    Wickard v. Filburn and ‘Chevron’ are both ripe for revision to change the basic relationship between the Feds, the states, and the individual to favor the latter two. (Not a lawyer, but) The first suggests that a farmer growing wheat for his own table affects interstate commerce by changing the supply side of the price equation, the second demands deference to the wisdom and expertise of federal agencies. “taking” asks when does federal deprivation of full use of resources constitute a taking requiring compensation.

    Courts in free countries may well feel, as their populations obviously do, that it is time to reign in the goons; the state has sufficient countervailing authority to do so against a lawless Fed and, standing with their own citizens, resist.

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  • #
    tonyb

    Whether you believe sea level is rising or not, Obamas new beachfront home looks incredibly vulnerable

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10481075/Scowling-Obama-inspects-new-multi-million-dollar-Hawaii-mansion-controversial-sea-wall.html

    “Scowling Obama inspects his new multi-million dollar Hawaii mansion and controversial sea wall”

    I certainly wouldn’t want to live in such an exposed place and can only assume Obama thought his inauguration speech had really stopped the sea from rising, as he promised.

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    • #
      Sambar

      And the only person NOT wearing a mask in these photos

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      • #
        Greg in NZ

        If you’re ‘powerful’ enough to command the seas, what’s a mere airborne common bug (with 99% survivability)?

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      • #
        Plain Jane

        How else are we to tell the difference between the important people and the faceless minions? I have just been to a large public event that lasted a week. Despite a couple of little signs saying wear a face mask almost no one did. So refreshing to see. The only people who were made to wear masks were those serving. I think the psychopaths in power are loving this (obviously otherwise they would have not spent the last 40 years working on the plan) and do want to bring in a new class system.

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      • #
        Mark Allinson

        “And the only person NOT wearing a mask in these photos”

        The new ruling class do not need masks, which are for the new slave class only:

        https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7a064f8dc17db70b26c66b01fdcf6cc0fb66df89244191592943076ade502dd5.jpg

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      • #
        OldOzzie

        Stacey Abrams Panics, Deletes Maskless Photo of Her Surrounded by Masked Children During Visit to Georgia Elementary School

        Georgia Democrat gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams has been branded a “mask Fascist” for wanting the government to impose mask mandates for all Georgians.

        Abrams, a morbidly obese 48-year-old, is at a much higher risk of dying from Covid than children, but she’s the only one not wearing a mask.

        This is child abuse.

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      • #
        Bruce

        Why would you wear a mask outdoors, in blazing tropical sunlight?

        How far can Kung Flu jump?

        How long can it “survive” direct UV exposure?

        Just asking for clarification.

        BTW: Most beaches in the Hawaiian chain are of BLACK sand. This sand is relatively coarse and is formed when red-hot lava rolls into the ocean. Lots of videos of this happening on various sites.

        The “white” sand, (are we still allowed to call it “white”, or is that oppressive?) comes from wave eroded coral, unlike the fine, dazzlingly white stuff along the east coast of Australia, which is basically silica (plus rutile, ilmenite,zircon, etc. washed down the many coastal rivers.

        The entire Hawaiian chain is on a crustal plate that is rotating clockwise. The string of islands stretching up through Midway and to teh Aleutians seem to be part of this.

        ALL of these islands are volcanic in origin. As the chain moves it is traversing an enormous “hot-spot. Currently, the eastern side of The Big Island is over the hot-spot; hence the Volcano National Park and regular household evacuations and real-estate “re-valuations”. Any “volcanoes s on the other islands are pretty much extinct, and waves and currents are slowly, but steadily washing them back into the ocean.

        One of the more amusing snippets is that the much-quoted carbon-Dioxide detector on the Big Island is near the summit of Mauna Loa. It so happens that this feature is an active volcano. Last time I looked, one of the notable gases emitted by active volcanoes, is Carbon Dioxide. Another is water vapour. Toss in a few interesting ones like Sulphur Dioxide, Radon and Xenon, just for giggles.

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        • #
          Mark Allinson

          “Why would you wear a mask outdoors, in blazing tropical sunlight?”

          For the same reason you are required to wear a mask anywhere – to signify that you are a willing slave of the State.

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  • #
    tonyb

    So Australia is opening up at last?

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10481085/Australias-international-border-finally-open-tourists.html

    I don’t know if Oz still has any of its residents stranded overseas, as I know New Zealand has.

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  • #
    Raving

    “I’m vaxxed, double vaxxed, boosted and flu shot and shingle shot and haven’t gotten COVID and Jesus loves me most,” she said just moments before the fall.

    Eyewitnesses told the outlet that audience members initially thought it was part of the act, though it quickly became clear she was in need of medical attention.

    https://nation.lk/online/heather-mcdonald-hospitalized-after-collapsing-on-stage-i-felt-so-dizzy-171462.html

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    • #
      RicDre

      A case of “Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”?

      Proverbs 16:18 (King James Version)

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    • #
      Broadie

      McDonald’s fainting spell does not appear to be COVID-related. Her rep also said she received a booster shot approximately three weeks ago and recently tested negative for coronavirus.

      Yes, it does not appear to be Covid (tested negative) though may be Covid-related (booster 3 weeks prior). Three weeks, which by NSW health definitions Heather would be ‘No Effective Dose’.

      Another link attached to the Yahoo verson

      Chelsea Handler was forced to unexpectedly call off multiple Oregon shows on her Vaccinated & Horny comedy tour after she suffered a health “scare.”

      With Celebrities, could it just be a bad batch of drugs?

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  • #
    Kalm Keith

    Comment to Lass on previous thread; redacted.

    ” Thank you Lass for that statement which illustrates the ease with which modern society has been entrained into the “Plandemic”.

    Those who have watched in alarm as our “Governments” led us through the Climate Change impost can see the same hallmarks appearing now in the Covid19 crisis and fear that humanity has finally and irreversibly been enslaved.

    The only difference between the human origin CO2 induced Global Warming emergency and this current CV19 plandemic is that there are actually people who have caught this new virus whereas there’s no scientific reality to the CO2 thing.

    This disease, in my own local environment, has almost exclusively manifest itself through the significant number of adverse reactions to the CV19 VaXXines.

    There are so many avenues to explore in this Kovid19 Krisis and I hope that we can go down each one and drag the “officials” hiding there out into public view and expose them.

    There’s little doubt that this CV19 Event has been “modelled” on the very successful Man Made Climate change and d,,h by incineration due to human origin CO2 meme.

    Enough; we need truth in science and accountability in Governance at all levels.

    Maybe an exposee of the PCR test fiasco would be a good starting point.

    Money has once again spoken.”

    KK

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    • #
      OldOzzie

      “We Failed” – Danish Newspaper Admits Failure and Apologizes for Not Questioning the Government’s COVID-19 Narrative (VIDEO)

      One of the leading newspapers in Denmark issued a public apology for spreading the government’s lies about COVID-19 and narratives without sufficient skepticism throughout the pandemic.

      Ekstra Bladet published an article last month with the title “Vi fejlede,” which means “We failed.”

      Ekstra Bladet is a Danish tabloid newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus in Copenhagen and was founded in 1904.

      “THE CONSTANT mental alertness has worn out tremendously on all of us. That is why we – the press – must also take stock of our own efforts. And we have failed,” Ekstra Bladet journalist Brian Weichardt wrote.

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      • #
        Mark Allinson

        Perhaps they have seen the literal writing on the wall and feel the need to make their apologies before being hauled before the courts in Nuremberg II.

        30

      • #
        RickWill

        I wonder when their apology will come for the CO2 induced hysteria.

        80

  • #
    Kalm Keith

    My apologies for having been “immoderate”.

    80

  • #
    Kalm Keith

    They seem to be giving the election some thought.

    “Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said allowing the return of vaccinated holidaymakers and business visitors was a ‘priority’ and the federal government was ‘very close’ to announcing the re-opening”.

    In a time when Vaxxine adverse reaction are rampant what does this say about our Rulers?

    KK

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    • #
      James Murphy

      our rulers like to be protractors too…

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      • #
        Kalm Keith

        🙂 🙂

        Yes, this CV19 drama is getting a bit past its use by date.

        Australia is on its knees and needs to get up.

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        • #
          PeterS

          Actually, it is well past its use by date, and more and more people are realising it. I suspect the Morrison government has finally woken up to that reality and must be getting close to panic mode, if not already. Too little too late. Besides, why should we reward them for what they have and haven’t done over the past two years? Vote major parties last. It’s the only sensible thing to do to give them a loud and clear message we don’t want the current two-party system to keep failing us any longer on not just one but two fronts; CAGW and COVID-19 mandates. Both must be jettisoned from the political arena.

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      • #
        PeterS

        and obtuse.

        90

      • #
        OldOzzie

        Do kids still use them today?

        100

      • #
        Annie

        Give me a compass.

        70

  • #
    Richard+Ilfeld

    It’s certainly time to give some thought to the problem of “tiny tyrants”. They are not new, of course. Americans who are interested in history may recall that William Bradford, of the Plymouth colony, after a failed first year of operating ‘in the common Welfare’, took over as dictator and decreed capitalism, which saved the colony from an existential threat. Similar authority was thought required in the early days of Australia as well. But lately we’ve not been well served by permitting the authority of officials, large or small. Some might argue this this demonstrates perfectly the Peter Principle, and we have populated our governments with the mediocre among us.
    I think it is more the tendency of those with a comfortable sinecure to become more enamored of maintaining their own office that anything else, to the degree that clients/citizens become an annoyance; the arrogance of the power-monger being enhanced by the comfort level of the sinecure. If no means of direct personal accountability (universal in the world where most of us live) can be found; the blunt instrument of term limits, for the appointed as well as the elected, and aggregated across all government service, is a ready palliative. Those who value their power more than citizen’s freedom have shown their true colors; it is time to show them the door.

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    • #
      Kalm Keith

      🙂 🙂

      80

    • #
      KP

      Yes, its a result of efficiency in manufacturing since WW2. That led to vast unemployment of people who were producing material goods and the only way to soak them up was to put them in public service employ. We have needed fewer people to produce more in every area of human endeavor except Govt, and prices of all goods have effectively come down while the cost of their ‘services’ has risen.

      Parasite payrolls have expanded faster than populations in most Western countries.

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      • #
        Graeme No.3

        Read Parkinson’s Law if you can locate a copy. Might be some in the local charity shop.
        The Law is that “the number of public servants increases with time, regardless of the amount of work (if any) to be done”.

        Illustrated with data from the Royal Navy showing the number of ships, sailors and dockyard workers declining with time whereas the number of Admiralty clerks expanded.
        Also the Colonial Office “when the Union Jack flew over palm and pine, and the sun never set on the British Empire, the Colonial Office managed with 24(?) clerks and 2 part-time Turkish interpreters. After decades of The Winds of Change (and colonies becoming independent) it required 1866 to administer the remnant”.

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    • #
      PeterS

      Those who value their power more than citizen’s freedom have shown their true colors; it is time to show them the door.

      100% correct. That must mean vote major parties last from now on. We must scrap our decrepit two-party system once and for all if we are to stop the rot getting any worse.

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    • #
      Forrest Gardener

      Agreed on the limited tenure. Ten years on the government teat ought to be enough. After that would be lifers should be forbidden from ever working for government again, not even as a council parking meter inspector.

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      • #
        beowulf

        Add to that a 10 year ban on pollies rolling out of a ministerial position and straight onto the board of — or consulting for — major businesses that just happen to be in the line of work of the minister’s former portfolio, al la Christopher Pyne and so many others.

        90

  • #
    R.B.

    I regularly go to the park to let my dog play with the neighbours’ dogs and socialise a bit. I’m the only male because it can be a bit bitchy, one being mostly responsible.

    I told one a story about how weird the world is. My PhD supervisor was a friend of a former CIA director. A tall story but easily verified using a smart phone. I’m coauthor of a few papers and a patent with one, and both have Wikipedia articles showing that they were postgraduates at MIT together and both polymer chemists.

    They’re not interested in facts, though. The scientific method is go with your first gut feeling, put your fingers in your ears and go “la la la, can’t hear you”. The same reasoning that makes climate science so robust.

    What was a polymer scientist doing as a CIA director? Good question. I don’t know for sure but I suspect that he was in a group called Jason, a bit like RAND. A group of scientist paid through DARPA to provide scientific advice to the military. They had full positions at institutions and companies but their expertise could be used by the military, part time.

    John Deutch was appointed by Clinton and lasted a couple of years, having done something dodgy and resigned. I don’t know exactly what. George W Bush then cut off funding to Jason because their membership was secret. Strange that it was never an issue for 40 years.

    Why is this interesting? Jason helped Guy Callendar reboot his theory in 1962. These days, members like Will Happer are sceptics.

    It’s a strange world.

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    • #
      OldOzzie

      What was a polymer scientist doing as a CIA director? Good question. I don’t know for sure but I suspect that he was in a group called Jason, a bit like RAND. A group of scientist paid through DARPA to provide scientific advice to the military.

      Possibly working here?

      Area 51 photos: Satellite snaps image of top-secret aircraft

      Area 51 rarely makes mistakes. Yet new satellite photos giveaway a huge security secret. Was it an error or an elaborate hoax?

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  • #
    Robert Swan

    I have been mildly puzzled about the comment background colours here. I’m not sure if there’s a key to them already published, but looking at the pages’ style sheets you get:

     white: even
     grey: odd
     pink: hotly debated
     yellow: highly rated

    Even and odd apply to top-level comments, inherited by all their children. I assume they’re swapped around because computers like to count from 0 which makes the first comment even. The highly rated and hotly debated categories are assigned by some function of the thumbs. These are also inherited by deeper nested comments, but the nested comments are themselves evaluated for yellow or pink rating, so a pink parent can have a yellow child if it’s popular, otherwise all its children will be pink. Converse applies too. So there’s no getting back to white or grey.

    Now that I understand it, it seems like a feature in search of a purpose. Adds colour I supppose, but it’s not terribly meaningful.

    Posted in case others have been puzzled.

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    • #
      KP

      I’m equally fascinated by what we are allowed to talk about and what we can’t. Some list at the top would be good, I’m sure there are things Jo doesn’t want discussed, but currently it seems we throw them up and some stick and others vanish.

      [KP there is a “guide for commenting” on the right side of the blog, it’s only a guide and yes there are words that the auto filter is looking for but the vast majority are a mystery known only by WordPress probably. There are occasionally glitches which can make a comment disappear and if this happens just use the email link provided to let us know.]AD

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      • #
        KP

        “[KP there is a “guide for commenting” on the right side of the blog, it’s only a guide and yes there are words that the auto filter is looking for but the vast majority are a mystery known only by WordPress probably. There are occasionally glitches which can make a comment disappear and if this happens just use the email link provided to let us know.]AD”

        Ah, thankyou, I hadn’t seen that. What man ever looks at the instruction booklet?

        [Not me]AD

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        • #
          Bruce

          I used to get a bit of stick about my habit of retaining and actually reading “user manuals”; especially for gear that was supposed to be “intuitive”. The quiet joke among the more astute tech types was: “when all else fails, get the manual out of the bin and READ IT”.

          “Intuitive”? NO SUCH BEAST. Even if it is a “new” version of familiar equipment, there will be a reason, hopefully beyond “badge engineering” that it is, indeed a “NEW” model.

          However, I realized early on, that MANY instruction manuals are wholly or partially written by the designers or developers, or by people who only THINK they totally understand the equipment and its modes of employment AND the objectives of new owners.

          In several jobs, I was involved in many phases of projects; from design, production engineering, even designing a few specialist tools for set-up or maintenance, to producing the “user handbook”.

          Putting the “designer” hat away and donning the “mug punter” hat is an interesting experience, but I was just a “mug punter” before I gained any serious technical skills.

          Different people have different cognitive, analytical and learning abilities. The vanity that declares that “managers” are capable and competent regardless of their “posting” is a hideous lie and has brought down several organizations of my acquaintance.

          “Managerialism, coupled to “galloping credentialism”, is a sure recipe for a human and operational disaster.

          In an actual commercial environment, it results in the vulture-like bean counters acting for the “creditors” descending and generally gutting the operation and dismissing staff in a cavalier way; distressing to watch.

          ?Government” operations seem to have a different set of parameters, one of the primary ones is that most of the guilty bastards get the golden parachute. Some interesting techniques of “constructive dismissal” are often also in play.

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    • #
      Robert Swan

      categories are assigned by some function of the thumbs

      hotly debated (pink) looks to be related to the number/rate of extra comments being added as children. Highly rated is surely based on thumbs though.

      30

  • #
    Ian1946

    This could turn out to be a game breaker if successful. Apparently in the U.S. the county Sheriff is the most powerful lawman in the Country ( Could one of our American friends confirm this).

    Steve is not sure how accurate this is but a case number has been assigned.

    https://stevekirsch.substack.com/p/criminal-investigation-opened-in

    The only way Andrews, McGowan and the rest of the regressive left can be stopped is to make them personally responsible for “vaccine” injuries.

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    • #
      Dave in the States

      I’m not a lawyer. However, I think the county attorney will be the one who makes a prosecution. The county sheriff can make an arrest, but in most cases he must have an arrest warrant or witness that a crime or something endangering public safety is progress. A warrant must be issued by a judge at the request of the county or district attorney, I believe.

      Nonetheless, on the topic of institutions or business’ being held to account for vaccine injuries because of mandates, there’s the experience of one of my nephews who is studying to become an RN. The university he enrolled in required full vaccination. In his classes and among his fellow medical students the word quickly circulated that the vaccines were not safe and many were refusing to get boosted. Then the university dropped the vaccine mandates completely. Word was that they were receiving an avalanche of law suits due to vaccine injuries.

      Also wait for the lawsuits for unlawful termination of employment to start rolling in.

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    Ian

    Interesting that in The Australian there is no mention of Mike Pence’s rebuke last Friday of President Trump for his false claim that Pence could overturn the election result. Fortunately the Guardian did and to keep readers here informed I have given the link to the article.

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/feb/06/trump-election-advisers-snake-oil-salesmen-mike-pence-aide

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      another ian

      But then there is Mandy Rice-Davies’s opinion on such matters

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        Ian

        But then you would say that wouldn’t you?

        As I’m sure you’re aware, when Lord Astor denied in court that he had slept with her, Ms Rice-Davies actually said “He would wouldn’t he” rather than the version I have given which, although incorrect, is the more widely used version.

        Regarding the duplicate posting, for reasons that elude me, my first post frequently vanishes but re-appears if I post a second time.

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          another ian

          “when Lord Astor denied in court that he had slept with her”

          If that was all he’d done he probably wouldn’t have been in court”?

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      GlenM

      Ah, Ian that is because the Guardian is tendentious,false and misleading that they would print any garbage to keep the slatheriing leftist mob satisfied. A newspaper ( loosely defined) that has its hand out for money from the gullible class in order to keep it afloat. Abysmal journalists and content.

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      • #
        GlenM

        Meant to address below.

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      • #
        Ian

        “Abysmal journalists and content.”

        To re-quote “well you would say that wouldn’t you?”

        And as for your snide remark that the Guardian “has its hand out for money from the gullible class in order to keep it afloat” it has been afloat since 1821 which is 143 years before the Australian appeared. It asks for money as, unlike the Australian and many other papers, it does not charge for its digital version.

        In that, it is like Jo who does not charge for her blog but who also asks for donations. I don’t regard myself as gullible in acceding to her request as I appreciate what she does and I expect those subscribing to the Guardian appreciate what it does.

        Oh and BTW best not use words of which you are uncertain as in ” to keep the slathering leftist mob satisfied”. Slathering means to spread thickly. The correct word in this context is slavering. Perhaps you should look it up,

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          Graeme No.3

          Ian,
          there are reports that The Guardian newspaper is struggling financially. Certainly the circulation has dropped markedly as with all newspapers. I cannot claim that they are true as I am not a reader but I was amused to see (in a link) that they carry Advertisements for luxury holidays in The Maldives. (you would know them as the islands that were going to be underwater by 2018 according to the Global Warming espoused so strongly by the paper).
          I am sure that the advertisers knew what the potential buyers in the UK read.

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            another ian

            Remember when The Guardian was beating the drum on calling for the shutting down of any oganisation with any connection to old time money from slavery?

            Still waiting for them to do such now their founder’s connection to same has been brought into the open. And that The Guardian wasn’t one of the few UK newspapers opposed to slavery during the US Civil War.

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          another ian

          Some of The Guardian’s own work

          “In The Guardian, Matt Wells (“Every salon tells a story – that’s why the lady is a hack”), denounced Amiel as “an arch-Zionist” but had nothing but sympathy for Bernard who, he claimed “was struggling against a tide of anger from Israel.” (In fact the Israeli government hadn’t made a single official comment on the matter at the time Wells’ article was published).”

          In “A different media reaction when Israel was described as ‘sh–ty’ ”

          https://www.jewishworldreview.com/0118/gross011618.php3#EbR1vCgp7vM81iTq.14

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      TedM

      Trump said nothing of Pence overturning the election Ian. He said “stop certification”. That was to give time for investigation into election irregularities.

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      OldOzzie

      The Treachery of VP Mike Pence Explained

      Who fired General Flynn and started the Russia Hoax in the first place?

      Whenever the subject of Mike Pence comes up in casual conversation, I always ask the same question: “Do you know Olivia Troye? Do you know Jennifer Williams? Do you know Katherine Seaman and Josh Pitcock?”

      So, without further ado, let’s review all the evidence against Mike Pence. Trust me: there’s a lot of evidence.

      1) Who Fired General Michael Flynn?

      It’s likely that Strzok was the one who pushed for VP Pence to fire Flynn because we know that Peter Strozk’s assistant was Katherine Seaman — the wife of Mike Pence’s chief of staff Josh Pitcock.

      Is it even possible that Mike Pence was totally unaware that his chief of staff’s spouse worked directly for the chief of the counter-espionage unit of the FBI?

      2) The Ukraine Impeachment

      Did you know that one of main accusers was a national security official on Vice President Mike Pence’s staff?

      A State Department official named Jennifer Williams was placed on Pence’s staff in April of 2019 — which was just in time to get involved in the Ukraine call and the subsequent impeachment. (What a coincidence that she arrived mere weeks before the call!) Just imagine being a few months into your new job in the White House only to volunteer to testify against the President in an impeachment trial over phone calls you didn’t like.

      3) Olivia Troye And The COVID Vaccines

      The worst mistake that President Trump made during his administration was probably turning over the COVID Task Force to VP Mike Pence — because Pence turned it over to his chief of staff Marc Short and Marc Short turned it over to a little known national security official with no medical expertise. If you want to know the name of the person most responsible for unleashing the Dr. Fauci vaccine nightmare on America then remember the name of Mike Pence’s “COVID advisor”: Olivia Troye.

      Why was the decision made to treat the COVID virus (developed and funded by the U.S. Government under the thin disguise of the EcoHealth Alliance) exclusively with experimental vaccines (developed with funding from DARPA) instead of therapeutics? Perhaps because Pence picked a national security official to advise him on COVID who regularly appears on TV now with a framed picture of Dr. Fauci hanging prominently behind her in her house.

      4) Pence’s Chief of Staff Gets Locked Out of White House by Trump

      If you still harbor doubts about Pence’s treachery, let’s turn to Pence’s chief of staff Marc Short for confirmation of these activities. On January 6th, Short found himself locked out of the White House with his car still in the parking lot. When a reporter asked Short why this had happened, Short’s reply was surprisingly honest: “He’s blaming me for advice to VP.” The he in this case, of course, is Trump.

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      clarence.t

      Comments sourced from a ultra-far-left rag-mag…

      … are totally irrelevant to rational discussion.

      Pretending not to know things takes a lot of effort.

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        Ian

        “Comments sourced from a ultra-far-left rag-mag…”

        As per usual you’re wrong. The comments were from 5 separate sources not a ultra (your English is still very poor that should be an ultra) left wing rag. Are all five ultra left wing rags? Did you check?

        And as for “Pretending not to know things takes a lot of effort”. That clearly does not apply to you as you don’t have to pretend.

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          Kevin T Kilty

          I am glad you said “separate” and did not say “independent.”

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          • #
            Ian

            Not sure what you mean by “did not say Independent”. I used separate as I have no idea if thes esources are independent or not

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              kevin kilty

              Because they are not independent sources of news. That is they don’t investigate anything and just write nearly identical stories. On some occasions there is no source at all.

              Few Americans, left or right, trust the news.

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          GlenM

          Gee, Ian you might think of getting employ as a proof reader. At the Guardian!

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            Forrest Gardener

            Hey GlenM, he might even like to tidy up his own posts. Ian’s “thes esources” is a real clanger for someone who presents as a grammar and spelling afficionado (was going to use another word but didn’t want to kick the tripwire again).

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              • #
                Forrest Gardener

                Thanks Serp. Oh the irony of making a spelling mistake while picking somebody up for a spelling mistake who was picking somebody up for a spelling mistake.

                I just with I was allowed to use that other word to describe spelling and grammar thingies.

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              • #
                Serp

                “aficionado” actually

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            • #
              Ian

              Ian’s “thes esources” is a real clanger for someone who presents as a grammar and spelling afficionado

              You’re quite right. It is a real clanger and I’ve certainly got egg on my face

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              Ian

              Your spelling of afficionado is correct. Serps spelt it incorrectly with three “a” s

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            Ian

            Can’t do it GlenM Already a proof reader at the Australian

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          clarence.t

          lol… !! You really think the Guardian isn’t an ultra-far-left-rag.

          That really is funny !! 🙂

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      • #
        Forrest Gardener

        And sadly for most trolls cognitive dissonance fails to lead to learning. Ian and GI are classic examples.

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        Kalm Keith

        He could have overturned the election and demanded a new one.

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    PeterS

    At the moment we are heading down the same path as those other countries who are now mandating everyone above a certain age be fully vaccinated, such as Austria. See Still Pushing the Killshot Time will tell if we end up the same way, or somehow we force our governments, state and federal to back off their draconian mandates. That’s why the freedom fighters protest in Canberra is so pivotal. They need to remain there with our support for as long as necessary.

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    Ian

    As The Australian has, as far as I am aware, not covered Mike Pence’s recent rebuke of President Trump for his false claim Pence could alter the result of the 2020 election, to keep commenters here informed I have linked to an article in the Guardian that does

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/feb/06/trump-election-advisers-snake-oil-salesmen-mike-pence-aide

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    PeterS

    This will be interesting to see if it has any legs.
    Criminal investigation opened in Sonoma on vaccine injury

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    Earl

    The low unemployment mirage. I was at a church service (around 40 attendees) the other week and the pastor went through the names of all those of the congregation who were out of work and/or out of study because they were not inoculated. He mentioned 7 names with 3 being teachers/teacher aids.

    In our immediate circle of family/friends I personally know of 3 (teaching/retail/public service) who are “unemployed” due to no inoculation. Of these 3 one has taken long service/annual leave and one is suspended on basic pay pending case against mandate while the third is totally unemployed ie no job and no wage. Of course the first two are still recorded as “workers” by their employer and in the case of the teacher at least their “vacancy” has probably been filled as it will be a long vacancy – over a year.

    Seems to me that in the later part of this year ear plugs will be the new covid face mask given the noise all these bursting bubbles are going to be making – inflation, low unemployment, house prices, inoculation deaths etc

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    TedM

    I see the US “Defence Health Agency Armed forces surveillance Division” has come up with an explanation for the huge increase in reports of many health issues within the US military since covid19 vaccina1tion began.

    “But Peter Graves, spokesperson for the Defense Health Agency’s Armed Forces Surveillance Division, told PolitiFact by email that “in response to concerns mentioned in news reports” the division reviewed data in the DMED “and found that the data was incorrect for the years 2016-2020.”

    The US DMED database under reporting by a factor in some cases of over 1000%, and just for the 5 years used as a comparison with 2021. Does anyone actually believe that? I doubt it but it won’t stop them from saying it if it suits, them and helps them perpetuate the lie that the vaccines asr “safe and effective”.

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      OldOzzie

      Pentagon Responds To DoD Whistleblowers’ Claim Of Spiking Disease Rates In The Military After COVID Vaccine Mandate

      The DoD responded that the DMED (Defense Medical Epidemiology Database) data from 2016 to 2020 that the whistleblowers brought up was erroneous and incomplete, and is currently under review.

      “DHA’s Armed Forces Surveillance Division (AFSD) conducted a complete review of the data contained in the Defense Medical Epidemiology Database (DMED) and found that the data was incorrect for the years 2016-2020,” Maj. Charlie Dietz, a spokesperson for the DoD, told The Epoch Times.

      “DMED is a web-based tool to query de-identified active component personnel and medical event data contained within the Defense Medical Surveillance System (DMSS).

      “Comparing the DMED database to the source data contained in DMSS, AFHSD discovered that the total number of medical diagnoses from 2016-2020 that were accessible in DMED represented only a small fraction of actual medical diagnoses for those years. In contrast, the 2021 total number of medical diagnoses were up to date in DMED. Comparison of 2021 to 2016-2020 resulted in the appearance of significant increased occurrence of all medical diagnoses in 2021 because of the under-reported data for 2016-2020. AFHSD has taken DMED offline to identify and correct the root-cause of the data corruption,” Dietz said.

      Renz responded:

      “The DoD has claimed that the DMED data from the years 2016-2020 was incorrect. This is absurd. We spend millions of dollars per year on DMED and people monitoring DMED which is one of the premier epidemiological databases in the world. Accuracy in this database is critical as it is used to monitor for health issues in our troops.

      “The DoD would have us believe that the DMED database was wrong from 2016-2020 but then magically was corrected in 2021 despite the fact that they had not noticed it was wrong until we pointed it out in our testimony before Senator Johnson. Further, we are asked to believe that in 2020, the year of what they claim to be the greatest pandemic since 1918, and despite the fact that it is documented that the CDC was also watching this database, no one noticed an error of 20 million-plus injury/disease codes per year,” Renz told The Epoch Times.

      “The Department of Defense, the Biden administration is on notice they must preserve these records and this must be investigated,” Johnson said in the five-hour hearing in Washington.

      “Renz also informed me that some DMED data showing registered diagnoses of myocarditis had been removed from the database. Following the allegation that DMED data had been doctored, I immediately wrote to you on January 24 requesting that you preserve all records referring, relating, or reported to DMED. I have yet to hear whether you have complied with this request.” Johnson wrote in a letter (pdf) to Lloyd Austin, the U.S. defense secretary.

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      PeterS

      Those who are against the freedom fighters are certainly coming out of the woodwork and shooting themselves in the foot over and over. First, they blamed Russia (so perhaps we ought to thank Putin for a change, LOL) and now they are complaining the freedom fighters are having some fun with bouncy castles?! What next? The left start hyperventilating because we keep wanting our freedoms back? Let them, as long as they don’t turn violent.

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    • #
      OldOzzie

      Ottawa Declares State of Emergency – In Order to Defend the Illusion of Canadian Democracy, We Must First Destroy it – Police Will Now Arrest any Entity Who Attempts to Support Freedom Protest

      The governing Canadian officials (both political parties) can no longer keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in hiding; they have exhausted all possible political justifications including a manufactured “security threat”, and a COVID-19 “diagnosis” that required quarantine.

      Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is going to have to come back to work in Ottawa.

      As a direct result, to protect the political viability of their King, the pretorian guard must remove the pesky freedom protest groups. Everything takes on an additional sense of urgency, after all, “the Canadian democracy is at stake.”

      To handle this dynamic the City of Ottawa officials have just declared a “state of emergency,” and with additional authorization therein, the Ottawa police department have announced they will now arrest anyone who attempts to support the public freedom protest.

      In order to save their illusion of democracy, the Canadian ruling class must first destroy it… By official decree:

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    PeterS

    Day 1 – Crimes Against Humanity Grand Jury (Nuremberg 2.0) – well sort of. It’s not the real deal since it’s not before an international military tribunal.

    A group of international lawyers and a judge are conducting criminal investigation modelled after Grand Jury proceedings in order to present to the public all available evidence of COVID-19 Crimes Against Humanity to date against “leaders, organizers, instigators and accomplices” who aided, abetted or actively participated in the formulation and execution of a common plan for a pandemic.

    This investigation is of the people, by the people and for the people, so that you can be part of the jury.

    Through showing a complete picture of what we are facing, including the geopolitical and historical backdrop – the proceeding is meant to create awareness about the factual collapse of the current, hijacked system and its institutions, and, as a consequence the necessity for the people themselves retaking their sovereignty.

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    OldOzzie

    ‘Dreadful, disgraceful’ end to cruise saga

    Two popular cruise ships have been seized for unpaid bills, leaving hundreds of passengers in chaos in what one has called a “shameful sight”.

    A luxury cruise ship operator is underwater – and left passengers high and dry.

    US Marshals seized a pair of popular cruise ships in the Bahamas yesterday upon allegations that their Miami-based owner, Crystal Cruises, has failed to pay $US4.6 (AUD$6.5) million in fuel bills, the NY Post reported.

    Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony had only crew members on board, according toCruise Law News, while hundreds of passengers faced “bedlam” after being hurriedly booted off the ships before the vessels were seized.

    “What a dreadful, disgraceful end to a so-called luxury #cruise line,” tweeted Cruise Law News publisher and maritime lawyer Jim Walker.

    A third ship, the Crystal Endeavor, the line’s newest and most luxurious vessel, was seized in Argentina this afternoon.

    The Serenity and Symphony dumped their passengers in Bimini last month before setting sail for the perceived safety of international waters.

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    OldOzzie

    ‘Highly virulent’ new HIV strain discovered in the Netherlands

    A new, “exceptionally virulent” strain of HIV has been discovered – but scientists stress there is “no cause for alarm”.

    Oxford researchers have announced the discovery of a highly virulent strain of HIV that has been lurking in the Netherlands for decades, but because of the effectiveness of modern treatments, they say there is “no cause for alarm”.

    Their analysis, published on Thursday in the journal Science, showed that patients infected with what they call the “VB variant” had 3.5 to 5.5 times higher levels of the virus in their blood than those infected with other variants, as well as a more rapidly fading immune system.

    However, the study also found that after starting treatment, individuals with the VB variant had similar immune system recovery and survival to individuals with other HIV variants.

    “There’s no cause for alarm with this new viral variant,” said Oxford epidemiologist Chris Wymant, the lead author on the paper, in an interview with AFP.

    The variant likely arose in the late 1980s and early 1990s in the Netherlands, according to the researchers, but began to decline around 2010.

    Since modern interventions still seem to work on the variant, the research team believes that widespread HIV treatment in the Netherlands did not contribute to the virus’s evolution, and that early detection and treatment are paramount.

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    philemon

    It’s Really Rather Simple

    https://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=245064

    Long Funeral Homes. Short Life Insurance.

    Cancer drugs had more stringent FDA trials for terminal cancer patients.

    Get it out there nobody should get these shots.

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    PeterS

    As long as the current train with two carriages (CAGW and COVID-19 mandates) driven by both major parties keeps rolling along, this warning remains valid:

    It’s Time to be Terrified

    The train needs to be derailed and soon.

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    PeterS

    Graham Hood yet again makes a very good speech. He ought to be our next PM. Too bad our decrepit two-party system won’t allow it.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9GYiCgHAmo

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  • #
    OldOzzie

    “Put the arguments aside…”

    I appreciate that The Oz puts a range of views on its editorial page so that there is usually something for everyone, but I have to say that the superficiality and phenomenal ignorance of Ms Katrina Grace Kelly does try the nerves. It was her first four words that captured just how dull what she wrote was:

    Put the arguments aside over whether it was wrong or right, and focus on what is significant – namely, the emotions that were expressed. On Australia Day eve, when in the presence of Scott Morrison, Grace Tame was visibly discomfited. Tame presented as angry and disgusted with the Prime Minister. These were personal feelings but, in their display, Tame conveyed the public mood of a large cohort.

    If you “put the arguments aside” there is nothing left other than empty emotion. I realise Australian of the Year has tended to become Victim of the Year, but how astonishing is all of this. Anyway, I will go direct to the comments since this is obviously not a place into which I should venture. The first half dozen classified under “Most Liked”.

    I quote: On Australia Day eve, when in the presence of Scott Morrison, Grace Tame was visibly discomfited. Tame presented as angry and disgusted with the Prime Minister. These were personal feelings but, in their display, Tame conveyed the public mood of a large cohort. Newsflash: Tame has done no such thing. She’s conveyed the mood of Leftist ideologues who never liked, will never like and will never, ever vote for Scott Morrison. Moreover, Tame doesn’t not speak for me.

    Seriously! has anyone actually travelled to regional Vic or even the CBD? Whole streets of boarded up shops. Victoria is a ghost town. Most of them now unfortunately have migrated to Qld. Please don’t tell me they blame Morrison for any of the dismantling of Victoria. Speak to any sensible, normal person in Victoria and Daniel Andrews is despised.

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      PeterS

      Put arguments aside? We were never allowed to put them up in the first place! Our governments, state and federal have made sure of that, and they are still doing it. Let’s hope the freedom fighters in Canberra will change all that. Then we will have a fighting chance to wake up Australia.

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    another ian

    “Looks like the Canadian Rebel News is also reporting events in Australia:

    https://www.rebelnews.com/incredible_scenes_as_aussies_unite_outside_parliament_house_in_canberra

    Via Chiefio

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      another ian

      A thought of just a while ago –

      Think how “Their ABC”, The Guardian and the “liamedia” in general would have reported Eureka Stockade

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    Catherine

    as posted before:
    -2003:
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/farce-mask-its-safe-for-only-20-minutes-20030427-gdgnyo.html
    Retailers who cash in on community fears about SARS by exaggerating the health benefits of surgical masks could face fines of up to $110,000.

    NSW Fair Trading Minister Reba Meagher yesterday warned that distributors and traders could be prosecuted if it was suggested the masks offered unrealistic levels of protection from the disease.

    “I’m sure everyone would agree that it is un-Australian to profiteer from people’s fears and anxieties,” Ms Meagher said.’

    -‘Mask rules are set to finally be removed in NSW from March 1 as part of a plan to boost the state’s economy.

    All indoor mask mandates – including in workplaces – will be lifted from the beginning of March, The Daily Telegraph claims.’

    -https://unherd.com/2022/02/should-we-let-children-catch-omicron/
    Does a classroom like that really exists?

    Australia:’You are eligible for a COVID-19 booster dose if you:
    are 16 years and older, and completed your primary dose course of COVID-19 vaccination at least 3 months ago’

    CDC:’When to get a booster:
    At least 5 months after completing your primary COVID-19 vaccination series’

    France:
    From the beginning of December, the vaccine booster campaign will be extended to French people aged 50 to 64.
    When to receive the booster dose?
    Six months after the first complete vaccination regimen for the most vulnerable;
    From three months after the last injection for severely immunocompromised people, on medical advice;
    Four weeks after injection for Janssen vaccineees.
    If you are concerned, you can go for your vaccination booster without waiting.

    Sweden:
    ‘Anyone over 18 who had their second dose of the vaccine at least six months ago can book an appointment for vaccination. Those over 65 can get their second dose after five months.’

    Sweden will not recommend children 5-11 receive the Covid-19 vaccine, Health Agency officials said Thursday.

    “With the knowledge we have today, with a low risk for serious disease for kids, we don’t see any clear benefit with vaccinating them,” Health Agency official Britta Bjorkholm said during a news conference.

    Bjorkholm left the door open to changing that recommendation if a new variant emerges or research changes, however.

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      KP

      You missed this bit-
      “Health authorities have warned that surgical masks may not be an effective protection against the virus.

      “Those masks are only effective so long as they are dry,” said Professor Yvonne Cossart of the Department of Infectious Diseases at the University of Sydney. “As soon as they become saturated with the moisture in your breath they stop doing their job and pass on the droplets.” Professor Cossart said that could take as little as 15 or 20 minutes, after which the mask would need to be changed.”

      Somehow their scientific advice from 2003 seems to hdve slipped heir mind in 2021. Now we wear masks all day to be healthy and legal!

      Just insane, so typical of the people in politics!

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    Bruce

    For those of you that are fans of using cash as opposed to electronic payments, have you noticed that 50c pieces and $10 notes are suddenly a bit thin on the ground? Since we’re all being “nudged” into a cashless fully traceable system, I am wondering if some currency is being withdrawn to speed the process up???

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  • #

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ro4r-qC7Cwo
    Youtube Just TERMINATED Massive Channel MxR Plays For ZERO Reason

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    Ian1946

    “I’m sure everyone would agree that it is un-Australian to profiteer from people’s fears and anxieties,” Ms Meagher said

    I wonder if Pfizer agree with that statement?

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      Forrest Gardener

      Now there is a contrast in styles. Airhead v competent speaker. Is the competent speaker now leader of the opposition?

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      PeterS

      It’s a pattern we are seeing more and more of late. The left especially are shooting themselves in the foot so often yet they still don’t get it. Goes to show how out of touch of reality they are. It’s not just the left BTW. The more the two leaders of the major federal parties open their mouths the more they too are shooting themselves in the foot. It will be interesting to see what they say when they start the campaign trail and how the public react to both of them.

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    Furiously+Curious

    Russell Brand, high-lighting the British Medical Journal’s serious push back, on facebook’s fact checking its’ pfizer article. Mr Brand gets rather animated.

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

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    OldOzzie

    A coronavirus variant once helped the global pork industry. Could one protect us?

    A killer pig virus vanished when a tamer mutant evolved—a provocative, but not perfect, parallel with Omicron

    Long before COVID-19 became a household word—in 1946, to be precise—veterinary researchers at Purdue University reported that something invading the guts of young pigs was causing diarrhea, vomiting, and weight loss, ultimately killing most of them. The scientists did not know the cause of the sickness, which devastated U.S. pig farms, but they could trigger the disease by feeding ground-up bits of a sick pig’s guts to healthy piglets. This pig farmers’ nightmare, in time, proved to be a coronavirus, which was named transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV).

    To this day, TGEV has never harmed a human, and its relationship to SARS-CoV-2, the driver of COVID-19, is distant. But after spreading around the world through the 1970s, TGEV took a strange turn: The disease it caused basically vanished when a TGEV variant that was even more transmissible, but less harmful, essentially immunized pigs against the original virus. “The very best coronavirus vaccine was done by nature,” says Stanley Perlman, a veteran coronavirus researcher at the University of Iowa.

    TGEV’s fate was unraveled years ago, but it has recently had some researchers wondering whether the latest SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern, Omicron, might produce a similar plot twist in the ongoing human pandemic. Omicron is causing far too much severe disease and death to celebrate it as a savior—last week, it had a higher daily death toll in the United States than the Delta variant at its peak. But some suspect it, too, will turn out to be a “natural vaccine” against more pathogenic strains.

    Omicron is causing far too much severe disease and death to celebrate it as a savior—last week, it had a higher daily death toll in the United States than the Delta variant at its peak.

    Anything to do with Vaccines?

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      OldOzzie

      Omicron is causing far too much severe disease and death to celebrate it as a savior—last week, it had a higher daily death toll in the United States than the Delta variant at its peak.

      Anything to do with Vaccines?

      US death toll from COVID-19 hits 900,000, sped by omicron

      Propelled in part by the wildly contagious omicron variant, the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 hit 900,000 on Friday, less than two months after eclipsing 800,000.

      The two-year total, as compiled by Johns Hopkins University, is greater than the population of Indianapolis, San Francisco, or Charlotte, North Carolina.

      The milestone comes more than 13 months into a vaccination drive that has been beset by misinformation and political and legal strife, though the shots have proved safe and highly effective at preventing serious illness and death.

      “It is an astronomically high number. If you had told most Americans two years ago as this pandemic was getting going that 900,000 Americans would die over the next few years, I think most people would not have believed it,” said Dr. Ashish K. Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.

      He lamented that most of the deaths happened after the vaccine gained authorization.

      “We got the medical science right. We failed on the social science. We failed on how to help people get vaccinated, to combat disinformation, to not politicize this,” Jha said. “Those are the places where we have failed as America.”

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        OldOzzie

        From the Comments

        Experts such as Dr. Robert Malone, Dr. Peter McCullough, & tens of thousands more report the majority of those who died from Covid 19/SARS2 infection were not properly treated with known effective therapeutics such as HCQ, Ivermectin, Budesonide, Vitamin D, etc., but treated with kidney destroying Remdesivir and pneumothorax causing ventilators.

        Israeli, the United Kingdom, and other countries are reporting the majority of Omicron and other Covid 19/SARS2 related infections, hospitalizations, and deaths are occurring among the fully vaccinated and boosted. Antibody Dependent Enhancement (ADE) is occurring as predicted among the vaccinated because the Covid 19/SARS2 “vaccines” have compromised their innate and adaptive immune Systems.

        Many more of the vaccinated have suffered unprecedented injuries, disabilities, and deaths from the Covid 19/SARS2 “vaccines” that are, for the most part, unreported in VAERS and other databases, but those numbers are being discovered as time goes on.

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    William Astley

    The horror, the horror. Canadian Freedom Trucker protest has bouncy castles and saunas.

    The childless Ottawa major orders the fun to stop. No fun, thought, or free speech allowed. Just mandatory vaccines.

    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2022/02/06/childless-ottawa-mayor-disturbing-to-see-kids-in-bouncy-castles-having-fun-at-protest/

    “CBC, the left-wing state-funded broadcaster, reported on the presence of saunas and bouncy castles at the protest.

    “They shouldn’t be bringing in hot tubs, and they shouldn’t be bringing bouncy castles,” Watson repeated. “That’s just ridiculous. That should have been stopped.”

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    Furiously+Curious

    ‘The Expose’ coming up with pretty devastating AIDS figures for Canada, caused by Covid19 vaxs. Is there a more numerate blogger than I, able to pull them apart?

    https://dailyexpose.uk/2022/02/06/canada-gov-data-suggests-fully-vaccinated-developing-ade/

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    Custer Van Cleef

    Latest dataset on Deaths & Vaccination Status, from the UK. (covers January to December 2021.)

    Link to ONS dataset

    The previous dataset (covering Jan 1–Oct 31) had data specific to 15-19 year olds … that’s gone … a cynic would say it had to go because it showed a higher death rate in vaccinated teenagers, from other causes (ie. non-COVID causes), than the unjabbed teenagers. … “Can’t have people misinterpreting the data!” — said by some functionary at the ONS, probably.

    Now they’re lumping this group in with either (a) 10-39 year olds or (b) 18-39 year olds.

    There are signs of slipshod preparation eg. some of the groups are labelled 50-54 and 70-74, where obviously 50-59 and 70-79 are intended.

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    OldOzzie

    Crisis for the Climate Models?

    One of my heterodox positions on climate change is that many of our scientific efforts to improve our grasp of the earth’s climate system since it became a hot topic (no pun intended) back in the 1970s have actually moved our knowledge backwards. That is, we actually understand it less well than we did 40 years ago.

    This is especially true of the heart of the matter: the computer climate models we use to make predictions about future changes in the climate. But as our computer climate models are refined with more and more raw data and endless tweaks of the climate simulations, the uncertainties have arguably grown larger rather than smaller. This is not as outlandish as it may seem, given we are expecting scientists to get a grasp of a phenomenon with so many factors and scientific sub-specialties, from oceanography to forestry.

    Few of these difficulties ever make it into mainstream media coverage of climate science—until today.

    The Wall Street Journal has posted online a long feature that will appear in tomorrow’s print edition entitled “Climate Scientists Encounter Limits of Computer Models, Bedeviling Policy.”

    Read the whole thing if you have access to the Journal; if not I’ll cover some key excerpts here.

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    PeterS

    It’s not unexpected to see those who sufferred under communism also joining the freedom fighters: Chinese Australian patriot sends aid to Freedom Camp in Canberra!

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    Brenda Spence

    Great article describing how the immune system is being damaged (a bit technical)

    https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2022/02/06/covid-shots-suppress-immune-system.aspx?

    Quote

    My impression is that the immune cells don’t know what the hell’s going on. There’s this toxic protein being produced in massive amounts by the immune cells. That’s extremely unusual. There’s no sign of any kind of viral infection because these RNAs look like human RNAs.

    It’s as if the human immune cells suddenly decided to make a really toxic protein, and make lots of it — which is exactly what they’re doing — and the immune system is completely baffled by this. The immune cells have no clue what to do with it.

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    PeterS

    The good news in this video is he might be right, we might be winning. As he explains, our freedom fighters may very well be our last hope.

    “Death threats & Defamation” – what protest leaders in Canberra are dealing with.

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    another ian

    The more things change the less thewy stay the same – 17th March 2008

    “The Lawyers’ Party sees these sorts of people, who provide goods and services that people want, as the enemies of America. And so we have seen the procession of official enemies in the eyes of the Lawyers’ Party grow. Against whom do Hillary and Obama rail? Pharmaceutical companies, oil companies, hospitals, manufacturers, fast food restaurant chains, large retail businesses, bankers and anyone producing anything of value in our nation.”

    https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2008/03/the_lawyers_party.html

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    another ian

    “Mischief is important”

    Some N Korea internet problems

    http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2022/02/07/mischief-is-important-18/

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      PeterS

      As if those silly tactics by the police are going to stop the freedom fighters. They will only dig in deeper. Goes to show how far removed from reality the government is.

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      Lucky

      Perhaps aides/ministers in the number 10 shadow government under Carrie in a move forced on Boris by his official team.

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    OldOzzie

    Interesting – Look and Compare

    UPDATED: Yes, Justin Trudeau is seriously Fidel Castro’s son. This isn’t a joke. Canada is literally conquered and under a dictatorship of Fidel Castro’s bastard, who is a murderous Communist psychopath just like his padre.

    As anyone can obviously see from the photographs below, Justin Trudeau is Castro’s son. They are nearly identical in physiognomy. It isn’t even debatable.

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    OldOzzie

    This Is Who Is Behind The Joe Rogan Attack

    Who y’all think is behind the attack on Rogan?

    Since you asked, and I love your work, I’ll tell you. This is a professional political attack. Three waves one right after the other is not a coincidence. Good spacing, good timing, so it’s absolutely professional. But who was it you ask? That takes some digging but…

    The video compilation of Rogan saying the n-word was dropped by @patriottakes 6 days ago. You see the video in the tweet in pic 1, and patriottakes takes credit for “republishing” the information in pic 2. That they take credit is important and you’ll see why shortly..

    As you can see in their bio, @patriottakes is partnered with @MeidasTouch. And this is where it gets interesting. Who is Meidastouch? Well, they are a professional political organization. In fact, they are a Democrat “Super PAC” (more on that in a moment) run by 3 brothers.

    Ben, Brett, and Jordan Meisales. All of them have worked in media and have expertise in understanding and manipulating Media. The most important thing for us is that Brett was a social media manager for Ellen Degeneres, and is an expert editor. Which matter because…

    BUT WE ARE NOT DONE. MeidasTouch is a Super PAC. Well, what’s a super PAC you ask?

    To recap: Meidastouch, a SuperPAC which can collect as much cash as it wants from pretty well anywhere, and is a professional strategy and media firm run by people with deep ties in entertainment, likely had a hand in the n-word video @patriottakes used to attack Joe Rogan…

    So, the question is…. why? Why are they doing this, and what do they have to gain? I think a clue can be found in the letter @patriottakes wrote about all of this. Look at that highlighted part. What does that tell you???

    In short, Meidastouch is a political SuperPAC that is very likely behind the @patriottakes account. They’re attempting a viral hit on Joe Rogan so they can take him out both because they don’t like him and because they want monetizable clout for having done so…

    It needs to be made clear to Spotify that if they cave, they will pay a significant cost. We have to make that clear. They need to pay a cost for this. If we can do those things, I think we can protect a guy who has done so much for so many.

    Just in case anyone still thinks the attack on Rogan was organic, we have pre-made scripts out there about cancelling Rogan, and they’re the same word for word. That ain’t organic

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      David-of-Cooyal-in-Oz

      Sorry O O,
      I must have hit the red thumb when I carelessly scrolled up. That one should be green .
      Cheers
      Dave B

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      Tel

      But who was it you ask?

      Anyone sending Neil Huh and Jodie Who as the first line of assault is clearly not well resourced.

      Meidastouch, a SuperPAC which can collect as much cash as it wants from pretty well anywhere, and is a professional strategy and media firm run by people with deep ties in entertainment, likely had a hand in the n-word video @patriottakes used to attack Joe Rogan…

      They can’t collect more cash than their supporters are willing to give … and since almost no one has heard of them you do have to wonder whether this amounts to much.

      They’re attempting a viral hit on Joe Rogan so they can take him out both because they don’t like him and because they want monetizable clout for having done so…

      Do you see anything going viral?

      Rogan is a Zen-man, capable of going transcendental on their arse.

      He is being all reasonable and apologetic in order to establish himself as the “good guy” in the fight that’s coming up, and by definition the other guy becomes “the heel”. It’s an established formula … so well understood by the American people that they love it everytime they see it. He hasn’t actually started pushing back yet, still building up the tension.

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        Bruce

        “since almost no one has heard of them you do have to wonder whether this amounts to much.”

        Fair enough.

        However, what other entity has virtually unlimited “funds” to allocate to such things?

        And has the “laundry facilities” to appear to have not been involved?

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      Dave in the States

      In a related topic, the musicians who pulled their music from spotify demonstrated great hypocrisy. These very same musicians used to champion free speech and being anti-establishment. Now they throw free speech under the bus to show what good lefties they are.

      Indeed, most of that remaining generation now go out of their way to demonstrate conformity to the establishment. That establishment being the swamp. Nixon is laughing at them.

      Free speech means tolerating speech you disagree with, or even you think to be totally wrong. Free speech is vital to a free and open society. It is vital to science. It is vital to education. It is even vital to religion. It is vital to the arts. Without free speech you enter into a new dark age.

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    PTR

    6PM News – TV and radio ( Victoria) … and the one condition is – anyone coming to Australia needs to be double vaccinated. The statement has to be as redundant as the man is himself.

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    PTR

    Ah, more correctly, read 6pm eastern daylight saving time 🙂

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    el+gordo

    The UK Met Office and BBC Weather have been coming out with opposite forecasts for many years and back in November the Met Office forecast a mild winter, while the BBC predicted it would be harsh.

    The Met Office appears to be the winner.

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    • #
      MrGrimNasty

      In terms of the general situation for large periods of time the UK was on the edge of very cold weather – even as I write the country is split across the middle by Spring/Winter.

      The problem with UK weather is that because of our position on the edge of the Atlantic/Continent battleground, a few miles in the position of a pressure centre or front gives opposite weather. Only a fool would pretend they can accurately forecast it.

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    OldOzzie

    Visualizing The State Of Global Debt, By Country

    To analyze the extent of global debt, we’ve compiled debt-to-GDP data by country from the most recent World Economic Outlook report by the IMF.

    Debt-to-GDP ratio by Country: The Top 10 Most Indebted Nations

    The debt-to-GDP ratio is a simple metric that compares a country’s public debt to its economic output. By comparing how much a country owes and how much it produces in a year, economists can measure a country’s theoretical ability to pay off its debt.

    Let’s take a look at the top 10 countries in terms of debt-to-GDP:

    Interesting Singapore 138% whilst Australia not bad at 62.1%

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    • #
      Lucky

      That such debt is held by agencies and arms of the government makes analysis meaningless in terms of stability. That debt is not debt but a measure of money creation. It is money rather than wealth created from production or value for value trade. The effect is inflation now, inflation tomorrow.

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      Tel

      Singapore actually accounts for retirement liability … it is more honest than most nations. That’s the main reason for the larger number.

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    OldOzzie

    What a Bunch of Losers the Liberals and Nationals are!

    ABC decision shows it’s time to clear the barnacles

    The Coalition has held its nose and ended a funding freeze for the ABC. Key seats depend on it.

    The decision to end an $84 million funding freeze for the ABC underscores the political predicament in which the government finds itself.

    These days the Coalition, and much of its support base, barely bothers to disguise its disdain for the national broadcaster from which it feels it has never received a fair shake and which it believes has become more biased against it in recent years.

    There are more than a few within the government, if they had their druthers, who would have no compunction privatising the ABC or at least making it run commercials to help pay for itself.

    Instead, Communications Minister Paul Fletcher announced on Monday a thawing of Malcolm Turnbull’s indexation freeze of the ABC’s three-year funding deal.

    Why? First, because Labor wants to make ABC funding an election issue by restoring boosting the broadcaster’s budget and putting it on a five-year funding cycle to put it beyond the election cycle.

    Second, it is resonating with voters, especially those in the inner-city seats, including Mr Fletcher’s seat of Bradfield on Sydney’s north shore, which are being targeted by “Voices of” independent candidates – economically conservative and socially progressive candidates, predominantly women who have become alienated from the Liberal Party, mainly because of climate change.

    The ABC is another of their platform issues.

    Two weeks ago, progressive think tank The Australia Institute commissioned two UComms polls in the blue-ribbon Liberal seats of North Sydney and Wentworth. Both members, Trent Zimmerman and Dave Sharma, would, at a minimum, be pushed to preferences, with their independent challengers commanding 20 per cent or more of the primary vote. If Labor runs dead in both seats, as it will, both could be in trouble.

    Picking up the vibe

    The polling canvassed attitudes towards the ABC. More than two-thirds of voters in each seat wanted the $84 million restored, and supported the ABC being funded on a five-year cycle.

    Clearly, the Coalition was picking up the same vibe and, as John Howard was wont to do before an election, a barnacle was cleared.

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    OldOzzie

    Ford Shutters 8 Factories Due To “Persistent Supply Chain Disruptions”

    Reuters reports the Detroit automaker will shutter eight factories in the US, Mexico, and Canada, beginning on Monday as it copes with chip shortages.

    Production at factories in Michigan, Chicago and in Cuautitlan, Mexico will be suspended. In Kansas City, production of its F-150 pickup trucks will be idled while one shift will run for production of its Transit vans.

    The Detroit automaker will also run a single shift or a reduced schedule at its factories in Dearborn, Kentucky, and Louisville while removing overtime at its Oakville factory in Canada.

    All changes will be in place for the week beginning Feb. 7. -Reuters

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    OldOzzie

    Nancy
    5 minutes ago

    For goodness sake get it right. You are talking in this article of a fourth booster dose when you mean a fourth dose involving a second booster. I don’t want the first booster having started with AZ. I don’t want any mRNA vaccine. Time to open up. Time to stop cruelling unvaccinated people and let us all get back to work and normal lives. Omicron is all around us. Get used to it.

    Mandating these vaccines is downright stupid. You either mandate for everyone of every type of work or no one. Half or less mandated is illogical and utterly pointless.

    We can all catch and spread this virus, vaxxed or unvaxxed, in a shop, on the street, in a workplace, which of course includes shops.
    nancy from Brisbane

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    Hanrahan

    This year ERII is celebrating her Platinum Jubilee [I hope not too hard].

    But I remember a great celebration Jubilee as a boy, [there was even a new bowls club called “Jubilee”] so I did a search and apart from a lot of photos of floats in parades around the country it wasn’t obvious just WHAT we were celebrating. Realising “Jubilee” was the 50th year I twigged that it was our 50th birthday as a nation. Note: I am neither an English nor History major.

    But this isn’t really the Queen’s platinum jubilee, that is correctly the 75th anniversary of her crowning. [Something else I just read] But let’s cut her some slack, another 5 years is a tall order. Let’s celebrate, she deserves a little respect after all the pain and grief the family have caused her.

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      OldOzzie

      Queen burns Prince Harry in historic statement

      There were two fascinating words in the Queen’s statement about Camilla that most people missed – and they carry a universe of meaning.

      there are two fascinating words in the Queen’s statement have been largely overlooked – two words which should have particular resonance for her grandson and newbie Californian Prince Harry.

      There, handwritten in ink, on the bottom of Buckingham Palace letterhead, wedged between the end of the typewritten statement, she has scrawled “Your Servant, Elizabeth R.”

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    another ian

    “Are electric cars the new ‘diesel scandal’ waiting to happen? They generate polluting particles just like petrol vehicles, are not even that cost-effective and, as one expert finds, will not save the planet”

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10483317/Are-electric-cars-new-diesel-scandal-Expert-looks-future-road-travel.html

    Via SDA

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      Graeme#4

      A good article with lots of interesting facts, especially the fact that even if all countries switch to EVs, the change to global temps will be basically zero.

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    John R Smith

    Gee, from up here, the Canberra protests look pretty big.
    Also, looks like people that have day jobs.
    Unlike previous examples.

    FYI, I have many liberal acquaintances that say, “I wish we were like Australia, Australians trust their government.”
    I’m doing my best to send them to you.
    They are happy to mask, vax, quarantine and lockdown, ’till the wallabies come home.

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    Harves

    So having shot and killed a woman with a gun, Alec Baldwin is happily holidaying in the UK. Meanwhile, people who took selfies after being let into the Capitol building remain in jail without charge after more than a year. This is how the double standard law operates in today’s USA.
    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-10484557/Alec-Baldwin-muses-life-rural-Hampshire-visits-local-high-street.html

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    KP

    An Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench policy requiring anyone asked to serve on a jury to provide proof of two or more vaccinations has been quietly posted online.

    Justice John Little said the court has an obligation to protect the public, including those called for jury duty. Little said. “You know that one of the protocols this morning was that you were screened for a QR code or some sort of proof of vaccination so you can take some comfort in knowing that the people you are sitting with have been vaccinated.”

    Keep those filthy unvaxxed out of the justice system, they might corrupt it!

    Meanwhile I’m sitting here with Covid because the double-vaxxed women in my family bought it home & gave it to me!

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      Hanrahan

      This raises a conflict of interest: Could the defendant on a charge of defying lock-down orders appeal against all the jurors? It would no longer be a jury of peers, by mandate.

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    Hanrahan

    Jo doesn’t like long cut ‘n pastes but this is an email so I have no choice. Trust me, it’s interesting reading although hardly earth-shattering for the denizens here.

    [Hanrahan – The whole story may be written by Bruce Haedrich (maybe) Forgive my trims below. I’d like to know if the numbers are accurate? – Jo]

    Batteries

    Some amusing lagniappe with some good information on the subject.

    Anonymous (couldn’t locate the author)
    [snip] “Good evening,” he said, “I am here to introduce NMC532-X,” and he patted the block, “we call him NM for short,” and the man smiled proudly. “NM is a typical electric vehicle (EV) car battery in every way except one; we programmed him to send signals of the internal movements of his electrons when charging, discharging, and in several other conditions. We wanted to know what it feels like to be a battery. We don’t know how it happened, but NM began to talk after we downloaded the program.

    [snip]

    There are two orders of batteries, rechargeable, and single-use. The most common single-use batteries are A, AA, AAA, C, D. 9V, and lantern types. Those dry-cell species use zinc, manganese, lithium, silver oxide, or zinc and carbon to store electricity chemically. Please note they all contain toxic, heavy metals.

    Rechargeable batteries only differ in their internal materials, usually lithium-ion, nickel-metal oxide, and nickel-cadmium.

    The United States uses three billion of these two battery types a year, and most are not recycled; they end up in landfills. California is the only state which requires all batteries be recycled. If you throw your small, used batteries in the trash, here is what happens to them.

    All batteries are self-discharging. That means even when not in use, they leak tiny amounts of energy. You have likely ruined a flashlight or two from an old ruptured battery. When a battery runs down and can no longer power a toy or light, you think of it as dead; well, it is not. It continues to leak small amounts of electricity. As the chemicals inside it run out, pressure builds inside the battery’s metal casing, and eventually, it cracks. The metals left inside then ooze out. The ooze in your ruined flashlight is toxic, and so is the ooze that will inevitably leak from every battery in a landfill. All batteries eventually rupture; it just takes rechargeable batteries longer to end up in the landfill.

    In addition to dry cell batteries, there are also wet cell ones used in automobiles, boats, and motorcycles. The good thing about those is, ninety percent of them are recycled. Unfortunately, we do not yet know how to recycle batteries like me or care to dispose of single-use ones properly.

    But that is not half of it. For those of you excited about electric cars and a green revolution, I want you to take a closer look at batteries and also windmills and solar panels. These three technologies share what we call environmentally destructive embedded costs.”

    NM got redder as he spoke. “Everything manufactured has two costs associated with it, embedded costs and operating costs. I will explain embedded costs using a can of baked beans as my subject.
    [snip]

    NM took on a golden glow, and I thought he might have winked. He said, “But that can of beans is nothing compared to me! I am hundreds of times more complicated. My embedded costs not only come in the form of energy use; they come as environmental destruction, pollution, disease, child labor, and the inability to be recycled.”

    He paused, “I weigh one thousand pounds, and as you see, I am about the size of a travel trunk.” NM’s lights showed he was serious. “I contain twenty-five pounds of lithium, sixty pounds of nickel, 44 pounds of manganese, 30 pounds cobalt, 200 pounds of copper, and 400 pounds of aluminum, steel, and plastic. Inside me are 6,831 individual lithium-ion cells.

    It should concern you that all those toxic components come from mining. For instance, to manufacture each auto battery like me, you must process 25,000 pounds of brine for the lithium, 30,000 pounds of ore for the cobalt, 5,000 pounds of ore for the nickel, and 25,000 pounds of ore for copper. All told, you dig up 500,000 pounds of the earth’s crust for just – one – battery.”

    He let that one sink in, then added, “I mentioned disease and child labor a moment ago. Here’s why. Sixty-eight percent of the world’s cobalt, a significant part of a battery, comes from the Congo. Their mines have no pollution controls and they employ children who die from handling this toxic material. Should we factor in these diseased kids as part of the cost of driving an electric car?”

    NM’s red and orange light made it look like he was on fire. “Finally,” he said, “I’d like to leave you with these thoughts. California is building the largest battery in the world near San Francisco, and they intend to power it from solar panels and windmills. They claim this is the ultimate in being ‘green,’ but it is not! This construction project is creating an environmental disaster. Let me tell you why.

    The main problem with solar arrays is the chemicals needed to process silicate into the silicon used in the panels. To make pure enough silicon requires processing it with hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, nitric acid, hydrogen fluoride, trichloroethane, and acetone. In addition, they also need gallium, arsenide, copper-indium-gallium- diselenide, and cadmium-telluride, which also are highly toxic. Silicon dust is a hazard to the workers, and the panels cannot be recycled.

    Windmills are the ultimate in embedded costs and environmental destruction. Each weighs 1688 tons (the equivalent of 23 houses) and contains 1300 tons of concrete, 295 tons of steel, 48 tons of iron, 24 tons of fiberglass, and the hard to extract rare earths neodymium, praseodymium, and dysprosium. Each blade weighs 81,000 pounds and will last 15 to 20 years, at which time it must be replaced. We cannot recycle used blades. Sadly, both solar arrays and windmills kill birds, bats, sea life, and migratory insects.
    [snip]

    [*To find the original (I think) I googled the distinctive phase: ““I am here to introduce NMC532-X,” and he patted the block,” just so you know… – Jo]

    ___________________________________________________

    If you do not take an interest
    in the affairs of your government,
    then you are doomed to live under
    the rule of fools.
    Plato

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    Hanrahan

    Does anyone else eat bacon shortcuts?

    For those who are new to them they are the large, round end of a rasher with most of the fat trimmed. Oddly they are cheaper than the whole rasher.

    Why is it so? My guess is that they are imported from China.

    A few [maybe] facts have come together……

    I recall “ham on the bone” will always be local. I assume there are import restrictions.

    Bacon is not “on the bone”. I just checked the shortcuts I normally buy on line and there was no “Product of….” stated.

    These are larger cuts than I ever see on a common and garden rasher.

    I have just watched a video of two bikers talking about the enormous hogs they have seen in China, obviously pumped with growth hormones. Their advice is to never eat Chinese produce. BTW athletes in the Genocide Games are warned NOT to eat local food lest they fail drug tests. [no confirmation for that]

    Just joining the dots.

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      Hanrahan

      Further reading says the product is “Made in Australia from at least 21% local ingredients”.

      The meat either is, or is not, Australian. Assuming that packaged bacon contains over 21% meat it is clear that the 21% Australian content is packaging, salt and markup. [I may be wrong but I think margin counts as content. I know it did with Falcodores]

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      Annie

      We prefer smoked streaky bacon, from Aldi!

      20

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    William Astley

    The Canadian Trucker demonstration have released an information video.

    It is an OK start.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D3sYDMNiD4

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      OldOzzie

      From the Comments

      – Here’s a slogan to go with “Let’s Go Brandon”: ” Truck Trudeau.” May it follow him from now on.

      Truck Trudeau!

      Reply

      Actually, that’s “Truck Fudeau.”

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    another ian

    Truckers vs “Liamedia”

    https://youtu.be/ierJtxcv_Cw

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    OldOzzie

    Crisis for the Climate Models?

    One of my heterodox positions on climate change is that many of our scientific efforts to improve our grasp of the earth’s climate system since it became a hot topic (no pun intended) back in the 1970s have actually moved our knowledge backwards. That is, we actually understand it less well than we did 40 years ago.

    This is especially true of the heart of the matter: the computer climate models we use to make predictions about future changes in the climate.

    One big reason the 100 sq km resolution of climate models is inadequate is that the behavior of clouds and water vapor can’t be adequately modeled—something the IPCC reports usually admit in the technical sections the media never read. The WSJ story is similarly revealing on this point:

    “If you don’t get clouds right, everything is out of whack.” said Tapio Schneider, an atmospheric scientist at the California Institute of Technology and the Climate Modeling Alliance, which is developing an experimental model. “Clouds are crucially important for regulating Earth’s energy balance.” . . .

    In an independent assessment of 39 global-climate models last year, scientists found that 13 of the new models produced significantly higher estimates of the global temperatures caused by rising atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide than the older computer models—scientists called them the “wolf pack.” Weighed against historical evidence of temperature changes, those estimates were deemed unrealistic.

    A climate model able to capture the subtle effects of individual cloud systems, storms, regional wildfires and ocean currents at a more detailed scale would require a thousand times more computer power, they said.

    But shut up, the science is settled.

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      OldOzzie

      “Importing parmigiano from Italy to Australia may be something that has to be very, very expensive.”

      Carbon pricing will lift freight costs, says Acciona’s CEO

      The end of the pandemic may not bring relief for global transport costs because more companies will start paying for carbon offsets to reach net zero emissions goals, the global boss of Spanish infrastructure group Acciona has warned.

      “Freight will be expensive, or at least emissions related to long-distance travel would be expensive,” Acciona’s chairman and chief executive José Manuel Entrecanales told The Australian Financial Review during his first visit to Australia in 2½ years.

      “Importing parmigiano from Italy to Australia may be something that has to be very, very expensive.”

      Acciona built Sydney’s $2.9 billion CBD light rail line – which suffered from a near-doubling of costs during construction – and is working on the Sydney Metro West project and the new Western Sydney Airport as well as wind and solar farms and a waste-to-energy plant south of Perth.

      It had been carbon-neutral since 2016 but was finding it increasingly hard to keep offsetting carbon emissions as it expanded, Mr Entrecanales said.

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        OldOzzie

        Acciona does not have any operations in China and Russia, but it does have several construction projects in Poland and wind farms in Ukraine, which it expects to have to write off if Ukraine is invaded.

        Australia was “the most privileged country in the world” because it was so far away from the potential political turmoil, he said.

        While Australia could afford to restrict entry from people overseas during the pandemic due to its resilient and self-contained economy, the world would need to live with COVID-19, he said.

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    robert rosicka

    Testing .

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