Thursday Open Thread

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108 comments to Thursday Open Thread

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      Simon Thompson ᵐᵇ ᵇˢ

      The mRNA is the Bioweapon- the whimpy ‘Vid was a pretext. Still the eejuts recommend booster. Note in terms of triple Jabbed it took 1 month to reach 60% (from 50%), but at the current rate it will take over FIFTEEN YEARS to reach 80%. The tribe has spoken! The medical regulators in this country are a compleat JOKE.

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        Memoryvault

        Given the govt banning of safe and effective alternatives like HCQ and IVM, plus the govt “no jab no job” mandates, when did mass murder become “a complete joke”?

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      Mike Jonas

      Self-serving nonsense from Dr Fauci: “A lab leak could be that someone was out in the wild, maybe looking for different types of viruses in bats, got infected, went into a lab and was being studied in a lab and then came out of the lab,” Dr Fauci said. “The other possibility is that someone takes a virus from the environment that doesn’t actually spread very well in humans then manipulates it a bit and accidentally it escapes and accidentally infects someone and you get an outbreak.
      “[But] there are no lab leaks that have led to pandemics.”.

      The other possibility“!!! What hubris.

      there are no lab leaks that have led to pandemics“: technically true (excluding Wuhan) but dangerous lab leaks do happen and maybe it was lucky that Russian/Soviet research facilities were far more isolated than Wuhan:
      1979-04-02 – Spores of anthrax were accidentally released from a Soviet military research facility near the city of Sverdlovsk, Russia (now Yekaterinburg), resulting in approximately 100 deaths, although the exact number of victims remains unknown. The cause of the outbreak was denied by the Soviet authorities, and all medical records of the victims were removed …
      1971-07-30 – The 1971 Aral smallpox incident was the outbreak of viral disease which occurred as a result of a field test at a Soviet biological weapons facility on an island in the Aral Sea. The incident sickened ten people, of whom three died, and came to widespread public notice only in 2002.
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_laboratory_biosecurity_incidents

      And, same url, there was foot-and-mouth, animal of course not human:
      1960–1993 – Foot-and-mouth disease virus accidentally released at least 13 times from European laboratories, including those producing FMDV vaccines, between 1960 and 1993 causing nearby foot-and-mouth disease outbreaks.
      2007-07 – The 2007 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak was the accidental discharge of virus FMDV BFS 1860 O from a laboratory of the Institute for Animal Health in Pirbright, through possible leakage from broken pipework and via unsealed overflowing manholes, leading to foot-and-mouth disease infections at multiple nearby farms and the culling of over 2,000 animals.

      And then there’s the 1977 Russian Flu, thought to have been a lab leak, but the WHO “conducted an investigation in 1978, after which they concluded the virus was likely not of laboratory origin“. I might have believed them then, but not now.

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        This article seems very convincing re the likelihood of COVID-19 being a lab construct.

        Endonuclease fingerprint indicates a synthetic origin of SARS-CoV-2
        Valentin Bruttel1,*, Alex Washburne2,*,+, and Antonius VanDongen3,*
        1Department for Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Clinics of Würzburg, Germany
        2Selva Analytics, Bozeman, Montana, USA
        3Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

        https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.10.18.512756v1

        Observe Figure3(B), showing the restriction maps of the two Covid19 isolates compared with the large list of wild coronaviruses.
        SARS-CoV-2 restriction sites are indicated with vertical dashed lines for comparison with other SARS COVs.

        From the abstract:

        The genome of SARS-COV-2 contains a peculiar pattern of unique restriction endonuclease recognition sites allowing efficient dis- and re-assembly of the viral genome characteristic of synthetic viruses. Here, we report the likelihood of observing such a pattern in coronaviruses with no history of bioengineering. We find that SARS-CoV-2 is an anomaly, more likely a product of synthetic genome assembly than natural evolution.

        The restriction map of SARS-CoV-2 is consistent with many previously reported synthetic coronavirus genomes, meets all the criteria required for an efficient reverse genetic system, differs from closest relatives by a significantly higher rate of synonymous mutations in these synthetic-looking recognitions sites, and has a synthetic fingerprint unlikely to have evolved from its close relatives.
        We report a high likelihood that SARS-CoV-2 may have originated as an infectious clone assembled in vitro.

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      KP

      “”One of the things that people maybe don’t really appreciate is that all of the intelligence agencies agree unanimously that this was not engineered, namely they didn’t deliberately do this to make a bio weapon,” Dr Fauci said.”

      uh-huh… underneath the article the ‘similar articles’ have-

      “FBI says COVID-19 laboratory leak from China ‘likely'”

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        Honk R Smith

        ‘Intelligence agencies’ …
        what are they intelligent about, exactly?
        Just wondering.

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        Leo G

        “FBI says COVID-19 laboratory leak from China ‘likely’”

        The Obama White House banned Fauci’s Gain-of-function SARS-Coronavirus developments in the US following lab leaks. This prompted Fauci to conduct the research clandestinely outside the USA.
        I suggest the lab leak was not just likely, but inevitable.
        Possibly, it was deliberate.

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      environment sceptic

      This more parimonius and likely development in the narrative has been getting to it’s feet and sorting out its feathers more recently and i suspect will be adopted slowly and then suddenly

      “9 hours ago
      Paul Elias Alexander Quick Takes LIVE — Gigaohm Biological High Resistance Low Noise Information Stream

      Host Jonathan Couey.
      https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1766812234

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    crakar24

    I was eating in the mess today and a Padre sat next to me, we started talking about things. He asked me why i thought defence has now been reduced to a complete and utter clown show and as no one else was around i gave him an honest answer.

    I said last week i was sitting here eating lunch and a man with a hand bag and make up on sat across the table from me. Whilst i hold no ill feelings towards “stunning and brave” people i dont think there is a place for them in the defence force. He seemed to see that as a green light to rage against wokeness, quite funny actually. He has invited me to their Tuesday lunch time meetings but i dont think i will attend 🙂

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      Strop

      Oh I don’t know. Could be a good thing having such soldiers for enemy psychological effect.
      For example, do you think the thought of fighting a bunch of guys in lipstick, high heals, and skirts is more likely to encourage an enemy to attack? Or do you think the enemy might be more likely to refrain for fear of losing to a bunch of guys in lipstick, high heels, and skirts? 🙂

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    David Maddison

    You’ll be pleased to know that “insect farmers” now have their own lobby group for the time when non-Elite Australians will be forced to eat insects.

    This is poverty food in my opinion and I won’t be eating this garbage.

    https://insectproteinassoc.com/about-us

    It is widely accepted that by 2050 the world will host 9 billion people. Land is scarce and expanding the area devoted to (conventional) farming is rarely a viable or sustainable option. Oceans are overfished and climate change and related water shortages could have profound implications for food production. To meet the food and nutrition challenges of today – there are nearly 1 billion chronically hungry people worldwide – and tomorrow, what we eat and how we produce it needs to be re-evaluated. Inefficiencies need to be rectified and food waste reduced. We need to find new ways of growing food. – Future Prospects for Food and Feed Security – FAO. Rearing insects for human consumption in Australia needs to embrace the learnings from overseas in creating a viable industry that gives clear providence of product, worlds best practices farming practices and a product customers can trust.

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      Annie

      Providence of product, or provenance? Is that predictive text wreaking havoc again?!

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      John Hultquist

      Are insects to be raised in a “cage-free” situation and allowed outdoors for fresh air and sunlight?

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        Dennis

        Definitely, if free range for chickens is best then free range for insects too.

        sarc.

        No more insect screening cruelty to insects.

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          One would, ideally, run the chickens and the insects in the same outdoor paddock.
          That would be ideal for the chickens, and somewhat disconcerting for the chicken feed, oops, I mean, insects.

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      BrianTheEngineer

      The insects will probably eat us eventually

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      KP

      “Inefficiencies need to be rectified and food waste reduced”… and that’s food shortages eliminated, no need for insects! No money in it, so it will never happen.

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      MM from Canada

      “Land is scarce and expanding the area devoted to (conventional) farming is rarely a viable or sustainable option.”

      Except that now we grow more food on less land than we did 200 years ago. Environmentalists are incredibly ignorant about the immense strides we humans have made in food production thanks to modern equipment and farming techniques and the Green Revolution.

      “Over 200 years ago, 90 percent of the U.S. population lived on farms and produced their own food to eat. But today, only two percent of the population produces food for the world to consume. That’s a large change in the amount of people associated with producing food and making sure that everyone has enough to eat.

      Farmers use technology to make advances in producing more food for a growing world. Through the use of technology, each farmer is able to feed 155 people today, compared to 1940, when one farmer could feed only 19 people. Farmers use technologies such as motorized equipment, modified housing for animals and biotechnology, which allow for improvement in agriculture. Better technology has allowed farmers to feed more people and requires fewer people to work on farms to feed their families.

      Changes in equipment have made a large impact on the way farmers are able to farm and grow food. In the past, farmers would have to do field work by hand or with horse-drawn equipment. This work would take a long time to complete, which meant that farms were smaller because farmers could only work so much land. Horses were not very fast, and since they were animals, they would get tired and need rest to recover from their hard work.

      Today, most farmers use tractors and other motorized equipment to help with field work. Tractors, combines, plows, etc. are much larger and move much faster than horses, so farmers are able to produce more food in a shorter amount of time. These machines still need to be taken care of because they can break down just like a car, but they can run for longer periods of time and don’t need recovery periods.”

      https://animalsmart.org/animals-the-environment/comparing-agriculture-of-the-past-with-today

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    John Connor II

    Australian Latitude financial hit by cyberattack;
    300,000 affected

    Latitude Financial — a company that issues consumer loans and runs a buy now, pay later scheme used by major retailers — has revealed hackers have stolen the personal information of more than 300,000 customers, including drivers licences.

    The non-bank lender told the ASX it had detected unusual activity on its systems “over the last few days” that “appears to be a sophisticated and malicious cyber attack”.

    The information stolen includes:

    103,000 identity documents — with 97 per cent of those being copies of drivers’ licences from one provider
    225,000 customer records from the second service provider.
    Latitude provides buy now, pay later (BNPL) schemes to a number of major Australian retailers, including Harvey Norman, JB Hi-Fi, David Jones and The Good Guys.

    It last month announced it was shutting down that BNPL offering in Australia and New Zealand.

    It will continue to provide its main fare of personal credit cards, travel credit cards, and short-term personal loans.

    UNSW cybersecurity expert Richard Buckland told ABC News the breach was “very concerning” given the level of information people have to give over to get loans.

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-16/latitude-hack-300000-identity-documents-stolen/102104424

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      Broadie

      Telstra not only stole my drivers licence, mobile number, date of birth, tax file number and ABN, they took my Medicare card and a gmail account. I understand this is so we can not buy a mobile phone and use it to trigger a bomb.

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        David Maddison

        Yes, Australia by world standards, has unusually strict ID requirements to buy a phone.

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          Gee Aye

          What? I walked into a well known phone maker’s store and bought my phone using no ID and inserted a SIM I had bought for a previous phone from a well known supermarket. It all seems to work OK

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        Gee Aye

        Sounds like you were entering into a long term contract, not just buying a phone.

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    Harold

    Sydney average temp for March so far … 28.5. That’s nearly FOUR DEGREES above the historical average of 24.8. #denial #cherrypick

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      David Maddison

      Correct.

      And….?

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      BrianTheEngineer

      The average for the half of March closer to summer is high.
      As we get closer to winter it will lower the average.
      Presumably, you were being sarcy

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        David Maddison

        I don’t think he was being sarcastic Brian. Look at its hashtags:

        #denial #cherrypick

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      william x

      Harold, I wouldn’t worry…We need the full monthly data otherwise It is cherry picking…

      We have 15 days left in March 2023 before we can compare the monthly data for March 2023 to the historical mean.

      An example of cherry picking:

      (All data from the BoM Australia. Sydney, Observatory hill)

      Ok I choose:

      100 years ago, March 1923.

      What do I find?

      From the 23rd to 30th March 1923, 8 days, the mean temp was 29.01 degrees Celcius

      Note that that is 4.23C above the historical mean temp for March.

      From my sample that is a higher mean temp in 1923, than the first 15 days of March 2023..

      Ok,

      From the 9th to the 12th inclusive the mean temp was 29.83 Degrees celcius.
      That is 1.32C higher than The first 15 days of March 2023.

      So that is a total of 12 days with a mean of 29.28C, 0.78 degrees celcius higher than the first 15 days in March 2023.

      This is sourced from data recorded 100 years ago.. We don’t need to worry.

      Even in 1923 they had hot days.

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      b.nice

      Great to have some SUMMER after two months BELOW AVERAGE and a year when it did even reach 32C !

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        Dave in the States

        I wish we could get some Summer or even some Spring. This morning it was 6 degrees F. Yesterday it snowed. Still piles of snow above my shoulders all over. And I’m 6 foot tall. To put this into perspective, we are only days from the Spring Equinox, and the weather is still like it was during the Winter Solstice.

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      b.nice

      Only problem I have is with the rate of grass growth. !!!

      Gunna have to mow again this evening or early tomorrow morning 🙁

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    Strop

    From Friends Of Science

    Newsletter #385 – 15 March 2023
    https://friendsofscience.org/index.php?id=2892

    Topics Include:
    .

    Ice Cores Show Even Dormant Volcanoes Leak Abundant Sulfur
    .

    Climate Model Ranking Based on Climate Sensitivity for the 21st Century
    .

    Wildfires: Time to Learn Some Science
    .

    How Land Use Changes the Climate
    .

    Net Zero Plans Are Dangerous and Unsupported by Science
    .

    Climate Fact Check
    .

    Global Warming: Mostly Human-caused or Mostly Natural?

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    STJOHNOFGRAFTON

    R.I.P. Net Zero & the Iron Triangle of Power Supply https://newcatallaxy.blog/2023/03/15/rip-net-zero/

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    another ian

    FWIW on the banking scene

    “Swiss Central Bank Steps in to Backstop Credit Suisse Amid Financial Collapse – The Larger Geopolitical Dynamic is Clear
    March 16, 2023 | Sundance | 13 Comments”

    “This is where we need to keep the BRICS -vs- WEF dynamic in mind and consider that ideologically there is a conflict between the current agenda of the ‘western financial system’ (climate change) and the traditional energy developers. This conflict has been playing out not only in the energy sector, but also the dynamic of support for Russia (an OPEC+ member) against the western sanction regime. Ultimately supporting Russia’s battle against NATO encroachments.”

    “Russia, Saudi Arabia and China are geopolitically aligned in interest against the western financial system. As a consequence, when western banks find themselves in need of capital and cash, there is a layered geopolitical dynamic in the background to Saudi refusal that must be considered.”

    “In the big picture we are seeing the ramifications of the ‘Build Back Better‘ agenda impacting the banking and finance sector which spearheaded it. I am not seeing this discussed anywhere, as the western governments of the collapsing banks are being forced to intervene.”

    “Again, I go back to the geopolitical map. The yellow nations with sanctions against Russia are also the yellow nations driving the ‘Build Back Better’ climate change energy policy. The grey nations are not in alignment with either dynamic. It is not a coincidence the banking issues are all within the yellow nations.”

    “Team yellow is suffering the consequences of their own ideological policy as enacted. Team grey is not going to help team yellow get out of a crisis team yellow created, which was intended to hurt team grey.”

    Details at

    https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2023/03/16/swiss-central-bank-steps-in-to-backstop-credit-suisse-amid-financial-collapse/#more-244360

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      KP

      Yes, the Saudis must have trillions of dollars in assets around the world, and saw how easily Russia’s foreign reserves were stolen. It wouldn’t be hard to refuse to pump more Saudi money into a European bank in the thrall of the USA, a political point as well as a financial risk assessment.

      With the West demonising and moving away from the Saudis main export, they are aligning themselves against America and with the BRICS. They’ve already said they will sell oil outside the American Dollar, an position that had people like Hussein & Gadaffi hunted down and killed.

      The word is changing fast as the Titanic goes down!

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    John Connor II

    Brits face biggest tax burden since World War Two as record drop in household income expected after Budget

    The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said that six million people would be hit by ‘stealth taxes’, like freezes for tax thresholds, over the next five years, boosting government coffers by £120 billion. The independent economic analysts said this would be the equivalent of a 4p increase in the base rate of tax.

    The UK’s tax burden is on track to hit 37.7 per cent of GDP, the OBR added. Freezing income tax thresholds mean 3.2 million people will start paying in the next five years, 2.1 million will move up to the higher 40p rate, and 350,000 more will pay the 45p rate.

    Meanwhile corporation tax will rise to 25% from 19%, although businesses will be able to write off investments in the UK against taxable profits under a new £9 billion-a-year scheme.

    The OBR expects a record drop in household incomes of nearly 6% over a two-year period, driven by the tax hikes and inflation, which is still rising ahead of earnings, although it is set to come down markedly this year.

    https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/brits-face-biggest-tax-burden-since-world-war-two-budget/

    We will tax you more with money you don’t have to make your lives better!

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      tonyb

      John

      Whilst no doubt many are suffering, I can see little evidence of the ‘cost of living crisis’ round our way in the UK. People were being turned away at the restaurant we had Sunday lunch. Our local travel agents says its their best year ever with many people taking expensive long distance trips. The nail bars are full as are the coffee shops. We have also not suffered the supposed drastic shortage of vegetables and fruit. We also have not gone into recession as forecast by no doubt the same modelers who forecast the ‘climate crisis.’

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        farmerbraun

        “. The nail bars are full ”
        WTF is a nail bar?

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          tonyb

          Our small suburb has 3 of them and another to open next month. It is a place where women go to have their nails seen to-cut, shaped and perhaps painted. There might be other services such as face massages but essentially that is it. There are also 3 ladies Hairdressing salons here, again usually full. Doing your nails is not exactly a necessity if you are being overwhelmed by the ‘cost of living’ crisis, is it?

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            Lucky

            Maybe I read the wrong news reports from UK but customers may be having their nails done as they cannot have an appointment in person with their doctor. With nice nails and a new hair-do they will look better in the funeral parlor.

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    John Connor II

    Trans “reality star” Jazz Jennings: “I don’t feel like me, ever”

    After eight seasons, four “sex change” surgeries, and countless hormone treatments, TLC’s I Am Jazz star Jazz Jennings still doesn’t feel right. “I don’t feel like me, ever,” Jennings revealed in a recent episode.

    Jazz Jennings, who was born a boy and declared himself transgender at the age of five, confessed feelings of dissatisfaction to his mother Jeanette. “I just want to feel like myself. All I want is to be happy and feel like me, and I don’t feel like me, ever,” Jazz said in the emotional exchange caught on camera.

    The current season follows Jazz’s severe weight gain and adventures in dating and romance. Now 22 years old and a student at Harvard University, the reality TV star has tried dating men but revealed he was attracted to a woman in the latest episode.

    https://twitter.com/TheSerenJones/status/1630115201839255553

    Really. You don’t say. All the lies, nonsense and self denial coming home to roost eh?
    Time for all such treatments to be banned globally and the kids to get the mental health counselling they actually need.

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    Kim Iverson giving a different take on the bank collapses. It maybe an attack on crypto? Reserve banks want control of digital currencies.

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    Neville

    If you have a spare hour you could do a lot worse than watching this video from Hoover Institute in the USA.
    Three very sane men talking about the problems of the world and how to fix them with only the very best returns on every $ spent.
    I didn’t realise how much work Lomborg was involved in around the world, but he is an amazing person.
    And his 2004 wish list is still the same today. His list is still, Malaria, hunger, HIV AIDS and education (?) I think.
    The UK’s Niall Ferguson is another genius and this recent video is a must if you have the time.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAITTAx4tCU

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    Where’s Simon? I need some more words of wisdom………sarc.

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    The left may get into throwing back “what is a woman” on the right, by asking “what is woke?” Something to think about.
    People who identify with victimhood, and who do not believe in any self responsibility.?

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    David Maddison

    The Left are ALWAYS talking about “gender stereotypes” and how people shouldn’t have them.

    But the reality is that the Left have extremely strong gender stereotypes.

    The moment a girl climbs a tree or a boy plays with a doll the Left will claim they must be “trans” and immediately start “transitioning” them. At first socially, and then hormonally and then surgically.

    Conservatives have never had this attitude and just see such non-stereotypical behaviours as something the child will generally grow out of.

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    Geoffrey Williams

    Trans Issues;
    Simple; women don’t have penises
    And men don’t have vaginas . . .
    Can I say that ?!

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    another ian

    Re that US drone that went down in “Deep water of the Black Sea” –

    Have a read here and maybe doubt

    https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/breaking-russian-su-27s-finally-down

    “As can be seen here the continental shelf around that region is very shallow so this explains the speed with which they were able to raise the drone”

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    David Maddison

    https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2023/03/the-sum-of-ruinous-green-delusions/

    Labor says it will reduce 2005 CO2 emissions of 560 million tonnes by 43 per cent come 2030. That brings it down to 57 per cent of 560 = 320 million tonnes. Emissions for 2021 were about 490 million tonnes so it will be reduced by 490 – 320 = 170 million tonnes.

    Where does the 43 per cent come from? My guess is the person who selected it was a fan of the late Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and through a slip of memory thought the answer was 43. The government has now set this target in legislation. Court challenges by emissions-reduction activists to coal or gas expansions, to name a couple, will now have in their armoury this legislation to support their case. The halving of global investment in fossil fuels since 2015 has much to do with the current world energy crisis.

    SEE LINK FOR REST

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    el+gordo

    There is no gas shortage on the east coast, only elite multinationals gouging.

    https://reneweconomy.com.au/there-is-no-gas-shortage-just-a-lack-of-ethics-and-integrity-from-gas-cartel/

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    KP

    Ukraine… The Western-trained Ukie army has been wiped out over the last 12months, those replacing them have no experience and not enough training. Goes for Russia too I would expect, this war is cleaning out any dead wood and any hunky guys with a hero complex-

    ““We have lost many of the officers who received U.S. training over the past nine years, eroding a corps of military leaders. A lot of them are killed,” the official said.” Now, the official said, those forces must be replaced, but replaced with what? The quality of Ukraine’s military force, once considered a substantial advantage over Russia, has been degraded by a year of casualties that have taken many of the most experienced fighters off the battlefield, leading some Ukrainian officials to question Kyiv’s readiness to mount a much-anticipated spring offensive. … “And there are only a few soldiers with combat experience,” Kupol added. “Unfortunately, they are all already dead or wounded.”

    “I get 100 new soldiers,” Kupol said. “They don’t give me any time to prepare them. They say, ‘Take them into the battle.’ They just drop everything and run. That’s it. Do you understand why? Because the soldier doesn’t shoot. I ask him why, and he says, ‘I’m afraid of the sound of the shot.’ And for some reason, he has never thrown a grenade. … We need NATO instructors in all our training centers, and our instructors need to be sent over there into the trenches. Because they failed in their task.”

    https://kolozeg.org/media-start-to-acknowledge-the-reality-of-the-wests-defeat-in-the-ukraine/

    I watched a clip today of someone trying to get a Hummer out of a field and back on the road, just like any farmer. Wrong tyres, deep mud, 3.5tons of steel.. not a chance! There won’t be a spring offensive from any side!

    …and I saw the Yank ex-mil pilot who said there would be lots of volunteers to fly F-16s outside the airforce, like the Flying Tigers. Some nasty person pointed out that unlike all the wars he would’ve flown in, this war has an enemy with aircraft as well.

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      Hanrahan

      You must seek help for this hatred of the West.

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        KP

        Why is that H? Seems quite normal to me, shared by most of the people in the world… They just refuse to believe we are “The Good Guys”.

        Must be all the bombing, invading, spying and ‘regime change’ the West has indulged in since I was born. Maybe its different being on the receiving end rather than watching it on TV.

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    KP

    Cancer studies around nuclear power plants were cancelled.. obviously the results were not what the authorities wanted! The Euros showed children suffer 30% more leukemia living near a nuclear station, something to keep in mind as calls for nukes increase.

    “Citizens and lawmakers from California have been working to revivify a cancelled National Academy of Sciences (NAS) health study originally requested and funded by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in 2010.

    https://kolozeg.org/why-were-the-cancer-studies-at-nuclear-facilities-canceled-cindy-folkers/

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    Steve of Cornubia

    Gold and silver doing well off the back of the fears around the banking system. Approx 6.5%p.a. for the past five years. Makes good ‘prepper money’ too, for when we are all reduced to bartering and black market shenanigans.

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      KP

      I worry that 1oz gold is a bit ‘big’ for everyday use. Saying that, I’ve never bought any silver, which would be better suited for everyday purchases. How long before Woolworths or Coles start minting their own tokens if the banking system goes down?

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        Memoryvault

        Gold and silver are a hedge against inflation. They’re not much use or value for trade when things go belly up. In every major crash since the collapse of the USSR the following items have been the most valued –

        Toilet paper, toothpaste, cigarettes and tobacco, vehicle fuel and lubricants, ammunition, women’s hygiene products, non-perishable and canned food, tea, coffee, long life milk and substitutes, sugar, basic medical supplies like bandages, bandaids, painkillers – Panadol etc, basic hand tools – hammers, saws, screwdrivers, nails and screws etc, basic clothing including shoes, vegetable seeds and surprisingly, dog and cat food.

        By no means an exhaustive list.

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        Hanrahan

        I have been a stacker for years. When was Au A$700/oz? [Since then]

        But I’m not a prepper, tho I still have a philosophical view of it as “insurance”. Buy enough to meet a month’s expenses, or if in Europe, enough to bribe a border guard. If you never need it the grand kids will have something to remember you by. Insurance that doesn’t need annual renewal. 🙂

        To meet expenses for a month round 50c coins which are 0.33/oz Ag are ok – everyone knows them and at today’s price has $11 melt value. To bribe a border guard you need Au you can sew in the hem of your jacket. Sovereigns are the most recognisable except, maybe, the US, they never minted them.

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          Steve of Cornubia

          For cross-border travel, many people suggest gold jewellery, albeit made from pure gold. It’s surprising how much gold $ could be ‘hidden’ in a man’s gold necklace and it’s easily divisible.

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        Steve of Cornubia

        The options for small denomination silver are huge. Australian 1oz Kangaroos are one. Many stackers will advise against buying anything other than plain bars, blobs or rounds, in order to keep premiums low, and they’re right, but I prefer coins and minted bars just because they’re pretty 🙂 I particularly like the Royal Mint’s ‘Queen’s Beasts’ series – a beautiful set of designs in 2oz size. I also like the Chinese Lunar coins from Perth Mint.

        As for low-denomination gold, take a look at ‘Maplegrams’ from the Canadian Mint. Ainslie Bullion in Brisbane sell them and they are quite divisible, tiny and individually-packaged to keep ’em shiny. Again though, I’m a sucker for the 1oz gold Queen’s Beasts, which based on current sell prices have appreciated quite remarkably. I also like the Scottsdale Mint’s 1oz minted bars, which come in high-security, serialised packing. lovely things.

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    Honk R Smith

    Musings on the future as a person in the age appropriate line for the exit ramp.
    We’ve entered a new era of social control.
    An obscured integrated systemic structure of propaganda has emerged.
    My main evidence is the odd internationally synced messaging we witnessed in the ‘Pandemic’.
    “It’s a Pandemic of the Unvaccinated”
    “Horse De-Wormer”
    Thanks CDC, I didn’t know I wasn’t a horse.
    Ugh.

    My guess is the future is a series of crafted mass formations.
    We will not become the Borg Collective.
    We will become the Hysterical Collective.
    Definitely led by a Queen.

    7 of 9 with tattoos, face piercings, and a long list of undecipherable personal pronouns.
    Resisting personal pronouns will be futile.

    I reside in a collective of TDS liberals.
    I interact with them much like the Star Trek characters when they are infiltrating the Borg Cube.
    They don’t notice me if I don’t indicate anything outside the hive narrative.
    (This is not sarc.)

    The Republicans here in America are weakly posturing against the Deep State abuses of Free Speech.
    But the establishment Repubs will sabotage it.
    There is no Constitutional law enforcement structure to take action because they were all in on it.

    I see little or no efforts in the other Western countries to dismantle the Psy Machine that revealed itself in the ‘Orange/Pandemic’.

    The weird thing is that this critical historic pivot hinged on a bombastic, TV personality, real estate salesman from NYC.
    https://www.westernjournal.com/trump-j6-prison-choir-top-chart-1-song-justice-listen/
    Now we have Gulag music.

    All probably caused by Climate change.

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    • #
      KP

      “I see little or no efforts in the other Western countries to dismantle the Psy Machine that revealed itself in the ‘Orange/Pandemic’.”
      Sadly true, we are all in America’s thrall and just do as we are told.

      A Demorat senator was asking if they could censor social media to prevent ‘misinformation’ being spread that might result in a bank run.. obviously he didn’t have time to get his money out before word got around!

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  • #

    I note that the Vanguard Group have bought a chunk of Whitehaven Coal, and the Bank of America a chunk of Terracom. Both coal producers.
    So much for ethical investing – the penny/cent has dropped.

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      TdeF

      Coal assets must be at an all time low. What the anti coal people jokingly call ‘stranded assets’. Good time to buy. There has been a shift and 18 months to the next Presidential election. The Democrats are on the nose with BLM, Trans surgery on children, WOKE, Buttegieg, Ukraine, School councils, petrol prices, abortion, ESG, no borders and 1.5 million illegal aliens taking jobs, electricity prices rocketing and massive inflation not least on food, geriatric mumbling angry Joe still hiding in his basement after a lifetime of stealing classified documents, the growing scandal of January 6th where people have been jailed for nothing, cackling Kamala and the odd Chinese balloon. Plus the new deals between Iran and Saudi, Iran and Russia, China and Russia, China and Iran. And Venezuela with everyone but America.

      By declaring diplomatic war on Britain for BREXIT, Russia for the fight with Ukraine, Saudi, Israel, Biden has alienated nearly everyone. The AUKUS deal was the only time they could talk without threatening. And very profitable too. And then there’s the little problem of Fauci lying to everyone about his involvement in the Chinese lab which made the Wuhan Flu. Defending ‘the science’ or his involvement with millions of deaths?

      The Biden administration is signalling a change in direction on China and oil, having caused all these problems. I hear military rank and file are now terrified that Kamala might become President any day now when mumbles heads the wrong way off the stage.

      But I think the drying up of fracking which has been the backbone of CO2 reduction for a decade may signal the game is over. And the Trump days of energy independence are over. Petrol prices may rocket and nothing is more devastating to a car based society.

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      yarpos

      Personally I think that behaviour is quite ethical, vs totally delusional ESG extremism.

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    MrGrimNasty

    Video of Reaper being harassed released.
    US account is accurate – unless they used the top gun film guys to produce a deep fake!

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64975766

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    MrGrimNasty

    The resistance to Netherlands attack on farming (‘nitrogen’ reduction) has resulted in election success for new farmer/citizen movement.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/16/rural-populist-party-farmer-citizen-movement-big-winner-dutch-elections

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    • #
      TdeF

      Isn’t that wonderful. From nothing to half the Senate, the farmers are kicking goals and a few behinds.

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  • #
    yarpos

    Reading an article about some 20 something dishing up advice on how to save money shopping. The idea was to weigh pre packaged items so you get the most value as some are over packed. OK, so they show an example , a box of cotton candy grapes. A commenter chimes in and talks about how they always weigh their camembert and brie. Gosh and these people are writing about saving money shopping? Inserted in the article was another video clip about a 3 pack of specialty ice creams that was “only” $9.90. It was a bit of an avocado toast moment really.

    It was a good topic and lots of people could use some constructive advice. Its a pity they chose to waste it on stupid sh1t.

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    crakar24

    https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/print-version/alcoa-australia-to-cut-portland-aluminium-smelter-output-to-75-capacity-2023-03-15

    This was slipped under the radar yesterday probably in part due to Keating berating the Gov on being a US lap dog

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    • #
      el+gordo

      Keating is correct and by the time we get the subs they will be nuclear armed.

      ‘ … hurdles related to the production of rodded anodes necessary to transport electricity into the smelting pots…’

      So they’ll fix the problem and get back to work.

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      • #
        crakar24

        You missed the important bit, that happens sometimes when you only open one eye to look at things.

        Alcoa’s local unit had, earlier this year, flagged a 30% production cut at its partially owned Kwinana alumina refinery due to a gas supply shortfall.

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        • #
          el+gordo

          I did notice that but the guvment said there is no gas shortage. Must be an election coming up.

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        yarpos

        mmm apparently we also bought a couple hundred Tomahawks with some chump change that Chalmers hand lying around.

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  • #

    Gold is available from ABC Bullion in a stamp sheet format, in 1 gm segments. Fifty gms, $330 more than the cheapest cast bar, but easily broken up into $100 segments. You can walk into a gold dealer, and buy $5000 of gold per day, with cash!
    Booze would be another go to in a melt down. Long lasting and fairly compact per $.

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    • #
      yarpos

      it the middle of real chaos and catastrophe its difficult to see why anyone would value the sheet segments in a trade/buy situation. Not being snarky, I am a PM fan myself on a small scale, but I have trouble visualising how that format could be used especially at that premium.

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      • #
        Hanrahan

        Does loss of some premium matter? You are better with a negotiable asset worth 80c in the dollar than with google* stock worth 20c in the dollar IF the market is open. But I don’t hold PMs for prepping, food and alcohol would be better to hoard.

        * Random stock selection.

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    yarpos

    a great anti woke article on the state of western society

    a bit like a Cohen Brothers movie, he starts gently and gets wound up 🙂

    https://www.unz.com/article/from-donuts-to-wars-for-democracy/

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    another ian

    FWIW!

    “Renewable Fail: Britain to Now Class Nuclear Power as “Sustainable Energy” ”

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/03/16/renewable-fail-uk-to-now-class-nuclear-power-as-sustainable-energy/

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    DOC

    The Biden family is increasingly under pressure to explain the huge funds being injected into multiple family bank accounts where it seems increasingly like huge payments but with no expertise to explain their function. Is it part of the funding for pushing the climate story and the anti USA/Western civilisation message? Are there similar payments going to other renowned AGW apostles in the USA.

    I’m wondering if there aren’t many EU climate apostles also receiving such funding from China. It is already stated that George Soros funds much of the AGW activity, and I seem to recall was mentioned in funding the anti Adani coalmining activists. Who is funding those European drivers of this creed? Has any nation, apart from the USA, but including Australia ever actually investigated whether such funding from China – directly or indirectly – is behind the opinion based ‘science’?
    Certainly the totalitarian methods used, formerly anathema to Australia and the West, are more reminiscent of Russian and Chinese history than western culture.

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      farmerbraun

      Soros has been funding the organic farming movement for decades.
      But George only does what he is told to do by the people who give him the money to do it .

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      Steve of Cornubia

      When this sort of thing is amplified by the large media outfits and actually taken up and prosecuted, I’ll pay more attention. At present though, having watched similarly outrageous stories emerge for years now, only to fade away without consequences, I hold out little hope for change.

      These days, we need to worry whenever a powerful leftist figure is accused of serious wrongdoing, because it means a war or other distraction will be created to fill the front pages.

      10