Now the UK government wants to control your kitchen fridge or send you to jail

Prison, jail.

Image by Tracy Lundgren from Pixabay

By Jo Nova

The UK government is absolutely not asking you to ration electricity, to give up control of your own appliances, to pay more for less, and go to jail if you get it wrong.

This just looks a lot like that:

Turn on your heat pump when wind is blowing, Government pleads

Nick Gutteridge, The Telegraph

Ministers are pressing ahead with new legislation that could see families made to adopt “smart” appliances to ease pressure on the grid. Tory MPs are opposing the proposals, contained in the contentious Energy Bill which will come back before the Commons on Tuesday.

Are they your appliances or the state’s? If you don’t control the power switch you know the answer.

When they call something “smart” we know it’s stupid — and the mind-boggling complexity of central agencies switching on and off ovens and heaters across the country to “fit” with the weather is a dystopia we don’t need to have. Do you need 90 minutes to roast a chook, or 120? It depends on the wind strength in Scotland. If the kids can’t get to bed early, or you can’t wash their clothes, they can just miss the first hour of school right?

Every word is a lie:

The Government insisted it was “in no way asking people to ration electricity” and that consumers will benefit in the form of cheaper bills.

“Cheaper than what?” Consumers will pay less that the highest pagan-witchcraft energy prices they might otherwise have had to pay, but they’ll pay more than what they would have if they had a free market in energy.

The problem with trying to control the weather with our energy grid is that it’s impossible, so no request aimed at reaching into your home and bossing you around is “too much”. There is no natural endpoint. No moment when the weather will be perfect and not in need of changing somehow. No day when they can declare, “We stopped the storms — you can have your fridge back”.

The demand for power and control over the masses will just keep increasing until they revolt. So save time, revolt now.

If you like your old fridge you can keep it, but we’ll send you jail

If you think they will let you run the diesel gen and have your own heater, think again:

Property owners who don’t comply with new energy rules may face prison

Nick Gutteridge, The Telegraph

Property owners who fail to comply with new energy efficiency rules could face prison under government plans that have sparked a backlash from Tory MPs.

Ministers want to grant themselves powers to create new criminal offences and increase civil penalties as part of efforts to hit net zero targets. Under the proposals, people who fall foul of regulations to reduce their energy consumption could face up to a year in prison and fines of up to £15,000.

Tory backbenchers are set to rebel against the plans, which they fear would lead to the criminalisation of homeowners, landlords and businesses.

The proposals are contained in the Government’s controversial Energy Bill, which is set to come before the Commons for the first time when MPs return from their summer break on Tuesday.

When a two star water heater might send you to jail:

Craig Mackinlay, the head of the Net Zero Scrutiny Group, has tabled an amendment to strip the “open-ended and limitless” powers out of the legislation. He told The Telegraph: “The Bill is festooned with new criminal offences. This is just unholy, frankly, that you could be creating criminal offences

“The ones we’ve found most offensive are where a business owner could face a year in prison for not having the right energy performance certificate or type of building certification.”

h/t to Notalotofpeopleknowthat, and NetZeroWatch

 

9.9 out of 10 based on 108 ratings

169 comments to Now the UK government wants to control your kitchen fridge or send you to jail

  • #

    “The demand for power and control over the masses will just keep increasing until they revolt. So save time, revolt now.”

    And revolt soon will most probably be on the way along with a few other things. This ‘scheme’ will not work.

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    • #
      Steve of Cornubia

      Various western governments are, in my opinion, trying to goad people into a revolt. In much the same way as you said, “So save time, revolt now.”, they would rather like a few smallish ‘insurrections’ now, which they can deal with using a heavy fist. Throwing a few alleged ringleaders (yes you, Donald) and a healthy number of their supporters in jail now, for lengthy periods, is preferable to letting a resistance movement really gather steam.

      The same tactic has been used throughout the Covid restrictions, with many people harshly punished for very minor infractions.

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      • #
        Hanrahan

        Biden’s demonrats are trying to goad the far right™ into violent reaction. If that fails the drovers dog could win the presidency for the GOP.

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      • #
        Robert Swan

        Steve of Cornubia,
        You might well be right, but where does that get us? If the policy is to squeeze them until the pips squeak, silence will just encourage more squeezing.

        In my view, waiting for some collective action to “gather steam” involves a lot of waiting and not much action — think how long the gulags lasted — it’s better to think individually and resist individually. Enough people do that, and the “heavy fist” won’t know where to hit.

        260

        • #
          Steve of Cornubia

          And that’s where the new surveillance state comes into play. Even individuals cannot escape the notice of government should they do something verboten. You will recall, for instance, the pregnant lady arrested in her own home because she retweeted something. Also a lady (in the UK I think) who got a visit from the police merely for photographing an anti-trans poster put up by somebody else – all caught on CCTV.

          I’m not citing these because I think resistance is futile. All I’m saying is that government(s) are slowly creating the means to nip any kind of resistance in the bud – even before you leave the house or articulate anything unlawful. Apart from controlling individuals, it provides an effective means to make examples of ordinary people and showcase the state’s control.

          It is the modern reincarnation of the Stasi – Eastern Germany’s army of civilian informants who surveilled every utterance and movement of their fellow citizens, everywhere they went, and reported everything to the government.

          270

          • #
            Robert Swan

            In a recent EconTalk the guest was Walter Russell Mead; it covered his recent essay: You Are Not Destined to Live in Quiet Times. The essay’s well worth a read, but in it he captured in one short statement something I’d previously waffled on for paragraphs about:

            … the arc of history is nobody’s poodle.

            For all the machinations of the politicians and the Sir Humphreys, or the Schwabs and Gateses, it *never* works out the way they planned. Likewise for you and me of course, but it’s still on each of us to do what we can to make our little piece of the world work the way we want it to. It’s enough people doing just that that thwarts the grand schemes of the tyrants.

            In 1984 Winston says “If there is hope it lies in the proles”, but O’Brien assured him the proles would never change anything. I don’t believe that, and I don’t think Orwell did either. If he did, why bother writing the book?

            IOW, I agree that there are many efforts to plunge us into a surveillance state. It’s not going to be pleasant, but I’m hopeful those efforts will fail.

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          • #
            MP

            A lot of what is shown is staged, there is always a professional photographer hovering around getting the shots. The supposed old lady at the rally who was knocked down and pepper sprayed, she was 100 meters behind the group, wig and mankles, pro photographer hovering around the outside. All for the 6 o’clock news and to spread the fear/compliance.

            They want chaos and the goading is everywhere. With their plan they can’t lose, if people revolt, they win, if people do nothing and except it, they win.

            Noncompliance by the majority and they lose, it is the only nonviolent way.

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      • #
        Steve of Cornubia

        One of the alleged leaders of America’s ‘Proud Boys’ organisation has been convicted in connection with the capitol ‘insurrection’. He wasn’t actually at the protest. He wasn’t even in the area. His contribution, if you read the charges carefully and discard all the BS, was to encourage others to attend. For this heinous crime he will go to jail for 22 years.

        You read that right. Twenty-two years! Compare that with the ‘punishment’ handed down to BLM rioters who actually were violent and who actually did destroy property and buildings. Likewise members of Antifa who were convicted of assaults, you know ACTUAL VIOLENCE.

        I confess I don’t know much about the Proud Boys. An internet search was unhelpful because the first twenty pages of results were all provided by the ABC, BBC, CNN, the Guardian, Wikipedia, etc i.e. known far-left organisations who can’t be trusted to be accurate and fair to right wing organisations. Even so, I could find no instances of actual violence or, as was successfully asserted in the above conviction, terrorism. There appears to be a definite far-right agenda among the Proud Boys and much of what I saw was unattractive to say the least, but nothing even close to what I’ve heard BLM and Antifa goons say. Heck, I’ve heard worse on daytime TV when they drag that day’s idiot into the studio. I see nothing that warrants 22yrs and a conviction for terrorism.

        So this is just another provocation, and one I believe will once again fail to create the violent reaction from conservatives that they’re looking for. The temperature continues to rise inside that pressure cooker though and if the steam isn’t allowed to bleed off, it WILL go boom.

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        • #
          Geoff

          Hello Steve, all, regular reader, first time commenter as they say. What is going on in the world is Anarcho-Tyranny for certain. Defined as:
          “a system of government that fails to enforce or adjudicate protection to its citizens while simultaneously persecuting innocent conduct” this is the current state of affairs in the West, sadly! Scary scary stuff IMO.

          30

    • #
      bobn

      Its nice to see the traditionally docile English Population starting to stir. The ULEZ (London Exclusion Zone) seems to be the straw that is stirring the much needed civil disobedience. Here is Katie Hopkins in a very funny 2min satire. Enjoy!
      https://youtu.be/H_0e82gEd5o

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      • #
        MP

        But the population are not doing anything, they are sitting on their hands, a few brave individules are doing all the work, same during lockdowns.
        Nothings changed, they will do as they have always done, Nothing.

        120

  • #
    tonyb

    50% of UK homes, including ours, do not have a smart meter despite pressure. The vast majority will not have a heat pump or an Electric Vehicle and have no intention of getting one.

    Very many of our homes are old and can not be sensibly insulated. We are an awful long way from the widespread criminalisation being hinted at in this article. It is more likely the Govt will backtrack on such things as ULez, oil boilers etc than to bear down on forcing people to do what the govt would like..

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    • #
      Kalm Keith

      Existing homes may be able to avoid these but what happens with substantial renovations or complete rebuilds?

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      • #
        Raving

        I am all in favor of higher standards for new homes, HOWEVER …

        Rebuilding just for the sake of net zero is a huge mistake. A lot of energy goes into constructing a house. And then there is the question: Is low housing density, energy efficient?. Takes a lot of energy to move stuff over urban/suburban/rural sprawl.

        Transportation electrification helps with the sprawl but better just to build higher density housing.

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        • #
          Robert Swan

          Is low housing density, energy efficient?

          Please explain why this should be any of your concern.

          If it is less energy efficient (which I doubt), ordinary people are choosing to pay for the extra energy. Shouldn’t that be the end of the matter?

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          • #
            Raving

            Municipal governments can influence the type of housing which gets built. Developers still need to make a profit and buyers still need to want the homes.

            In other words a city can be persuasive about favoring low or high density housing.

            Beyond that, it’s not my concern were or how people choose to live.

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          • #
            Raving

            The housing topic is a good example of what is wrong with green policy. In short, it is too hungry. Reducing emissions isn’t enough, it must be NET ZERO..

            The EV rollout is a great example. Range anxiety gets compounded into ‘recharge anxiety’ (finding an unoccupied funcioning recharge point). Low electric fuel costs skyrocket in price as fuel supplies exploit a seller’s market (You want a fast charge in the next hour? That’s going to cost you!)

            Renewable energy isn’t cheap because the emphasis is that itneeds to be priced with higher profit to compete with fossil fuels.

            Exploiting inexpensive volitile haphazard energy is forgotten.

            Dense housing costs less to ‘service’ while taking advantage of what a city has to offer.

            Choose whatever you like. I hate suburbia.

            31

            • #
              OldOzzie

              Renewable energy isn’t cheap because the emphasis is that it needs to be priced with higher profit to compete with fossil fuels.

              The bill to get power grids ready for renewables? $1.4 trillion a year

              London | The need to build huge amounts of extra electricity transmission capacity worldwide is threatening to become a serious bottleneck in many countries’ push towards renewable energy, consultancy firm BCG has warned.

              In a report released on Wednesday, BCG said the scale of investment needed in electricity grids – up to $US900 billion ($1.4 trillion) a year – could be almost as much as the capital needed to actually build the solar and wind generation capacity.

              If that capital cannot be found, offshore wind and solar generators might be unable to connect to the grid, leaving the projects stranded.

              “If you don’t get the scale-up of the grid, you will be blocking renewable capacity. In the UK, for example, we have 220 gigawatts of solar and wind capacity awaiting connection,” said Maurice Berns, chairman of BCG’s Centre for Energy Impact in London.

              A second risk is that even if the connection is there, the grid might lack the capacity to absorb the generators’ output.

              “One of the big concerns we’ve heard from our clients is that they build a lot of wind capacity in the North Sea, they connect it to the land in the North Sea countries like Germany or the Netherlands or Belgium, and then the offtake capacity of the grids in those countries isn’t ready to accept that additional level of power.”

              BCG’s report estimated that developing enough solar and wind energy generation to get to net-zero would need an average annual investment of $US650 billion to $US950 billion, for a total of $US20 trillion to $US30 trillion by 2050.

              The global electricity grid, meanwhile, would require average annual investment of $US700 billion to $US900 billion, for a total of $US21 trillion to $US27 trillion by 2050.

              30

          • #
            Raving

            You are conflating libertarian sentimnts with human desire to live in a substantive efficient house.

            Drafty poorly insulated houses in Canada aren’t fun. Single glazing isn’t nearlybas wonderful as triple glazing (sound and thermal insulation) beforecit breaks down with age. Nobody wants to replace the glass orvanything else on a tall 100 residence condo..

            Tearing down houses and rebuilding every 30 years 25 miles from the city must be your idea of fun. Go,for it! Not my libertarian fantasy.

            22

            • #
              Robert Swan

              Honoured to get three replies, though disappointed that none answers my question. Why do you care about the energy efficiency of houses in the ‘burbs?

              The “fantasy” you refer to is merely my wish to live in the kind of place I like living in and a hope that others might have that same choice. Do you really think that’s ultra-libertarian?

              As for tearing down and rebuilding, you’ve probably not heard about the several recently built residential towers in Sydney that were rushed up, sold, and have now been declared dangerous. The shonky builders are “out of business”, and the unlucky owners have been allowed to gather a suitcase or two of belongings and live on the street while continuing to pay their mortgages. Mine might be a fantasy, but theirs is a nightmare.

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      • #
        Mike Jonas

        Not just major work – anything at all that requires approval, even if unrelated.

        40

    • #
      Honk R Smith

      Maybe they’re just kidding, like with vax mandates.
      No one will be ‘forced’ or ‘compulsed’ .
      Perhaps they are not legislative proposals, but ‘merely quips’.
      Government won’t require it.
      Just your employer.
      Your grocer may insist on behavioral requirements since they are all about ‘community’.
      So not a government mandate, a choice.
      Because government values freedom.
      Government provided free vaccines so we could be free again, after we voluntarily shut down society.

      420

    • #
      Lawrie

      Don’t you feel blessed that it is a conservative government introducing these draconian laws based on the lies and bad science of AGW rather than that nasty Labour government. I mean how much worse could it be?

      350

    • #
      Rusty of Qld

      Tony, zay haff vays and meens ofv forcing you onto zee shmart meter, VERSTEHEN SCHWEIN HUND !!

      100

    • #

      I suspected I might be the only homeowner who still had an old reliable 50s-style electricity meter (black bakelite case, rotating horizontal disc and mechanical counters) in my Adelaide suburban street where half of the post-war houses have now been replaced.

      But the man who read that meter the other day said he had one just like it himself, and makes plenty of visits in the area. Many people have not taken up the power distributor’s offer of free smart meters.

      100

      • #
        Ian Hill

        I have one of those too David. I take a reading every day to monitor how my electricity-saving-box plugged into the socket works. Very well I’m pleased to say.

        30

  • #
    Kalm Keith

    This type of pseudo environmental imposition has been rife in Australia for approaching two decades.

    All new housing construction in NSW has been forced to include “grey” water tanks to collect roof water after rain, electric hot water storage tanks have been required to include heat pumps and excessive external aluminum awnings to deflect heat from the Sun.

    I suspect that ninety percent of this burden is of Chinese origin and works O.K.for a year or so before the components fail.

    From a cost and engineering perspective these mandatory inclusions can serve only one purpose and it’s certainly not to benefit Australians financially or environmentally.

    It’s almost as if some higher force is sticking it to us and laughing all the way to the bank.

    How has Australia’s politics become so compromised.

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    • #
      Bruce

      “How has Australia’s politics become so compromised?”

      Once a penal colony; always a …..?

      The spirit, so to speak, of the Rum Corps is very much alive and flourishing.

      220

    • #
      Steve of Cornubia

      The Australian population is not alone in having grown fat and lazy during a lengthy period of peace and prosperity. The fighting spirit has almost been extinguished and it’s sad – and alarming – to see how meekly people just go along with autocratic government these days. So long as the wolf isn’t outside the door and they can book their next holiday, they will put up with anything.

      330

      • #
        Lawrie

        You are on the money Steve. The good times, funded by debt, have lulled the population into acceptance. When those being punished are not known to you it is easy to forgive a government over reach but when it is you and yours in the firing line feelings change. Power prices keep increasing and that will impact how we all live and may decide whether you have a job or not. Tony Burke’s IR laws may well take a few more jobs. Environmentalists, the real ones, are beginning to realise that green electricity is not green and is very destructive. Farmers are gaining traction with the community who now see their own property values declining as the green carpetbaggers destroy the amenity of your iddylic country getaway. What to do with those pesky turbine blades and used solar panels is no longer a distant problem but the here and now. And lets not forget the blackouts that, with luck, will be coming to a switchboard near you this summer.

        The revolt will come not like a tsunami but like a slowly rising flood.

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      • #
        Geoff Sherrington

        Steve,
        I spent much of my career applying good, hard science to the discovery of new mines for future Australians. I did this mostly because it was fascinating and challenging, but partly because I knew it was the right thing to do. Many people have benefited from higher living standards paid for by the success of my colleagues.
        Imagine how I feel when I see such money pissed against the wall with all this stupid nonsense about renewables and net zero. The stupidity of building acres of wind and solar before building the lines to take the electricity to consumer cities. The blatant lies that renewables are cheaper than fossil or nuclear.
        If Australians had rejected net zero from the start and continued with coal and gas power, we would have today the best living standard in the world. If Australians had invested the billions from the new mines we discovered in buying an energy future that was sound engineering and based on credible science, I would not be so shitty about politicians and bureaucrats.
        These days, the most important things I can do with my time, thoughts and research involve publicity about stupidity of bureaucrats and the need to reverse their ever-increasing, ever more ignorant intrusions into the lives of your ordinary Aussies. They fail to learn of historic dangers of over-control.
        I fear for my descendents who have to cope with mental assaults like sex change surgery and environmentalism forced upon them with fear of penalty.
        Geoff S

        90

    • #

      Watertanks were reintroduced in Sydney during the drought when sages like Flannery convinced the governments that drought was the new normal. They had previously been banned as people were using tankwater and that was costing Sydney Water money as they weren’t using tapwater.

      390

  • #
    RobB

    Property owners who fail to comply with new energy efficiency rules could face prison
    At least prison will be warm

    360

  • #
    David Maddison

    The Left are always talking about “sustainability”.

    But they are giving us a random, unreliable, expensive, economy-destroying wind-powered electricity supply that is unsustainable.

    unsustainable
    adjective
    UK /ˌʌn.səˈsteɪ.nə.bəl/ US /ˌʌn.səˈsteɪ.nə.bəl/

    Something that is unsustainable cannot continue at the same rate:

    Unreliable wind power was abandoned from 1712 as soon as Thomas Newcomen developed a practical steam engine that could supply continuous, sustainable, reliable, inexpensive, economy-building power. I even learned about that in Grade 5 at school, back in the day when they used to teach real history.

    Elites won’t have an electricity supply problem. My electrician has installed generators in some of the mansions of a suburb near me in Melbournistan, Australia, Toorak, with just the diesel generators alone costing A$100,000 and installations having a one week fuel supply. They won’t be freezing, boiling, not using washing machines, not having refrigeration, cooking or hot water like the rest of us.

    And they ABSOLUTELY will not be “eating ze bugs” like Herr Kommandant Klaus and his Kamerads want us to do and is already being done in Aussie “schools”.

    https://www.spectator.com.au/2022/09/1000-australian-schools-are-fed-insects/

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  • #
    red edwards

    Famous American cartoon strip The Wizard Of Id

    Sir Rodney (who’s tall and looking over the parapet at a seas of torches and pitchforks) “Sire, the peasants are revolting!”

    The King (who’s short and not able to see over the parapet) “They certainly are. . .”

    370

    • #
      Ronin

      Sir Rodney, peering up out of the window, are you searching the stars for divine guidance says the King, no Your Majesty, just watching the 500 Huns on the roof.

      120

  • #
    David Maddison

    The energy supply and a scare campaign about a genetically manipulated virus, the ultimate weapons to control the population.

    330

    • #
      erasmus

      Their success with dodgy vaccines and mask mandates, apps to track you, guards at the entrance to stores, five kilometre roaming rules, has led them to believe they can impose almost any restrictions they choose.
      They may be right.

      380

    • #
      Ronin

      David, you left out the failing planet and the boiling seas.

      80

  • #
    Phillip Bratby

    An Englishman’s home used to be his castle. Now, courtesy of the UN and the WEF, my castle is gradually coming under the complete control of a useless, autocratic government.

    290

  • #
    Just+Thinkin'

    When did RULES become LAWS?

    190

  • #
    David Maddison

    The plan is energy starvation.

    Note also subtle or not-so-subtle propaganda to suggest that energy use is “selfish”.

    https://this.deakin.edu.au/self-improvement/are-our-heating-and-air-con-habits-too-selfish

    Are our heating and air con habits too selfish?

    When you’re feeling the heat at home during a scorching summer, or trying to ward off the winter shivers, it makes perfect sense to crank up the air conditioner or heater.

    If you do make a conscious effort to limit your usage, it’s likely your number one priority will be avoiding an expensive energy bill.

    But as we become more reliant than ever on air conditioners and heating systems to keep comfortable year-round, it’s worth considering how our habits are harming the environment.

    Blah. Blah. Blah. SEE LINK FOR REST

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  • #
    Robber

    No doubt there is a very strong business case? No??

    70

  • #
    David Maddison

    These restrictions will come to Australia. We already have DRED, Demand Response Enable Device installed in almost all air conditioners sold in Australia. It enables your electricity provider or Big Brother to remotely control the temperature of your heating or cooling or turn it off altogether. The hardware is already there, connection is currently optional.

    I wrote an article about it.

    https://www.siliconchip.com.au/Issue/2017/April/DRED%3A+they+can+turn+your+aircon+off%21

    From once being a renowned egalitarian society and place of a “fair go for all” regardless of background, now Australia has a two-tired society.

    Just as Elites like senior public serpents on $500,000 salaries, politicians and billionaire Leftists didn’t lose income or suffer from the covid restrictions they imposed, they will not suffer from their own energy starvation policies as they will find ways to be exempt, will install off-grid systems or can afford and will pay whatever the costs are to secure electricity.

    250

  • #
    Mike Borgelt

    Ergon says they are putting in a voltage/current monitor on our switchboard. I wonder if our power can be cut off remotely? Easy to do with data over power line.
    Yesterday I’m informed our water meter will be replaced by a “smart” meter. Hmmm.
    Did a Qld driver’s licence medical a couple of weeks ago. Seems to include a FedGov state of health exam also. Just checking up on the cattle herd I guess. I’m expecting the ear tag in the mail.

    240

    • #
      David Maddison

      If you have a “smart” electricity meter, they can already turn that off remotely. They are all connected on a mesh network for reading, writing, activation and deactivation.

      They can monitor your consumption in real time and can make a fair guess about what appliance is being used and when. For example, my friend had on his bill a breakdown of appliance use and cost. His swimming pool pumps were among the items listed. No doubt the Left will think having a swimming pool is an unnecessary, selfish luxury for non-Elites.

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      • #
        Steve

        Build a simple Faraday cage around the ‘smart’ meter. No communications, no problems.

        100

        • #
          ozfred

          Aren’t most meter enclosures already solid metal?
          Provider had to add an external antenna on my meter enclosure to ensure the meter could be “contacted”. Faraday cage would be “overkill”
          I actually do not have a great problem with the export to the grid being “occasionally” turned off in the middle of day. OTOH turning off the grid interface which provides frequency control or turning off the solar panel inverters might (?) provoke a reaction.

          30

    • #
      Ronin

      Over the years I’ve had two requests for a monitoring device to be attached to my switchboard for ‘improvement of the system’, I told them both times to rack off, not interested.

      170

    • #
      Geoff Sherrington

      Mike,
      Just tell them that you do not agree to any such changes and tell them that they have no authority to force change on you. Do not weaken in your belief – you home IS your Castle. (It is in the Constitution under “vibes”). Geoff S

      30

  • #
    Mike Borgelt

    Australia, descend from convicts. They aren’t the problem, the ones descended from warders are.

    220

    • #
      Coochin Kid

      The warders were always SCUM.Most were from lower class aristocracy, their tenure in the corps was purchased by their family to get rid of a useless eater out of the family home

      160

    • #
      Alexander Menzies

      SA/NT NOT descended from convicts!

      30

      • #
        el+gordo

        From the beginning South Australians adopted the free enterprise model.

        The rest of Australia got rid of their convicts by mid century, which encouraged immigrants to get a job in the Antipodes.

        40

      • #
        Philby

        Nowadays they are 😊

        10

  • #
    George McFly......I'm your density

    It is becoming glaringly obvious why the Roman empire collapsed

    220

    • #
      David Maddison

      I recently read “Mortal Republic: How Rome Fell Into Tyranny” by Edward J. Watts

      It provides insight into what’s going on in the West right now.

      QUOTE FROM AMAZON
      In Mortal Republic, prize-winning historian Edward J. Watts offers a new history of the fall of the Roman Republic that explains why Rome exchanged freedom for autocracy. For centuries, even as Rome grew into the Mediterranean’s premier military and political power, its governing institutions, parliamentary rules, and political customs successfully fostered negotiation and compromise.

      By the 130s BC, however, Rome’s leaders increasingly used these same tools to cynically pursue individual gain and obstruct their opponents. As the center decayed and dysfunction grew, arguments between politicians gave way to political violence in the streets. The stage was set for destructive civil wars — and ultimately the imperial reign of Augustus.

      The death of Rome’s Republic was not inevitable. In Mortal Republic, Watts shows it died because it was allowed to, from thousands of small wounds inflicted by Romans who assumed that it would last forever.

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      • #
        Richard C (NZ)

        >”the imperial reign of Augustus”

        How to be Dictator without saying you are Dictator:

        Unpacking the Titles of Augustus: Wordplay and Double Meanings
        https://www.wondriumdaily.com/unpacking-the-titles-of-augustus-wordplay-and-double-meanings/

        What’s in a name? A lot, as we discover when exploring the many titles of Augustus, Rome’s first emperor.

        Julius Caesar’s response to this issue had been to adopt the title of “Dictator for Life.” While the office of dictator had indeed existed during the republic, it had been strictly limited to a six-month term. Thus, to create a Dictator for Life was to directly contradict the most fundamental characteristic of the original office and was too equivalent to being a king.

        To solve this vexatious dilemma, Octavian turned to his facility at propaganda and devised a remarkably clever solution. Being innovative, it gave the appearance of simply following established traditions.

        What he did was to take on not just one name or title, but a plethora of them, each of which individually didn’t seem that intimidating or autocratic, but which collectively bestowed unprecedented status and prestige upon him.

        Princeps civitatis – “the first among equals,” an inherently oxymoronic construction that nicely captures its dual nature.

        # # #

        Way ahead of the modern bunch of wannabes.

        80

        • #
          Len

          The current Archbishop of Cantebury was described first among equals. Now that he has gone full woke, the African bishops don’t acknowledge that description.

          50

    • #
      David Maddison

      And as I wrote here the other day:

      During the fall of Rome it was slow and steady and most people didn’t notice or care. Many kept on partying and having a good time, slaves excepted. Similarly for the successor of Rome, the West today.

      Factors that contributed to the Fall of Rome can be debated endlessly but include a migration crisis, genuine climate change, lack of political leadership, a dysfunctional military, excessive government expenditure and a financial crisis, leaders who thought they were gods, various forms of immorality, unnecessary wars, excessive taxes, invasion and settlement of Barbarians, invasion by Attila the Hun (by request of Honoria, sister of Emperor Valentinian III), puppet rulers like Maximus and Attalus, etc..

      It all sounds so familiar, huh?

      180

      • #
        Richard C (NZ)

        David >”It all sounds so familiar, huh?”

        Good synopsis although we aren’t yet witnessing the utter depths of depravity. I’ve just been reading some Roman history too in respect to the ten Caesars that ruled before the destruction of Jerusalem. Came across this snippet in a Christian commentary:

        Few emperors were more lawless than Nero. The great Roman historian Tacitus describes his lawless behavior in his writings. Nero was known for numerous brutal executions, including that of his own mother. When his second wife, pregnant at the time, complained that he had returned home late from the races, Nero kicked her–and her unborn baby–to death. He killed his Aunt by having her poisoned. Nero was a non-stop assault on marriage, the family, and the law of God. Nero had two homosexual marriages to men. When he wed Pythagoras, Nero put on the bride’s veil, and Pythagoras was the “groom.” According to Tacitus, Nero engaged in “every filthy, depraved illicit act.”

        Modern Cultural Marxism is also a “non-stop assault on marriage, the family, and the law of God” – that’s a fundamental plank of the Marxist agenda.

        But the lawlessness then has been replaced by lawfare in the USA in particular i.e. law has not been dispensed with, it has been weaponized. That’s an insidious development where trivial charges mean imprisonment without trial, torture, beatings (e.g. loss of eyesight), isolation, inordinately long incarceration. This is the nature of modern Fascist-Marxist USA that has its roots in the Roman Empire (complete with trappings, symbols, and terminology).

        80

        • #
          Richard C (NZ)

          >”This is the nature of modern Fascist-Marxist USA that has its roots in the Roman Empire”

          Why Patriots Shouldn’t Pledge Allegiance
          https://www.theburningplatform.com/2023/06/11/why-patriots-shouldnt-pledge-allegiance/

          Southington, CT children pledge allegiance in May 1942 (Library of Congress) [Image]

          The arm outstretched toward the flag came to be called the “Bellamy salute,” and it endured for several decades before its striking similarity to the Nazi salute prompted its replacement in 1942 by the familiar hand-over-heart gesture.

          A Government Loyalty Oath Written by a Socialist

          Conditioning America’s Youth for Subservience

          Making an Idol Out of Cloth and a False God Out of Government

          40

      • #
        John Connor II

        The defining part of their collapse was the “family entertainment” at the local arenas. No gladiators, just people being raped by trained animals then eaten alive, which brought massive applause.
        ie public sexual depravity endorsed by the masses.
        Scroll forward to today…
        Time is very limited.

        80

  • #
    David Maddison

    Make a diary note:

    Mon, 22 Apr 2024

    For Earth Day.

    Make sure to do a gratuitous display of conspicuous energy consumption such as turning on all household lights and appliances.

    If there is compulsory turning off of power use a generator.

    Bonus: Make a big barbeque of delicious, mouth-watering MEAT. Make sure to invite any vegan or vegetarian Leftists and/or Gaia worshippers you know.

    380

  • #
    Penguinite

    “Are they your appliances or the state’s? If you don’t control the power switch you know the answer.”

    Solar panel owners beware! All that glitters is not gold, just subsidised.

    110

    • #
      Forrest Gardener

      The big question for solar owners is what happens when the master switch connecting the grid is turned off.

      If your solar panels still power your house you’ve got daytime power. If your batteries recharge then your as close to off grid as makes no difference.

      On the other hand all my equipment is connected to a monitoring web site most likely in China.

      And for those paying attention I for one welcome our new overlords.

      42

      • #
        ozfred

        without an attached battery, it is likely your inverter is dependent on the grid to provide frequency control and there is no switch to isolate your generation from a “dead grid”. Workers attempting to repair grid faults do no like to find “random” power sources providing energy to the otherwise dead grid. Hence the national standards requiring inverter “shutdown” to the earlier series of inverters when the grid power has failed.

        91

  • #

    Green zealots think net-zero dandy,
    And hence forth be their modus operandi,
    But the sting in the tail,
    Is you might go to jail,
    If you fail at ‘smart’ gadgets be handy.

    160

  • #
    Neville

    Meanwhile in the REAL world the Human Development Index is at an all time HIGH. Thanks to FOSSIL FUELS.
    But give them time and their forced use of TOXIC UNRELIABLES and we’ll all be facing the energy MISERY of their FANTASY world.
    AGAIN here’s the 2021 OWI DATA HD Index map by countries across the globe. Will they ever WAKE UP?

    https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/human-development-index

    110

  • #
    Penguinite

    Get ready Australia these restrictions and controls are coming for you sooner than you think per curse-ity of 5G

    90

    • #
      Forrest Gardener

      So the lack of 4G coverage in my area is a blessing in disguise?

      31

      • #
        ozfred

        I have reliable 3G coverage. 4G coverage is detectable but many times would be unable to make a phone call. I wonder how this might affect Telstra’s pledge that no customer will have service reduced as a result of the changeover to 4G?

        40

  • #
    Philip

    I was once going to live like that, off grid and use energy when available. I was single, and I’m fairly rugged – I once lived for 15 months without a hot water system – and was not tied to societal timelines.

    But to ask a family, women and children, who go to work from 9 to 5, to live like that is simply impossible. They don’t have the available flexibility required for it, nor the rigger to tough it out. These days I’m telling my wife to wash on weekends only or at night and don’t use the drier, and even that is a big hassle – but I’m getting there.

    The whole energy narrative is going to fall over once they impose restrictions, people will simply not be able to adjust, and they will react to it, I’ve seen it.

    131

    • #
      Steve

      The problem is not that there is a lack of energy sources, it’s that they are being restricted by the corrupt rich.
      Our current predicaments have been explicitly and consciously engineered by TPTB to our detriment.

      130

    • #
      ozfred

      Have you ever heard of a Braemar hot water system?

      20

    • #
      Fran

      telling my wife to wash on weekends only or at night and don’t use the drier, and even that is a big hassle – but I’m getting there. <em

      How about you do the washing yourself!

      40

  • #
    David Maddison

    Consider this.

    Most suburban houses do not have enough roof space and land area for enough solar panels to make an off grid system that is able to produce enough power to survive the longest period of cloud cover in winter.

    Not to mention the cost of all those panels plus associated batteries, plus the impossibility of going off grid in an apartment.

    In Australia, they are already starting to shut down the natural gas supply such as prohibiting gas in new buildings and prohibiting gas exploration, both things being done in Vicdanistan. And the cost is going up dramatically. Natural gas will not be a substitute for heating or even to run generators.

    If you have generators, they might ban their use for non-Elites, plus there might be gasoline or diesel fuel supply and cost issues.

    The Australian Government has already proven with the covid lockups that they are prepared to do absolutely anything, legal or not, sensible or not, to satisfy their private-jet-flying UN/WEF masters. Whatever It takes. They also have a slave army of useful idiots of the Left in the media, public “service”, unions, “universities” and the uneducated to support them.

    It will be no different when they impose energy starvation upon non-Elites to “save the planet”.

    300

    • #
      Klem

      I know a guy who spent at least $40,000 on solar panels, heat pump and a Tesla wall battery for his home. He was showing it to me and being a cloudy day his solar panels were producing zero watts at that time, and of course they will soon be covered in snow. I asked him how much money the whole thing was saving him and he said about $1000/year.

      I’m not so good with numbers, but at that rate the payback period is…?

      230

      • #
        Ronin

        2 or 3 beers a week. LOL

        60

      • #
        Forrest Gardener

        It’s a real shock to the system the first time a proud owner sees solar panels delivering 10% or even less just because storm clouds are overhead.

        120

        • #
          Kalm Keith

          Well that’s new.
          I know Stan is a proud abccc man but now we have “proud” Solar people, presumably paying homage to the host roof.

          50

          • #
            Forrest Gardener

            Yes KK. I am proud. It makes me quite gay. And when my kids talk about going to the bathroom I invariably inquire why they say that when they mean toilet.

            And I’m not going to stop using words with their proper meaning just because the dingbats of the world want to hijack those words.

            71

      • #
        skepticynic

        being a cloudy day his solar panels were producing zero watts at that time, and of course they will soon be covered in snow

        What location would that be?

        10

  • #
    Neville

    AGAIN here’s the Human Development Index graphs for the wealthiest and some poorer countries.
    Australia , NZ, Norway are at the top.
    BUT the WORLD HDI has improved by 20% since 1990 and of course much higher than 1950 and 1970.
    But give them time and we’ll all be declining and then I suppose they’ll be happy?
    And never forget we’ve added another 2.65 billion people to the world’s population since 1990.

    https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/human-development-index?tab=chart&country=IND~NOR~BWA~ARG~DZA~USA~COD~CHN~PHL~AUS~NZL~OWID_WRL~GBR~ZAF

    50

  • #
    Saighdear

    Huh, that lot … I’ll be Raac’d if I do and Raac’d if I don’t. Couldn’t even organise a …. Och what the Heck, WHo wants to live in the UK anymore? – Illegal immigrants, it seems – Why? . We haven’t enough HOUSES, will we even have enough Jails? what a JOKE.
    Heard today that there are so many Advisors helping the Gubbermint … straight out of Uni’ …. 20-somethings year olds. Aye the Apprentice is now the expert. What have I said before about HR?

    150

  • #
    aspnaz

    Death by over regulation. The UK will increase its costs so massively that they will never be competitive with anyone other than the Germans who have also gone loopy. Asia will continue burning coal and electricy at the same old rate, so this is in practice simply a set of punishment regulations that only apply to the British. Why is the British government punishing their citizens, the tax payers?

    140

  • #
    Serge Wright

    Now that we’re living in “1984”, we’ll need to resurrect George Orwell and get him to write the sequel so we know what comes next.

    170

    • #
      Forrest Gardener

      My crystal ball says that by the time the sequel to 1984 appears the original will never have been written, or perhaps will be rewritten to begin at point where Winston learned that he loved Big Brother, or perhaps that Winston never existed.

      100

  • #
    Raving

    Good to see the ‘Class system’ is alive and well in Great Britain even though itvis reputed to be long gone dead and buried.

    By ‘class system’ I mean that the middle and lower classes cannot be trusted to make the sensible decisions on their own behalf. Therefore it is necessary to have experts and educated gentlemen set up and guide the lower classes with enforced rules and regulations.

    Without such enlightened upper class giuidance, civilization would break down, Gah!

    No wonder the Americans revolted from the English paternalism!

    /satire sarcasm or whatever

    120

    • #
      Steve

      The class system never died or vanished in the UK, it’s always been alive and well thanks to royalty, private schools, the military, the police, masonic lodges, the MSM and the civil service.

      60

      • #
        Hanrahan

        The class system is alive and well in the US. They don’t have a real royalty so they invent one.

        “Judge” Jannine isn’t still a judge.
        The Attorney General is not “general”, he is an attorney.
        “Governor” Huckabee hasn’t been a governor for 16 years.
        Ivy League schools are more snobbish and inbred than British nobility.

        Need I go on?

        10

    • #
      Dave in the States

      No need for a sarc tag. It’s exactly how they think.

      60

  • #
    Serge Wright

    These draconian and Orwellian rules are a direct admission that RE doesn’t work and the new solution is to force people to dramatically restrict their power usage by stealth. We also need to remember that every time a new restriction or punishment is introduced we lose more freedom and these restrictions are being added in a constant drip feed, akin to boiling a frog. Unfortunately, this won’t stop until all of our assets are confiscated by the state and the wealth redistributed based on political allegiance and of course this will be done to “save the planet” and in addition in Australia, to pay reparations for colonialism. The time has come and we need to draw a line in the sand if we want to preserve our freedom and democracy.

    140

    • #
      Gary S

      Correct, Serge. The penny has finally dropped with the imbeciles we have put in charge, that all this net zero nonsense is just that.
      They now realise they have been very ill-advised and have listened to the wrong ‘experts’ for far too long (think Flannery, Gore, Mann & co). The people have been very patient and have gone along with this drivel for 40 years now, although many of us knew the truth and did what we could to convince our fellow citizens otherwise. So now the obvious outcome would be for the people and their parliamentary representatives to stand up and say ‘Enough, we gave you the benefit of the doubt and the fallacy of this theory is now proven beyond question. Time to stop the experiment and return to a system which works and doesn’t just sound good.’ Unfortunately, I doubt their egos or maybe their manipulators will allow them to acquiesce.

      140

      • #
        Forrest Gardener

        Gary who is in charge and what part did you and I have in putting them there?

        60

        • #
          Gary S

          As I said, it was we who put them in charge – you and I included. In the past, it was assumed, wrongly, it now appears, that once policies were announced prior to elections, that the victors would honour their pledges. Although the motives of politicians have always been suspect.
          Now it seems there are greater forces at work, so that social contract is no longer valid. As we were responsible for allowing this to happen to us, it is now our responsibility to do everything in our power to reverse this appalling trend.
          The rise of the political class, ‘educated’ by our loonyversities and inserted into parliaments and public services is the absolute worst thing ever to befall our democratic system. That needs to change. Only you and I can do it.

          60

          • #
            Forrest Gardener

            All correct Gary but I’m still not sure of the particulars of the charges I’m facing.

            I just see myself as an individual. I take no responsibility for the behaviour of the “we”. That kind of guilt trip is what the global warming dills want to inflict on me.

            60

            • #
              Gary S

              F.G., I am saying that yes, we should all harbour individualistic thoughts and tendencies – that is what turns us against the tide of tyranny. But there is also strength in numbers. Alexander may have been great, but he did not conquer the world alone.

              01

  • #
    Neville

    AGAIN here’s the World’s HD Index since 1870 to 2015 and NOTE the amazing improvement since 1950 and 1970.
    And we’ve achieved a world RECORD for Human FLOURISHING and population increase since 1950 and 1970 BECAUSE OF RELIABLE FOSSIL FUELS. Just look up the REAL WORLD DATA.
    So why would we want to WRECK our electricity grids and use TOXIC UNRELIABLES while China becomes a much stronger menace now and into the future? ELECTRIC TANKS ANYONE?

    https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/human-development-index-escosura?country=GBR~USA~KOR~IND~CHN~BRA~CPV~AUS~NZL~NOR~RUS~ZAF

    30

  • #
    Ronin

    “New legislation that could see families made to adopt “smart” appliances to ease pressure on the grid.”

    So the expense is put back directly on the consumer to prop up the supplier, isn’t that like hitching up the cart in front of the horse.

    The appliances might be smart, unlike the politicians.

    130

  • #
    Penguinite

    Boiling the frog slowly technique! By the time you discover the heat you’ll be cooked/cucked

    30

  • #
    Maptram

    I can’t see any mention of EVs in all of this. If there is no electricity, EVs can’t be charged either, so not only is the house cold (or hot, depending on the season), no refrigeration, no cooking, no lights, no TV or radio, no communication, the only way you can get to somewhere more comfortable, is to walk.

    120

    • #
      David Maddison

      They don’t want you to drive anyway. So no electricity for your EV, no problem. Just walk or take the bus. Hence “15 min cities.” Elites excepted.

      110

    • #
      Neville

      GEEEEZZZZZ Maptram you said….”no refrigeration, no cooking, no lights, no TV or radio, no communication, the only way you can get to somewhere more comfortable, is to walk”.
      Do you really have to agree with their fantasies and identify with their wet dreams? SARC.

      30

  • #
    David Maddison

    Related to increasing totalitarianism in Australia, there will no doubt soon be strong controls against the use of cash, making all transactions and people who make them fully traceable and trackable.

    To that end, I saw a 100g gold bullion in Costco in Moorabbin, Melbourne the other day. It has a sign saying you couldn’t buy it unless you provided three different forms of ID, a passport, an Australian driver’s licence and a Costco membership card.

    Also, Australia is fully compliant with WEF requests to impose a Central Bank Digital Currency, as you would expect.

    Being Australia, you can be assured that the only purpose for this is a malelovent one.

    https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/08/what-are-central-bank-digital-currencies

    What are central bank digital currencies?
    Aug 31, 2022

    More than 100 countries are exploring central bank digital currencies.

    Victoria Masterson
    Senior Writer, Forum Agenda

    This article was published in August 2022 and updated in October 2022.

    Australia’s central bank is trialling a digital currency to explore “innovative ways” for homes and businesses to make payments and transfer funds.
    More than 100 countries, including 19 G20 nations, are now exploring central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

    CBDCs could improve financial inclusion, say experts, but cybersecurity threats and theft are potential pitfalls.

    Money isn’t paper and coins any more.

    It’s increasingly digital – and a growing number of central banks are considering issuing their own digital currencies.

    Australia is the latest country to trial a central bank digital currency (CBDC).

    Its central bank, the Reserve Bank of Australia, said the project would explore the potential economic benefits of introducing a CBDC.

    The project will also look at how a digital currency from Australia’s central bank could be used to provide “innovative and value-added” ways for homes and businesses to make payments and transfer funds.

    SEE LINK FOR REST

    70

    • #
      Kalm Keith

      No cash; that’s a frightening prospect.
      Even now, with cash, the banks are not reliable or efficient so try to imagine what it’ll be like when they go fully digital.

      Home and property mortgages are in a digitised dreamworld thanks to governments selling off management rights for cash and the ownership details of your property may now be in the hands of the highest bidder.

      But, I’m sure that the digital management is completely trustworthy.

      Good luck for the future.

      110

      • #
        Serge Wright

        Our land titles have already gone digital and the paper copy is now worthless, meaning those are already at the mercy of the government to do as they please.

        100

        • #
          MP

          There are three private companies that hold all our titles, those companies are worth many Billions, they own nothing, they produce nothing, and they trade nothing. Their value is from your property.
          Our paper titles have been declared worthless and only digital titles are valid.
          This is our Governments doing.

          60

    • #
      Ronin

      If the clowns wanted to do something worthwhile they could recall all the $100 notes and exchange them for ‘new updated’ ones, they would then know how many are ‘offline’ for good reasons.

      30

    • #
      skepticynic

      I saw a 100g gold bullion in Costco in Moorabbin

      What price?

      30

    • #
      el+gordo

      ‘ … traceable and trackable …’

      The Commonwealth Bank now demands a mobile phone be used when attempting to send money to a family member.

      I spoke to the manager to gain clarity, he reckons I’m the first person he knows that doesn’t own a mobile. Admittedly it looked a little dodgy, but as he knew my face he allowed this ‘once off’.

      Money launderers have a lot to answer for.

      00

  • #
    Ross

    “Ministers are pressing ahead with new legislation that could see families made to adopt “smart” appliances to ease pressure on the grid”.

    This highlights the mistaken notion that the government (the elected representatives) are actually pushing these crazy policies. Whereas, in fact, in true Yes Minister style it’s actually the public service bureaucrats who are responsible. Same here in Australia. There are “tells” continually revealed. Chris Bowen (Minister for Higher priced energy and Climate change scam) is a first class clown but he knows he has the support of the Ministry behind him. Because, they’re probably all climate change, coal hating zealots no doubt. The Poms invented the Westminster system of government and this is just a further example of the power of the unchecked bureaucracy. It’s why when the LNP are in power in Australia, no real cancellation of these progressive policies actually occur. The LNP MP’s and Ministers wouldn’t dare because they would lose the support of the public service. My prediction is that some Tory MP’s will kick up a fuss in a sort of limited hangout fashion, but Net Zero will probably continue. Maybe not as fast, but it will still persist.

    70

  • #
    Ronin

    Employee on the phone, Boss, I can’t get to work until 11 am, my car didn’t charge overnight.

    60

  • #
    ivan

    Maybe the idiots proposing this stupidity should look at http://www.gridwatch.templar.co.uk/ and think about their proposal in the light of what that site shoes – Renewables will never supply real continuous power.

    80

  • #
    Neville

    Meanwhile Atmospheric Physicist Dr Will Happer tells us that the slight warming from Human co2 emissions will not be a problem now or into the future.
    Oh and the world is GREENING because plants LOVE the EXTRA Co2 and it doesn’t hurt our farmers and the extra food they can now grow for the world. See this recent video from Anthony Watts etc and Heartland.
    And AGAIN just look up the DATA for yourselves.

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/09/01/climatetv-live-at-1pm-et-global-greening-is-good/

    130

    • #
      Kalm Keith

      There isn’t any “warming” from CO2, human or environmental, and we need to accept that.

      Not only do we need to accept it but The Fact needs to be pushed back vigorously at those who are using the concept to control civilisation and destroy it.

      And don’t mention photons or I might really lose it.

      🙂

      100

    • #

      Facts are stubborn things.

      – Ronald Reagan

      50

  • #
    Raving

    Biggest use of electric meter monitoring here was to discover illegal cannabis grow-ops.

    There are privacy concerns

    60

    • #
      ozfred

      Wife left the split system heater on overnight last week. The smart meter reporting system allowed me to show her the effect on the power consumption. Would have been a lot more than the bank of “grow bulbs” in one room.

      40

    • #
      Kjay

      Extract from the “Terms & Conditions” of a well known WA solar company..

      Some of our related entities, or third-party service providers to which we may disclose your personal information, may be located in countries outside Australia or may hold your data on servers located outside of Australia. We will take reasonable steps to ensure that these parties do not breach the Australian Privacy Principles or this privacy policy in relation to your personal information.

      We reserve the right to disclose any personal information to law enforcement or other government officials where we reasonably believe that this may be necessary or appropriate.

      30

    • #
      Geoff Sherrington

      Raving,
      The FLIR infra-red cameras in police helicopters can detect heated supply wires from pole to home growing hydroponic stuff. Up to 5 miles away, clear signal.
      We are not seeing increased prosecutions because trendiest imagine pot will soon be legalised and besides, the jails here are too full already and cannot cope with a burst of new drug convictíons.
      Another massive bureaucracy failure. Thousands of children will suffer. Geoff S

      30

  • #
    Choroin

    It’s a short hop-and-a-skip from criminalising other factors which might create an ‘oversize’ carbon footprint, other than electricity use.

    Like, perhaps, eating more than one steak per month?

    > Allo, Allo, Allo! Excuse me sir, is that a steak you’re eating? We’ve received a complaint by a local concerned that they saw you eating steak yesterday, so we need you to come down to the station while we look into your phone tracking and payments history to confirm if you’ve broken the law.

    Meanwhile, real crimes skyrocket because I guess it’s easier for law enforcement to deal with peaceful people than get their hands dirty and perhaps experience higher personal risk. You just know (post-covidian) the cops will jump at any chance to police peoples electricity use, spending habits, and even eventually their diets.

    100

  • #
    Simon

    Power companies in most countries have had the ability to switch of hot water cylinders during excessive peak demand for decades. The alternative is staged power cuts, which would you prefer?

    128

    • #
      Richard C (NZ)

      Simon >”The alternative is staged power cuts, which would you prefer?”

      Heh. Worked at two power companies. Staged power cuts have also been used for decades, although euphemistically referred to as “feeder faults” where I was.

      70

    • #
      David Maddison

      Traditionally in Australia hot water was heated “off peak” in the early hours after midnight at periods of low demand. There was never an issue of load shedding being necessary because we had a properly run electricity grid at some of the world’s cheapest prices.

      It’s expensive and unreliable solar and wind which create the need for load shedding, not traditional coal, gas, nuclear or real hydro power (not SH2).

      300

    • #
      Dave in the States

      Neither if it was me. How about cheap and plentiful and stable electrons from coal and/or nat gas?

      And how about more gas stoves, furnaces, and water heaters?

      200

    • #
      Ronin

      That was then and this is now, before the grid was taken over and run by “The Experts”.

      130

    • #
      Kalm Keith

      Can’t
      Really
      Accept that
      Proposition.

      81

    • #
      Forrest Gardener

      Simon you are going to need a better chat bot.

      70

    • #
      Neville

      Simon I prefer to listen to the best scientists in the world, not silly alarmists and L W extremists.
      BTW take the CO2 Coalition’s QUIZ and see if you can answer their questions correctly? I’m sure Dr Happer, Dr Spencer, Dr Lindzen, Dr Christy, Dr Ridd, Dr John Clauser ( 2022 Nobel prize for Physics) etc would only be too happy to educate you and see if you could score 50% +?
      I scored 100% at my first attempt and could have done so 10 years ago and yet I’m not very well educated.
      But my parents were very sceptical people and I guess it must have rubbed off on me.

      https://co2coalition.org/climate-quiz/

      91

    • #
      Philip

      Simon says these are your two options. LOL!! Death by hanging or lethal injection.

      91

    • #
      el+gordo

      ‘… staged power cuts …’

      South Africa is close to becoming a failed state because of staged power cuts and they say it could take years to remedy.

      100

    • #
      Steve

      “Most countries” !
      Absolute and total rubbish, name me three.

      30

  • #
    SimonB

    Welcome to Klaus Schwab and Georgy Schwartz (George Soros) future for mankind. If a ‘conservative’ government is prepared to destroy energy security and democracy at the whim of utopian megalomaniacs and claim it blithely as appropriate for the future of the environment, then there definitely is no end to the lunacy of government and bureaucratic restrictions on ‘compliant’ populations.
    The simple question your representative must ask, on constituents behalf, in whatever Western jurisdiction you live in on this planet is simple;
    If the Chinese are producing 2 coal power stations a week and using the thousands they already have, then why is even the combined European population destroying their economies?
    If China has produced the same amount of emissions in the last 8 years as England from the start of the Industrial Revolution until now, with full UN, Schwab, and Soros commitments to keep going for 5 times longer, then why are you considering jailing people in the West for keeping food cool and cooking it with reliable energy?
    We, in the West, have allowed a class of evil hedge fund manipulators to support truly evil Marxists to brainwash generations with a voodoo cult, which is now the ‘accepted’ state religion.

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    Old Goat

    Does the UK actually have a “fascist” political party again ? Walks like a duck, quacks like a duck . You can pick: Socialists or Fascists ? -They are the “final solution ” to a problem that doesn’t exist. They have lost their minds.

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    Rupert Ashford

    …and coming soon to a government in Aussieland – just you wait. It started with “smart electricity meters”…

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    Mike Borgelt

    Old Goat, Socialists and Fascists are the same thing with different branding.
    The true plague on this planet is a plague of Government. This is partly caused by democracy, as those voted in promise more and more to stay in office. Everything they do is “for our benefit” of course, so vote for us. Democracy doesn’t seem to be working very well to limit the powers of government.
    I don’t know if there is an answer other than societal collapse as the cost of the promises kills the economy.

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      SimonB

      Solution?

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      Old Goat

      Mike,
      The magic word is accountability . You have to reward honesty and competence and penalize those who deceive and fail – you have to put their skin in the game . Nothing good comes from rewarding lies and failure .

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        Kalm Keith

        Hit the wrong button. See green.

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        Dave in the States

        Accountabilty in a democracy or a republic should come from elections. But when there’s election fraxd there’s is no accountabilty. What we are seeing world wide in governments telling the people “too bad you are getting it anyway” is evidence that elections are dishonest.

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      Dave in the States

      All political parties buy votes with other peoples money. Especially Democrat/Labour. It’s always other people’s money. The promise is always it’s not going cost you that much, we will make the evil rich pay. Except there’s really is no free lunch and the rich don’t really pay. They get paid. This is what all these green schemes do: transfer wealth from the poor and the middle class to the rich. And to the academics and government class it’s the new gravey train.

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    Raving

    Australia must be very ludky to have small low density cities.

    Here with higher population densities, cars and bikes are fighting for the use of the road.To imagine that EVs are going to park at charging stations on our streets as the bicyles scooters unicycles reclining-bikes mobility-scooters streetcars skateboards service-animals and pogo sticks fight it out with the pedestrians for stopping and moving rights of way ….

    Uhm, stream of consciousness because that is what transportation traffic is becoming. All spilling into the single lane of 30 kn/hr speedbump calming pedestrisn advance traffic lights controlled traffic.

    Yeah public on street charging stations for EVs is going to be a real transportation show stopper.

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    STJOHNOFGRAFTON

    With all those people going to prison for petty energy crimes the sanctimonious Brit government will have to come up with a modern version of prison hulks to take the overflow from overcrowding prisons. Are they thinking re-purposed multi-story cruise ships?

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      David Maddison

      Since the UK Government no longer wants its citizens of British ethnicity, maybe they can be sent to where all the boat loads of their replacements are coming from.

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      Ronin

      What did they do with that one that hit the rock off the coast of Italy.

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    Neville

    AGAIN there has been a big drop in the death rate from fires and burns since 1990 around the World.
    Aussie rates are also very low today and another 2.65 billion people are at risk since 1990.
    So where’s their dangerous “Climate boiling” and their so called EXISTENTIAL THREAT?

    https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/fire-death-rates?tab=chart&country=LBY~ESP~OWID_WRL~BRA~CHN~NZL~USA~AUS~FRA~CAN~DEU~NLD~NOR~SWE~GBR

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    Honk R Smith

    Perhaps we are in the midst of an emerging new high art form.
    ‘Government Dramatic Narrative’.
    I barely watch a movie anymore, most of my entertainment time is spent keeping up on the latest government dramatic plot.
    It’s like cool new tech in a Sci-fi or Spy movie … wow, can they really do that?
    “Can they really control my frig?”
    “Will I have to get a vax pass to buy stuff to put in my government controlled frig?”

    The greatest Pandemic since 1347 turned out to be primarily Government Dramatic Narrative .. no?
    We weren’t really ‘legally’ required to imprison ourselves.
    We weren’t ‘forced’ to get vaccinated.
    Just Government Dramatic Narrative.
    Did anyone in OZ ever really have to pay a lockdown fine?
    It was like your mom threating you with “when your father gets home.”
    (Except government thinks Fatherhood is toxic masculinity.)
    “You just wait ’til your other mother gets home!”

    When the cops came to your house and threatened you for breaking protocol, it was more like a live action Nativity scene being played out in your yard at Christmas.
    Everyone knew it wasn’t “horse de-wormer”, it was just dramatic exaggeration for enhancement of the experience.
    Like in the old days when you come out of a good movie with the feeling of actually having been there.

    Everyone knows the oceans aren’t really “boiling”.
    But they could be.
    Like Spock beaming down to the planet, it’s not real science, but could be.

    I think we should relax and get with the spirit.
    It’s like learning that a man living with a coyote in an art gallery is high art.
    https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-joseph-beuys-locked-room-live-coyote
    And Hunter Biden life journeyed from Naval officer, to lawyer, to crack addict, to international energy executive, to investment fund manger … to successful impressionist artist.
    Kinda of like when the pig becomes a champion sheep dog.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babe_(film)

    Ya’ have to open your mind.

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    Neville

    So this topic is all about cutting Human co2 emissions by 2030 or 2050 and of course this is just delusional BS and FRAUD.
    In 1950 global co2 emissions were about 6 billion tons per year and today over 37 billion tons per year.
    AGAIN in 1950 Human life expectancy was about 46 years and today about 73 years. Yet global population was just 2.5 billion in 1950 and over 8 billion today.
    AGAIN our poorest continent Africa had a life expectancy of just 36 yrs in 1950 and about 64 yrs today.
    Yet Africa’s pop was just 227 million in 1950 and 1460 million today. That’s an increase of 1233 million people over the last 73 years, while their life expectancy has soared.
    Now can anyone tell me why or how we face an EXISTENTIAL threat to Humans or a Climate EMERGENCY in 2023?
    Here’s co2 emissions since 1750 or 1950, just use the active graphs to check.

    https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/annual-co2-emissions-per-country?country=OWID_WRL~CHN~OECD+%28GCP%29~USA~GBR~Europe+%28excl.+EU-28%29~OWID_EUR~AUS

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    Neville

    Amazing how the global literacy rate was led by the Netherlands and the UK after the age of enlightenment.

    https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/cross-country-literacy-rates?country=MAC~ISR~CHN~OWID_WRL~GBR~THA~SGP~NLD~IND~CRI~ARG~RUS~PER~USA~AUS

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    Andrew McRae

    All depends on the brand of fridge though.
    Just don’t buy a Fisher & Orwell and you’ll be fine!

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    […] published JoNova; Imagine needing government permission to turn up your winter heating when you catch Covid, or […]

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