Friday Open Thread

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85 comments to Friday Open Thread

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    robert rosicka

    Not sure if it’s been mentioned but Whitlam held 14 ministries at one stage when he was a PM , Scomo was an amateur. Or so I’m told !

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    • #
      PeterW

      I’m not even sure how that is supposed to work. Was either of them able to make decisions or set policy in those portfolios without the Ministers and Cabinet knowing?

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      • #
        robert rosicka

        Presumably Scomo could over ride or make decisions as he did with the gas drilling decision and yes he stuffed up big time but mainly because of the secrecy . If he was open about it and should have been we wouldn’t be talking about it now .
        I’m just intrigued by Whitlam holding 14 ministries while PM and presumably his deputy had 13 at the same time , this makes a mockery (if true) of Albo saying it was unprecedented and an attack on democracy.

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        • #
          James Murphy

          For ‘the Left’, everything they don’t like is an “attack on democracy’. Like a lot of terms, this one has also lost its meaning and value thanks to imbeciles like Albo.

          Scomo probably didn’t go about it the right way, but as every government shuffles ministers between portfolios on a regular basis, and none of them know what they are doing anyway, I fail to see why it matters, or what heinous crime was committed. It’s just given Albo and his useful idiots in the media something different to get upset about.

          I wouldn’t be surprised if there was to be a Federal Police raid on Scomo in the next few weeks or months because the ABC and Labor/Greens/teal puppets look to what the Democrats are doing in the USA and want to copy it.

          Having said that, there are some pretty funny memes going around about Scomo being everywhere at once, definitely made me laugh…

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          • #
            paul courtney

            Mr. Murphy: Here in the States, the latest attack on democracy was carried out by 70% of Wyoming Republicans. Democracy dies when voters vote, eh?

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    • #
      Leo G

      Gough simultaneously held 13 portfolios in the First Whitlam Ministry (if we include the position of PM as a portfolio)

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      • #
        Leo G

        Not sure if it’s been mentioned but …

        … the First Whitlam Ministry was a dumbdumbervirate- the dumber part being the 15 portfolios held by Lance Barnard.

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        • #
          Deano

          And don’t forget when Gough was sacked, the media went berserk and basically campaigned for Labor’s re-election as a way of righting the wrong of the dismissal. Yet when the election was held, the rather unlikable Frazer enjoyed a landslide win. Long before the internet, people were ignoring the traditional media.

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      • #
        robert rosicka

        Still makes Scomo an amateur.

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      John B

      Whitlam was a disaster. Look up the Loan Affair. Many young geos were out of work and driving taxis. I left in 1974 and moved to Singapore to continue my career in SE Asia and beyond – maybe I should be thankful because oil and gas exploration was pumping in Asia at the time. Behind the oil there were the politics and the wheeling & dealing, but that would fill a book. People were being hired in bars for the rigs, with a lot of Vietnam vets involved in the lucrative (for them) logistics and support services. If you wanted the engineers in the afternoon, we could always find them in the Jockey Bar at Shaw Centre.
      Thanks Gough.

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    • #
      Deano

      I think Whitlam and Lance Barnard basically WERE the government for a short time after winning his first term in 1972. I believe this was because he had a radical agenda that he wanted to put in place immediately, get it started and then appoint the full cabinet of ministers when he had time. Bizarre. But that was Whitlam.

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        GlenM

        I remember the Whitlam Barnard duumvirate well. It lasted a week or two and they made many decisions on the run. Cutting tariffs by 17 percent which half destroyed our light manufacturing.

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        • #
          James Murphy

          Cutting tariffs by 17 percent which half destroyed our light manufacturing

          Mission only half accomplished then…?

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    • #

      Scotty should have just stuck to Religious Ministries although he did alright with the ‘Stop the Boats’ and all that which Abbott started.

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    • #
      R.B.

      Probably identified as woman, as well. The first actual female in a federal ministry was in the next Liberal government.

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    • #
      Ian MacCulloch

      That is true. Whitlam and his Deputy Barnard held all of the ministerial posts between them for quite some time.

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  • #
    Fuel Filter

    Tucker Carlson, Democracy Crushed Liz Cheney and She Can’t Stand It

    August 18, 2022

    Tucker Carlson gives his take on the resounding defeat of Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney from the state of Wyoming.

    Indeed, one of the brutally obvious points that Carlson hammers home, is that Cheney was crushed by the voters of Wyoming.  Everyone outside Wyoming was a spectator on the sidelines watching to see how they felt about the insufferable war-mongering witch; but no one outside Wyoming had the ability to vote.

    Ms. Cheney was rejected by her own tribe, by the system of Wyoming democracy in action, the same system she promoted during her self-absorbed time in congress.  Perhaps if Ms. Cheney had actually represented the people of Wyoming, instead of her own ego-driven aspirations of political power, she may have avoided the biggest primary defeat by an incumbent officeholder in a century.

    Embedded vid and more @ https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2022/08/18/tucker-carlson-democracy-crushed-liz-cheney-and-she-cant-stand-it/

    Ding Dong! The witch is dead! (Politically, of course…)

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      Fuel Filter

      “Message to the Superheroes who stoically rejected an Experimental Vaccine…”

      @ https://europerenaissance.com/2022/08/16/message-to-the-superheroes-who-stoically-rejected-an-experimental-vaccine/

      Sorry, but you have to read this. Very short. (Parenthetically, I refused to take ANY JABS WHATSOEVER. And boy, am I glad I did!!)

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      • #
        Graeme+P.

        Cost me my job and we were preparing the house for sale for when the need arose (which was bearing down on us) when I caught a break. I had neighbours cross the street and put masks on when out walking in the sunshine and have been told by a close friend that I shouldn’t be allowed to work or otherwise engage in the community. I’m still angry at the government but more so at those of us who allowed, encouraged even, this tyrannical behaviour. If you ever wanted to know how the holocaust was allowed to happen, we have had a small example of how.

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        • #
          Kalm Keith

          It’s almost unbelievable that an Australian government can put you and your family through all that.
          Evil.

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        • #
          Deano

          It did give natural bullies an officially approved excuse to harass others. Another tool used to divide us.

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          • #
            Sambar

            It has also given the Victorian Police Union an opportunity to call for riot gear for all members, as a result of the alledged violence of protestors during lockdowns.

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            • #
              mawm

              And probably have earned the label of the most despised police force on this planet (although Trudeau’s goons are not far behind while Ardern’s mere amateurs).

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      • #
        Lloydww

        Long time lurker, very occasional poster here.

        I was sceptical about the Covid vaccines from the outset. As reports of side effects came in I grew increasingly concerned. The August 2021 VAERS data clinched it for me. In 6 months there were 5000+ deaths attributed to 3 vaccines, roughly equal to all deaths attributed to all other vaccines across the 30 year history of VAERS. And climbing.

        As I tried to raise this issue with friends and professional colleagues I was perplexed by their indifference and sometimes outright hostility. I lost a number of friends. In the end I simply decided to stop engaging with anyone who was pro-jab if only to preserve my friendships for a future time.

        I count myself lucky despite being forced to endure the experience of being a second class citizen. I was in the process of adapting to medical retirement when Covid struck so I didn’t have to make the job-jab choice. But I lost my mother, a healthy and fit 70something, to the booster.

        I worry for the future. I hope the tide will turn and hope that it’s not too late. But there are days when I despair.

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        • #

          Sorry to hear about your loss Lloydww.

          Regarding the hostility — possibly some people (a lot of people maybe) were afraid of the virus, and belief in the vaccine was a shield they wanted to cling to.

          Takes a big person to take on a message they don’t want to hear.

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          • #
            Graeme+P.

            You’re right about the fear Jo but that does not excuse the behaviour. Ultimately it’s these people that will destroy us. We can always expect governments to lean towards totalitarianism but it’s fearful naïve people that grease the way for it. As a nation we could have ended the covid B.S. in a week had we but chosen to.

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          • #
            TedM

            My disgust to whoever gave Jo a red thumb, on a comment, to which no rational person could ever take offence.

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      • #
        John Hultquist

        Fuel F.,

        Sorry, but that statement is light on information.

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      • #

        Never had the jab(s) and never will. The words “Experimental emergency approved” put me right off for a start. And I don’t feel like a “Super Hero”.

        Being retired with an Innate Immune System and two brain cells that still talk to each other, I was able to resist the BS and the pressure.

        And, I don’t think that I have contracted the “Virus” and if I had, then I most probably thought it was just the Common Cold. At 69 years young I still get one nearly every Winter.

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  • #
    Eng_Ian

    A quick thought.

    A typical coal fired power station will turn 1kg of coal into two kWHr of electrical energy.

    A common lithium battery, designed for the domestic market can store 13.5kWHr, costing around $12,000 for the unit. Very costly storage just for the storage of half a bucket of coal.

    Now think of the power stations that are soon to be removed from service, each with capacities in the order of 2000MW(peak), producing 2000MWHr each hour. In that hour, they burn around 1,000 tonnes of coal, leaves a cubic hole in the mine of a little under 9m a side.

    It really makes those batteries on the wall look insignificant doesn’t it. Don’t bother doing the costs based on the number of those domestic units required to replace FF generation on a windless night.

    Don’t forget the domestic dishwasher, typically consuming 1kg of coal equivalent for each wash cycle.

    Me thinks there’s going to be a lot of manual dish washing when the FF units go cold. If they lights stay on long enough to cook dinner. And the government wants electric powered cars.

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    • #
      Leo G

      A common lithium battery, designed for the domestic market can store 13.5kWHr, costing around $12,000 for the unit.

      Accordingly, if the median life of the battery is 300 full cycles, the initial cost of the battery is $2.60 per kWHr of energy cycled over that lifetime.
      As a comparison, the average wholesale price of coal-fired electricity in Australia this year has been less than AUD$0.09 per kWHr.

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      • #
        Kalm Keith

        A good comparison.

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      • #
        Chad

        Leo G
        August 19, 2022 at 9:06 pm ·
        Accordingly, if the median life of the battery is 300 full cycles

        Errr ? …where did you find that snippit of dodgy data ?….maybe for a wet lead acid battery ?
        The Tesla Powerwall has a warranty that it will maintain at least 70% of its capacity for 10 yrs
        Most competitive storage batteries have similar warranties.

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        • #
          Chad

          …..the Tesla Powerwall, lithium battery systems have a 10-year warranty which guarantees the battery will retain at least 70% of its original capacity either after a 10-year period or after a certain amount of energy throughput – a specific amount of energy charged and discharged – which is 37.8MWh

          …which would suggest $0.32 per kWh of energy stored !
          Still silly expensive, but not as bad as you suggest.

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          • #
            Leo G

            which would suggest $0.32 per kWh of energy stored !
            Still silly expensive, but not as bad as you suggest.

            Your suggestion assumes a Tesla Powerwall 2

            It also assumes that the actual aggregate energy is achieved over the 10 year period in a non-test situation and there are no days of low consumption and no days when the battery fails to reach full capacity but where the battery is not fully discharged and where the management system assures the discharge rate doesn’t exceed the 5KW threshold (beyond which degradation geometrically increases).

            The batteries degrade with time and by number of cycles and in a way that depends on the operating conditions. 300 is the expected minimum number of cycles commonly specified for general usage for the most commonly used lithium batteries.

            More expensive systems generally have better performance, particularly in lifetime.

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            • #
              Chad

              #
              Leo G
              August 20, 2022 at 10:06 am ·
              . 300 is the expected minimum number of cycles commonly specified for general usage for the most commonly used lithium batteries.

              Rubbish !
              Please give a source reference .
              Tesla Powerwall is one of the most popular back up packs, and i strongly suspect that 13.5 kWh, $12,000 figure refers to one !.
              Remember we are talking domestic back up packs. ..not toys or power tools .
              Even conventional Lead Acid cells will far exceed that figure if maintained properly.
              There are other domestic back up packs with similar 10 yr warranties, and even some with 4000 charge cycles warranted.
              LiFePo4 packs can be much cheeper. ($500/kWh) with similar warranties.
              PS.. i am writing this on a lithium powered Ipad that is 5+ years old, used and recharged daily, but still retains 80% of its battery capacity !

              00

      • #
        Hanrahan

        I wouldn’t die on that “300 cycles” hill.

        I have AA lithium cells for my blue tooth keyboard. One popped the end but the others are going strong. The oldest would have done far more than 300 cycles and for a while I was using a fast charger that would get them warm.

        No way would I buy a powerwall though. 🙂

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    • #
      yarpos

      Comparing grid scale activities to residential makes them look insignificant because at a one household level they are of course.

      A 13.5 kWh battery is not insignificant in terms of domestic usage. Still an expensive deal me.

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  • #
    Honk R Smith

    This is amazing … IMHO.
    JP Sears on good and evil.
    How much more obvious can something called Net Zero be?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPt6gvRQnhs

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  • #
    Fuel Filter

    Three more for ya. All on the failure of the vaxxxes. They are all long but we’ll worth the read. Just sit back, relax, and if nothing more, please file them away for future reference.

    https://surakblog.wordpress.com/2022/08/17/the-irrefutable-failure-of-covid-19-vaccines/

    https://uncoverdc.com/2022/08/11/the-irrefutable-failure-of-covid-19-vaccines/

    https://www.scribd.com/document/586415641/Science-Facts-Data-about-COVID-19-and-vaccines

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  • #
    tonyb

    This is a much more extensive article on the heatwave of 1540 carried by Jo earlier

    https://www.politico.eu/article/hot-dry-aint-bad-1540-yet/

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    • #
      Denny

      It’s nice to see these kinds of articles with a little historical perspective. Sometimes I think it’s laziness that many more such articles are not published. If they dig enough there is a wealth of literature on any number of events.

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      • #
        tonyb

        Unfortunately as the Met office themselves told me, money would not be provided now for research such as this. My own reconstruction of CET illustrated that 1538/9 and 40 were all very hot and dry with additional heat and drought earlier in the decade. Then of course it all went pear shaped in the 1560’s as the Breugul paintings illustrate

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        • #
          el+gordo

          In the latter half of that decade the summers were still hot and dry, but in winter even the monarch was skating at the Frost Fair.

          Would you care to take a punt on the 2022-23 winter in Europe?

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  • #
    Fuel Filter

    CDC Announces Overhaul After Botching Pandemic

    After more than two years of missteps and backpedaling over Covid-19 guidance that had a profound effect on Americans’ lives, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced on Wednesday that the agency would undergo a complete overhaul – and will revamp everything from its operations to its culture after failing to meet expectations during the pandemic, Bloomberg reports.
    *****

    Many links in the piece for you to follow.

    RTWT @ https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/cdc-announces-overhaul-after-botching-pandemic

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    • #
      James Murphy

      Failing to meet whose expectations…?
      Klaus Schwab or Tedros Ghebreyesus? Perhaps Jeff Bezos isn’t happy with his extra $12+ billion?

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  • #
    • #
      Hanrahan

      Means nothing.
      http://www.petitionproject.org/
      Meant nothing too. A couple of signers with the same names as film stars were the basis to debunk the whole kit and caboodle.

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      • #
        John Hultquist

        Hanrahan,
        I think you are right but not quite on target. The AGW train was fully loaded and heading downhill at that point. Even if 1/4 of the signers were bogus, that still leaves 23,000+ that were legitimate – – including me and many others.
        Let’s turn this around. By that time – 1998 – Al Gore had been Vice President for 5 years and John Kerry had been a senator for 13 years. Both were active in promoting AGW and getting other like-minded people into the bureaucracy and elected positions.
        By the time the Petition Project got underway the AGW-CO2 concept was accepted as an axiom by many in the USA and other governments. It was not going to be overturned — and hasn’t been despite evidence or individuals speaking against it.
        Axioms are not easily overturned.
        Earth’s atmosphere will have to noticeably cool for many years while CO2 in the atmosphere increases for the CO2 axiom to be questioned.

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      Philip

      wow, how extraordinary. Thank goodness he lost. But this is where we are at. All politicians are sold on this stuff. It’s over folks. Prepare to be a 2nd world country.

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  • #
    Fuel Filter

    When “Mass Formation Psychosis” Meets Irish Democracy

    “It is debatable whether blind faith in public health authorities and their pronouncements is a form of psychosis. But when it comes to authoritarian groupthink, maybe Malone has a point. While any fair-minded person would agree that Malone doesn’t get to make up his own disorder, wouldn’t that self-same person agree that people can fall victim to in-group psychology? 

    “Even if the APA doesn’t need to revise the DSM – for giggles – let’s say that mass formation psychosis (MFP) is just dangerous groupthink. If those who blindly follow ‘the Science’™ are under the spell of MFP, what about those who are not under its spell?”
    *****

    Very interesting essay indeed. RTWT @ https://www.aier.org/article/when-mass-formation-psychosis-meets-irish-democracy/

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  • #
    Fuel Filter

    A Deeper Dive Into the CDC Reversal…

    “The authors: “the CDC Emergency Response Team” consisting of “Greta M. Massetti, PhD; Brendan R. Jackson, MD; John T. Brooks, MD; Cria G. Perrine, PhD; Erica Reott, MPH; Aron J. Hall, DVM; Debra Lubar, PhD;; Ian T. Williams, PhD; Matthew D. Ritchey, DPT; Pragna Patel, MD; Leandris C. Liburd, PhD; Barbara E. Mahon, MD.”

    “It would have been fascinating to be a fly on the wall in the brainstorming sessions that led to this little treatise. The wording was chosen very carefully, not to say anything false outright, much less admit any errors of the past, but to imply that it was only possible to say these things now.”
    *****

    as per https://brownstone.org/articles/a-deeper-dive-into-the-cdc-reversal/

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  • #
    Andrew McRae

    More news in the store-bought antibodies department.

    An antibody developed by researchers at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital now seems to fit the bill. In lab tests, it neutralized all currently known SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, including all omicron variants.

    The researchers first inserted two human gene segments into the mice. This pushed the mice’s immune cells to quickly produce a diverse repertoire of antibodies resembling those our bodies might make.
    The team then exposed the mice to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, the main protein targeted by our antibodies and current vaccines, from the original Wuhan-Hu-1 coronavirus strain.
    In response, the mice produced nine different “families” of antibodies that bound to the spike.

    Side-effects of the treatment reported so far are minor and typically no worse than an aversion to bright light and an increased appetite for cheese.

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  • #
    Grogery

    Optimism or pessimism?

    As I grow older, I seem to be learning more about history than I did at school (wagging didn’t help).

    I now have a young grand-daughter and I truly wonder what the future holds for her and her parents (my daughter) and any future children they may have – presuming they are fertile after the recent worldwide experimental covid-19 injection trial.

    I believe we lag behind the rest of the corrupt western world by 6-12 months, so I’ll start with the USA.

    Optimism:-
    While there is no doubt President Donald Trump was denied re-election due to fraudulent processes, I think the fact that it happened may be better than if he had won. Stupid you say? No, Americans (including dead voters?) have woken up and are starting to take notice of the ramifications of having an installed retard like joe biden in charge of their country. They are feeling the real hardships that come with “building back better”.

    Although Australia will take much longer to wake up, I can draw a similar conclusion with our last election. Scott morrison and his disciples proved to any conservative voter in doubt, that the LNP were no longer conservative. Even the National Party wing of the LNP seem to be moving to the left. My point however, is that they have shown the plebs (us) where they stand – nowhere – just like the other mob. We need someone like Donald Trump.

    I hope like crazy that people might stand up and be counted, do real research and not be taken in by endless propaganda from every media outlet and corrupt govern’mental’ department in our “united” world (don’t mention the un, who, bill gates, soros, wef, etc). I think when people realise the threat is real (and instinctively protect their family & children), the “establishment” might encounter a mighty challenge.

    Smart people will always prevail.

    Pessimism:
    We run out of beer.

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  • #
    David Maddison

    Commercial cargo carrying sailing ships are back!

    There was a very good reason commercial sailing ships were abandoned as soon as a practical steam engine was developed.

    The first steam powered ship crossed the Atlantic in 1819.

    More regression back toward the Stone Age by the Left..

    https://newatlas.com/marine/oceanbird-wallenius-wing-sail-cargo-ship/

    The idea of using sails to power a boat is not exactly a new one; indeed, the earliest known depiction of a ship under sail appears on a painted disc found in Kuwait, dated back to somewhere between 5,000-5,500 BCE.

    [..]

    The latest concept is the Oceanbird, a giant Pure Car and Truck Carrier capable of transporting up to 7,000 cars at an average speed of 10 knots on a North Atlantic crossing. That’s not quite as quick as a conventional ship; you’re looking at around 12 days instead of the typical 8, but the Oceanbird’s four colossal 80-meter (260-ft) high extendable wing sails promise to reduce emissions by as much as 90 percent.

    SEE LINK FOR REST

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      yarpos

      “The latest concept is the Oceanbird, a giant Pure Car and Truck Carrier capable of transporting up to 7,000 cars….”

      The first lithium battery fire on a sail driven carrier will be a nice bit of intersectional climate alarm stupidity.

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      John Connor II

      Sails are back but as per previous post on international shipping slowdown, conventional ships will be “asked” to slow down to save fuel.
      Perishables shipped by either mode will likely suffer needlessly, increasing the orchestrated food crisis…

      What’s next? Ocean-going canoes?

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  • #
    David Maddison

    This YouTuber takes a look at Neil deGrasse Tyson’s PhD thesis.

    https://youtu.be/l7f4MSSkDp4

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    Honk R Smith

    In case I’m droned.
    https://www.foxnews.com/politics/former-cia-director-hayden-agrees-journalist-tweet-labeling-republicans-dangerous-nihilistic
    Don’t laugh.
    Our friends Little Bush and Obama made this possible.
    http://www.allgov.com/news/top-stories/obama-signs-into-law-indefinite-detention-of-americans-without-trial?news=843828
    Apparently, it is becoming fashionable among the polite elite to label ‘Republicans’ (read Trump supporters) as the most extreme extremists ever.

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  • #
    another ian

    “Is WSJ Quietly Practicing More Balanced Reporting on Climate Change?”

    With examples

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/08/19/is-wsj-quietly-practicing-more-balanced-reporting-on-climate-change/

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  • #
    another ian

    “Insightful Wisdom from Steve Bannon”

    “Breaking the machine”

    Link at

    http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2022/08/19/insightful-wisdom-from-steve-bannon/

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    cadger

    This is the article that convinced me to remain unvaccinated.

    Worked well. Recently discharged from hospital on an unrelated matter. after them telling me I have Covid. That’ll explain the private room.
    Aside from the expected COPD breathing problems I felt fine.

    Here is a disturbing thought: is lockdown preventing this evolutionary process, by confining the disease to settings where it can still thrive while being fatal, such as hospitals? Our fate is clear: without a vaccine or a cure, Covid-19 will fade, will be back, but will become less lethal till it is eventually indistinguishable from every other cold.

    https://www.rationaloptimist.com/blog/covid-and-the-russian-pandemic/

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    OldOzzie

    How come it takes an American Publication to notice this?

    Australian senator makes impassioned case against the globalist agenda

    Klaus Schwab’s sycophants occupy elected and bureaucratic positions in governments and cabinets around the world, and as far as I can tell, no politician is more vocal about this insidious reality than Australian senator Alex Antic. Just a few weeks back, Antic delivered a fiery speech against tyrannical overreach before his legislative colleagues:

    Aussie senator takes of the “AGENDA” which is happening in every country around the world with the world economic forum fingerprints all over it.

    1 Min 50 Secs

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    KP

    The real side of politics is revealed, and naturally its completely opposite to what they preach! Gaurav Sharma is an Indian who unexpectedly won a safe National seat for Labour in West Hamilton. Now he’s been booted from Cabinet for exposing how he has been bullied by Ardern’s Govt since he was elected. The article was written by Chris Trotter,a dyed-in-the-wool Communist since forever, which makes it even more interesting.

    https://www.nzcpr.com/parting-shots/

    What emerges from the Gallery and the Labour Party itself over the next few days promises to be a master-class in the art of dismissing, diminishing and disparaging an individual who has had the temerity to breach the iron law of omerta which governs the practice of party politics.

    Like Fight Club, the first rule of party politics is not to talk about party politics….

    Purely from the perspective of an outsider, Sharma’s selection appears to have been a pro-forma affair. Just as it did for most Hamiltonians, Sharma’s victory in Hamilton West would have come as a mighty shock. … “Nothing like as big a shock, however, as the political culture of the Labour Caucus. Those Labour politicians who spent years fighting their way into Parliament would have had an enormous advantage over a political naïf like Sharma. They would know what to expect. Whose way to keep out of. Whose prospects to block. And, whose hunting party to join when the Leader’s minions identified a member of caucus to be taken down a peg or two. All of them would have mastered the courtier’s art of sucking-up and punching-down. Putting it bluntly, a disturbingly high proportion of Sharma’s colleagues would be – as he has now charged – bullies.

    “Those who weren’t bullies would’ve been doormats. Selected as candidates for their placidity and biddability, they are the sort of people who can be relied upon to back their party right or wrong, and to support whoever occupies the top leadership roles with an equally undiscerning fervour. The traditional term for these types is ‘hack’. Sharma likely found these Labour lambs even more disturbing than Labour’s wolves.

    “The good little bunnies of the Labour caucus will, of course, object that party politics cannot function without party discipline. They will remind their critics that politics has always been ‘the art of the possible’, and that nothing will ever get done if a government is mired in endless internal debates.

    Sorry if its too long Jo, feel free to chop it down.

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    Sambar

    Record breaking floods reported from the South Island of New Zealand after 3 days of continuous rain. Apparently there is an “atmospheric river” causing all the mayhem.
    Hope Greg in NZ is O.K. I think he is based in the North Island but if that “atmospheric river” breaks its banks everyone could be in trouble.

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    another ian

    “Help Wanted”

    “Okay hive mind let’s see what we can come up with.

    Alex Berenson- Covid has caused a new psychiatric disorder and it’s not what you think. Please help me name it.

    It is a low- to medium-grade anxiety disorder caused by the realization that the bureaucrats and politicians who are nominally in charge do not really know what they’re doing, cannot read or understand data, and will not course correct in response to new information.”

    More and link at

    http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2022/08/19/help-wanted-6/

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    John Connor II

    Crushing Oppression While Politicians Argue against Trusted Science

    Or COWPATS for short.
    We’re suffering from COWPATS syndrome 😅

    Another fake science result from the Erroneous Results Research Academy or ERRA for short. 😅

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    John Connor II

    Friday entertainment – brown alert!

    https://va.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_rg3rcc5IXv1w5pr9j.mp4

    It’s not the fall that kills you.. 😨😨😨

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    John Connor II

    Don’t be a sucker. 1947 U.S. War Dept film

    Like The House I Live In, this film warns that Americans will lose their country if they let themselves be turned into “suckers” by the forces of fanaticism and hatred. This thesis is rendered more powerful by the ever-present example of Nazi Germany, whose capsule history is dramatized as part of this film. There’s a great deal of good sense in this film and more than a bit of wartime populism: “Let’s not think about ‘we’ and ‘they.’ Let’s think about ‘us’!”]
    It’s interesting to think of this film in the light of Cold War anti-Communist politics, which really came into their own in the year this film was made. Were the witch-hunting politicians and citizens of the late Forties and early Fifties protecting the people, or were they themselves acting like “suckers?”

    https://archive.org/details/DontBeaS1947

    Scroll forward to today…😨

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    • #
      KP

      Clowns!! Morally they must ban all advertisements for products made from fossil fuels, so they ban ALL products that contain plastics.

      OK, end of civilisation… Oh wait, this is SYDNEY! Civilisation vanished from there decades ago!

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    John Connor II

    No Sat O/T ?? 😲

    Friday leftovers it is then.


    Australian bank announces it will BAN loans for petrol or diesel cars in order to fight climate change and encourage electric vehicles

    An Australian bank will stop approving personal loans for new petrol and diesel-powered cars from 2025 as the federal government flags tough new fuel efficiency standards.

    Electric vehicles this year have a minuscule 1.6 per cent market share even when Tesla sales were included, with starting prices of $47,000 and a lack of charging stations turning off many potential motorists.

    But the customer-owned Bank Australia wants to change that, in a bid to reduce carbon emissions linked to climate change.

    Its chief impact officer Sasha Courville told the National Electric Vehicle Summit in Canberra on Friday the bank’s new policy was ‘an important step in decarbonising the Australian economy’.

    ‘By ceasing car loans for new fossil fuel vehicles, we are sending a signal to the Australian market about the rapid acceleration in the transition from internal combustion to electric vehicles we expect to see in the next few years,’ she said.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11122207/Bank-Australia-announces-BAN-loans-petrol-diesel-cars-2025-fight-climate-change.html

    Prime management material – no idea of the real world.
    Will they also ban loans for seaside properties because of the rising ocean risk?
    Wanna buy a cow or chook farm? No loan.
    Maybe open a gym. You do know how much CO2 those chunkies breathe out don’t you? No loan.
    Motorbikes, boats, jetskis. No loan.
    A house maybe? Nope – you won’t need one as you’ll own nothing. No loan.
    Why exactly are they in business???

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    • #
      John Connor II

      Bugatti’s new $5 million W16 Mistral roadster is already sold out

      The W16 Mistral is a 1,600 hp roadster based closely on the Chiron, and will have a net price of 5 million euros (currently USD $5.0 million), with deliveries starting in 2024. The entire production series of just 99 cars has already been sold out.

      I doubt the purchasers need loans.
      Or recharging stations.
      Or care about the loony left, greens or Greta tantrums. 😅

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      Philip

      It’s looking good. The brown stuff is going to hit the fan soon.

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    John Connor II

    Is that true or did you hear it on the BBC?

    What exactly is the purpose of the BBC nowadays – to entertain, educate and inform? But is that all? The broadcaster itself claims to be a fearless and independent provider of news tasked with ‘speaking truth to power’ – a true champion of the underdog.

    However, as David Sedgwick reveals in his new book the reality is somewhat different: not only does the BBC diligently protect power from scrutiny, it attacks and attempts to discredit those who dare to challenge the status quo.

    Formed in 1922 by the British establishment, the BBC has always been a reliable ally of ultra-wealthy and powerful interests. Indeed, the broadcaster occupies a pivotal position within an international corporate-political alliance which promotes only those narratives which consolidate the ‘global order.’

    Using multiple examples of BBC reporting, the author argues that the tax-payer funded broadcaster is a proxy which acts on behalf of a tiny, but very powerful clique – a role which compels it to pump out disinformation on an industrial scale, misleading all those who consume its content.

    https://www.amazon.com.au/That-True-Did-You-Hear/dp/1999359178

    FREE on Kindle Unlimited.

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    KP

    Ah, your taxes at work…

    https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-covid-inquiry-bill-tops-85m-before-hearings-begin/

    Govt Depts are lawyering up to the tune of 85million pounds to defend their actions over Covid.

    Now, why would they need lawyers for a Govt inquiry?? Don’t they just send the responsible person to answer questions in front of the panel? Tell the truth and go back to work..

    Bahahaha! I must be hitting the red wine too hard! This has all the obvious signs of-

    an extremely long inquiry, (at least until people don’t care anymore)

    an extremely expensive inquiry, (well, its all free money)

    that will end up writing a 1000page report that no-one reads (they get paid by the word)

    and no-one will get blamed for anything. (This IS Govt investigating Govt after all!)

    I just cannot see what people think worthwhile in a Govt.

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    el+gordo

    ‘AGL, Origin point to disturbing turn for power grid.’

    ‘Neither energy major was prepared to give a full-year earnings guidance this week. That shows the market is broken – despite all the talk of a green transition.’ (Oz)

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