Monday Open Thread

9.2 out of 10 based on 16 ratings

183 comments to Monday Open Thread

  • #
    BrianTheEngineer

    Ahhhhh, I’ll be back

    40

  • #
    yarpos

    A paragraph from an investigation into the crash of a firebombing aircraft.

    “The crash of a waterbombing air tanker in the 2020 bushfires, which killed three American firefighters, occurred in “hazardous” conditions without aerial supervision, an investigation by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau has found.”

    Hazardous conditions? Firebombing? ya think?

    200

    • #
      Ted1.

      It is beyond marvellous that there have been so few casualties. It is deadly dangerous work operating in turbulent rarefied air, and the benefits are not much.

      Where I saw aircraft at fires, the fires would have been extinguished much more quickly and at far less cost if they left three quarters of the aircraft in the shed and sent out a few infantry with rakes by night.

      Water bombing cannot wet the underside of a burning log. I have watched water from a helicopter running away across the ground while I couldn’t get a refill for my knapsack.

      200

      • #
        GlenM

        In my experience there is a lack of volunteers who want to get their hands dirty. I hate to say it, but it appears that they turn up in bright, shining clobber and leave 6 hours later just the same. Backburning is not easy work I’ll add. Also the chiefs in the field – RFS seem to be rudderless know-all types.

        141

        • #
          Saighdear

          ‘chiefs in the field – RFS seem to be rudderless know-all types’ .. not just ‘in the field’ but accross the Board ( table).
          We attend ( for sake of a better word) TV Talk shows where the Panel discusses issues. on Some shows it’s a Panel of experts. They got it so wrong on covid, election results, so in my book, 1 4 all and all 4 1, ANY such shows are a waste of time: How much rubbish are we being fed by the political Journos, portrayed as experts on various themes?. and as for the News ‘bulletins’ – just another form of Misinfo Panellists nowadays. Lost faith in the whole darn lot of them.

          100

          • #
            KP

            Its a normal evolution… a group of people see a need and get together, whether its fighting fires, organising a charity or having a local newspaper. It starts off small and nimble with everyone working towards the same goal, grows with its success, needs middle managers, and comes to Govt’s attention.

            Seeing politicians only live for photo opportunities the Govt soon takes over, and crushes any usefulness out of the organisation by substituting “get the main thing done” with the usual “protect my job and grow my empire”

            Right through to motorsport (well, any sport I’m sure..) It has become a giant bureaucracy full of committees investigating how to get more people involved in something where the top is so far from the bottom there is no common ground. However the cocktail parties are great!

            120

          • #
            Rupert Ashford

            In most of politics and journalism “experts” are carefully selected and vetted to say exactly what is expected of them so they’re mostly useless knowitalls.

            10

      • #
        TedM

        AS someone who worked in fire surveillance for 18 years, I have to support you 100% Ted1.

        70

      • #
        PeterW

        Ted.
        Poor use of aircraft used to frustrate the living snit out of me.
        Aircraft are like any other firefighting method, at their best when things are cool and quiet – as it often is, first thing in the morning – but media, politicians and politicised managers regard aircraft as the “magic” solution when everything is going to hell. So instead of having a plan to use them when they are most effective, they are too often held in reserve.

        60

    • #

      You missed a bit Yarpos. The finding then says that this was recognised and that a stand down order should have been given as had been done in similar conditions around that time.

      73

    • #
      Dennis

      Not surprising, remember the crop duster aircraft being used as a water bomber that crashed killing the very experienced pilot on the NSW South Coast a few years ago, the strain of turning sharply as the aircraft was heading towards a cliff resulted in bolts holding one wing failing under the strain.

      80

    • #
      Ronin

      The ‘bird dog spotter’ bailed, the other aircraft bailed because the conditions were conducive to turbulence and windshear, but they tasked a loaded C130 anyway,
      negligence anyone.

      50

      • #
        yarpos

        The C130 could see and feel what the other aircraft could see and feel. Pilot in Command made a decision. Didnt work out. Pointing the finger of negligence in such a chaotic environment is a pretty sure way of nobody wanting that role (if it exists)

        51

        • #
          PeterW

          Yarp….
          There are several people in the chain of command who are responsible for ensuring that aircraft are operating “safely” under RFS SOPs.

          The Incident Controller – generally a very busy chap and may not have expertise in the relevant area, but ultimately the buck stops with him.
          The Air Operations Manager – responsible for all aspects of aerial firefighting at the specific incident, from logistics and coordination to safety. Monitoring conditions is part of his job.
          The Air Attack Supervisor – the RFS officer sitting in the front passenger seat of the Bird Dog, providing direction and coordination between ground and air assets, continuous eyes-on monitoring of conditions, effectiveness and safety, and giving feedback to both pilots and the AOM. (I qualified in this role over 20 years ago, and gave it up around 2012 so I’m not current on everything, but the basics don’t change).

          The relative legislation deems the RFS , as the contracting organisation, to be responsible for safety management. The RFS cannot ask a Pilot to do something that the Pilot considers unsafe, but the RFS is required to stand down contracted aircraft if/when conditions (or Pilot behaviour) is assessed as unsafe.

          Yes….. fire environments are inherently risky. On a bad day, they are possibly the most dangerous flying conditions outside a war zone. Low altitude, high turbulence , low visibility etc. That is why extra systems are put in place. It’s the same on the ground. I have bad memories of leading volunteers into a risky situation. We were damned if we did and damned if we didn’t.
          Outside of obvious negligence, an error of judgement shouldn’t be a hanging offence, for the reasons that you stated….. but if we get so frightened of hurting feelings that we cannot assess where things went wrong, the we will kill people.

          Pardon me if I don’t get into specific issues, but this is very close and personal, for me.

          80

      • #
        Plain Jane

        The American pilots were heroically trying to save a koala sanctuary full of burnt koalas. Pity it didnt pay off and they died and so did the koalas in the sanctuary. Horrendous conditions and a great tragedy. In my experience the volunteers are great, but where I am it is mostly full of local farmers. The NSW fire service spends most of its time and energy trying to stop people putting out fires. They spent ages water bombing a neighbour as he was cutting fire trails on his grader so they were not bombing the fire for quite some hours, as stopping the locals being useful was so much more important. They only turn up between between 10 am and 4pm when it is mostly impossible to put the fires out. I have had our place burnt out once in a wild fire; mostly because the fire was left in the tender hands of the NSW Parkes and Wildlife fireies for the 4 days previous when it could have been put out, but Parkes firies dont do that because they wouldnt get paid 4xhourly rate if the fire was out. In 2019-2020 fires narrowly missed being burnt, mostly because a bunch of locals went vigilante at night and put the fires out when they could be put out, so the fires werent there to get whipped into a fire storm when the NW winds kicked back in with the next front. It was done on the sly and I think they had to dodge officialdom to get it done, so despite,not because, of the NSW fire service. I ended up calling the local farmers when the fire was still burning on our place because they would come and do something and stop it spreading in the evenings, and the NSW fire service would not. Interesting being part of a “containment line” and find a “containment line” not what you would think it sounds like it is, but isnt.

        170

        • #
          Barry

          If what you say is correct, this is an even worse tragedy. They weren’t trying to save human lives, even.

          Prioritizing a Koala Sanctuary full of burned koalas makes no sense. There are more Koalas in Australia than you can poke a stick at. More of them would die in a typical week than would have died at the sanctuary.

          Whoever misled this tragic crew about the significance of the target to try to save what would surely be only a tiny fraction of the wildlife losses that were happening all around them was the negligent party.

          121

        • #
          william x

          PJ, thankyou for your post.
          Can you clarify which “NSW fire Service”, I work for on3e of the two.

          In previous posts over the years I have reported same.

          Governments have hamstrung what we can do.

          Bob Carr and his NSW government stopped hazard reductions in National parks and State forests in 2001.
          We are not allowed to enter to maintain fire trails or conduct hazard reductions.
          As a result ground litter builds up. Can be a over a meter (3 to 5 ft) deep.

          This is extremely dangerous. The fuel on the ground exponentially affects the intensity of a fire.
          Intense heat will promote release of eucalyptus oil into the atmosphere. It is natures napalm. Just waiting for a spark.

          The Parks have responsibility for their “jurisdiction”.
          They do nothing until there is a fire, they act when its too late. (When maximum damage is occurring).
          When conditions are not conducive to use a drip torch, they use drip torches to further torch their parks in unsafe conditions.

          The Govt stopped clearing of farmers land along their boundaries of ground litter.
          They stopped residents reducing the fire load except within 50m of their property.

          From 1991 to 2001 I was engaged in 96 hazard reduction burns conducted over several weeks each, by numerous crews.

          Since 2001 till now not one, Zero, (excepting a slow burn around a local councillers home in 2016).

          When everything goes pear shaped.. Lives lost, properties and business destroyed, parks denuded of flora and fauna.

          You will find public outcry.

          So there needs to be a scapegoat. It can’t be due to Govt’s and their departments ineptitude in policy or management.
          It can’t be their failure to adequately train their “free work force” called volunteers.

          No they need something scary to blame.

          They will mobolise their media centres to inform the public of their “truth”. (Note every Govt department has a media section).
          Many journalists, instead of investigating, will blindly cut and paste the media releases. The lazy are used as a tool to ensure the myths continue.

          There will be an inclusion added to the article that “the science is settled”.
          This will be used to discredit anyone whom questions their “facts”.

          Their scapegoat will be called “Catastrophic Climate Change.”

          In the Eastern states of Australia, when we cycle back from la nina to el nino. The increased ground litter from the rains will dry.
          There will be no slow burn hazard reductions. Koalas will sit in eucalyptus trees over a tinderbox.
          And hey presto we will get another unprecedented fire season…

          The same scapegoat will be blamed: “Catastrophic climate change”

          The circus will go on, and no one is held accountable. EVER.

          And yet despite fighting bush fires for near 3 decades, Not one scientist has ever polled me for any information, experience, facts (eg. fuel loading/sqm) or a fire/coroners report.

          I am so frustrated. This madness continues.

          I am so tired of the needless loss of life, property, Flora and Fauna.

          The madness needs to stop. Today.

          180

          • #
            PeterW

            William…
            Recent politics were the straw that broke this camel’s back, but I have walked away from active participation in the RFS, and in future will be fighting fires as a private citizen helping out his neighbours.

            It’s a crying shame. My grandfather was one of the founders of our brigade, and in the early 80s, we could put 60 men and 30 units in the field. Now we struggle to get full crews for the two Service-supplied tankers.

            110

            • #
              william x

              Peter,

              To volunteer and put yourself in harm’s way to help protect others, is gold in my book.

              Peter W. I know these words are not enough.

              I sincerely thankyou for your service.

              My full respect to you.

              Thankyou again.

              William.

              90

              • #
                PeterW

                William….
                I appreciate that.
                Ours was a relatively small rural community and almost everyone was involved against a common threat. You’d come to my fire and I would go to yours. There was no “leave it to the experts” because there were no such thing. Just people doing what was needed.

                Plus…. well young men need dragons to fight. Fire was mine.

                40

          • #
            Kalm Keith

            Thanks William X, an important, essential post.

            40

            • #
              Kalm Keith

              Thanks to William, Peter and P Jane for detailing the ugliness of modern political firefighting.

              It’s designed to frustrate, designed to fail and intended to injure and damage so that the publicity for global warming can be aroused.

              120

      • #

        The finding was poor comms ie negligence but not criminal. The conditions were assessed unsuitable but the pilot was not called in.

        00

  • #
    Ted1.

    Sydney is heading towards record high rainfall for the year as it starts to shower here.

    150

    • #
      yarpos

      How many Flannerys of rain is that?

      390

      • #
        Ted1.

        Actually, that’s a surprising measure when you check it out.

        We had a run of droughts after the turn of the century, which gave Tim cause to make his famous declaration. Then we had a very high rainfall year, about double the average, and it brought the (since 1990) average back surprisingly close to par.

        150

      • #
        Ronin

        “How many Flannerys of rain is that?”

        Remind me now, is a Flannery one Sydney Harbour at high tide, a full Warragamba dam or a million acre feet.

        130

      • #
        Dennis

        Some might say damn, damn and damn

        31

    • #
      Terry

      Floods will inevitably turn to drought and once again Carbon Dioxide will be scapegoated and used as a cudgel by governments and tyrants (tautology, I know) to impose themselves upon citizens. And yet again a decade of lost opportunity to break (or at least alleviate) the cycle will ensue.

      Of course, the rational approach (the smart thing to do) was to get busy building dams as flood mitigation for wet times and water storage for dry times. One could extend the malady to the failure to build any new High-Efficiency Coal to replace our aging baseload fleet (and to unleash the possibility of the development of Nuclear).

      And much like the self-inflicted “Energy Crisis™” & “Pandemic Response™”, it seems to be far more convenient [read: better for our seizure of power and of your wealth] to deploy windmills and solar panels, along with facemasks, jackboots, and rubber bullets (for your safety, of course).

      How is it that the average person still believes that these cretins are acting in their best interests when all of the evidence indicates the exact opposite?

      251

      • #
        Dennis

        Carbon Dioxide (CO2) the Paris Agreement emissions focus Carbon (C) pollution.

        31

      • #
        Saighdear

        simplz… ( was once, to begin with) switch off that square thing near the wall in the living room, or don’t lift that bar of chocolate to your ear! As I posted earlier, we’ve listened to too many expert panellists.

        40

      • #
        TedM

        Even as a kid (over 65 years ago) I learnt that droughts were almost inevitably broken by floods. That just seems to be the way of it.

        100

      • #
        Bruce

        Others are starting to notice the “convergence” of multiple paths of madness / malice.

        Sadly NOBODY is coming to “help”.

        Any “white knights” appearing on the scene will be most likely another manifestation of the “guilty bastards”..

        Never forget:

        “Murphy was an optimist”.

        60

    • #
      PeterW

      Lots of rain leads to lots of growth.
      Sooner or later, we will get an el Niño season, it will all dry out and there will be fires.
      It’s only been happening for ten thousand years..

      But this time it will be “climate change”

      Preaching to the choir, I know!

      110

      • #
        Saighdear

        but the louder we sing, more will hear us outwith the Paywalls.

        40

      • #
        el+gordo

        ‘Sooner or later, we will get an el Niño season …’

        True, but not in the near future, its cyclic and we are returning to the 1950s.

        21

        • #
          PeterW

          Gordo…
          It is fairly common for the system to overshoot when dropping out of La Niña and go straight into an El Niño.

          10

  • #
    yarpos

    Spotted while shopping today.

    Sign on shelf saying there is a limit of two packs of tissues per customer. Next to the sign , on special, shrink wrapped pack of three boxes of house brand tissues.

    Straya!!

    201

    • #
      David Maddison

      Facial tissues shouldn’t be used in toilets as excessive use can block pipes. Toilet tissue is designed to rapidly disintegrate in water but facial tissues are not.

      110

      • #
        Peter Fitzroy

        That is what the Right would like yo to believe

        124

      • #
        Annie

        Supposedly. I have boxes of well known ‘facial’ tissues; said tissues disintegrate the moment they encounter hay fever nose!

        190

        • #
          Ted1.

          I thought it was the “baby wipes” or “wetwipes” that were causing the problem.

          40

          • #

            Wipes are are more of a problem since they are very resistant to breakdown, but facial tissues are not designed to dissolve in the same way that toilet tissue does. DM was on the money.

            62

            • #
              KP

              Annie’s statement still stands, blow your nose on an ordinary tissue and its history.

              Softer than toilet paper for the same job, admittedly. Wet wipes have to be resistant to breakdown in water to do their job, but hopefully they’re just a passing phase like aerosol vaginal deodorants.

              So… how much CO2 is the paper industry responsible for? I’m sure they’ll come under the gun sooner or later.

              40

      • #
        David Maddison

        This is from the Water Corporation (Western Australia) website.

        Cotton buds and wet wipes are obvious but (facial) tissues are also not permissible.

        https://www.watercorporation.com.au/Help-and-advice/Water-issues/Wastewater/What-not-to-flush

        Cotton buds, tissues and wet wipes aren’t flushable

        These items do not disintegrate like toilet paper. Don’t even think about putting them anywhere near your loo. The same goes for paper towel which is also not made to break up in water. It’s about time you got a bathroom bin and made sure these unflushables are always placed inside.

        20

        • #
          Annie

          I agree David, but I am still laughing at my ridiculously easily dissolving nose-moppers!
          We do keep a bin in the bathroom for such anyway.

          40

          • #
            Annie

            I remember a problem in England with our septic system. Somebody, at some time, (not us), had put a J-Cloth (Chux-type) down the system, which was eventually discovered, thank goodness!

            10

            • #
              Just+Thinkin'

              I remember coming back from England in 1969 looking
              for J-Cloths in the supermarket in Sydney.
              I don’t think Chux came in here for a year or so.

              But, I can stand corrected.

              00

    • #
      Ronin

      Would that be two packs of three. ?

      30

  • #
    yarpos

    Spotted while shopping today.

    Sign on shelf saying there is a limit of two packs of tissues per customer. Next to the sign , on special, shrink wrapped pack of three boxes of house brand tissues.

    Straya!!

    41

  • #
    David Maddison

    Our (conservatives and fellow rational thinkers) biggest problem is that we’re still trying to play by the rules.

    They (the Left) have no rules.

    151

    • #
      R.B.

      If we go down that path, we end up destroying civilisation – except for the grubs behind this. I bet they make their kids look into their undies and know which gender they are.

      21

      • #
        Terry

        If we go down that path, we end up destroying civilisation

        History shows the opposite is true. Appeasing the problem can only ever be temporary and inevitably results in complete surrender (there is no compromise with this ideology) or a bigger fight.

        Trying to preserve/conserve a civilisation by lying real still and hoping the hordes don’t notice you is unlikely to be a winning strategy for you, and most certainly not for your family and your descendants.

        You can fight on your feet or die on your knees – there is no other option.

        170

      • #
        Barry

        If we go down that path, we end up destroying civilisation

        Only if you lose. And it’s a very strong motivator not to lose.

        11

        • #
          Rupert Ashford

          Don’t bring a knife to a gunfight. You will not win if hamstrung.

          Our biggest weakness is trying to be civilized and “play nice” while the other side are not hamstrung by that kind of rubbish. Their first strategy is to remind us how mean we are for not playing by our own rules and that normally shut us up in about 75% of cases.

          00

  • #
    John Connor II

    Euthanasia is now the 6th leading cause of death in Canada

    lan Nichols had a history of depression and other medical issues, but none were life-threatening. When the 61-year-old Canadian was hospitalized in June 2019 over fears he might be suicidal, he asked his brother to “bust him out” as soon as possible.

    Within a month, Nichols submitted a request to be euthanized and he was killed, despite concerns raised by his family and a nurse practitioner.

    His application for euthanasia listed only one health condition as the reason for his request to die: hearing loss.

    https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-toronto-7c631558a457188d2bd2b5cfd360a867

    https://youtube.com/watch?v=_zBwRDEFMRY

    😆😆

    51

    • #
      yarpos

      I have zero problem with anyone organising their own exit as long as they do it in a tidy manner that doesnt traumtise others and its their choice for whatever reason. I guess the issue here is the suspicion of coercion. Yet another polarizing issue I guess.

      20

  • #
    John Connor II

    30 million affected in Pakistan due to floods

    1,000 dead. Worst floods in memory.

    https://youtube.com/watch?v=gdVgaOdV5xM&feature=emb_logo

    40

  • #
    John Connor II

    Exhaustive study of German mortality data finds excess deaths tightly correlated with mass vaccination

    In 2020, the observed number of deaths was close to the expected number with respect to the empirical standard deviation. By contrast, in 2021, the observed number of deaths was two empirical standard deviations above the expected number. The high excess mortality in 2021 was almost entirely due to an increase in deaths in the age groups between 15 and 79 and started to accumulate only from April 2021 onwards. A similar mortality pattern was observed for stillbirths with an increase of about 11 percent in the second quarter of the year 2021.

    Something must have happened in April 2021 that led to a sudden and sustained increase in mortality in the age groups below 80 years, although no such effects on mortality had been observed during the COVID-19 pandemic so far.

    What happened in April 2021 was the beginning of mass vaccination across Germany.

    https://alethonews.com/2022/08/28/exhaustive-study-of-german-mortality-data-finds-excess-deaths-tightly-correlated-with-mass-vaccination/

    Occam’s razor…

    140

  • #
    John Connor II

    Germany’s DWD Weather Service Redefines “Heat Wave”: Now 3 Consecutive Days Of Warm Weather!

    Like the WHO changed the definition of a “pandemic”, the DWD has changed the definition of a “heat wave”…all to falsely generate the sense of a crisis?

    Repeat a lie often enough, and in no time the masses start believing it’s true. Probably few institutions know this better than Germany’s DWD national weather service.

    In order to get people to believe more in runaway warming, they have to be led to believe that “heat waves” are occurring ever more often. Even though it’s been not an unusually hot summer here in Germany (yes, it’s been hot at times), all we hear on the media are news about heat wave after heat wave.

    To allow this, it seems the DWD changed it’s definition of “heat wave” so that now any brief period of warm temperatures qualifies as one. What used to be defined as a period of 5 consecutive days with highs over 30°C, has been changed to a period of just three(!) consecutive days – with a high of 28°C or more. That’s all it takes, folks! It’s truly baffling that Florida could be so popular among retirees.

    https://notrickszone.com/2022/08/28/germanys-dwd-weather-service-redefines-heat-wave-now-3-consecutive-days-of-warm-weather/

    It’s been warm and sunny out my way for days.
    Currently 21C and it’s still winter!

    90

  • #
    David Maddison

    More war against the motor vehicle.

    Now they want to ban older trucks in parts of Australian cities – of course that’s just the starting point.

    I dispute the claim that pollution from these trucks is so deadly as claimed.

    Electric trucks are not viable replacement for diesel trucks. E.g. the vapourware Tesla truck has been debunked many times and is still not on the market.

    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/it-s-not-radical-push-to-ban-old-polluting-trucks-from-capital-cities-20220825-p5bcnj.html

    Highly polluting diesel trucks older than 20 years would be banned from Sydney and Melbourne within several years under a proposal by an independent think tank to slash toxic emissions and spur the uptake of electric vehicles.

    The Grattan Institute, in a report released late on Sunday, warns that exhaust-pipe pollutants from trucks kill more than 400 Australians annually and contribute to diseases including lung cancer, strokes and asthma.

    SEE LINK FOR REST

    90

    • #
      Chad

      I dispute the claim that pollution from these trucks is so deadly as claimed.
      ……
      Electric trucks are not viable replacement for diesel trucks.……

      Its hard to deny that the exhaust fumes from a 20 yr old diesel truck is unhealthy…(.and the proposal only applies to those pre 2003 trucks !).
      And no one was suggesting that they must be replaced by electric trucks,…just diesels that comply with current emmissions standards.!
      However there are MANY manufacturers of electric trucks which could be substituted if necessary.
      Personally i would start with the Garbage collection trucks. As noise is also a pollution !

      26

      • #
        Old Goat

        Chad,
        I’m with David on this one . Most 20 Yr old trucks are on to their 2nd or 3rd motor by that age and the cost of fuel (efficiency) makes it necessary . As for the Gratton institute – look at their website – Net Zero and associated climate change policies are featured .

        120

        • #
          Chad

          You should not need the Grattan mob to tell you that a 20 yr old truck design (even with a “new” engine ) ,.. still wont meet the latest emission standards !
          I am no fan of this type of legislation, but replacing the worst inner city polluters ( a minority of the truck fleet), has to be sensible.

          11

      • #
        Graeme+P.

        An electric garbage truck would need to tow a generator around to keep it operating for any meaningful length of time.

        80

        • #
          Chad

          Graeme+P.
          August 29, 2022 at 4:10 pm · Reply
          An electric garbage truck would need to tow a generator around to keep it operating for any meaningful length of time.

          You do realise that most Au city councils already operate some electric Garbage trucks ? ( without towing generators)
          Other countries are much further down the road with with similar programs.

          01

    • #
      Dennis

      The woke do not seem to understand commercially viable and payload profit.

      40

    • #
      Simon

      Australasia has been a dumping ground for vehicles with poor emissions standards for many years now. Take a look at any diesel engine, it probably won’t be EURO6 compliant but the same model in Europe will be.

      321

      • #
        Annie

        ‘It probably won’t be EUR06 compliant’? Is that just a sweeping generalisation or do you actually have some sort of proof there are poorer standards in imported vehicles built for Australia?

        110

      • #
        Dave

        Rubbish
        Australian Design Rules (ADRs) for emissions are analogous to the Euro V Standards.

        100

      • #
        yarpos

        Cobblers, they are generally world cars. There is no great incentive to aspire to loopy EU standards they probably wont enforce them selves in a couple years. Look at the mess the have created so far.

        71

        • #
          Dennis

          A couple of years ago the Toyota Australia CEO asked the Federal Government to consider North American Standards rather than European, he said Euro is not sensible.

          40

          • #
            Hanrahan

            It’s a fair question to ask if Euro standards are applicable in Oz. Our population density is not comparable and so many live near the sea and the clean sea air.

            Sydney west – possible exception. Never been there.

            40

      • #
        Dennis

        My Diesel engine is Euro 5 Standard and the exhaust pipe after 120,000 kms is clean.

        Towing 2 tonnes does not produce a stream of exhaust emissions, but I use a fuel system additive and a particulate filter additive every time I fill the fuel tank, and the vehicle is serviced in accordance with manufacturer’s recommendations on time every time. In fact the engine oil change schedule is 20,000 kms but less if regularly heavy loading is involved, and I change engine oil and filter every 10,000 km service interval.

        That fairy tale Labor Greens tell about vehicles sent here not suitable for other markets is BS.

        50

      • #
        Philip

        Just remember Simon, all that food you eat comes from a diesel engine. Without it, you starve. No debate.

        80

    • #
      Ronin

      Written by some clown that doesn’t know the front of a truck from the back.

      60

    • #
      b.nice

      “warns that exhaust-pipe pollutants from trucks kill more than 400 Australians annually”

      Name one person !

      50

      • #
        KP

        Can’t!! Just some mathematical jiggerypokery stuffed through a model in a computer, the same as global warming or cigarettes kill or…

        But no-one will argue against it.

        Same as no-one is counting the ozone emitted from electric vehicles, or the high-frequency RF or…

        30

      • #
        Richard+Ilfeld

        So ya’ll can ramp up your electric truck industry to redress the grievance,
        and with success, make huge profits exporting the surplus. Right?

        20

    • #
      OldOzzie

      ‘Fuel emissions standards’ just a costly leg-up for EVs

      Coming soon from Labor: a carbon tax

      Judith Sloan

      You have to hand it to the passenger motor vehicle industry – they are past masters at securing favours from governments. They have been doing it for decades – arguably it’s their core skill set.

      Notwithstanding the fact that Volkswagen was involved in one of the largest corporate scandals ever – in relation to falsifying the emissions standards of their vehicles – the company remains a favourite of the German government as well as other governments around the world.

      Car manufacturing in Australia lasted several decades in the context of extremely high rates of protection. Over time, the number of manufacturers shrank but at the end, the overseas-owned companies could not convince the federal government to continue to prop them up.

      Australian consumers had paid dearly with high prices and a limited range of cars on offer.

      It’s why there is actually an all-mighty spat going on between the premium European car companies which are represented by the Electric Vehicle Council and the companies that supply the bulk of cars for income-constrained customers – Toyota and Mazda, in particular – which are represented by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.

      The European car companies are led by VW – there’s an irony there. Their aim is to kill off the push to hybrid vehicles, preferring instead for government policy to leapfrog the hybrid phase and head straight to fully electric vehicles, something which they specialise in. (Mind you, given that VW is essentially paid by the German government to produce fully electric vehicles, it’s hardly surprising that the company made the switch away from internal combustion engine vehicles.)

      FCAI, by contrast, sees hybrids as being a popular and convenient stepping-stone to accommodate lower net emissions arising from car transport. (It accounts for around 10 per cent of our total emissions.) According to its modelling, fully electric vehicles will make up less than 20 per cent of new car sales in 2030, with a further quarter internal combustion and the remaining hybrids.

      The preferred government modelling and one also favoured by the EVC is that over 90 per cent of new cars sales will be fully EV by 2030. (In their dreams, by the way.) The EVC is lobbying to make sure that only plug-in hybrids are counted in this percentage, thereby serving the interests of its members. (Most hybrids at this stage are not plug-in.)

      But consumer preferences won’t count for much when Bowen thinks he is saving the planet but is actually being conned by lobbyists. More sighing.

      120

      • #
        Graham Richards

        Time for some real research into Carbon Di-oxide the plant food.

        This research from Rhodes University, South Africa.

        https://dailyfriend.co.za/2022/08/29/the-electric-vehicle-propaganda/.

        10

      • #
        OldOzzie

        From the Comments

        – A Kia EV6 uses about 22kwh per 100km. Even more if air-conditioner or lights are used, or it is cold or more passengers are on board. At around 60 cents per kWh to charge it costs around $13 per 100km travelled. If travelling at 110km the consumption rises and range falls quite significantly. My Hyundai i30 at steady 100kph with aircon on uses about 5.5 litres unleaded per 100km at $2 per litre for a cost of $11 per 100km. Translate that into the much larger emissions to build an EV and the larger emissions used though the electricity generated to charge its battery, we are being conned by the bulging eyed fanatics like Bowen.

        Followed up by Another Spectator Article Nailing it

        Transition teething problem or permanent disaster?

        Alan Moran

        For Australia, Global-Roam (forty-minute mark) estimates that even with a perfect system, the equivalent of 25 Snowy 2’s or 70,000 Hornsdale-type batteries would be required to firm up an exclusively wind-supplied generation system. Even so, the outcome would still mean less reliability than at present.

        Consistent with the Global Roam estimates, James Taylor, in critiquing the Integrated System Plan (ISP) recently published by the Australian Energy Market Operator, concludes it, ‘Would require at least 7980 GWh instead of the 319 GWh in the ISP. Cost estimates for this scale of battery back-up would be in the $5-7 trillion range.’ As the batteries would be on a 10-year replacement cycle, the cost would be $500-$700 billion a year, or over one-quarter of GDP each year. Then there is the cost of the additional transmission and the wind/solar units themselves!

        60

        • #
          Simon

          The 22 kWh/100 km figure is correct but off-peak electricity cost is about 11c/kWh. Electric is cheaper by a country mile.

          016

          • #
            TimiBoy

            How much is in in England atm?

            50

          • #
            Philip

            11? where? I’m paying 16 and couldn’t find any cheaper. Which supplier gives 11 ?

            30

          • #
            Eng_Ian

            Don’t forget to add the portion of the supply charges too.

            For example, if your fixed charges, (lines etc), are $100 per quarter and your car uses half the electricity in the household, then you need to factor in half of the fixed charges into the supply rate too. Or should only the domestic appliances pay that portion?

            30

          • #
            KP

            ” off-peak electricity cost is about 11c/kWh”

            That was last week, this week its now 27c, and going up again before Christmas…

            I am expecting them to do away with off-peak charging, they will need all the windpower possible just to run the lights at night.

            There maybe a difference between your household charger at 27c for three days(..nights)to charge a car, and OO’s fast charge station at 60c for 3/4hr. Depends if you want to sit inside a 350KW 800V bomb reading a book..

            40

          • #
            Graeme No.3

            Simon: Which country or State are you in?

            Obviously not SA where off peak went past 25c some years ago.

            20

          • #
            Hanrahan

            So, 22 kWh/100 km is 2.4kW charge rate so 6 hrs off peak will give you 55 km [theoretical].

            It’s part of the plan: Get you into EVs and then control how much you can charge. They can’t control petrol.

            30

          • #
            Lance

            UK electricity price just hit USD 1.20 / kWh ( GBP 1000 / MWh ).

            https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2022/08/29/listening-to-european-electricity-traders-is-very-very-scary/

            So charging a Tesla with 60 kWh now costs USD 72.

            20

    • #
      Rupert Ashford

      The Grattan Institute….case closed. 🙂

      00

  • #
    John Connor II

    Ukrainian refugees in UK facing homelessness ‘disaster’ next year


    Tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees in the UK have been warned that they could be homeless next year.

    A “shocking” 50,000 refugees from the conflict-stricken country could be made homeless next year, but British ministers are refusing to offer a fresh package of support to offset the impending “disaster”, The Guardian reported on Sunday.

    As the continuous cost of living crisis puts financial and political constraints on the UK and with no end in sight to the conflict against pro-Russia forces, there have been added concern that the government’s Homes for Ukraine scheme will unravel next month when refugees’ initial six-month placements arrangement finishes without alternative ideas in place.

    https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/08/28/688183/UK-Ukraine-Refugee-Crisis

    You can thank the war-mongering western “leaders” and their proxy war in Ukraine for this, along with everything else.
    One giant money laundering op making that scumbag Zelensky rich.
    Roll on 2023…

    181

    • #
      yarpos

      I wonder who is tracking the personal wealth of Zelensky and entourage throughout his war fund raising? Pelosi perhaps?

      92

    • #
      Old Goat

      John,
      I suspect that the Russian “special operation” will be concluded by then . They will be “motivated” to return home to what’s left of Ukraine . Most of Ukraine will probably resemble Germany post WW2 . Iraq , Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen ,Chechnya etc and now Ukraine . This whole circus funded by taxpayers worldwide . We never learn.

      30

      • #
        Richard+Ilfeld

        given the energy issues, with a tough winter parts of Germany may resemble Germany post WW2 in many respects.

        30

  • #
    John Connor II

    Interesting.
    USA exports beef to China and imports pea protein from China to make fake meat.
    Pea protein is a waste from noodle production.
    China literally exports its waste for the west to eat as part of the WEF agenda.

    Suckers…

    190

  • #
    John Connor II

    Male Contraception Pills Show Promise – And They Have No Major Side Effects

    A new study presented at ENDO 2022, the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in Atlanta, Georgia, suggests that two experimental male contraceptive pills appear to successfully reduce testosterone without causing unacceptable side effects.

    The drugs, DMAU and 11-MNTDC, are categorized as progestogenic androgens. These medications reduce testosterone, which reduces the number of sperm. Lowering testosterone levels often has unpleasant side effects. However, the majority of the men in the trial were willing to continue taking the drugs, indicating that the adverse effects were acceptable.

    Useful for those men who haven’t turned into women and who haven’t been neutered by the vax.

    One way or another, I’m gonna get ya…
    Sing along!

    90

    • #

      The original contraception remedy was a small stone. You put the stone in the Man’s shoe and it made him go limp………….

      130

    • #
      b.nice

      “Useful for those men who haven’t turned into women and who haven’t been neutered by the vax.”

      We will be in GREAT demand ! 🙂

      10

    • #
      TedM

      I would suggest that reducing testosterone in a man is a serious side effect.

      00

    • #
      KP

      Lol! A bit late!! There’s hardly any interest in sex these days, men are happy to be queer one way or another, and sperm rates & testosterone levels have dropped to almost unworkable levels…

      The under-35s I hang out with seem quite un-bothered by not having someone in their bed month after month… At that age I would have considered it major calamity!

      Maybe they should make it a condition of getting welfare…

      30

  • #
    John Connor II

    The Time of Day That People With Diabetes Eat May Be Just As Important as Portion Size and Calories

    Study finds people with diabetes who eat less processed food at night may live longer and eating carbs earlier in the day is linked to better heart health.

    The time of day that people with diabetes eat certain foods may be just as important to their well-being as portion size and calories, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

    Mealtimes should be in line with the biological clock—a natural, internal process that regulates the sleep–wake cycle and repeats every 24 hours. Health outcomes for people with diabetes may be improved if certain foods are eaten at different times of the day.

    https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article-abstract/107/7/e3066/6546321

    Not just diabetics. Everyone can benefit for this parasympathetic OMAD eating plan. I typically only eat one meal a day of an evening. (Why I have a low food bill!) and occasionally run a 3 day fast.
    No hunger pangs at all. Fast ends – chow down on carbs, no sugar crash. 😆

    10

  • #
    John Connor II

    About 50% of athletes in the big 10 have had cardiac scans and have Myocarditis without symptoms yet. Straight insanity.

    Dr. Robert Malone
    https://twitter.com/bambkb/status/1563634666745126914

    50% of young, fit, healthy, highly trained athletes with excellent nutrition eh…

    110

  • #
    John Connor II

    Fox news: Novak Djokovic, Kyrie Irving, Aaron Rodgers are modern day heirs of Muhammad Ali

    It didn’t matter that the government, big tech, and the mainstream media were wrong about all of this, they wouldn’t allow any debate on the issues. Suddenly “science” was the opposite of science, if you questioned anything you belonged in the gulag. If you asked why young and healthy people should get the COVID shot, you were shouted down. If you asked why the government should be determining what an essential and inessential business was, woe unto you. Never in my life have I seen an unholy trinity of censorship like I’ve seen with the power of government, big tech, and the mainstream media all pulling in the same direction when it came to enforcing their own narrative of COVID.

    And as I thought about all three of these men, and their willingness to stand up to the full power of the attempted COVID mandates in the United States government, I couldn’t help but think about Ali and the Vietnam draft mandates. These three athletes are doing what Ali did, they are speaking truth to power, standing on principle over money and praise, directly defying the United States government because they believe that in a democracy some things are more important than universal acclaim. They’re doing exactly what the woke sports media claims we want all athletes to do, using their platforms to speak inconvenient truth to power.

    And they’re being crushed for it.

    https://www.foxnews.com/sports/novak-djokovic-kyrie-irving-aaron-rodgers-modern-day-heirs-muhammad-ali-clay-travis

    Heroes of the anti fake vax cause. 😊
    Showing the world what integrity is…

    130

  • #

    Transition teething problem or permanent disaster?

    From the Spectator Magazine –

    Politicians, regulators, and subsidy-seekers portray the present difficulties in the energy market as being part of the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy – and perhaps to more exotic forms of energy derived from extracting hydrogen from water.

    They go on to claim that transitions always involve teething problem difficulties.

    This is false.

    Transitions in the past from horse-drawn transport to trains, motor vehicles, and aeroplanes involved only benefits to consumers. Indeed, producers adapted to the changing technology with ease. This was also seen in the progression from sail ships to steamships and from the abacus to the mechanical calculator to the computer. The transition from obtaining power, heat, and light from wood and watermills to coal oil, and gas was equally painless and was essential to bringing about modern living standards.

    Today’s ‘energy transition’ is one forced by governments – there is likely not a single megawatt of wind/solar anywhere in the world that was built without a subsidy. Glib statements about cheap renewables are based on estimates of their costs without including the vastly increased transmission expenses they entail (according to the Australian government, this would be a fourfold increase in the cost of the current network) and the costs of filling in the supply gaps inevitable with intermittent wind and solar supplies.

    In contrast to an ‘energy transition’ force-fed by highly subsidised wind and solar generation, governments played a passive role in the earlier transitions. Those transitions were driven by entrepreneurial innovations being embraced by customers because they were cheaper or had other superior features. Among the latter was greater reliability – a severe shortcoming of an energy system being converted from fossil fuels to wind/solar.

    https://spectator.com.au/2022/08/transition-teething-problem-or-permanent-disaster/

    140

  • #
    Dennis

    We need to hand this around, as discussed last Sunday on Sky News Outsiders …

    https://dailysceptic.org/2022/08/18/1200-scientists-and-professionals-declare-there-is-no-climate-emergency/

    50

    • #
      Philip

      These lists have happened before and ended in no result. People simply aren’t interested. They just go with what the media says.

      10

      • #
        Philip

        Mind you, it was a major factor in stopping my belief in climate religion. Seeing hard core scientists refute the science made me realise the science is not settled at all. Was I to refute what Freeman Dyson said ? Of course not, how could I claim to know more than this guy ?

        01

      • #
        Hanrahan

        The Oregon Petition had 31,000 petitioners.

        00

  • #
    b.nice

    Odd..

    NEM price in Tassie is much higher than other states.. and no flow through BassLink. ?

    20

  • #
    RossP

    Drilling down to the real reason for the Ukraine conflict

    https://t.me/thewhiterosenz/174776

    10

    • #
      KP

      Yes, its not Ukrainians losing money if the grain sits in silos and can’t be sold… I’m waiting to see if the American Corporations will claim money from Putin for their land he has taken over. The Bidens making billions in Ukraine are just the tip of the iceberg.

      I’ve seen a lot of similar stuff as I chased the Russian view of the conflict all this year. America has been fermenting trouble in Eastern Europe for a long time, working their way through countries one by one raping and pillaging.

      20

      • #
        James

        Look into past IMF bailouts for Ukraine and similar countries. There are always stings attached that ensure that the countries assests get bought by foreign multinational corporations!

        30

    • #
      Hanrahan

      Are you aware of anything bad in world politics that isn’t America’s fault?

      30

  • #
  • #
    Dennis

    Labor Greens talk about banning the sale of new internal combustion engine vehicles soon, but there are no EV or Hybrid alternatives for the most popular vehicles purchased by Australians, utility trucks and SUV 4WD. In fact the EV and Hybrid range is limited and far more expensive for models available as alternatives. Add the inconvenience factors like range limitations (real range achievable not theoretical range) and recharging away from home or office issues are major considerations.

    50

    • #
      Philip

      Act first, think later. That’s a good recipe no ?

      20

    • #
      Hanrahan

      A few years ago the family did a 500 km trip [at least 4 cars] to a small but busy country town for a wedding. There is not a snow ball’s chance we could have done that in EVs. It is vaguely possible a long range Tesla could do the first leg but Belyando Crossing runs off a genny.

      But how would we all recharge for the return trip? If you and a hundred+ other C&W fans plan a weekend at Tamworth, how long do you queue for the return trip? I contend it could be days, not hours.

      40

      • #
        Dennis

        It’s a wake up call when a $300,000 EV Mercedes cannot go further than a theoretical 500 kilometres with battery pack fully charged which varies with temperature, and at highway speed limit range decreases as compared to driving at much lower speeds.

        My diesel 4WD can achieve 850 kms and the latest model has a larger fuel tank capacity and exceeds 1,000 kms.

        30

  • #
  • #
    OldOzzie

    Sunday Talks, Out From the Shadows, The Primary Architect of The Trump Targeting Operation Surfaces on ABC News

    August 28, 2022 – Sundance

    Here we go… It was only a matter of time before the DOJ-NSD architects of the Trump targeting operation came out from the shadows. This is the moment long-time readers of CTH should have been waiting for. For the past five years Mary McCord has been one of a small and select lawfare group organizing the targeting of President Trump.

    Mary McCord led the support team who created the Carter Page FISA warrant using the Steele Dossier to replace the required ‘Wood’s file’. McCord was the DOJ-NSD official who traveled with DOJ Deputy AG Sally Yates to talk to former White House counsel Don McGhan which weaponized the Flynn-Kislyak call to remove Trump’s National Security Advisor.

    Mary McCord was the person who organized Alexander Vindman and Eric Ciaramella to construct the first impeachment effort. Additionally, it was Mary McCord along with her former legal counsel, turned Intelligence Community Inspector General, Michael Atkinson, who changed the ICIG whistleblower rules allowing an anonymous complaint to underpin the false accusations from Ciaramella against Trump.

    It was also Mary McCord who was appointed by FISA court Judge James Boasberg as an amici curia to the court, intercepting issues of false information in filings from the DOJ-NSD to the court as constructed by Kevin Clinesmith.

    It was Mary McCord who then took up the lead congressional position within the impeachment construct created by Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler, and it was Mary McCord who then joined the January 6 Committee in the committee fight to obtain President Trump’s white house records.

    Mary McCord surfaces today with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos to outline what her team has currently constructed, including the specific targeting approaches her DOJ-NSD and Lawfare crew have put together.

    As noted by McCord, the ‘obstruction of justice’ angle is a repeat of the threat used by the Deep State to keep the criminal conduct of the DOJ-NSD from being exposed. WATCH:

    60

  • #
    David Maddison

    Outstanding just-released video by Paul Joseph Watson showing how conservatives and other rational thinkers were right all along with respect to covid policies.

    And this video is only on YouTube because the far Left oriented platform has finally relaxed its censorship of the truth of covid, although that doesn’t mean the truth tellers already permanently banned will be invited back.

    https://youtu.be/hDaqNgOsw6M

    (9 mins)

    40

  • #
    David Maddison

    Video by Bret Weinstein and Peter Boghossian talk about NPR radio in the US which is partly government funded by the US Government and is as far Left as the government funded ABC (Australia) BBC (UK) or CBC (Canada).

    “I stopped listening to NPR when…”

    https://youtu.be/ZbQpXJBQhA0

    (8 mins)

    20

    • #
      Hanrahan

      I stopped listening to ABC when….

      I got broadband. I realised then that I had been conned into voting labor. Cut me a little slack, not even they could put enough lipstick on the Whitlam pig to convince me that he didn’t deserve to be sacked, and Hawke and Keating were above average, especially measured against today’s crop. Where they DID steer me wrong was with Premier Joh. Like all young Queenslanders I hated him “he could get elected with 30% of the vote”. Without him Qld would be like SA: Oodles of mineral wealth, but still “in the ground”. There was so much else, we were a low tax state with the country’s only free hospitals.

      Come back Joh, all is forgiven.

      70

  • #
    David Maddison

    How up to date are you on the latest developments in artificial intelligence art generation programs?

    This is mind blowing.

    https://youtu.be/704brywiyfw

    00

  • #
    • #
      Honk R Smith

      I keep getting distasteful French Revolution vibes.
      Seems like the longer they play pretend, the worse it might get.
      Was the French Revolution caused by Climate Change?

      20

      • #
        Graeme No.3

        Possibly the last cause.
        A 100 years of appaling government, esp. the financial aspects with some free of most taxation and those who were worse off bearing the brunt. After some “fiddling” from 1717 to 1720 which caused havoc (the Mississippi bubble) the general public “got it in the neck” while the aristocracy enjoyed the benefits (many of the aristocrats were able to avoid taxes by buying their title when the State was desperate for money e.g. The Compte De Buffon) until it was not possible to pretend any longer, hence the calling of The Estates General which gave the middle class a chance to flex their muscle. Then remarkably inept actions by the aristocracy and the Church forced rebellion.
        But the peasantry were worse off after poor harvests since 1783 (the Laki eruption in Iceland) although the claim the Marie Antoinette said “let them eat cake” was fiction as that dated from before she was born). Curiously the harvest of 1789 was better than expected so the peasants weren’t confined to dying in obscurity (much as the real troubles in Ireland came some years after the Famine).

        20

        • #
          Honk R Smith

          So it was a mostly anthropogenic conflict.
          Unless volcanos are caused by human activity.
          Thanks for the info.

          10

  • #
    Brett

    Is it just me that thinks the Australian is going more left and woke

    50

  • #
    John Connor II

    2 Air France pilots suspended after fighting in cockpit

    PARIS — Fisticuffs in the cockpit, leaving a leaky engine running while cruising over Africa — Air France pilots are under scrutiny after recent incidents that have prompted French investigators to call for tougher safety protocols.

    Two Air France pilots were suspended after physically fighting in the cockpit on a Geneva-Paris flight in June, an Air France official said Sunday. The flight continued and landed safely, and the dispute didn’t affect the rest of the flight, the official said, stressing the airline’s commitment to safety.

    https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/air-france-pilots-suspended-fighting-cockpit-88971745

    French? Don’t they just wave white flags or insert croissants into certain anatomical points?

    30

  • #
  • #
    Dennis

    UN Agenda 30 was originally Agenda 21 titled Sustainability and many or most State and Local government in Australia with support from the Federal Government have been participating. In the Daily Telegraph today Monday August 29, 2022 an “exclusive” story written by Joe Hildebrand was published: Ban sale of fuel-powered vehicles in five years: report”.

    Produced by the Marxist style title Committee for Sydney to meet climate targets, “the highly influential body of business leaders and infrastructure experts will on Monday release one of the most comprehensive reports in its history (very impressive), warning that NSW will not meet its 2030 or 2050 targets unless more aggressive action is taken.”

    The Committee wants all vehicles replaced with electric vehicles 100 per cent to meet climate targets ….. so no Hybrid vehicles permitted?

    Since when has local government had the power to dictate on vehicle registration and standards?

    Another example of the woke would be influencers who know what is best for the majority.

    40

  • #
    TdeF

    It’s interesting after the Climate Change claims for the ‘drought’ in the UK, the third worst in the last century, that no one noticed all the soaking rain. Not reported. It seems that Climate change was just the weather after all. Again.

    And in Melbourne the water levels are dangerously high across the state. The Thomson, built in 1983 after the 1970s drought, is 95.3% full with double the storage of all other dams combined and they are full. Worse, it is raining heavily and it is also a cheap earthworks dam which will be destroyed if it overflows. What is wrong with the water maintenance people? Isn’t 95.3% enough?

    60

    • #
      Sambar

      The Victorian government had placed an order for the deslination plant to start pumping into Cardinia reservoir again in September. I wonder if this will go ahead.

      40

      • #
        TdeF

        Of course. After the drought last time, after heavy rains and in the middle of a raging storm the operator dumped water from the Sugarloaf reservoir into the swollen Goulburn River, exacerbating an existing flood. When asked by reporters why he had done it, his response was that the water was booked six months ago. And it was only recent installation of the emergency plugs at the top of the Wivenhoe dam which saved a million lives in Brisbane. The bureaucrats were afraid to open the gates and the danger was increasing by the minute. That’s what happens when you are told “even the rains which fall will not fill the dams”. Fake Climate experts become fake dam experts and threaten everyone.

        60

      • #
        TdeF

        But don’t worry. Despite the billions in ongoing cost, it has never worked. Three out of five of these massively expensive failures have never been used because they were not needed. And the Victorian one is still paying out French interest on the eternal loan while never functional. Dictator Dan’s view is that no one knows or notices.

        30

  • #
    Dennis

    The Committee for Sydney too meet climate targets: names

    https://sydney.org.au/about/

    00

  • #
    Dennis

    Meanwhile reality bites as supply of EV cannot even meet the still remaining low demand from consumers in the northern hemisphere, low despite incentives to transition away from ICEV.

    But the woke committee knows best for Sydney people at least.

    50

  • #
    Lance

    Intellectual Froglegs: Breaking the Matrix (10th Anniversary episode )

    Not politically correct, but entertaining all the same.

    https://www.intellectualfroglegs.com/episodes/breaking-the-matrix

    or

    https://rumble.com/v1h88bf-new-intellectual-froglegs-breaking-the-matrix.html

    20

  • #
    William Astley

    The EU and the UK are facing an existential threat to their economies/GDP/countries. The EU have a simultaneous currency/debt crisis, an inflation crisis and a never-ending energy catastrophe. The EU energy crisis will never end, unless there is an end to the green madness.

    The EU cannot wait ten years to solve/to start to address, their crises which are becoming more difficult to address, month by month. The EU does not have sufficient GPD/funds to continue to subsidize energy and to address mass unemployment. There needs to be an immediate change in policies.

    “The next five to ten winters will be difficult,” Prime Minister Alexander de Croo warned on Monday (22 August) as fuel prices and electricity bills are expected to reach record highs soon.

    https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy/news/belgian-pm-says-prepare-for-the-worst-as-energy-prices-reach-record-highs/

    The Left-wing governments lie to hide real problems and to push the green madness. France has been hiding a corrosion problem with their nuclear reactors. There are only 24 of 59 French nuclear reactors operating, as of Thursday this week. France is now an importer of electricity rather than an exporter.

    The cost of contract electricity has reached $995 per megawatt-hour in Germany and $1,100 per megawatt-hour in France. This is an increase by more than a factor of ten.

    https://www.barrons.com/news/german-french-electricity-prices-hit-new-records-01661517926?tesla=y

    50

    • #
      red edwards

      The problem is not a financial one. It is raw availability. You can’t print power like money. If there isn’t enough power to go around, somebody is going to not get power. The question is WHO?

      Ration by price? Ration by diktat? Those would be the only choices. (Or surrender to Russia and become economic colonies of Russia.)

      40

  • #
    Richard+Ilfeld

    Seems like there are a lot of places, that seem normal but are ducks, serene on the surface but subject to a terrific struggle below. One suspects that there are rather large numbers of places in the Western world where, sometime this winter, one will go downtown and suddenly it will seem like half of everything has closed up or given up; when one reads stories of the great depression in the US it was like that in many towns as one key thing finally happened and like a chain reaction an entire town failed. Its easy to imagine it happening the day after the power bills arrive.

    60

  • #
    another ian

    “Featured Comment”

    “Whenever I hear “the science”, I know bullshit is next.”

    Re the media and covid policy

    http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2022/08/29/featured-comment-23/

    20

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW on the Trump raid

    https://youtu.be/LbuIRz6Dxeg

    30

  • #
    another ian

    “Listening to European Electricity Traders Is Very, Very Scary”

    “Prices are worrying enough. British households were told on Friday that their power and gas bills will increase from Oct. 1 by 80%.”

    More at

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/08/29/listening-to-european-electricity-traders-is-very-very-scary/

    30

  • #
  • #
    el+gordo

    During the Holocene thermal max, most glaciers in the Northern Hemisphere were either small or non existent.

    https://notrickszone.com/2022/08/29/arctic-wide-glaciers-and-ice-caps-were-absent-or-smaller-than-today-from-10000-to-3000-years-ago/

    10

  • #
    Leo G

    The Biden administration appears a sitting duck in US midterm election media hunting season- but most of the media are ducking it.
    But not all:

    Top agent exits FBI amid charge of political bias undermining Hunter Biden probe

    Trump calls for reopening a previous hunting season.

    10

  • #
    another ian

    “Tucker Carlson: Things are falling apart every quickly – YouTube”

    https://youtu.be/Zn6c-UkqlHo

    10

  • #
    BartenderUK

    Another wind turbine nearly double the height of Nelson’s Column was toppled by too much wind near Bridgend, UK.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/wind-turbine-toppled-by-too-much-wind/ar-AA11edCi?li=BBoPWjQ

    For a moment it seemed to me that the Flat Earth Society that the world-financial system was built on had already crashed. No movement was discernible on the ground. Liz Truss, has said she will lift the Fracking Ban if she become PM, the only option to take the UK out of an economic mess that is in today. Of course the Flat Earth Society is in a mess too. But, it had tried to hide it in the usual way with propaganda and covering up the cracks with ‘chewing gum’ which they so often used to hold their fragile system together.

    10

  • #
    BartenderUK

    The Primer Fields Part 1

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EPlyiW-xGI

    In this video series the currently accepted theories of physics and astrophysics are shaken to the core by a radical new theory of the fundamental forces in all matter. Creating a Plasma Sun model at CERN, this will change the world.

    00