Wednesday Open Thread

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157 comments to Wednesday Open Thread

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    Bozotheclown

    Desantis may be fine but Trump has the clear vision.

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      Dennis

      For example, POTUS Trump addressed the United Nations for the first time and criticised the expansion into so many related organisations ignoring the UN Charter and entering into the affairs of member nations, he said the UN must downsize and stop interfering. Around that time he stopped the US from signing the UN Paris Agreement on emissions reduction and spoke about the unacceptable loss of manufacturing industry suffered by the US to the advantage of China as one developing nation beneficiary.

      He was referring to beneficiaries from the signing of developed nations in 1975 of the UN Lima Protocol agreeing to the gradual transfer of manufacturing industry to developing nations.

      Cleary DJT’s image has been tarnished by relentless negativity from the Socialist Democrats and left leaning media sources, it has been said that when mud is thrown some mud sticks until the target is covered in mud and few can remember who the target was as compared to the image the mud slingers created.

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      Colin Andrews

      Trump announced today he is running for president in 2024.

      I thought Trump did a very good job for his 4 years and certainly showed he had capacity and ability, yes, he was unconventional, but he treated it as a business not a political life.
      1 big failure was not to clean the swamp! But he frightened the crap out of the swamp and they hated him for that. So they attacked him constantly with LAWFARE, so hard to defend against, I wish he had attacked them more.
      Was the 2020 election rigged and stolen from Trump? I believe YES it was.
      Basement Biden got 15 MILLION (27%) more votes than any other Dumbocrap ever, REALLY???

      Trumps has failed to justify Jan 6th (1 shot fired dose not equal an insurrection) by proving his claims the election was rigged, so he has lost credibility with a big section of Americans and that single point will see him lose in 2024. If he really wants to serve the American people he should get behind Desantis, someone fresh who is not carrying so much baggage.

      (Maybe dump Pelosi and be Speaker of the House just to rub that spiteful bitches nose in it!!)

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      • #
        Saighdear

        Ever tried cleaning mucky tarry objects in situ with mucky rags ? I think that IS the problem he and WE have to be dealing with. ‘ARPIC cleans round the bend, and is ferocious stuff, I’m told. but in a vat of rot and tar, adding heat to denature and destroy by incinerating may be the best option. use the heat to power the restoration of decent governance.
        then with a mucky bowl, one can begin to wipe clean with the fresh hot clean wipes. It needs https://duckduckgo.com/?q=to+think+sideways&kp=1&t=opera&ia=web and from that I fell over this useful Engineering tool: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrkiJZKJfpY&t=713s and its fun too.
        I burst a hydraulic hose so I have my own problems to clean up now too: like the GGB, burst oil gets everywhere.

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  • #
    Peter C

    Class Action for Vaccine Injured Persons

    Two days ago I mentioned that a Queensland Doctor was organising a legal class action of Vaccine Injured people. A few people asked for contact details.
    Here is a link to the class action for vaccine injured persons.
    http://www.covidvaxclassaction.com.au/
    There is a contact email.
    I can contact Dr Mel if there are unanswered questions.

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  • #
    John Connor II

    Massive anti-Russian ‘Bot army’ exposed by Australian researchers

    A team of researchers at the University of Adelaide have found that as many as 80 percent of tweets about the 2022 Russia-Ukraine invasion in its early weeks were part of a covert propaganda campaign originating from automated fake ‘bot’ accounts.

    An anti-Russia propaganda campaign originating from a ‘bot army’ of fake automated Twitter accounts flooded the internet at the start of the war. The research shows of the more than 5-million tweets studied, 90.2 percent of all tweets (both bot and non-bot) came from accounts that were pro-Ukraine, with fewer than 7 percent of the accounts being classed as pro-Russian.

    The university researchers also found these automated tweets had been purposely used to drive up fear amongst people targeted by them, boosting a high level of statistically measurable ‘angst’ in the online discourse.

    The research team analysed a massively unprecedented 5,203,746 tweets, sent with key hashtags, in the first two weeks of the Russian invasion of Ukraine from 24 February this year. The researchers considered predominately English-language accounts, with a calculated 1.8-million unique Twitter accounts in the dataset posting at least one English-language tweet.

    https://mronline.org/2022/11/07/massive-anti-russian-bot-army-exposed-by-australian-researchers/

    And this is why I rarely comment on the Ukraine/Russia situation. Most of what you see is garbage and propaganda.
    I have 4 excellent and reliable sources though.
    The Poland situation is interesting but I doubt it’ll push NATO to do anything significant.
    The best thing the west could do is demand all their money and weapons back from Zelensky as he’s just a bigger lying WW3-pushing loser than Biden.
    Of course it won’t happen…

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  • #
    Robber

    Energy prices to remain high through to 2024 as electricity prices hit second-highest level on record: Australian Energy Regulator
    “Current price expectations for winter 2023 range from $190/MWh in Victoria to $280/MWh in NSW. The key drivers for continued high price expectations are varied but include expected high international gas and coal prices, uncertainty around reliability of base load coal generation, local coal supply issues, forecast La Niña weather conditions and the closure of Liddell, tightening supply.”
    “It is important to bear in mind that the capacity factor of Liddell is many times that of new wind and solar and as such, its closure has impacted forward prices in NSW.”

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  • #
    Peter C

    Benefits of Residential Solar

    Yesterday Jo posted an article about the problems of Residential solar in SA, espescially now the Vic inter connector is down.

    Today I am visiting my Dad in Geelong and I took a glance at his power bill.
    He has a 2kW solar array which was installed 7-8 years ago on his garage roof. It is not well sited and is subject to some shading by nearby trees and the cells have never been cleaned.
    For the quarter from Aug-Oct he produced 203kWhr and his total rebate was $12.96.
    Is that a record for poor performance? Have other people had similar returns

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    • #
      Gee Aye

      That seems low but what was his bill? What would it have been sans solar?

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      • #
        Peter C

        His total bill was $430. I think that without feed in solar he could get a slightly lower Tarif, so his overall bill without solar could be less than what he pays now with the feed in credit.
        As Tony says below it is a very poor result.
        The weather has been very cloudy for the past three months, but non the less the performance is hopeless.

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        • #
          Graeme No.3

          I would suggest the first thing to do is clean or have them cleaned. I noticed a boost in output after heavy(ish) rain after a dry spell.
          On the other hand he’s probably had enough rain recently to wash them.
          I wonder if an electrician could check out the system, esp. as 7-8 years is the normal time for the inverter to die.

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          • #
            Tel

            I’ve been thinking about rooftop solar and based on my research feed-in payments are so low as to be a waste of effort. However, reducing your bill is worth doing … providing you are confident that a large proportion of the solar input does genuinely reduce your bill. That means typically you want you buy a bit less than you need, rather than a bit more.

            A few other ideas I’ve found … installers want to pack the roof solid with no space between solar panels and nowhere remaining to walk on the roof … that’s bad because you can’t easily clean the panels and they will push it right to the very edge of the roof … then you can’t even clean the gutters.

            I would guess that households are gradually shifting their power consumption into the middle of the day where possible, because they recognize that the only way to get ahead is to use the power off your own roof. It’s a way our lifestyle is becoming poorer thanks to lack of cheap energy … but you know, stuff happens. Over time we will be pushed in this direction … you can complain by all means but consider also learning to live with it.

            Basic cooking and hot water are waaaaay better with gas than solar … which probably explains the politics around taking away access to gas appliances. Solar is only worthwhile considering for things that cannot be served by gas.

            One more thing … the efficiency gain of micro-inverters is quite a lot for difficult sites where you have mixed angles and shifting shade. The capital cost is higher. My current plan is approx 2.5kW of micro-inverter solar panels sitting on a range of different angles with suitable space between … enough to take off the worst of the bill but no more than that.

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            • #
              yarpos

              Thats basically what we did. 3kW micro invertor system aimed at usage offset. We didnt submit the feed in paperwork. As far as the retailers are concerned we have no installation.

              The micro invertors also greatly simplify installation with no heavy DC cabling required.

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        • #
          Dennis

          I have done several cost-benefit analysis exercises based on my property and electricity usage and I have not been able to account for a reasonable return on investment including making provision for replacement on average at 20 years, and paying cash but accounting for loss of investment income resulting.

          And as for electric vehicles, based on my five year turnover average, and present 4WD now behind distance average because of Covid restrictions and caring for a friend who had cancer is now five years since purchased new, I also cannot justify buying an EV if the reason was saving on running costs.

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        • #
          TdeF

          At 37 degrees South, you have to wonder what solar panels are like in England where most is North of 51. It’s not just the four hours of daylight, but the very acute angle and the clouds and trees. How can solar work in Sweden and Denmark and Scotland? Even their mid summer is only Melbourne at the equinox.

          I find it amazing that of all the possible source of electrical power, the world’s politicans have identified only two, solar panels and windmills. I suppose that is all they can understand?

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          Gee Aye

          I meant what would his bill be if he didn’t also consume solar electricity?

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    • #

      For the quarter from Aug-Oct he produced 203kWhr…..

      That’s at a Capacity Factor of 4.6%, so I might suggest that is pretty poor indeed.

      Tony.

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    • #
      Ken

      I am not surprised by the poor return you quoted. It amounts to around 6 cents per kWh.
      I am an engineer and I have assessed various solar system offers over many years, always with the same outcome – none of them make financial sense for the consumer. They make money for the supplier only.
      As an example my own home has a an average consumption of 19 kWh per day including all electric 4 bedroom 2 storey home with air conditioning.
      To fit out a good quality solar system capable of assisting with the load would cost upwards of $10,000 up front. (Don’t be sucked in by the cheap and nasty TV ads.)
      My current power bills (all electric) total around $1,300 per year.
      A suitable solar system with feed in tariff would maybe cut that bill in half saving $650 per year.
      Why would I pay $10,000 up front to save only $650 per year meaning a lousy payback of 15.4 years, especially since the system is likely to need replacing in anything from 10 to 14 years.
      In short it would be a ‘dog’ of an investment and I can do a lot more productive things with $10,000 thank you.

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      • #
        Honk R Smith

        “Why would I pay $10,000 up front to save only $650 per year”?
        To Save the Planet.
        Your simple, accurate, rational critique, oddly demonstrates the rhetorical cultural fix we are in.
        It is similar to double mask lockdown vax mandate logic.
        It doesn’t work, does more harm, but functions as an amulet against evil spirits.
        The soup throwing, hand gluing, nose ring hysterics aren’t listening.
        And they are the zeitgeist of social media and the gravity center of new market demographics.

        Most of human history is a mindscape of voodoo.
        There was a short period with advent of the machine age where it seemed rational thought had conquered.
        But flying machines hit their ceiling.
        In the Islamic world the machine age secularists were expunged.
        The West embarked on creating a new religion now manifesting as ClimaWokaTotalitarianism.
        The rise of computers and artificial intelligence is making it possible to return human culture to it’s voodoo comfort zone.
        Greta just declared the Capitalist West must be destroyed.
        The former Capitalist Western leaders are saying “I must leave you now for there they go and I am their leader.”
        The Titanic must accept its’ fate.
        Don’t know about you, but I’m locked in Steerage.

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      • #
        Graeme#4

        Your calculations don’t include having to pay back the Opportunity Cost. In my case, my Opportunity Cost was 30% of the system cost, to be paid back over 10 years.

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      • #
        Geoff Sherrington

        Ken,
        But we knew these economic facts when I first got involved with electricity economics in 1975. We factored in more efficient panels, we had good set of battery costs, we assumed the sun would keep shining.
        We had a few mines in remote places, depending on expensive truckloads of diesel. We wanted solar panels to work, to offset some of the truck and diesel costs. We ended up convinced that solar was not the way to go.
        Updates in the years since then became a little more optimistic, mainly because diesel became more expensive.
        Why are you surprised to discover these poor economic outcomes? Geoff S

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      • #
        Tel

        Why would I pay $10,000 up front to save only $650 per year meaning a lousy payback of 15.4 years, especially since the system is likely to need replacing in anything from 10 to 14 years.

        There might be slightly better ratios available … but yes I expect payback for homeowner will be at least 10+ years, with a few side notes … price of electricity (and everything) is going up so pure inflation alone will make the investment slightly more atteactive.

        If you check the “Price/Earning” ratio on some fairly well respected ASX equities you find about the same number. E.g. ASX:CBA (Commonwealth Bank) is listed on google finance with a P/E Ratio of 19.31 at the moment, and that’s also measured in years so it’s roughly comparable with your 15.4 number.

        Now, as for when the solar system is replaced … with no batteries it should last longer than 15 years if it’s a good quality system and no rocks or hail or falling trees or other random stuff. Batteries IMHO still are unreliable and have a short lifespan, but slowly getting better.

        There’s risks buying shares as well.

        You could consider buying a bar of Gold and that produces no power, and pays no dividends but it sits a long time. YMMV!!!

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        • #
          Robert Swan

          Tel,

          …so it’s roughly comparable with your 15.4 number

          Can be compared, but not favourably. At the end of the payback period you still have your share of the company which you would hope to be able to sell. Good luck selling 15 yo solar panels off your roof; you’d probably have to pay someone to take them. And of course the shares are liquid throughout. Easy to turn into cash, or to move to a more attractive company.

          30

    • #
      RickWill

      Today I am visiting my Dad in Geelong and I took a glance at his power bill.

      The 203kWh is what the system exported. You would need to look at the inverter to see if it has data available on what was produced. It usually has an annual total if it is a modern inverter.

      You should also be able to get meter data from the poles and wires provider. Ausnet make the data available. You can see the difference between sunny days and overcast days so you get a better idea of actual consumption in the house if you cannot extract that from the inverter.

      Sunlight for Geelong was:
      August 83.7kWh/m2
      Sept 103kWh/m2
      Oct 142.6kWh/m2

      Giving total of 334.3kWh/m2 over three months. Systems are rated on 1kW/m2. So a 2kW system with panels horizontal should give 668.6kWh over those three months. If they were tilted favourably toward the north at say 30 degrees then output should be 820kWh.

      The bill total does not mean much unless you know what electricity is doing for the residence. If it is heating then $430 over three months is cheap. I have a friend who pays in excess of $3000 over winter just for gas. Just two living in an older, medium sized house but they run it at 20C except for a few hours overnight.

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      • #
        Peter C

        Thanks Rick,
        My Dad uses very little power and almost all of it in the evening. The feed on would be almost the total output of his system. From your figures a well sited system should have produced about 3 times as much power as his did, which is still not very much.

        He should use his heater but does not. He can afford to heat his house but thrift is considered a virtue by his generation. He is now 95.

        I could cut back the nearby tree but I probably won’t. The carpet baggers that sold the system to him placed the system on his carport roof, which is shaded by his two story house until mid day. Then it gets 3-4 hours of Sun max in the afternoon.

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        • #
          RickWill

          The trees are likely more virtuous than the solar panels. I trim trees for their firewood and reduced risk of damage in wind.

          Australia will benefit for a few years from the widespread rainfall and the impact it will have on biomass.

          This year has been slow to warm up across Australia and there is hardly enough heat coming into Victoria to produce convective storms. Central Australia remains miserably cold:
          https://earth.nullschool.net/#2022/11/16/0700Z/wind/surface/level/overlay=temp/orthographic=-230.27,-30.45,349/loc=134.081,-24.863

          Compare the present situation with same time and date in 2019:
          https://earth.nullschool.net/#2019/11/16/0700Z/wind/surface/level/overlay=temp/orthographic=-230.27,-30.45,349/loc=134.081,-24.863

          Once there is biomass retaining water then any heat will produce convective storms that drag in more ocean water.

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          Gary S

          Passive cooling from trees adjacent to houses can drastically reduce the amount of Summer sun which heats the house during the day. This is an element of what is known as ecosystem services – nature providing a service free of charge. I have two very tall (above my second storey) silver birches (betula pendula) on the north side of my house. These trees are deciduous, so they shade the house in summer whilst allowing almost 100% low winter sun to passively warm the house. By not allowing the house to become excessively hot during summer, the need for artificial cooling is eliminated. The trees are also providing amenity by virtue of the fact that they are beautiful year-round and full of birdlife.

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          • #
            Fran

            When we bought 15 years ago at latitude 49.8, the neighbour to the north said we would remain good neighbours unless I planted tall trees on that side. Yes it would be nice to be protected from the northwind, but such trees would shade hi property most of the year. Deciduous trees would shade his lot except for the middle of summer.

            I mentioned the problem of shading neighbours to my very green brother (he recommends dense evergreens for the north side). He said he had never thought of that!

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        • #
          Graeme#4

          How the shading impacts the solar panels depends on how the panels were wired. I’m presuming that your Dad had two strings, so hopefully the shutdown of one string still allowed the other string to generate power. But if the panels were wired as one string, then shading has a major impact.

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      • #
        RickWill

        I just checked my inverter. Output for November so far is 134kWh. The sunlight so far is 73.5kWh/m2 so 220kWh for a 3kW system on horizontal.

        My system faces NNW with 26 degree tilt. It usually achieves around 75% of the horizontal sunlight recorded at the metering station. The BoM solar metering station is over the hill to the east so is not particularly indicative of this side of the hill.

        The system now winds back on sunny days due to over voltage and that has greatest impact in spring. Not so much this month because sunny days have been scarce.

        To reiterate, you cannot gauge the performance of a system by what is being exported. You need to know what was generated, which is the sum of export and internal use.

        Of the 134kWh my system has produced so far this month, 104kWh has been exported. The latter figure came from the Ausnet MyHomeEnergy site.

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    • #
      Hanrahan

      Firstly, a 2kW system is small. The max o/p will never get to 2kW though, that’s the con. I assume he is retired so at home during the day thus using some [most?] of his generation himself. If so, he is saving the full metered cost on his own usage.

      I’m in a similar situation but with a 3.5 kW system and with a larger household with people at home most of the time. I believe the performance of my system is poor but I don’t know.

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    • #
      David Maddison

      I think an important motivation to install a solar system with batteries is to get you through anticipated power outages or insanely expensive prices (even higher than now!) as Australia’s electrical generation system is systematically destroyed by politicians, eco-warriors and other assorted Leftists impersonating power system engineers.

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      • #
        Graeme#4

        One problem is that most likely, you won’t pay back the system with power savings over its lifetime, especially the battery lifetime.

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        • #
          Hanrahan

          Another problem is that money in the bank is earning SFA interest, so even a piddlin return is better than that. If you are using borrowed money, I have no advice.

          Note that I’m talking about the solar system, stand lone, NOT including a battery which I agree is pith poor economics.

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          • #
            Graeme#4

            An Opportunity Cost still exists no matter how you pay for your solar system. I paid for mine with money from my super, so I asked my financial adviser to calculate the loss of super gains if I had left the 5k in super.

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    • #
      Chad

      For the quarter from Aug-Oct he produced 203kWhr and his total rebate was $12.96.
      Is that a record for poor performance? Have other people had similar returns

      I have a similar, garage roof mounted , north facing, 2.1 kW system, about 11 yrs old.
      Max daily output (January) is 7-8 kWh… on a full sun summer day.
      Obviously much less in winter
      Most is used in house with never more than $5 rebate from FIT over a quarter
      There is no cumulative total for the solar, but i would be pleasantly surprised if it produces 450-500 kWh over a summer quarter, half that in winter,.. so possibly 1500kW for a full year ?
      That would imply $450 per year worth of power from that 2.1 system. ( assuming $0.3/kWh)

      30

  • #
    John Connor II

    Study: Video Games Can Trigger Potentially Lethal Heart Rhythm Problems

    A recent study published in Heart Rhythm, the official journal of the Heart Rhythm Society, the Cardiac Electrophysiology Society, and the Pediatric & Congenital Electrophysiology Society, by Elsevier, found that playing electronic games can trigger cardiac arrhythmias in susceptible children whose predisposition may have been previously unrecognized. The researchers discovered a rare yet distinct pattern in children who lose consciousness while playing electronic (video) games.

    “Video games may represent a serious risk to some children with arrhythmic conditions; they might be lethal in patients with predisposing, but often previously unrecognized arrhythmic conditions,” explained lead investigator Claire M. Lawley, MBBS, Ph.D., The Heart Centre for Children, Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network, Sydney, Australia. “Children who suddenly lose consciousness while electronic gaming should be assessed by a heart specialist as this could be the first sign of a serious heart problem.”

    https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1547527122022846

    Nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more…

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    • #
      John Hultquist

      “Children who suddenly lose consciousness”

      Regardless of what they are doing at the time ought to be examined.
      However, I can’t remember anyone around me as a child taking a dive into the carpet. Although many folks get a bit dizzy if they stand up rapidly.

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    • #
      John Connor II

      More “sudden heart attacks” …with a “climate change” twist

      Anyone following the news cycle since the Covid “vaccines” rolled out has seen a simply remarkable uptick in the number of things that can reportedly cause sudden strokes or heart attacks.

      Cold weather, hot weather, depression, various food, long covid AND short covid, new magical chemicals just found in the atmosphere, “post-pandemic stress disorder”, undiagnosed aortic stenosis and expensive electricity.

      That’s not even an exhaustive list, it just goes on and on and on.

      …and now we can add pollution to the rogues gallery, according to this piece from Science Alert, which headlines:

      Tiny Particles in The Air May Trigger Sudden Heart Attacks, Study Suggests.

      America’s growing wildfire crisis could lead to a wave of heart attacks, lung disease and cancer diagnoses years down the line, scientists warn

      https://off-guardian.org/2022/11/15/more-sudden-heart-attacks-with-a-climate-change-twist/

      “Down the line”
      We all know what that means in reality…

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  • #
    John Connor II

    Comment of the day

    “We live in an age where it’s easier to get chemical castration drugs for children than Ivermectin.”

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    • #
      Gee Aye

      He’d know.

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      • #
        John Connor II

        Morality is doing what is right regardless of what you are told. Obedience is doing what is told regardless of what is right.

        ― H.L. Mencken

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        b.nice

        Chemical castration/gender-bending, is now the “in thing” with the woke crowd that you represent.

        Its being pushed as the “thing to do”.

        Taking Ivermectin as a safe, cheap, and effective Covid remedy… absolutely NOT allowed.

        So yes, the common was accurate and to the point

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      David Maddison

      Similarly, it’s easier to get testosterone for a mentally ill girl or young woman who thinks she is a man, than as a hormone supplement therapy in mature physical males (which would provide significant health improvements if they are deficient).

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  • #

    Trump had a clear vision for the good of the nation – sadly others around the world lack this quality. In my country (NZ) the government seems intent on destroying it.

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      Mantaray Yunupingu

      First step is to consider the psychological factors behind PM Adern’s nuttiness.

      THAT face comes after many YEARS of orthodontic work = that’s one very bitter sheila: angry at the world and out for revenge.

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      Greg in NZ

      Comrade Cinders looked mighty pleased with Herrself as she was paraded by goose-stepping Communist troops armed to the teeth… now we can get cheap Vietnamese limes instead of the $40 per kilo ones in the shop. Marching forward…

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  • #

    (Basic) Electrical theory time, umm, not that anyone at all has even the slightest passing interest.

    If you pass a wire through a magnetic field it will induce a current flow – potential difference – power. Okay, increase the number of wires, then greater power. Increase the speed of passing the wire through the field, then greater power. Increase the magnetic field, then greater power. Wrap the magnet in wire with current flowing through it, (an electromagnet) then greater power.

    So, I was looking up information about rare earths, specifically Praseodymium, and Neodymium, and both are consecutive elements on the periodic table, (Atomic Numbers 59 and 60) and those rare earths (mainly Neodymium) are used in the magnets that make up the rotor of the generators in wind turbines.

    Praseodymium. Yeah yeah, reading reading, mouse occasionally scrolling down, slowly moving, and then, unintentionally, the mouse then hovered over one of the links. (titled Applications)

    It was to do with how it was originally used to colour glass, but proved more expensive, etc etc.

    However, where the mouse hovered over the link, it was to the city where that guy who originally used it to colour glass was living. (Moser Glassworks)

    That city is Karlovy Vary in what is now The Czech Republic, a city around the same size and population as Tamworth.

    What a wonderful looking place it is, as shown in this image.

    You wonder why they do that sort of thing, eh! Beautiful effect though.

    Tony.

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    John Connor II

    Get Woke, Go Broke: Disney To Lay Off Employees After Billions In Operating Losses

    The company that once defined family entertainment is going from media giant to epic failure, suffering over $1.4 billion in streaming losses and a stock drop of around 39% for the year. And, it would appear that these financial declines are inevitably leading to employee layoffs.

    Disney has put a freeze on hiring, it is limited employee travel and is also reviewing workers for efficiency with plans to introduce cuts as a means to make the company “more nimble.” CEO Bob Chapek noted in a leaked memo to senior staff.

    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/get-woke-go-broke-disney-layoff-employees-after-billions-operating-losses

    Wakey wakey, wokey brokey…

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  • #
    John Connor II

    Health minister tells G20 nations they must implement WHO-approved ‘digital health certificates’ tracking all human movement for ‘next pandemic’

    Despite reams of evidence showing that the experimental mRNA Covid vaccines are unsafe and ineffective, the Indonesian minister of health called Tuesday for a global “digital health certificate” to track and restrict the movement of people under the guidance of the United Nations World Health Organization.

    The health minister of Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim nation, spoke during the Business 20 event, also called or B20, as part of the G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia.

    The two-day summit attracts global business leaders to offer policy recommendations to the G20 Summit to solve issues of importance to the “business community,” which in this case really amounts to the pet projects put forth by giant multinational corporations.

    Bill Gates, for instance, was in attendance, along with Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum, spewing their normal globalist garbage about transforming the world and achieving net zero carbon emissions.

    But Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin got right down to brass tacks. He stated:

    “Let’s have a digital health certificate acknowledged by WHO. If you have been vaccinated or tested properly, then you can move around. So for the next pandemic, instead of stopping the movement of the people one hundred percent, which [collapsed] the economy globally, you can still provide some movement of the people.”

    https://leohohmann.com/2022/11/15/health-minister-tells-g20-nations-they-must-implement-who-approved-digital-health-certificates-tracking-all-human-movement-for-next-pandemic/

    Prime anti-science can’t-read-the-research lefty loon …

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    Dennis

    A couple of weeks until the start of summer and I still need a couple of wool blankets on my bed overnight, and right now I am considering switching the air conditioner on for room heating here on the NSW Mid Coast.

    It is snowing in Cooma a friend told me this morning.

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    Climate Deception Exposed:
    The deceptively named Greenhouse Gases are molecules in the atmosphere that have a simple structure. This enables the constituent atoms to vibrate about each other in various modes which arise from the molecule absorbing the electromagnetic energy required to produce that vibration. As freely floating molecules in the atmosphere, they can absorb and release the energy in any direction. Since the molecules are above the Earth’s surface, more that half of any absorbed radiation must be directed out into space, away from the Earth thereby cooling the Earth.
    This applies to all sources of radiation, either from the hot Sun or from the much cooler Earth. Thus more than half of the radiation from the Sun within the spectral bands of the radiative gases is directed out into space making the Earth cooler that it would be if the radiative gases were absent. Similarly more than half of the radiation from the cooler Earth’s surface within the radiative absorption bands is also directed out into space decreasing the heat energy and cooling the Earth.
    The residual absorbed energy from the Earth’s surface radiated towards the surface is part of the Earth’s energy budget so it does not increase that energy as the radiative gases are inert, they merely pass on the energy present via conduction, convection or radiation as does any entity within the Earth/Atmosphere volume mainly warmed by the Sun. Hence, as there is no additional energy whatsoever produced by the radiative gases, they do not warm the Earth’s surface.
    Conclusion: the whole action of the radiative gases is to cool the Earth not heat it as claimed by the UN IPCC.

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    • #
      Graham Richards

      A big part of the deception lies in the public’s access to information. We are constantly bombarded with CO.2 data which the public cannot verify without huge expense. Motor vehicles exhaust carbon monoxide, we know it’s poisonous but we cannot readily access information without going through the “ authorised channels!
      Similarly we are told / instructed on the condition of the GBR. We cannot just pop out & see it for ourselves but have to rely on the propaganda!
      That’s 2 examples only where the public are completely in the dark where detail & truth is concerned!
      Both sides of politics are involved in selling the same nonsense using different salesmen.
      The one is as bad as the other when it comes to truth. Basically their policies are identical!!

      60

    • #
      b.nice

      Yep, most people here are well aware of the nonsense claims of CO2 warming.

      There’s a couple of occasional “hangers-on” that still haven’t managed to break their brain-washed conditioning, but when asked for proof, they are invariably empty of anything except cult-like mantra which doesn’t remotely pass as real science..

      Warming by human released atmospheric CO2 has never been observed or measured anywhere on the planet..

      40+ years of the scam.. and still nothing !

      A zombie that just will not die.

      61

    • #
      el+gordo

      Its how they frame the news.

      “So, the question is not: did climate change cause this event? But rather: did climate change play a role in making this event more likely or more severe?”

      “We’re modelling what the world would have looked like without climate change and comparing that with what we’re seeing today.” (Dr Grose/ABC)

      He uses climate change instead of global warming. To answer his question, It would have looked a lot like the early 19th century at the end of the LIA.

      00

    • #
      Gee Aye

      The incoming radiation is not absorbed at anything like that rate. So no.

      12

  • #
    David

    I have sat with senior climate scientists and as Carl Sagan observed in the 1990’s the cost of not doing anything to abate accelerated warming far outweighs the cost of doing something about it despite they admit the 1% chance their models are useful.
    Yes it will fail with current technology and self interest ruling the world but at least we tried.
    People do live in both Cairns and Melbourne and NYC vs Miami despite the av temp diff yes so is 2 or 4 C a big deal anyway …. Argument is coping with extremes not the average.
    END

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    • #
      b.nice

      ” the cost of not doing anything to abate accelerated warming far outweighs the cost of doing something “

      What a load of arrant rubbish!

      All the cost to human survival and funds is in the idiotic “abating accelerating warming” agenda

      Destruction of energy supply systems, destruction of industry, destruction of society….. ZERO benefit in any of this.

      The world is spending trillions of dollars on things that will do absolutely nothing to change the natural variability of the world’s climate.

      And what is this “accelerated warming” nonsense you are fantasising ?

      The only warming in the last 40 or so years has come at 3 strong El Nino events.

      Nothing to do with humans, and absolutely nothing we can do to “abate” them.

      The planet is still well below the Holocene average, after enduring the coldest period in 10,000 years

      We should be very grateful of the slight warming we have had.

      50

    • #
      Robert Swan

      I have sat with senior climate scientists

      Congratulations.

      So how did Sagan work out those costs? Do you not see that the climate scam is fantasy models everywhere?

      Your final point *is* important, though you haven’t worded it right. The scientists are modelling away at mean temperatures. Odd that all the propaganda and threats are about the extremes. There is no basis for those threats.

      50

      • #
        David

        Sagan did not quantify them of course how could he but guessed it would be huge once the feedback really started to cook us.
        Their are plenty of models that predict local and extreme effects. Plenty without paywalls too for you to enjoy!
        Not that I believe any of them are useful one iota.

        02

    • #
      b.nice

      “coping with extremes”

      I guess if you choose to live right next to airport runways.. that’s up to you !

      Nothing “extreme” is happening….. except with climate propaganda rhetoric. !

      20

      • #
        David

        I don’t actually see any evidence nor accept the models personally.
        But it is going to take many years for the climate alarmism fad to fade unfortunately.
        Every force has an equal and opposite…..eventually.
        Even the destructive financial events of history eg recessions, GFC are mere blimps on the relentless March of global GDP and urban wealth – this CO2 is poison rubbish will be no different.
        Good to see Gina at the trump announcement yesterday btw.

        13

  • #
    David Maddison

    A long standing and yet still mostly unrecognised medical/dietary scandal is the inversion of an appropriate food pyramid in which animal protein and fats were allowed in abundance to what it is now with too many carbs and insufficient animal products. Never have people been sicker since this happened.

    90

  • #
    another ian

    FYI

    “If women had the same rights as gums”

    https://youtu.be/ipafibUmnFM

    10

  • #
    John Connor II

    Morrisons accused of woke stunt after renaming Gingerbread Man biscuit

    SUPERMARKET chain Morrisons has been accused of a woke stunt after renaming its Gingerbread Man biscuit as a “Gingerbread Person”.

    All the retailer’s 497 UK stores will change to the gender-neutral treat — amid fears the use of “man” could be sexist.

    Morrisons claims the rebranding of the £1.39 snack has been done “following customer feedback” and “to provide inclusivity to all”.

    A search of its website yesterday found a sad looking gingerbread man and the notice “No Longer Stocked”.

    Men’s rights campaigner Mike Buchanan hit out, saying: “This sort of complaint always originates from chronically whiny, malicious harpies with nothing better to do.

    “Rather than standing up to them, targeted organisations almost always fold — to their eternal shame.”

    https://www.thesun.co.uk/money/20415787/morrisons-gingerbread-man-woke-renaming/

    Cheers to them!
    So where are all the “trans” food products then? Maybe a gingerbread person with a beard and a dress? Should be a top seller.🤣

    60

  • #
    el+gordo

    Why is the stratosphere cooling?

    ‘There is a bit of uncertainty as to what has caused cooling to occur in the stratosphere in recent months, but there is one very clear suspect: the volcanic eruption of Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai on 15th January this year.’ (weatherzone)

    20

  • #
    David Maddison

    Back in the day I had some scientific colleagues researching the nutritional requirements of navy sailors.

    A mystery was that they needed more food than was suggested by their apparent physical activity.

    The sailors had body mounted accelerometers to monitor their activity.

    The mystery was solved when it was discovered that a lot of energy was used with sailors making subtle corrections to their walking as the ship rocked to and fro, especially on smaller ships.

    90

  • #
    David Maddison

    I’ve noticed that among the longest lasting machines are those that are associated with proper energy generation such as steam turbines and power plants run by gas or coal, hydroelectric power plants (not politician-designed SH2), nuclear power plants, etc.. All of these last at least 50 years, maybe even potentially 100 in some cases (if not destroyed by government policy).

    Wind and solar subsidy-harvesting plant doesn’t come close.

    70

    • #
      Graeme#4

      USA has some of the world’s oldest coal power plants. One in Indianapolis started in 1925 and was still generating power in 2007, 82 years later. One in Utah is still going strong after 70 years.
      And the Bernau nuclear plant in Switzerland first produced power in 1969, and is still generating power 53 years later.

      40

  • #
    David Maddison

    I still don’t understand why Leftists, who claim that there’s no essential difference between men and women so heavily promote the transgender agenda.

    And a majority of those wanting to “change gender” (sic) are young women wanting to become “men”.

    Also, thanks to Lefist censorship, the huge number of cases of “transgender regret” goes mostly unreported.

    70

    • #
      John B

      The TV channels are pushing ‘professional’ female team sport down our throats but the standard is generally poor and most, especially the AFL and Rugby football codes are unwatchable. Even in some womens big bash cricket matches a lot of the players are over weight.

      51

      • #
        yarpos

        A lot of the players overweight? really? what would you call a lot in % terms?

        I’d be struggling to name a handful team squads that must be close to 200 for the comp. A lot of them 90%+ look pretty sporty to me.

        20

      • #
        Gee Aye

        Most intelligent people don’t watch stuff that is unwatchable and don’t waste their time being a victim about it.

        21

  • #
    Crakar24

    Don’t tell me the next world war will start in Poland again, its very lazy script writing if you ask me.

    80

    • #
      Graham Richards

      History tends to repeat itself!

      Let’s all hope this is not the case this time around!!

      30

    • #
      another ian

      See # 3.2

      And #3.2.1.1 for an unexpected trajectory if it does

      00

    • #
      Hanrahan

      NATO doesn’t want to go to war so they won’t probe too deeply. A simple statement that the Ukes shot down a Ru missile which careered outta control into Poland.

      Facts won’t matter too much, if at all.

      21

      • #
        another ian

        “Folks forget that Article 5 says: “an attack” (not just an accident) and that it is considered an ‘attack’ on all; BUT does not demand engagement. Each individual nation can decide if the “attack” warrants engagement.

        It is NOT an obligation to war, it is only an “invitation” and can be declined by each country as they see fit.”

        Via Chiefio

        10

    • #
      Gee Aye

      Well that aged well.

      01

  • #
    Peter C

    Has the Covid Vaccination Program Caused a Massive Descrease in Fertility in Australia?

    https://richardsonpost.com/harryrichardson/29302/new-govt-figures-show-australias-birth-rate-collapsing/

    The money shot is this table of live births in the whole of Australia by month. The table is published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and runs from Jan 1975 to Dec 2021 (46 years).

    https://explore.data.abs.gov.au/vis?tm=births&pg=0&df%5Bds%5D=ABS_ABS_TOPICS&df%5Bid%5D=BIRTHS_MONTH_OCCURRENCE&df%5Bag%5D=ABS&df%5Bvs%5D=1.0.0&hc%5BMeasure%5D=Births&pd=1975%2C&dq=1..AUS.A&ly[cl]=TIME_PERIOD&ly[rw]=MONTH_OCCUR

    The figures are very stable and show a gradual increase over time reflecting our increasing population. Until Nov 2021 when the birth rate suddenly decreases by 25% (23,073 to 18,186) FOR NO APPARENT REASON. The following month (Dec 2021) the numbers are down by a staggering 75% to 6,659.

    What have we done?

    60

    • #
      Peter C

      I tried to link to the whole table.
      However you might have to enter several filters to get the table to display.
      Start – 1975
      End – 2021
      Region – Australia

      20

  • #
    David Maddison

    The Marching Morons

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Marching_Morons?wprov=sfla1

    “The Marching Morons” is a science fiction story by American writer Cyril M. Kornbluth, originally published in Galaxy in April 1951. It was included in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two after being voted one of the best novellas up to 1965.

    [..]

    Plot
    In 1988, real estate agent and con artist John Barlow is placed in suspended animation after a freak accident. He is revived in the distant future, in a confusing world filled with rampant consumerism, vapid entertainment, and people who exhibit erratic, childish behavior. Barlow meets with two men who tell him that the current state of society is the fault of the “morons,” the world’s vast population of unintelligent people, who greatly outnumber the much smaller population of intelligent people.

    These men explain that the most urgent crisis of their time is the population problem (“Poprob”). Historically, people of higher intelligence often chose to have few children (or no children at all) for pragmatic reasons, while people of lower intelligence, dominated by their sex drives, had bigger families and reproduced in larger numbers. By the far future era in which Barlow has awakened, this unbalanced trend has been carried to its logical extreme, with a total world population of five billion morons (with an average IQ of 45) supervised by three million members of an elite, intellectual upper-class who secretly govern world affairs.

    The simple-minded morons cannot be left to govern themselves or else the world will descend into chaos and war. This has created a situation in which the elite minority are effectively “enslaved” by the moron majority and work themselves to exhaustion while trying to maintain global order and stability. Controlling the morons’ population growth is impractical for several reasons, but unless some corrective action is taken, the inevitable result will be the collapse of human civilization. All attempts to solve Poprob have failed, and the elite hope that Barlow, as a man from a different time and with a different perspective on the problem, might be able to offer a novel solution.

    [..]

    SEE LINK FOR REST

    40

  • #
    David Maddison

    These same people want we non-Elites to eat insects and not own cars but the Leftist hypocrites (is there any other kind?) flew 400 private jets to COP27. That’s the official figure from Egyptian authorities.

    https://nypost.com/2022/11/11/activists-slam-climate-delegates-flying-to-conference-on-private-jets/

    Activists have lambasted delegates to this year’s United Nations climate conference as hypocrites for traveling to the confab in Sharm El-Sheik, Egypt by private jet.

    Egyptian authorities told AFP that some 400 private jets had flown in to the Red Sea resort city from around the world for the global meeting on limiting carbon emissions — known as COP27.

    SEE LINK FOR REST

    20

    • #
      TdeF

      I read that too but how do you park 400 even small private jets at a small beachside resort on the red sea? (population 73,000). Surrounded on three sides by desert sands. Maybe they have a very big parking area at the airport?

      20

      • #
        TdeF

        But I suppose they are counting non commercial or chartered flights in as ‘private jets’. And that is likely because it is such an odd small resort location next to the Sinai desert and there are no regular flights so everyone has to charter? So a lot of these ‘private’ jets are likely just shuttles from major cities like Cairo as no one important like heads of state really wants to drive so far. And they cannot land the big jets.

        20

      • #
        Hanrahan

        The beauty of aeroplanes is that they can FLY to other airports or to other tasks.

        10

  • #
    Geoff Sherrington

    Re Covid problems, IMO a very important read by Dr Clancy, a very senior Australian medico, was published today on Quadrant Online. It is rather frightening to read allegations of major medical malfeasance with ongoing effects still unravelling and not acknowledged in public by The Establishment. Geoff S

    40

  • #
    • #
      Saighdear

      Whaaaaat ? better look out then. Don’t be giving out freebie ideas. but yes, that seems to be the Norm for the world.

      20

  • #
    Geoff Sherrington

    In thinking about policy from global elites, a pattern seems to have become apparent.
    Society has allowed financial systems that result in a few people becoming very rich very quickly. Allowing modest wealth accumulation has now become allowing obscene wealth. This is not bad in itself, but what follows is scarey, especially when luck rather than talent helps choose the person.
    With more money than can be spent on usual targets like private jets, many of these persons have become involved with charities, for tax minimisation or to help the guilty conscience along. Money flows to and fro, tax havens in the Bermudas and all that. Sometimes, money flows into the pockets of politicians. How often do you see pollies retiring with far more than salary could have generated? It is easy to envisage strings were attached, so the pollies were paid for services that helped the charity, the donor and the wealthy person.
    This scheme, with variations, is understandable in rare cases that do not get caught, but lately it has moved to the SOP category of standard operating procedure.
    Consequently, we now see global policies on matters like Covid and climate change being directed by ultra rich, alone or in cliques. This is possibly extending now to warfare policy.
    It matters that these ultra rich are seldom educated in matters on which they are calling shots. They add no physics to climate change, no medicine to Covid, no negotiation skills to warfare. It also matters that society tends to adore these ultra rich, when paradoxically their main skill has often been taking money from the pockets of ordinary folk and putting in their own, a cousin of theft.
    Oh woe is me, articulating these fateful influences, unable to change them but fearing for the futures of my descendants. It is crook. Geoff S

    50

  • #
    Saighdear

    EGGS ? being rationed in UK by Asda & Lidl – yes we noticed they weren’t as readily evailable as before. “Not a shortage” says a GGB bbc reporter. seems like “OldOzzie” is also telling us something. Aye and postage stamps going up – dearer to buy a stamp than a pint of milk too. Conspiracy theories? just as much as the Avian Flu. THe Avians fly over our house by the THousands everyday. sometimes even so many to darken the sky. Haven’t seen any fall out of the sky nor fail to take off. Just another under-Covid ‘pandemic’ scare.
    Crikey, even t he Herons are still standing doing nothing …..dunno how many still-air days we’ve had, but at least there’s a little warmth in the Sun against the outdoor flowerpots / window boxes. BBG weatherman says its bin 4 point x degrees above the normal for November. Well, yes may be – but what is NORMAL ? and the bushes show me that it’s been so cold for a summer that they think this is the next Summer already: Bud breaking again. that was a short dormant period. Forsythia and Mulberry. Even the huckleberries and autumn Rasps are still flowering and fruiting. ONly at the weekend I was harvesting Acorns – Already rooted 2-3″ long! My goodness, This will be a right Royal Year for Oaks. Ye Olde Oak Tree will soon be for sale – Anniversary plants

    40

  • #
    TdeF

    In Post Modernism, the 1960s French Marxists at the Sorbonne had to deal with the fact that the workers did far better under capitalism, so they were hardly oppressed. So they had to find a new oppressed, women, black people, transgender (and all the other genders) and I suppose anyone odd. All oppressed by white patriachal males and their lust for power, which really better describes the Marxists.

    What rankles is that as mainly Irish, Scots and descended from people who were oppressed, slaughtered and enslaved for two thousand years, I and my heirs now stand accused of white privilege and responsible for all slavery which was a fact of life until the industrial revolution and after. And in Post Modernism, facts don’t count, so there it is.

    100

  • #
    another ian

    “Twenty-Five Industrial Wind Energy Deceptions”

    https://www.masterresource.org/droz-john-awed/25-industrial-wind-energy-deceptions/

    And from there

    “NIMBY = Next Idiot Might Be You”

    20

  • #
  • #
    Chad

    So is that S A power crisis a complete non event then ?
    I do not understand why they are curtailing their own solar production whilst at the same time IMPORTING similar amounts of power fron Vic ?
    ..AND still not using half of their own available fossil generation either ?
    Why all the fuss ?

    10

    • #
      yarpos

      Because the imported supply is stable and can be scheduled

      They may win the battle for stability who knows it depends on the weather scenarios they are faced with.

      They spent half a billion on generation and batteries not long ago. This is where that pays off. Wonder why they are in such a rush to get the interconnecor back?

      20

      • #
        Chad

        #
        yarpos
        November 17, 2022 at 10:04 am · Reply
        Because the imported supply is stable and can be scheduled

        ? More stable and controlable than their own fossil generation ?
        ..Yeah..Nah !

        00

        • #
          Graeme No.3

          Chad:
          Unfortunately SA’s own “fossil generation” is mostly diesel generators or Open Cycle Gas Turbines. The latter, when not down for maintenance, are quite quick to start and stop. Unfortunately they are less efficient so higher fuel costs and more emissions per MWh.

          00

          • #
            Chad

            Its not “unfortunate” Graeme, ..its by design, and ideal for the fast response needed to back up their RE system failures !
            But they do have over 800 MW of CCG generators to utilise as well.
            And since when was the marginal cost of generation ( 5-10 c/kWh) a decising factor when you are trying to dig yourself out of a blackout situation. .
            What i am saying is,..really there is no real crisis or threat of blackouts….they have a surplus of generation capacity even if there is no sun or wind all day and night !

            00

  • #
  • #
    John Connor II

    Zelensky the Liar – He Will Be Remembered by History like Hitler

    At 8:18AM Zelensky on a video call to G20 leaders told them that Russia was a “terrorist state” among them and that the attack was deliberate by Russia and that the missiles were a “true statement brought by Russia for the G20 summit.”

    It is now confirmed that the missiles were fired by Ukraine. To pretend it was not another “Ukrainian False Flag” they claimed the missiles were fired at a Russian missile and were not intentional. Forget saving the planet for climate change which is also a natural occurrence, the ONLY way to save the planet is to get rid of every Neocon and politician supporting this ruthless liar and remove them from office. Any politicians who supports Ukraine should be charged with conspiracy to create war crimes.

    https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/international-news/ukraine/zelensky-the-liar-he-will-be-remembered-by-history-like-hitler/

    #3.2.2 😉

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    John Connor II

    Associated Press Issues Correction To Its Fake Report Which Could Have Kicked Off WW3

    The Associated Press has issued an official correction for its not-so-inconsequential bit of reporting Tuesday that could have easily set off a chain of events leading to a WWIII scenario.

    “The Associated Press reported erroneously, based on information from a senior American intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity” …and we the know rest which unleashed a day of incessant warmongering based on the allegation that Russia attacked a NATO member. The incredibly embarrassing correction further states, “Subsequent reporting showed that the missiles were Russian-made and most likely fired by Ukraine in defense against a Russian attack.”

    https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/poland-nato-agree-deadly-poland-border-russian-attack-was-errant-ukrainian-missile

    Good old lying, malevolent MSM strikes again.
    Senior intel officer – LOL…

    50

  • #
    Lance

    I should like to remind everyone that the people making decisions about energy, food, taxes, etc, bear no responsibility for being utterly wrong.

    They retain their salaries or retirements and benefits. They could be dumb as rocks and fail every time, but they have the Power to Compel Obedience and the Power to Tax and Destroy, And NO responsibility for any of it.

    Such an illogical, awkward, idiotic, nation destroying system of governance.

    Easy times produce weak men, who then produce hard times for everyone, and then Hard men are made necessary.

    60

  • #
    el+gordo

    Global warming is having a big impact on south east Australia.

    ‘Yet another extremely strong cold front is ploughing its way across the Southern Ocean, heading for the southeast of the country on Sunday and Monday.

    ‘This one, to use an everyday, non-meteorological term, is a doozy. It would be classed as a strong cold storm in June, July or August, but as November systems go, it is seriously cold.’ (Weatherzone)

    30

  • #
    OldOzzie

    Top Endersays:
    November 17, 2022 at 1:58 pm

    Great article. Amazing people still vote for him:

    Victoria, it’s time to end the cult of Andrews

    PETA CREDLIN

    The reason the Daniel Andrews government is a national story is because Victorian Labor has become the template for Labor governments everywhere. And the reason the imminent Victorian election matters to all of us is ­because the most inept and ethically challenged government this country has seen is seeking electoral vindication.

    The Victorian election is not just a referendum on Daniel Andrews and his government. It’s also a test of us as citizens: what is the standard we are prepared to walk by, and therefore implicitly accept in our democracy?

    Are Australians now so keen to be kept safe that we don’t care how many ethical boundaries are crossed? And are we now so cynical about politicians that we don’t mind the bastardry and the intimidation, as long as it doesn’t personally affect us?

    Are we, as voters, prepared to tolerate a government that, as respected former Victoria Police chief commissioner Kel Glare told me in my latest documentary, The Cult of Daniel Andrews, which aired on Sky News last night, is the “most corrupt” he’s seen in 80 years? And that Melbourne talkback radio supremo Neil Mitchell described as the “worst govern­ment” he’s seen in 50 years?

    What struck me most putting together this documentary was the number of good and decent Labor people who reached out to me and said “this man must go”.

    The bravest of them all was a former Andrews government minister who reached out to me wanting to speak up about her treatment by the Premier. “What he will do,” said the ex-minister, “is mark somebody out who has disagreed with him … and he will step in, throw the first punch … and then stand back. And that’s the signal for everyone else to come in and finish the job. He says he’s a champion for women … but he treats women appallingly behind closed doors. And if you’re down, he’ll kick you to keep you down.” The treatment of other ALP women such as Jane Garrett, Jenny Mikakos, Fiona Richardson and Kaushaliya Vaghela demonstrates that my whistleblower’s treatment was no isolated occurrence.

    There is no doubt that Andrews is the most domineering premier Australia has seen in decades. Not only has he been premier for eight years, Labor leader for 12 and a frontbencher for 16, but – due to the pandemic, and Scott Morrison’s foolhardy creation of the so-called national cabinet that gave Andrews almost equal billing with the prime minister – he has become the best-known premier since Queensland’s Joh Bjelke-Petersen and maybe even NSW’s Jack Lang.

    As virtual health dictator for the duration of the pandemic, ­Andrews turned Melbourne into the world’s most locked-down city. With curfews that we didn’t even have in wartime. With 5km travel limits inside “rings of steel”. With playgrounds closed. Loved ones dying alone and buried without family in attendance. With a pregnant woman arrested by riot police in her own home over a Facebook post. And with police using tear gas and rubber bullets against fellow citizens.

    The Premier’s decision to reject help from the army and instead to put dodgy private security guards in charge of hotel quarantine was linked to the deaths of 801 people. There was an inquiry, costing $15m, including $8m on ministers’ legal fees, yet no one could remember who made that fateful decision; and somehow, that’s the end of it.

    But that’s par for the course in Victoria where nothing is ever the government’s fault. When WorkSafe Victoria, headed up by a former Labor staffer, investigated the 801 deaths under the state’s powerful industrial manslaughter laws, it concluded that no one individual was to blame, just a faceless Victorian Health Department instead. The Lawyer X royal commission found a gross miscarriage of justice but no one in authority has been charged, let alone lost their job.

    Only months ago, the anti-­corruption watchdog, the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission, found that serious abuse of taxpayer funds was endemic in Victorian Labor, but likewise no one was personally to blame, certainly not the Premier, even though he’d run the party for the past dozen years. And the Premier himself has been questioned in four, maybe five, corruption inquiries, yet – unlike the questioning of his factional opponents on the ALP Right – it’s never been open to the media.

    Even now, there’s a battle in the courts to stop the release of IBAC’s draft report, Operation Daintree, until after the election; as there has been to prevent the release of almost every critical report, including one from the ombudsman into the notorious “red shirts” affair. It’s a state where police can arrest Labor staffers for possible corruption but not their MP bosses, who suffer no consequences for refusing to co-operate with a police investigation even after the Premier said they would, and even after one of his former ministers said that Andrews was up to his neck in the rort. In what other universe could a citizen ­simply refuse to co-operate with a police investigation and the matter just goes away?

    Only in Victoria, where Labor seems to have a special relationship with the police, with a former Andrews staffer now an assistant commissioner, could the future premier and his wife be involved in a serious car accident, almost killing a 15-year-old boy, yet no one be breath-tested? Or that ­Andrews could drive the car away from the crash site and it never be forensically examined. A decade on, the injured young man has never been interviewed by police. Any wonder he’s now got himself a lawyer and wants justice?

    Only in Victoria could the Premier spend $1m from taxpayers to promote himself on social media and bypass, for the most part, journalists’ questions and scrutiny.

    This is a Premier who was ­elected promising to fix the health system, yet it’s now catastrophic with a triple-0 call centre that doesn’t work as it should, and ambulances that arrive too late to save Victorians, if they arrive at all. A Premier who promised to create 4000 extra intensive care beds, never did, and then denied it was ever said. Yet somehow, he gets away with it.

    A Premier who promised not to introduce heroin injecting rooms, yet did so; and has now reportedly asked a former police commissioner reporting on the introduction of more of them to revise his report – presumably because its lacks the “right” recommendations – and refuses to re­lease any of it before the election.

    “Whatever it takes” was the encapsulation of political ruthlessness associated with former Labor Right hard man Graham Richardson, but it’s the hard Left’s Andrews who has managed to create the Australian version of a “party state”, with the ALP, the bureaucracy, the police and perhaps even the judiciary all trying to conform their will to that of the leader.

    Still, despite the commentariat’s confidence that Andrews is unassailable, with Labor’s primary vote, at least, falling sharply, my sense is that the Premier is the biggest drag on his government’s vote and the ground is shifting underneath him, fast. The margin is big but not impossible. So on Saturday week, we will discover just how accurate is the truism of politics that “oppositions don’t win elections, governments lose them”. Because if ever a government deserved to lose, it’s this one.

    Oz

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    Chad

    …Wait for the backlash against Credlin from Andrews and his croonies !
    They will be desperately digging for dirt on her and planting fake stories through the left press !

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