JoNova
A science presenter, writer, speaker & former TV host; author of The Skeptic's Handbook (over 200,000 copies distributed & available in 15 languages).
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Statistics
Gday from Englandshire, where our only redeeming feature is we don’t have a Snowy 2.0, but give our politicians time and I’m sure they will work up some brilliant alternative.
There’s a rumour of 20,000 smackeroonies for the first post. Where do I claim 🙂
150
Surely our alternative madness is HR2? A high speed railway being built at enormous cost in order to transport people very short distances at very high speed. If you want to get from London to Birmingham 25 minutes quicker then catch an earlier train.
250
That might be my rumour but like many things I believe there is a kernel of truth to it. I suspect the amount is only $10000 not 20, but that is enough for any reasonable person. Jo is a bit indisposed at the moment so is unable to sign any cheques. I suspect that cheque writing condition might last about 10 years
80
Salty, I have an energy minister for you, he’ll assist with any far fetched unachievable energy problem yo could possibly dream up.
If you’ll adopt him we’ll pay you handsomely. One small hindrance though, you have to accept the entire parliament ( including a barely functioning opposition )
Do we have a deal??
60
It has been suggested that the Snowy 2.0 debacle is a result of an attempt to cut costs. There are at least two methods of avoiding the current dilemma ,costly, but no where near the cost of current mismanagement. Such tunnels have been constructed in worse locations. How did we let the contractor attempt such a costly mistake in what is supposed to be a closely managed energy industry.
10
Well, the UK has HS2 high-speed railway
You get a smack for that, but no roonie.
50
At the moment we have all the pictures of new build estates on floodplains, flooded for the nth time in recent history, thanks to climate change we are assured, despite £xmillion just spent on more flood defences trying to cater for a moving target!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-67186613.amp
80
So chat GPT could trigger a cyber attack.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-12666677/ChatGPT-responsible-CYBER-ATTACK-Scientists-AI-systems-tricked-producing-malicious-code.html
Our society has never been so vulnerable to being destroyed by a rogue state or individuals. Target telecommunications, banking and key infrastructure such as water and electricity and it would take 3 days for society to collapse in anarchy.
I think the degree of reliance we are placing on the digital world is insane. The internet of things is a very hungry and dangerous beast.
Mind you, rationing electricity as well as pushing its price up as we head for net zero will have much the same effect, but this sabotage is being carried out by our own governments.
160
Maybe they should stop giving bad people ideas, just for a scary headline?
20
That’s OLD news in the circles I move in.😎
But it is the MSM…
10
UK gas chef points out we will need gas for decades to come
https://dailysceptic.org/2023/10/23/britain-will-need-gas-to-avoid-blackouts-for-decades-as-wind-power-falls-short-71-of-the-year-says-national-gas-chief/
I wonder if anyone in Government is listening?
160
Our metal dumps are filling up with propane tanks that need a new valve fitted, but the supplier has ceased to do this. Have to buy a new tank because it is illgal to fill outdated tanks.
10
The world is currently in a very strange, dark and leaderless place.
We are not building on the past efforts and contributions but tearing apart what was built and letting some unelected elites share it between themselves.
There’s not much left: collapse is close.
Hang on to your hat and pray while the Schwamp keeps on Preying.
On us.
151
But wait! There’s more!!
No-one seems to envisage the fights and wars BETWEEN the elites, as have always resulted from any large organisation seeking power.. Be it Kings, Emperors, Parliaments, Presidents or just tribes in caves, once the local peasants are on their knees they look to the next field and try to steal those peasants.
So, what would it look like? There are plenty of stories of corporate wars in SciFi, the two AIs warring in the TV series Person of Interest, and there must be hundreds more. Will WEF break into factions? Will the giant Corps form their own ‘Wagners’? Will we find out if Schwab, Gates and Musk are willing to share??
30
A couple of days ago I expressed my concern at the huge US debt and what it could mean in their role as leader of the west.(coincidentally I saw a story that said that 60% of US forces were obese or overweight but that is a separate and worrying matter)
https://www.usdebtclock.org/
Along the top line of the link are the debt clocks for other countries. The west is truly sinking in debt, although China has also been profligate in recent years and their housing bubble may yet cause problems.
Australia seems to have blown a fortune on a useless Snowy mountain green scheme as JO reported yesterday, with yet more green ruinously expensive schemes planned by most western countries.
180
If your latest meal has already been digested, you should do an image-search for ‘ fat people ‘.
One needs to be cautious about the terms obese and overweight. The idea of Body Mass Index (BMI) used in the US is not ready for prime time.
50
BMI is a typically wrong (due to its ridiculously simplistic nature) and obsolete measurement system.
Time for it to be dispensed with.
40
That will not solve the problem of four Big Macs with extra double bacon, two packets of raw Oreo mix and a crate of Diet Pepsi each day while sitting in front of a TV/computer/phone..
You don’t need a fancy measurement, just look over a crowd of Americans any day.
20
BMI is simplistic but pretty good unless you have a lot of heavy muscle but few fall into that category. Waist measurement is a useful secondary indicator-the real waist size often being entirely different to trouser waist size.
10
My mum used to measure fattnes (or emaciation) by just pinching a fold on the back of the arm – taught that method in yesterday’s medical school.
10
The consequences of money creation without productivity improvement is inflation.
Chinese development of manufacturing just this century has resulted in a massive boost to productivity but it is coming to an end because they have learnt what they can from the developed nations and are now leaders in global manufacturing. Australia has benefited hugely from China’s industrialisation. Australia supplies close to 1bn tonnes of iron ore that earnt USD116bn in 2022.
NetZero and EVs are highly inflationary. Think of all the people involved in Snowy 2 in Australia doing absolutely nothing to improve productivity. Meanwhile there are few tradesmen to build houses so house prices are skyrocketing.
UK has been wasting resources for even longer on useless stuff. There are a lot more EVs in UK than Australia – a massive waste of resources. There are a lot more wind turbines in UK than Australia; all with a guaranteed output of ZERO. Another huge waste of resources.
Debt denominated in the currency of the country can never default. The problem comes about when no one wants to hold the debt. Any currency exposed to high inflation is undesirable. China does not want to hold US debt. That means they have to find new trading partners willing to take what they produce – Russia, Brazil, Africa, Middle East and so forth are countries where they are strengthening trading ties.
It appears that Kuwait has stood up in the current Isreali conflict. They are showing leadership consistent with their wealth and international influence. That will last as long as they are producing oil.
US’s spiral into the NetZero void was delayed by 4 years of Trump but it is currently gathering pace. UK is possibly leading the race to the bottom with Europe a close second, Australia taking third place and US bringing up the rear but catching up. The current developed world will pass the newly developing world going down while they come up, unbridled by CO2 demonisers.
110
With regard Australia’s productivity. This from the Guardian:
.
“Baffled pundits” clearly have no clue. If you have government policy aimed at boosting massive waste of resources then productivity has to slide. Nearly all weather dependent generators are a waste of resources yet there are MASSIVE government incentives to build them. In Australia, the current incentive is more than the cost of coal fuelled electricity 12 years ago.
NetZero ultimately leads to no one doing anything other than making electricity. The whole economic output has to be directed at keeping that system going.
150
OK, the US is deep in debt.
Who to? It sure ain’t China or any BRIC nation.
I don’t know the answer but no one here has given one when asked. Again I have no idea how it would work but everything is so stuffed up a debt jubilee might be the only answer.
I am not defending profligate governments BTW.
40
The Federal Reserve holds a large slice of US treasury bonds at – 22% of total. Foreigners currently hold 30% and the rest held internally. Pension funds 13%; Mutual funds 12% etc.
A more useful indicator for the state of the US economy is US net international investment position being MINUS $18tr. But I expect nearly all is denominated in USD. So the main worries for foreigners holding US investments, whether paper or real, is inflation and law and order.
The NetZero agenda will inevitably erode the willingness of foreigners to hold US assets. The current government spending in the US is inflationary but the Federal Reserve is not replacing maturing bonds so that is sucking money out of the economy. It means that private investment is reducing thereby lowering demand.
20
You can see that a gold-linked Dollar would be catastrophic for a generation. Imagine no lending above a bank’s deposits, or people having to save for something, or even worse, a Govt having to save up for some project!!
I’m sure somewhere there is a graph of how many years the next generation will have to work to pay off the interest on a country’s debt. Seeing the dollar’s creation is as a debt, it is impossible for America to pay off their debt with the money they have minted.
“everything is so stuffed up a debt jubilee might be the only answer.” A fascinating question is, who loses?? All that money that never existed except as figures in a computer is gone, so who is worse off? I can see that pension funds are worthless, in order to pay them back the Govt they lent the money to will just inflate it to nothing. Did billionaires lend Govts money? If they never got it back would it matter?
Its not a sustainable system at all.
20
‘ … their housing bubble may yet cause problems.’
Country Garden is defaulting, the largest Ponzi Scheme in history is about to collapse.
‘ … 60% of US forces were obese or overweight …’
Probably reflects societal norms.
00
New party in foundation in Germany:
German firebrand politician quits far-left Die Linke to set up her own party
Prominent German leftist to launch a new party that could eat into far-right’s support
90
” would court unhappy voters on the left and right,”… and scored 90% of the votes in her first election!! Who wouldn’t vote for someone new like that?
10
How Britain Brainwashed the World
The Biased Brainwashing Corporation (BBC) and the Brainwashing Insights Team (BIT)
The Brainwashing Insights Team (BIT) was set up by David Cameron in 2010 as the world’s first government institution dedicated to using neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) to brainwash the public into supporting loony left-wing policies such as “Net Zero” making very careful use of nudging and NLP practices to create powerful cognitive dissonances in the minds of anyone engaged in “wrong think”. Today, virtually all major public policy issues have been “reframed” to nudge people into unconsciously making decisions that radically destroy not only their lives, but the very sanity of society. The Brainwashing Insights Team (BIT) produced the MINDSPACE protocol for the British Conservative Party. The MINDSPACE protocol was designed by the Cabinet office to hypnotise members of the British Conservative Party into supporting the policies of the Chinese Communist Party.
The purpose of the Conservative Party is not to represent its members, supporters and constituents opinions. But to brainwash these people using neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) so that their thought processes and behaviour are controlled by the Government using hypnotic techniques to manipulate the unconscious mind and induce mindless Groupthink support for insane policies beneficial to Civil Servants and those Members of Parliament who do not care about excess deaths or the vaccine injured.
The BBC is used by BIT to induce fear, gloom, doom and public panic, using repetition to overcome rational criticism of the Government. The Office For Censorship, Obedience and Manipulation (OFCOM) is to act as a “Ministry of Truth” for the Government.
160
That’s got it Paul, nice and succinct.
If only there was some way to Identify each of the many “untruths”; quantify the damage done to us; trace back to the source or instigator of each piece of NLP, and Then Prosecute with a vengeance.
Would we, “the Voting, Taxpaying Public”, be able to organise this or would the weight of Powerful People and their Public Serpents dominate and disperse our efforts?
Of course it would also mean “rectifying” the courts and legal system.
Remember Watt Tyler.
50
Accountability is a key but bear in mind that every effort has been made to eliminate accountability wherever possible.
50
Make of it what you will, but the removal of people from the electoral role due to death has shown a bit of an upward swing in the last 2 years. up and down between 124-132k per year since 2015, then jumping to 145-147k since 2021.
I don’t think it’s reasonable to make any interpretation based only on these numbers, but whatever the causes, it’s a noticeable shift.
https://www.aec.gov.au/enrolling_to_vote/enrolment_stats/type/index.htm
80
I’m positive we can’t interpret the excess deaths being reported in many countries. It’s definitely not Covid 19 that came from bats or the Covid “vaccines” that have “saved” millions of people! (Sarc)
70
The post war baby boomer bubble is slowly deflating.
00
The smoke is starting to clear on the Luton airport fire.
It seems a rich, entitled berk drove his already burning Range Rover into the carpark, late for a flight, asked for someone to “attend” to the fire and flew off. Heard yesterday that someone has been charged with “damage” offences.
Explains the empty fire extinguisher at least.
Gunna be a lawyers’ picnic.
120
Surely extinguishing minor conflagrations at drop off is part of the airport valet service.
70
Well, that explains the hazards being on.
That moron is fully responsible for all damage.
He effectively threw a Molotov cocktail into a bottle shop.
30
As expected, climate bedwetters are out in force, wailing over the first Cat 5 (allegedly) troppo to form in October EVAAAH! Kinky TC Lola is bearing down on Pentecost Island in Vanuatu this morning, even though sea temperatures are nothing out of the ordinary [angels don’t play this HAARP?]. The curse of a tax haven in Cyclone Alley…
On the same day, the fourth snow storm of October is licking Australia’s southeastern shores, to then move onto our southern shores where warnings of ‘snow to low levels‘ with ‘cold temperatures‘ are now being issued. This carbon stuff sure is versatile in its ability to mimic bog-standard Spring weather.
Hopefully all the ni-Vanuatan folk are safely inside their reinforced concrete shelters singing ‘this, too, shall pass’. Amen.
110
RE: Baltic connector gas pipeline incident in the Baltic sea, Is a Chinese cargo ship suspected to have caused it.? Been watching article regarding todays fatal shipping tragedy off Bremen Germany and that comment was raised.
Further investigation – but nothing ON our tv, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/24/finland-recovers-ships-anchor-close-to-damaged-baltic-sea-pipeline …. Amazing, eh? after all that stories about small yachts being hired to do the job…. Lay the anchor, maybe ? Whatever next.
OH! Further reading … is that ANOTHER PIPELINE inicident then? -just recently? How out of touch is our News Media… one track chorus about Israel ….
100
“Illegal Centrelink Seeker boat intercepted – queue jumpers sent to Nauru for first time in 9 years.”
https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2023/10/illegal-centrelink-seeker-boat-intercepted-queue-jumpers-sent-to-nauru-for-first-time-in-9-years.html
50
The brilliance of Tony Abbott showed by having life boats on the Border Force vessels so if an intercepted smuggler’s boat was unseaworthy, or rendered unseaworthy, they would be put on a lifeboat and pointed back to Indonesia. These lifeboats were expensive but still cheaper than handling the invaders and when they arrived back in Indo. prospective “refugees” knew that these had wasted their money.
I imagine there were modifications done such as limiting the range of the compass so they couldn’t navigate south and sealing the fuel system against sabotage.
60
FWIW
“OK, This Is Funny – Tom Emmer Wins GOP Secret Ballot, Then Promptly Drops Out When President Trump Swings Atomic Truth Hammer
October 24, 2023 | Sundance | 45 Comments”
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2023/10/24/ok-this-is-funny-tom-emmer-wins-gop-secret-ballot-then-promptly-drops-out-when-president-trump-swings-atomic-truth-hammer/
80
Friends of Science Newlsetter #397
https://friendsofscience.org/index.php?id=2892
Topics include:
.
Whydrogen? Expanded Use for Hydrogen Are Narrower Than Advertised
.
Polar Bear Researchers Hiding Significant Increase in Southern Hudson Bay Numbers
.
Mummified Penguins from 5,000 Years Ago Found in Antarctica
.
A Climate Conversation
.
Arctic Sea Ice: the Canary in the Coal Mine
.
Can We Trust projections of AMOC Weakening based on Climate Models that Cannot Reproduce the Past?
40
Beijing restricts export of graphite, the EV industry is in trouble.
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2023/10/22/china-restricts-exports-of-graphite-key-mineral-used-for-making-ev-batteries/
10
The question is coming up more and more – if we have a gender spectrum, where some days you can be here, and some days you can be there, why are the authorities attempting to permanently change someone’s position on the spectrum, and set it in concrete?
30
There are definitely cases where word meanings are being changed to suit current agendas.
That from yesterday’s thread relating mainly to the definitions of “nation”.
Did someone forget what most (somewhat elderly?) people consider the function of a vaccine to be?
61
Just like more is less …. or did I get that the wrong way around …. and that’s the trouble with such slogans & Ideals. Confusion rules
20
Would anyone here have an idea on the price of used excavators?
I’m wondering if the slide in our dollar and world wide inflation may have even increased their value. Asking for a friend.
20
Pick up a copy of “Earthmovers and Excavators” at a news agency
30
Or use one of those new fangled web search engines.
30
Wouldn’t I need to know the prices from a couple of years ago to compare?
This was a very general question but if you don’t know, why reply?
31
Guy near me was sold up by the Sheriff and I believe his excavator went for less than the cost to transport it out of where it was , mind you it took 3 goes over two weeks to get it on the float . From what I’ve seen if only a few years old low hours the prices are still pretty high but drop drastically depending on condition, age and where the excavator actually is .
20
FWIW
“Can solar flatline for a whole day? Yep.”
https://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2023/10/24/can-solar-flatline-for-a-whole-day-yep/
So build more – that’ll fix it (/s)
30
It flatlines for 3 months at the North Pole and South Pole.
The lowest I have seen in SE Melbourne is 20 minutes full sunshine equivalent.
Alberta ranges from 50 to 60 degrees So clear sky sunlight in northern Alberta in December is next to nothing. Would not take much mist to knock it for a day.
30
And the whole UK is also between 50 and 60 north.
So North of Winnipeg.
Would not take … ditto.
Thanks, Rickwill. Succinctly put.
But still folk – including Councils – are building more solar, even in Scotland.
Auto, still shaking my head
20
FWIW
““Hillbilly Whisperer” ”
https://twitter.com/katewerk/status/1716824124566413345
Via
“The Urban Bigot”
https://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2023/10/24/the-urban-bigot-2/
With lots of comments
10
Think the “Yes Crowd” would fit there?
10
In comments there –
“Something I read once………..
I ONCE WAS A NORMAL PERSON:
I used to think I was pretty much just a regular person, but I was born white, into a two-parent household which now, whether I like it or not, makes me privileged, a racist and responsible for slavery.
I am a fiscal and moral conservative, which by today’s standards, makes me a fascist because I plan, budget and support myself.
I went to school for 19 years and have always held a job. But I now find out that I am not here because I earned it, but because I was “advantaged”.
I am heterosexual, which according to gay folks, now makes me a homophobic.
I am not a Muslim, which now labels me as an infidel.
I am older than 55, making me a useless dinosaur who doesn’t understand Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Snapchat.
I think, and I reason, and I doubt most of what the ‘mainstream’ media tells me, which makes me a Right-Wing conspiracy nut.
I am proud of my heritage and our inclusive culture, making me a xenophobe.
I believe in hard work, fair play and fair reward according to each individual’s merits, which today makes me an anti-socialist.
I believe our system guarantees freedom of effort not freedom of outcome or subsidies which must make me a borderline sociopath.
I believe in the defense and protection of my nation for and by all citizens, now making me a militant.
I am proud of our flag, what it stands for and the many who died to let it fly, so I STAND during our National Anthem – so I must be a radical.
Funny – it all took place over the last decade!
GOD BLESS ALL OF US NORMAL PEOPLE!!!”
130
I am offended by the word ‘hillbilly’.
We prefer the term …
Genetically Isolated High Altitude Preference Dweller
Or …
Small Batch Alternative Ingredient Artisan Distillers
We have an anthem …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1CYKDoYCIM
though we have been disenfranchised from nation states since 1792.
20
United Nations is calling for help in Palestine, they need fossil fuel for trucks and other vehicles.
Why are they not using Electric Vehicles in accordance with IPCC instructions?
sarc.
130
If you start a war with no reserves of essentials, whose fault is it?
50
And if the other guy starts a war when YOU have little or no reserves of essentials, like weapons, fuel for planes n tanks n ships and power, like food, like munitions and power and factories to make them, is the other guy malign, or your leadership useless ( and possibly traitorious)?
Or both, of course …
Auto
20
I heard on the radio earlier this afternoon, a climate scientist claiming that this year is the hottest in 100,000 years and that this year has seen about 23 days of world average temperatures over the dreaded 1.5°C increase. And of course such temperature increases can be stopped by stopping the use of fossil fuels.
40
Our woodstove is on yet again; the temp. outside was 12C when I looked a while back, after a brief spike to 16C. Shiver, where’s our global warming? My poor tomatoes.
90
Blocking high pressure in the Bight brings a cold air outbreak to south eastern Oz.
http://www.bom.gov.au/fwo/IDY65100.pdf
10
A cold air ‘outbreak’ or ‘invasion’? Checked the snow cams an hour ago and Mt Baw Baw (VIC) and Mt Mawson (TAS) both had a healthy dollop – OK, more of a decent dusting – of ‘climate change powder’, or is it ‘global warming frozen fallout’? ❄️ ❄️ ❄️ ❄️
Their BoM is now calling #5 snowfall this month for Halloween night, 31 October – surely the word unprecedented can finally be used authentically?
50
If you picked midnight as your starting reference wouldn’t that be every day of the year?
20
Mega-Jolt: The Costs and Logistics of Plugging In EVs Are About to Become Supercharged
By John Murawski, RealClearInvestigations
October 24, 2023
U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm gave Americans an unintended glimpse of the future during her road trip this summer touting the wonders of electric vehicles.
Far from spotlighting the promise of EVs, her public relations misadventure in Georgia involved one of her staff in a gasoline-powered vehicle blocking off a coveted charger in advance of her arrival, leading to frayed tempers and a local EV owner calling the cops.
It was an illustration of the challenges drivers could face as governments push the public to embrace plug-in vehicles.
Hyped as technological marvels, EVs are boobytrapped with a host of inconveniences and tradeoffs. By now many people have heard about range anxiety, exploding lithium-ion batteries, and the environmental destruction caused by global mining for battery minerals.
But another wave of challenges is in the offing as the federal government and state officials pump in billions of dollars to build out a massive national infrastructure of charging stations to power the EVs.
The sheer scale of a charging infrastructure means recruiting retailers and businesses to install and maintain chargers that are expected to lose money in the near future, with some likely to be written off as economic losses.
In the heyday of California car cruising culture, it used to be “two girls for every boy.” Now the refrain is 20 EV chargers for every gas pump.
In California, which is slated to ban sales of new gasoline-powered cars in just 12 years, government estimates indicate the state may need to install at least 20 electric chargers for every gas pump now in service to create a reliable, seamless network.
Massive public subsidies will be a crucial part of this effort because private industry is not willing to take the financial risks of betting on an uncertain future.
Government subsidies mean complying with recordkeeping and reporting mandates and making sure chargers are online 97% of the time, while bearing the financial risk of vandalism, mechanical malfunctions, daily fluctuations in electricity pricing, and cashflow unpredictability.
A “net zero” society inherently favors the haves over the have-nots.
Renters and low-income families aren’t as likely to own private chargers, and electricity purchased from public chargers can cost five to 10 times as much as charging privately in a garage at home.
To avoid penalizing the little guy, federal EV mandates require that 40% of benefits pay for public chargers in disadvantaged areas, while California requires that at least half go to such “equity” communities, where relatively few people currently drive EVs.
The analytics firm J.D. Power said this year that 20% of all EV drivers reported visiting a charger that did not or could not charge because it wasn’t working or there were long lines.
The dissatisfaction rates ranged from 12% in the Cleveland-Akron-Canton area to 35% in South Florida. The firm said the trend is moving in the wrong direction: As more people buy EVs, “overall satisfaction continues to decline.”
A University of California, Berkeley, study last year found similar results: only 72.5% of chargers in the Bay Area were functional.
A newspaper columnist in California described the charging experience as miserable. “The misery was meted out in several ways,” he documented. “Charging stations were hard to find. Maps that locate stations were not reliable. Paying for a charge with a credit card often proved troublesome, sometimes impossible. Worst of all, way too many chargers were broken or otherwise out of order.”
He warned of a public backlash against the state’s mandate banning the sale of non-electric cars in 2035 if the situation doesn’t improve.
This year, an exasperated Los Angeles Times columnist declared she’s ready to trade in her EV because charging is such a hassle.
She wrote that chargers are sometimes blocked by cars that aren’t charging, exposed to blistering sunlight, charging at lower levels than advertised, or “it may shut off mid-charge with no warning or reason.”
50
“By now many people have heard about range anxiety,”
One possible cause of range anxiety could be due to choices. If the heating and cooling is powered by the same electricity that powers the motor, then drivers could be faced with a choice, whether to go without heating or cooling, so as not to reduce the range.
40
EV range anxiety I have observed causes drivers to slow down as they do when talking on a mobile phone and driving.
The highway speed preferred seems to be 80 kmh regardless of the legal speed limit, for example, being 110 kmh.
00
I have no idea what’s going on here in Townsville. In the last few years there has been a massive build of new petrol stations. The first I watched has over 30 bowsers and I shrugged and decided that they would all be wired and would be converted as EVs gain acceptance. But new stations have sprung up like mushrooms and no way was the town short of outlets before this.
The town is not so big that many have long commutes and this particular servo isn’t on the road to the beach suburbs anyway, and we still have the country town attitude so I doubt that there will be a big market for EVs.
30
They are getting ready for all the Victorians flooding North H.
50
Glad to hear you’ve got a superabundance of petrol stations and plenty of bowsers because I’m being flown up there in a month, and I’ll be getting a car too, but I’ll be heading west. No fear of encountering an abundance of charging stations for electric cars out west from Townsville I imagine.
30
Further west once past the grid system most electricity is supplied by diesel generators, for example at road house fuel stops.
10
The Lynd Junction and Belyando Crossing for sure. Both a long way from anywhere on the Kennedy and Gregory Development roads.
I was getting something to eat at The Lynd, it was busy, and the gen set tripped. I doubt you would be welcome asking to charge an EV.
10
There has been talk of CopperString, HV power to the Isa, for ages. Iirc a $5 bill project. It was needed to get decent internet to the west, before EVs. I doubt it has even started so don’t take your EV west, at least in the medium term.
00
I have observed many service stations being renovated and new ones being built.
10
Such a waste of capital.
00
Chinese worker safety video
https://va.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_s30n5jZPrO1zyoa47.mp4
Reminds me of Itchy & Scratchy.
Who cares so long as we get cheap crapola.
/sarc
20
Blaming Storm Babet on global warming is a risky venture, it came out of the Sea of Biscay and there is historical precedence.
Paul Homewood trawls for flooding episodes and finds the 1950s were wet.
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2023/10/24/what-caused-severe-floods-in-the-1950s-sky-news/
40
The storm called Babet also dropped SNOW on Glencoe in Scotland, so good luck tying the word ‘warming’ to that chilly number.
40
Interesting link. Another expedition into the past for me; brought back memories of the 50s.
10
Storm Babet was nothing out of the ordinary except, in some parts of the country, its wind direction.
If you have a westerly facing harbour-as we do here in South Devon-and the storm comes from the east, it will catch people out, but be by no means unique. In our part of the world it coincided with spring high tides.
00
FWIW
Hurricane Otis predictions vs performance –
“What Would We Do Without Models?”
https://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2023/10/25/what-would-we-do-without-models/
30
Proving you are you.
Twice in recent weeks we have had to prove/verify our identity.
One instance was the CBA popping up and demanding that my wife (customer three decades) must verify her ID or her accounts would be closed (!?)
The second was the ATO wanting to verify me. Having once existed and retired/disappeared for 15 years, I started a little part time job last year and became visible again.
I both cases the organizations are not contactable in any practical sense and you have to work via online processes that are tortuous and poorly conceived (in one simple example my wife was trying to put in a date and the guide below showed a standard DD/MM/YYYY format. After some shrieking I investigated and what it really wanted was US MM/DD/YYYY.
Anyway, the point of the anecdote, is that in both cases at some stage they wanted us to enter a number that was on the back of our drivers licence. There is a unique microscopic number on the back of your licence. I have never come across this before. I don’t know if we are just late to the party or this is something relatively new.
I guess its tiny so it isn’t legible in the usual copy/scan/photo images of licences , and serves as a basic two factor authentication source. Just odd it would pop up twice in a couple of weeks.
If you have a VIC licence and want to have a squint, its at the base of the last number in the large date numbers on the back. Sometimes that date number overlaps and makes it even more difficult to see.
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Must be a Vic thing …..its not on my NSW licence. !
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Thanks yarpos for this very public spirited advice.
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FWIW
“‘Just as Cruel as the Terrorists’: Many Ordinary Palestinians Joined in Hamas’s Atrocities Against Israel”
https://freebeacon.com/national-security/just-as-cruel-as-the-terrorists-many-ordinary-palestinians-joined-in-hamass-atrocities-against-israel/
Goes with
“THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS AN ISLAMIC EXTREMIST”
https://richardsonpost.com/paulzanetti/33336/no-such-thing-as-an-islamic-extremist/
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The moderate holds you down while the extremist beheads you.
Forget it, This algorithm is shit.
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Victor Davis Hansen speaks.
Last week someone asked me to listen to VDH, who I had already spent HOURS listening to.
OK here he is on Trump and war:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TZXPqCS7T4
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