Farmers win: Major EU backdown on farming emissions and regulations

Farmer Protests

By Jo Nova

Farmers win the day after mass protests

Thousands of farmers in tractors and trucks protested in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Ireland, Sweden, Portugul, Greece and Spain. Farmers in Poland are planning to block the Ukrainian border. The French farmers held Paris under siege, blocking roads, pouring manure everywhere and leaving supermarket shelves empty, then after they won some concessions from President Macron, they kept on driving to Brussels and did it all again with help from farmers from other countries. The EU is the target.

The thing that made this so potent was not just that the farmers had heavy equipment that moved obstacles and drove over barriers, they also had huge public support. Something like 80 to 90% of French citizens supported the farmers and were willing to put up with the inconvenience. Then to cap it off, EU elections are coming in June, and they only happen once every five years. The Greens look like they will do badly.  That people like Geert Wilders can win in national elections must have shocked the politerati class. But right wing governments have been elected in Italy, Sweden, and Finland too.

This looks like a major win. Not only is the EU backing down on the demands to cut nitrogen and methane by a third, but they’re also not going to halve the use of pesticides, and they’re not even going to harass EU citizens smugly telling them to eat less meat.

The next big move of climate activists was through agriculture, but this has, for the moment, hit the fan…

EU drops net zero demands after farmers’ protests

The Telegraph

The European Union has caved in to angry protests from farmers and cut a target to slash agricultural emissions as part of the bloc’s net zero drive.

A demand to reduce nitrogen, methane and other emissions linked to farming by almost a third has been removed from a wider Brussels plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 90 per cent by 2040.

The move to offer concessions to the farmers would be seen as a major step away from the bloc’s original green plans.

People may have missed just how big the European farmer protests have been. For some reason the media didn’t want to cover what happens when farmers get angry. Like the truck-driver protests in Canada last year, these sort of revolts are potentially dangerous to the political class. They can bring a nation to its knees in days. Journalists and media moguls scorn the workers, but they quietly fear their power. If the masses wake up and realize they don’t have to put up with rules set by chattering classes and desk jocks, that could wreck the cushy lifestyles of the wordsmiths and academics.

A truckload of manure can stop the traffic…

Farmer Protests

Such was the anger, there were fires in the carpark of the EU Parliament, and fires on French highways.

Farmer Protests

 

Reuters: At least 14 highways in the regions of Catalonia, Andalusia, Castille-La Mancha and Valencia were blockaded, official traffic data showed.

Victor Orban PM of Hungary explains that the EU rules destroy farming in Europe by imposing rules on European farmers but then allowing produce from other parts of the world to come in which have none of these rules. The push to reduce pesticides and force organic farming onto European farms, but not on imports was one of the major complaints about EU regulations.

Nigel Farage explains the importance a week ago:

 

 

The war is far from over. After the elections, if there is any way they can, the EU still wants to bring in absurd laws of climate voodoo and witchcraft.

Green backlash looms over EU elections

[Reuters] The European Commission is set to recommend an ambitious goal to cut net greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2040. The target would aim to foster green jobs and low-carbon industries, drafts of the proposal showed.

Polls show more seats could go to far-right and right-leaning parties opposed to climate policies. EU officials say backing for ambitious green laws has also been eroded among EU states by recent elections in Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

Photos came from these Twitter links:

Thank you Elon.

Apologies to readers, these Twitter videos take a long time to load.

9.9 out of 10 based on 94 ratings

152 comments to Farmers win: Major EU backdown on farming emissions and regulations

  • #
    Murray Shaw

    One would have thought that the Sri Lankan experience with organic agriculture laws would have been a wake up for those of the Green ilk.
    Well done to those farmers in France Germany Holland and the UK.

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    • #
      wal1957

      You are so right Murray.
      It just goes to show how an ideology are happy to wilfully ignores facts and history to promote their beliefs.

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    • #
      PeterPetrum

      That was exactly my thought. No Government seems to learn from the mistakes of others and Bowen is a perfect example of this. What is happening in Europe and in particular Germany is a disaster for the population, but Bowen just keeps on keeping on.

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    • #

      The big problem Murray is that most people who only tune into MSM have no concept of the Sri Lankan experiment.A friend who visited recently was appalled that a green dream policy disaster was realitivley ignored.

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    • #
      Steve

      Murray.
      What have UK farmers done ?
      Obviously nothing in the MSM, which I don’t read anyway, but not aware of any protests here in the UK.

      60

    • #
      Gerry, England

      The UK farmers haven’t staged mass protests….yet….because the UK left the EU and is not subject to the Directive that requires member states to submit plans on agriculture. But given this lunacy emanates from the 2015 Paris Agreement the UK will be planning something along these lines.

      The EU parliament elections will be interesting if there is a move from left to right then Useless von der Leyen is in trouble with her dream of another term as EU President. She only squeaked through last time as German MEPs refused to back her knowing she was useless and Greens got her over the line. Still, I suppose a job at Fascist Central in Davos beckons if she fails.

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      • #
        Saighdear

        Hmm, not so sure that I can fully agree with your sentiment there. Red diesel & RED TAPE: not just for farmers but also for most outdoor type businesses. I keep hearing about the “Subsidised” diesel etc “Subsidised” ? really? you mean overtaxed DERV which is no longer just for deRV’s but Heating & Generating plant, waterpumps etc. Racketeering at its best. Now, I’ve been reading IN the VOSA Newsletters that ( their) Officials seem to be making the laws ? Changes in regulations for MOT stations, recently etc …. so IF they can do that, AND the Post Office can prosecute on its own, then you wonder how/why the ( eg) NHS -Dentists today, cannot make up for any shortcomings, etc etc. and so what do the very few sitting ( on screen) MPs do? Nodding Jackasses, if you ask me.
        Back to farmers: THe MSM and associated Industry Bodies / Institutions are all FOR Net Zero and the like, with plenty gabby farmers / lifestylers ready to throw in their tuppences with Brexit … JUst saying.

        30

  • #
    Neville

    Thanks again Jo for highlighting the inspiring videos and stories from the EU Farmers and their supporters.
    We can only hope that this changes the way people vote and they get rid of the Greens and other parties who seem to have lost any common sense over the last 30 years.
    A big ask I know but other countries have achieved a lot over the last couple of years, so we’ll just have to wait and see.
    I only hope we start to wake up in Australia and stop this ruinous WASTE of money on the journey to TOXIC, UNRELIABLE W & S.

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    • #
      Adellad

      Neville IMHO “Greens” have nothing to do with common sense, lost or found. They are part of the New World Order pseudo-Marxism that is one highly visible aspect of the long march through our institutions.

      410

      • #
        Saighdear

        Aye indeed. Have just got involved in removing a WOOD PELLET BOILER in a Nature Conservation Area ( Cairngorm National Park) which has been replaced with an OIL Boiler: known as a Condensing Boiler. Condensing ? I was amazed how much REAL Heat came out of the exhaust – worse than a Kettle. Snow on ground outside and Dry hot steam issuing forth. Wasted energy at a glance!
        So whilst doing research on the Pellet burner stove, I was informed by the Manufacturer of another Brand, that they would no longer be producing such Woodburning Stoves ( yet they still have them advertised for sale):- the UK Gov wants us to use ELECTRIC heating systems. So I Dunno!

        40

  • #
    davefromweewaa

    Has there been any coverage of the reckless renewables rally? The ABC’s NSW country hour totally ignored it yesterday!

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    • #
      Greg in NZ

      Over here there’s been nought (nowt!) coverage; a few days ago there was a fleeting mention of French farmers protesting; however, there’s been almost constant reminders of ‘concerned Germans’ protesting against ‘far-right nationalists’ and their proposed immigration changes.

      It’s as if mass media is attempting to mass form people’s outlook/perceptions – surely not, in this age of freedom and democracy (FAD).

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      • #
        el+gordo

        My guess is that the ABC and Guardian are trying to digest this information, looking for the correct spin.

        Its been the hottest year in recorded history, but those selfish European farmers are only concerned about the hip pocket nerve.

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      • #
        Saighdear

        Yes, Germans’ protesting against ‘far-right nationalists’ watching the proceedings on Sat TV or online, “triggers” me now. Germany seems to have wandered so far LEFT that even something further INLAND from their cliff is deemed as far / extreme right.

        20

    • #
      GlenM

      Short of nothing it seems. A deliberate attempt by the Australian media to not cover the protest. Lies by omission again and disgraceful journalism.

      410

      • #
        Annie

        Sky News was the exception then? There was some coverage in the evening.

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      • #
        MP

        Maybe you should try and inform yourselves, instead of complaining about how you are being spoon fed.

        The Rally was live streamed by many, though most are poor quality, at least they were there. It appears the many hundreds of New South Welshmen who read this blog were too busy on the key boards to attend.

        Until we are all prepared to get off our butts, stand up and take the reigns, for ours and our kids rights, than this is the destiny of our choice, our doing.

        These people have all the money, all the communications, all the power, but they cannot stand against all the people, as they are cowards. What we have is numbers and the governments watch the numbers.

        Those who think rallies are a waste of time as they are ignored by governments, have never been to one, it’s not about government, and it is about showing the people that they are not alone in their thoughts.
        We have all spent our lives ignoring this elephant, and now the room is full of excrement, we want someone else to shovel it out.
        Time to grab a shovel folks and clean up the mess of our own making.

        Before you ask, (and some here will remember) I stood for three years, every Sunday of every week, every other Saturday of every month, was a four hour drive to a Rally.
        I watched the first rally of a dozen people, the second double, and it kept on doubling every rally until it jumped to (media estimated 7000). That rally we filled every carpark in the city (150,000 pop), it pissed down rain, and it was great.

        We had the people, then it all stopped. It is a numbers game and we are all one more.

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        • #
          Steve

          “Time to grab a shovel folks and clean up the mess of our own making.”
          I don’t necessarily agree that the mess we are in is of our own making. The establishment is the main culprit that created the mess, and that was done in the name of quick profits and lack of investment – a scourge that still infests society.
          Our votes are meaningless and democracy has been effectively neutered. Rallies are mostly ineffective and only make an impact when they involve ‘civil disobedience’.
          For example, literally millions protested, peacefully, prior to the Iraq war. But, that was ignored and the USA and the West bombed and killed anyway.
          The UK ‘Poll Tax Riots’ against Thatchers governments caused her government to change their plans (implemented later under disguise). They were successful because TPTB lost control of the people and the establishment were terrified.
          If you want to effect change you have to frighten the enemy.
          Standing in the rain and singing ‘Kumbaya’ achieves nothing.

          30

          • #

            The mess of our own making was that we stopped paying attention. We let them change the curriculum, the language, the norms, the immigration, and add a million pages of legal rules and loopholes for their crooked friends. We as a civilization mostly didn’t write letters to the editor, complain to the principal, phone up our MP, etc etc. We didn’t get involved in a political party, or even the P&C.

            But we can do that now. Or we can talk ourselves out of it, say protesting is useless, and democracy doesn’t work. If I were a psychopath running the world I would pay trolls to write passive gloomy acceptance type remarks on blogs like this, in the hope of watering down any enthusiasm.

            If a million people got out and spent three hours walking the streets for a cause, the political class would notice. They might pretend it didn’t matter, but they would adjust their plans.

            After ClimateGate broke, hundreds of thousands of messages arrived at Liberal Party HQ and within two weeks we had a new opposition leader.

            Everything you do to spread the word helps.

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            • #
              Saighdear

              Kind of agree there, Jo, but its the Gaslighting and similar terminology and acts by the MSM etc and social Media effects. “YES” to independence, etc “Yes” to change, YES to REMAIN and so on. People want to stay with the Flock. Been many stories & Bogs etc about that phenomenon. Poor education is the Root. etc. Language and perception of what you say( or not) – me being a nigger from the area of NIGG in Er Ross comes to mind – but you don’t / didn’t like it. I cannot help that because that ‘s what we call our selves, Hull there’s even a Folk song about us going back to the days of Building the First Oil Rigs there in the Bay. and we have some good BlackFace Sheep and the small Black cattle – the ABERDEEN ANGUS .. Colour ?
              And when you Tell it as it is, they don’t “Like” or Believe it. BBC “Traitors” Prog is made in the Locality but portrays the ideology, n’est pas ?

              20

          • #
            MP

            Your right of course, we should just go with your plan which is, do nothing, which is how we got to this point.
            Lets just keep doimg the same thing, vote in the same people, it will work next time.

            10

            • #
              Steve

              Read what I wrote please !
              Nowhere did I say do nothing.
              I said if you do something it has to be effective, just protesting is not effective.
              Why do you think that the extinction rebellion protests are successful ? (Clue: disruption and disorder)

              00

              • #
                MP

                Reads the same as the first time?
                XR have also achieved nothing, just turned the population against themselves and wasted glue and soup, despite having massive funding and full media attention.

                We foolish time wasting protestors, as I said, we started with a handful and 12 months latter we had a city full. Your definition of nothing is actually a huge increase, I would like a pay-packet full of that nothing. This is what was set out to achieve, increase public awareness, no funding, no advertising and no media, no disruption and no disorder. We did have advertising, sites like this one and other alternative media, we hung banners on the highways, posters. Not organized, people just did this on their own coin.
                A lot brought food and drinks from the local vendors, you’re looking at a half empty glass, I see the opposite.

                “Nowhere did I say do nothing.” Exactly, you criticise others doing something and offer no alternative, i.e. nothing.

                The politicians do notice the numbers, I know this because the cops had set up cameras on the balconies of holiday apartments, in plain view, they know.

                In the end we know the people are there, and when pushed far enough, will stand.

                The ‘Kumbaya’ stuff is always in attendance, people seem to understand 10% of what’s going on in our world and that’s enough to motivate them, people on this site are far more savvy, but sadly MIA.
                We may look like dickheads, but in a few years time there will be a lot of dickheads wishing they had done something. Join with the originals, at least you can tell the grand kids, you tried.

                20

      • #
        Gee Aye

        They were busy covering news rather than a protest by a few hundred people being hijacked by “freedom”.

        119

      • #
        Doc

        imo, the choosing not to cover large public reactions against demands made on the people by extremist left politicians and media of all types
        is proof that the subject to which the huge reactions are made is based ENTIRELY on ideology. It has no definitive proof for the matter being preached
        nor for the inflicted hardships on the nation. The less the media and political reaction to such huge demonstrations against the extremist leftist common cause,
        the greater is the condemnation of the media and politicians for trying to devastate the nation to achieve total power over it. Think of it in terms of what some of the
        left extremists have confessed, in moments of euphoria, from the start of the AGW hoax; ‘It is nothing to do with climate. It is all about redistribution of funds from
        wealthy nations to third world nations’. Then add the call for a One World Government run by the same folk, but really only applicable to the Democracies and Western nations.
        The EU has reached the crossroads. Will it get more leaders like the Argentinian refusnik that will assail the EU Commission and all its powers, and probably breakup the EU?

        91

    • #
      Strop

      Just did various searches on ABC news site using “Farmers”, “Reckless”, Renewables”, “Rally” as key words.

      Nothing about the Aus rally.

      Googling showed nothing on ABC sources either.

      Some ABC coverage about the EU farmers.

      .

      One thing that came up under “Rally” was a rally in support of the NSW coast offshore wind turbines. 🙂
      That’s OUR ABC.

      160

  • #
    Lawrie

    It gives a man hope that not all is lost, that the pigs will not be in charge, be more equal than others. As you say there are powers at work and they still want their weird and wacky rules for the plebs. This has nothing to do with saving the world but to impose a malevolent form of government that once installed can never be removed. Thank God for the European farmers who control the one asset that the rich and powerful cannot, the food supply. For those of you with children watch “A Bugs Life” where the ants overcome their grasshopper masters. Farmers here can have the same effect even if Bowen and Albo don’t want to know. Thanks to those who made it to Canberra yesterday. Maybe it was the first shot in a long war against the madness of the fanatics.

    500

  • #
    Neville

    Here Chris Kenny talks to Dr Peter Ridd at the Reckless rally in Canberra yesterday.
    Andrew Bolt had a longer interview with one of the Farmer leaders last night, but I can’t find a link yet.
    And I’m sure you’ll be devastated to hear that the Teals hated the idea that the Farmers were protesting yesterday. SARC.

    https://www.skynews.com.au/opinion/chris-kenny/people-from-regional-australia-attend-reckless-renewables-rally-held-in-canberra/video/a6e2ff1d07d72d2e44406613b6d94268

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  • #
    ianl

    As is quite usual, the meeja have been fearlessly selective in what is chosen not to be published. This includes all “redneck” defiance.

    The various journos and editors deciding these selections are acting magically. They believe that if they don’t report something, then it never happened.

    The EU vs farmer fight is nowhere near finished. Look at the political violence in Poland after the left managed to assemble a coalition sufficient to command the police.

    350

    • #

      The EU are very cunning and as the commision says, they will need to have a conversation and find other means of halving fertiliser and pesticide.in other words they still intend to do so

      https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68218907

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      • #
        Steve

        Same with EV sales in the UK.
        Timescales changed, slightly, but restrictions on UK EV sales still in place.
        It’s not what they say, it’s what they actually do that counts.

        10

      • #
        Muzza

        Sounds like ignoring the resounding NO vote in Oz – the states especially are continuing down the road towards ‘treaty and restitution’, hopefully ensuring their own demise……

        20

  • #
    John

    Cue “Ride of the Valkyries” as the tractors take to the autobahns and other freeways.

    170

  • #
    Neville

    Peta Credlin has a report on the Farmers’ Reckless rally in Canberra yesterday.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYIIs7lTPk4

    130

  • #
    Bruce

    Good luck with the “back-down”.

    Frankly, I will be pleasantly surprised if, in five years time, any of these farmers will free men and women ; still working the land, MOT in prison or “mental institutions”, and free from the dead hand of “woke” madness, bureaucracy and oppressive laws.

    Remember Mao’s dictum about letting million flowers bloom?

    Many millions of “flowers” bloomed, only to be be ruthlessly cut down for “counter-revolutionary” activity.

    Governments do NOT take kindly to serious criticism, let alone open, sustained demonstrations of protest. This is a historical REALITY, event after event for millennia.

    The last really big exercise in “pour encourager les autres” also happened in China and was broadcast LIVE to the world. It was a simple and effective demonstration of the power of “the emperor / party secretary, etc.

    Europe (and most of the rest of the world), has a long history of similar events. The only variable seems to be the scale of the body-count. It seems to be baked into real-world politics and “human” nature.

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  • #
    John Hultquist

    How many of the tractors and trucks were EVs?

    230

  • #
    Penguinite

    Beware EU duplicity! Believe not what they say until words are followed by deeds!
    Joe Biden thinks he’s been talking to ex-French PM Mitterrand who, supposedly, died in 1996. The froggies must have kept him in a cryogenic state and Joe wanted to know if it was cold or something

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/02/joe-biden-tells-crowd-he-recently-spoke-french/

    200

  • #
    Penguinite

    Australia just needs an Albo awakening that includes dumping BOBowen. Peter Dutton too. If he wants to be elevated to PM. He needs the same balls that “stopped the Boats”

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    • #
      MP

      The “balls” that stopped the boats started the flights, and Dutton was a member of that flight crew.
      The Libs have no solutions as they created all the issues in this country, Labor are just following through.

      46

  • #
    Sean McHugh

    But will the Australian public hear about this? My guess is that they won’t.

    How much have we heard about the protest that took place in Canberra, yesterday?

    200

  • #
    Zigmaster

    I am definately encouraged by what I’m seeing but I still despair about Australia. In two recent farmer interviews I’ve heard farmers express their opposition to this renewables rollout but admit they have solar panels and that they think something needs to be done about emissions. The problem is that everything about climate change is a scam. It’s even problematic whether the world is warming , it’s problematic that warming is bad and problematic that you can do anything about it. The fact that homogenisation has been manipulated to orchestrate the very graphs that are used to justify the climate policies is the root of the problem.
    The only logical solution is do nothing. Even nuclear which is to me a compromise is the only way to deal with it if you are not prepared to argue against the validity of the original hypothesis ie that CO2 is warming the plant dangerously. But arguing against the original hypothesis is necessary cause whilst people believe the hypothesis is proven what you can hope for is the best of a lot of bad solutions not the best solution which is do nothing.
    Climate change policy is a non solution to a non problem. Nuclear is a solution to a non problem and doing nothing is a solution to a problem ( that problem being climate policy).

    290

    • #
      CO2 Lover

      Yes – The lowest cost electricity in Australia is produced from Brown Coal in Victoria.

      With China permitting two new coal fired power stations every week and with India fast catching up – please explain why Australians should abandon the use of coal when we are also the second largest exporter of coal?

      The money being wasted on Nut Zero could be put to far more productive uses.

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      • #
        Ronin

        You can put it down to the greens convincing everybody that brown coal is the devils fuel, it’ll kill all of us, how do they get away with it.

        130

    • #
      Adellad

      I believe your analysis is precisely correct. However, the ship has sailed aided by “progressive” teachers and tertiary “educational” types who have created new generations for whom such facts would ruin their safe places. The system is broken and in such circumstances incrementalism cannot work. The decline must work itself into more obvious societal collapse before people get the idea something is fundamentally wrong. By then I suggest it will be too late!

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    • #
      Ronin

      I saw somewhere yesterday that the planet may have already exceed the 1.5 deg of warming then on SBS news I see them scraping ice and snow form an airport runway in China, freezing temps in Canada, other airports closed due to icy conditions and I think, it’s BS.

      130

  • #
    el+gordo

    EU drops zero demands, this will reverberate in Oz.

    100

    • #
      MP

      Nope, it will not be given any media time. The EU say’s alot and does nothing.
      They always have a plan B.

      80

      • #
        el+gordo

        Peter Dutton is sure to say something and the MSM will feel obliged to report it.

        20

        • #
          MP

          Dutton did not even show yesterday. Net zero is a lib policy, RET is a lib fabrication.

          Dutton may one day say something and as has been shown, the next day do the opposite. Big mouth on a bald head.
          This three stage tax break they’re banging on about and bagging Albo. When asked what the Libs would do, stated, “They will respond at some future time”. This is a Liberal policy, with nothing in it, they had a plan, but no idea of the plan?

          20

          • #
            GlenM

            Who knows what Dutton is on about. Anyway, I’ve never voted Liberal in my voting life and I gave up on the Nationals some years ago. I’m just a despicable retired grazier/farmer. (Tertiary educated)

            00

  • #
    Ronin

    “The Greens look like they will do badly.”

    Wouldn’t that be sweet.

    100

    • #
      CO2 Lover

      “The Greens”

      The name is straight out of 1984 – these parties are “Green on the outside and Red on the inside” who use environmental alarmism to further their socialist agenda and who in reality do not give a stuff about caring for the planet and those who live on it.

      In Orwell’s fictional totalitarian state, Newspeak was a language favored by the minions of Big Brother and, in Orwell’s words, “designed to diminish the range of thought.”

      80

  • #
    David Maddison

    I’m all for Leftists sticking to non-fertilised, non-insect-controlled crops and vegan diets but they should leave the rest of us alone and stop interfering with the farmer-eater relationship.

    Also, Leftists should only eat vegan foods that are not only non-fertilised and not insect-controlled but should also be grown, harvested and delivered to market without the aid of any fossil fuels, including the use of EVs which typically run on electricity produced by fossil fuels as well.

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    • #
      ozfred

      What would the suburban neighbors say if a mechanism that did not need electrical or fossil fuel power was used to maintain a proper height of lawn grass?
      ie a pet sheep. And used as a source for the holiday special meal….

      30

    • #
      David of Cooyal in Oz

      And delivered in non-refrigerated vehicles. Gotta save power somehow.

      40

  • #
    David Maddison

    Farmers not only provide us with food, but their preparedness to protest and fight for freedom and common sense will help secure our freedom as well. But the rest of the thinking community must do their part as well. If you don’t fight for your freedom you WILL lose it. Guaranteed.

    If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without blood shed; if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.

    Winston S. Churchill

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    • #
      MP

      The Rally yesterday was poorly attended, very few farmers rocked up, and no one from this site, though they live in NSW.
      Beetroot head Joyce, made a clown of himself (as usual), stated (when asked) that the coalition might (or might not) go down the nuclear road after a decade in power doing what Labor is continuing with.
      We change governments, yet our destination remains the same and our attitude is, “we will fix it next time” by reinstalling the same people as last time.

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      • #
        Adellad

        I don’t want to agree with you because of the brusque manner in which you write, but alas your tough love is correct. All my life I was kind of naively Star-Trek optimistic and imagined an incrementally improving future towards that goal. As they say, if you aren’t grumpy by the time you get old, you haven’t been paying attention. Well I am now both old and grumpy. More of the same is NOT going to work as you say. But how far must Australia decline before the locals (us) become sufficiently motivated to do what needs to be done? A bloody long way I reckon!

        60

        • #
          MP

          brusque manner

          My manner is because for 4 years I have been wondering “how far must Australia decline before the locals (us) become sufficiently motivated to do what needs to be done?”

          Ridicule is our greatest weapon.

          P.S, harden up.

          21

  • #
    David Maddison

    The agricultural policy of the Left is to ultimately have all non-Elites eating poverty food such aa insects. (Useful idiots – that includes you.)

    They are already indoctrinating children in the wokest countries like Australia into doing this. One thousand Aussie schools already serve insects.

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

    https://www.kidsnews.com.au/environment/insect-chips-could-be-just-the-cricket-for-the-planets-future/news-story/694409445fc2d4860718f86d35e4a0f5

    https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/snacks-containing-bugs-sold-in-1000-australian-school-canteens/news-story/025bf096856beec3639bbc84efd73ad2

    https://ediblebugshop.com.au/pages/school-programs

    A huge part of our business is education, and we would love to help educate your students to the benefits of eating insects.

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    • #
      CO2 Lover

      Ve Hav Vays und means of making you eat zee bugs

      “Conducted parasitological examination suggests that edible insects may be the most important parasite vector for domestic insectivorous animals.”

      In other words, the study found that chitin causes an allergic reaction in humans. Maybe that’s our bodies’ way of telling us that we shouldn’t eat the exoskeleton of insects.

      Another study about chitin[2] concluded that: “Chitin, a polysaccharide constituent of many allergens and parasites, initiates innate type 2 lung inflammation through incompletely defined pathways.”

      A study focusing on chitosan[3] – a chemical compound made from chitin – discovered that its consumption leads to the depletion of vitamins in the human body, which leads to disastrous effects.

      https://simonmercieca.com/2023/01/15/studies-have-concluded-that-eating-insects-is-harmful-for-peoples-health/

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      Adellad

      Are commercial suppliers of insect food known as “buggers?”

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      Steve

      David. Don’t assume that insects would be a ‘poverty food’. You can guarantee that such a ‘right on’, green, environmentally correct ‘food’ would be expensive and probably out of reach for those actually in poverty.
      Iinsects as food are aimed at those with the IQ of an insect.

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    Turtle

    Farmers rule, ok!

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    Neville

    So can anyone from mad Labor or Greens or EU pollies etc tell us how our OECD countries can make a BENEFICIAL difference to our climate?
    Here you can see that all the INCREASE in co2 emissions per year have been emitted by the developing NON OECD countries since 1990.
    The mad EU and other OECD countries emissions haven’t increased at all while China, India etc co2 emissions have SOARED.
    This has cost the OECD countries TRILLIONS of $ for NOTHING and over 30 WASTED years for NOTHING.
    These are very simple sums so why don’t the OECD bankers understand, or why don’t the so called Scientists understand + why don’t the MSM understand etc?
    Of course this only applies if co2 is the primary driver of their fabled dangerous CC or CRISIS or EMERGENCY or so called EXISTENTIAL THREAT.
    AGAIN here’s the DATA or the FACTS, unless they can’t understand the very SIMPLE co2 emissions GRAPH over the last 30 years? IOW when will our so called leaders stop and THINK?

    https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/annual-co2-emissions-per-country?country=OECD+%28GCP%29~Non-OECD+%28GCP%29

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      CO2 Lover

      The crazy EU agricultural policies do not apply to imported foods – why not.

      The same should apply to other imported goods.

      Why not ban goods imported from China and India – the “biggest polluters”?

      This would include clothing, flat screen TVs, cars, batteries, solar panels and wind turbines?

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        ozfred

        the “biggest polluters”?
        All depends on how the biggest is defined and measured.
        “Lies, damned lies, and statistics”

        Consider your car getting hit by a kangaroo at 10 km / hour
        or by a road train at 5 km / hour
        Bigger speed or bigger momentum (and or damage?)
        Yes the pollution in India and China is less per head of population than many other countries, but in the atmosphere it is total amount received that “counts”

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      CO2 Lover

      The question never asked by the Main Stream Media.

      “Assuming Australia does meet its “Climate Targets” by how many degrees Celcius will this reduce global temperature when temperatures in the Southern Hemisphere are already around 1.5 degrees C lower than in the Northern Hemisphere and Australia’s CO2 emissions are only around 1% of global emissions?”.

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      CO2 Lover

      In Praise of Australia’s High Quality Coal

      “The benchmark grade of Indonesian thermal coal – with a calorific value of 4,200 kilocalories per kilogram (kcal/g) – has averaged around $65 a ton so far in 2023, according to LSEG. That compares to an average $184 per ton for the roughly 6,200 kcal/kg coal shipped from Newcastle in Australia.”

      https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/indonesia-fires-thermal-coal-exports-new-highs-2023-11-09/#

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    CO2 Lover

    “Those who do not learn from History are condemned to relive it”

    But in the spring of 2021, President Rajapaksa made an unusual decision: He banned synthetic fertilizer and pesticide imports practically overnight, forcing Sri Lanka’s millions of farmers to go organic. It proved disastrous, as a group of Sri Lankan scientists and agriculture experts had warned.

    According to one estimate, the president’s agrochemical ban was poised to save Sri Lanka the $400 million it was spending yearly on synthetic fertilizer, money it could use toward increasing imports of other goods. But Rajapaksa also argued that chemical fertilizers and pesticides were leading to “adverse health and environmental impacts” and that such industrial farming methods went against the country’s heritage of “sustainable food systems.

    The agrochemical ban caused rice production to drop 20 percent in the six months after it was implemented, causing a country that had been self-sufficient in rice production to spend $450 million on rice imports — much more than the $400 million that would’ve been saved by banning fertilizer imports.

    The production of tea, Sri Lanka’s literal cash crop — it’s the country’s biggest export — fell by 18 percent. The government has had to spend hundreds of millions on subsidies and compensation to farmers in an effort to make up for the loss of productivity.

    The dire situation culminated in an uprising in which an estimated 300,000 protesters took over President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s home and offices and set fire to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s home. Rajapaksa resigned after fleeing the country, leaving Wickremesinghe as interim president.

    https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2022/7/15/23218969/sri-lanka-organic-fertilizer-pesticide-agriculture-farming

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    Ross

    This really gladdens the heart. On a lesser scale, but still significant was the Reckless renewables rally in Canberra yesterday. These events must take an extraordinary amount of organizing to bring typically independent thinking people together for a cause such as this. Unlike the leftie rent a crowd demos in the cities, here you have the lone wolf type protestors who generally don’t like to congregate in crowds. I know from talking to numerous farmers here in Victoria that wind power installations have significant opposition. Quotes of $40k/ tower / year are even now not persuading farmers to take up offers of installation on their properties. They hate the appearance of them , the inconvenience and are also a wake up to the absurdity of their energy efficiency.

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      CO2 Lover

      Might explain Chrissy Bowen’s big push for far more expensive Offshore Wind Turbines given the revolt of regional Australians

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        MP

        There were fishermen at the rally yesterday, speaking about off shore wind.
        The head of the farmers federation has sold his soul and has wind reduction devices on his property. Farmers are the original subsidy harvesters, all else are playing catchup.

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          CO2 Lover

          You cannot make this stuff up!

          Oh the Irony!

          The world’s biggest floating wind farm has officially launched today off the west coast of Norway. Fossil fuel giant Equinor is behind the huge Hywind Tampern farm which, with 88 megawatts (MW) of capacity, will generate energy to supply nearby oil and gas platforms.

          https://www.euronews.com/green/2023/08/23/norway-worlds-biggest-floating-wind-farm-will-power-oil-and-gas-platform

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              CO2 Lover

              Oil giant Equinor is behind the project, but renewables still make up only a tiny fraction of its total energy production.

              The world’s biggest floating wind farm has officially launched today off the west coast of Norway.

              Fossil fuel giant Equinor is behind the huge Hywind Tampern farm which, with 88 megawatts (MW) of capacity, will generate energy to supply nearby oil and gas platforms.

              The project – which uses a new technology to tie 11 giant turbines to the seafloor – has received mixed reaction from environmentalists.

              Though it will help cut emissions from the oil and gas fields, climate campaigners argue it’s time to stop drilling for fossil fuels altogether.

              Whether oil and gas majors can or should be part of the renewable energy transition is also a deeply divisive issue. A new report from Greenpeace underlies how small a part wind and other energy solutions play in Equinor’s portfolio.

              The Norway-based company invests just 3 per cent of its budget in ‘real low carbon’, according to Greenpeace Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)’s analysis of 12 European oil companies.

              How will the floating wind farm power oil and gas?
              Equinor partnered with other oil firms OMV and Vaar Energi on the wind farm, which started producing energy in November and reached full capacity earlier this month.

              The energy produced will cover around 35 per cent of that needed to power five offshore oil and gas platforms in the North Sea. These platforms are carbon-intensive, typically using diesel or gas to run their machinery.

              Electrifying them with wind power will cut CO2 emissions from the fields by about 200,000 tonnes per year, Equinor says. That is 0.4 per cent of Norway’s total carbon dioxide emissions in 2022.

              Hywind Tampen comprises 11 wind turbines fixed to a floating base that is anchored to the seafloor, rather than fixed to the ocean bed – a new technology industry experts say is suitable for use in deeper waters offshore and that Equinor hopes to develop further.

              Norway is targeting 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2040, which would double the country’s current power output.

              The electrification of offshore and onshore installations is essential if Norway is to reach its national climate goals under the Paris agreement, Greenpeace points out. They contribute about a quarter to Norway’s overall emissions.

              The country is tendering its first commercial wind farms, including three floating ones, this autumn.

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            Adellad

            If normal water is blessed properly, it becomes holy water and has mystical powers. Similarly, oil and gas created by the use of renewable energy is mystical. It will no longer be carbon-based, it will not affect the weather, it will do only good things.

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          CO2 Lover

          The Insane Cost of Floating OffShore Wind Power

          Four times that of onshore!

          Utility-Scale Land-Based – Left
          Utility-Scale (Fixed-Bottom) – Middle
          Utility-Scale (Floating) -Right

          Capital expenditures (CapEx) $/kW 1,501 3,871 5,577

          Operational (OpEx) $/kW/yr 40 111 118

          Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) $/MWh 34 78 133 {Important: This does not include the cost of back-up power or transmission costs}

          https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy23osti/84774.pdf

          Japanese-backed wind generator’s licence rejected
          Flotation Energy was considered Victoria’s second most advanced offshore wind project but the federal government has stunned many by preliminarily rejecting the project.

          https://flotationenergy.com/projects/

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            Ronin

            And probably half the already short life due to marine environment and continuous movement.
            Generator on a stick, floating in the ocean, what sort of electrical engineer designed this abortion and what could possibly go wrong.

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    Honk R Smith

    Sorry to say, don’t think any of EU governments, or mine here in the US for that matter, at looking at each and sayin’ “the people have spoken”.
    All evidence is they are sayin’ “we’ve got to stop the people from speaking”.

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    Strop

    Question about disruption protests.

    I gather the majority of readers here support the cause the European farmers have taken up. As do I.

    But where is the line between disruption protests that are acceptable and those that are not? Is it simply whether or not the protest has your support?

    An anti fossil fuel campaigner blocks a freeway and we all say, “Why don’t the police kick the crud out of them, drag them off the road, and have the courts issue a real penalty instead of just a slap with a wet lettuce leaf”.

    An EU farmer blocks the road, dumps poop, and what do we say?

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      Robert Swan

      Strop,

      … where is the line between disruption protests that are acceptable and those that are not?

      Good question. I think they are always illegal, but can still be legitimate.

      A typical Just Stop Oil protest starts with a small group making as much nuisance as they can. They remain a small group until they’re eventually dragged away.

      By contrast, the Canadian truckers’ protest grew day after day as more and more people joined in. The small nuisance protest grew into a popular uprising.

      The thing is that politicians of either stripe quite like the first type — nice debating point in parliament — but no sitting politician likes the idea of a popular uprising. As an ordinary citizen, I see it exactly the other way around.

      How about you?

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        Strop

        How about me?

        I much prefer the lack of a need for an uprising. Although, I do prefer it to be against government control when they occur, as they have generally been.
        As opposed to the lefty activist small incursions/disruptions seeking more government interference.

        Perhaps they are more acceptable when they have majority support. But as for being legitimate. That is still subjective.

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    STJOHNOFGRAFTON

    Time for Australians farmers and other concerned patriots to protest as effectively against the impost of ugly solar and wind factory farming on our characteristically beautiful landscapes and seascapes.

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    The bureaucrats will scuttle away, get back into meetings, and plot workarounds. The word cockroaches comes to mind.

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    Neville

    Never forget that even our chief Scientist Dr Finkel had to RELY on MODELS to prove (?) that Human co2 emissions would cause DANGEROUS WARMING in the future.
    Here he tries to prove this future DANGEROUS CC to Senator Malcolm Roberts, but ADMITS that he is RELYING on MODELS to support his forecast of future DANGEROUS CC or warming.
    Would any sensible person THINK that this is the best excuse to WASTE TRILLIONS of $ FOREVER on TOXIC, UNRELIABLE W & S?
    AGAIN, why are China , India and the NON OECD countries striving to build more BASE-LOAD COAL plants until 2060 at least?
    Perhaps their Scientists are telling them to ignore the OECD MODELS and make sure their citizens have a much higher standard of living in 50 years time?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4IPMKhlyQI

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      CO2 Lover

      Alan Simon Finkelis an Australian neuroscientist – what the hell would be know about “Climate Change” – other than what his political masters tell him to say?

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      Kalm Keith

      It’s NOT a scientific mystery.

      CO2 in the atmosphere has no influence on the atmospheric temperature.

      For a start those “things” are NOT MODELS and strangely the core science is hidden and not invited to the parti.

      P.V = nR.T rulz.

      p.s. if you ever take a trip in a passenger jet, remember to keep the windows closed; it’s cold out there.

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    Neville

    Dr Finkel could be very wrong about HIS FUTURE CC and so called DANGEROUS WARMING. Here’s the recent PROOF.
    Death RATES from BURNS and FIRES have had a big fall since 1990, despite the FACT that we have another 2.7 BILLION people at RISK.
    And so called hot countries like Australia and Spain now have the lowest DEATH rates compared to the other WEALTHY OECD countries.
    And the cooler USA and COLD Canada have more than double our DEATH RATES today.
    I’ve included China to prove that even a country with 1.4 bn at risk can beat the USA with a population of about 340 million.
    Don’t forget the deaths rates from fires and burns are calculated on every 100,000 of their populations.
    But there has been a huge GLOBAL reduction over the last 30 years in deaths from FIRES and BURNS.
    Perhaps it’s time for Dr Finkel to start to THINK for himself?

    https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/fire-death-rates?tab=chart&country=ESP~OWID_WRL~CHN~NZL~USA~AUS~CAN~OECD+Countries

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    Philip

    It’s basically force. This is how it works. Forget all your intellectual talk, it’s who has the biggest muscles. European farmers wisely using this to their advantage.

    My parents were lifelong generation-long Australian farmers. They would never do such action. As a kid I would see French farmers and their manure spreading and always note the difference to my parents’ attitude.

    In the 80s there was a proposal for a big power line to go through the corner of my parents’ farm and across the neighbours. The neighbour was most opposed to it. My father thought he would get some bush cleared, new fences and gates out of it so could not have cared less. It never went ahead anyway.

    Same with any legislation issue. And my father was quite active against the hippies when they started their noise. He formed a small group against them, and they went into the environment group meeting and demanded to join.

    So he wasn’t unaware of issues at all but would never do anything militant or protest like the Frenchies do. Most Australian farmers are like that. Even in Canberra yesterday, not bad, but hardly a big movement. We’re a civilised lot, you have to give us that. But also fortunately, our ag sector is generally far more free than the europeans.

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    Philip

    One person who did well at the Canberra rally Jacinta Price. Impressive role she is taking on in the culture war. Very encouraging. She’s not afraid to speak to the popularist issues, unlike many Libs who stay indoors and silent.

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      CO2 Lover

      Lets elect Jacinta as PM – a women of colour who is a conservate as PM would just blow the minds of all the Lefties

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        David Maddison

        Jacinta’s main problem is she is a conservative in a non-conservative party (Liberals).

        She needs to move to a conservative-oriented party like:

        -United Australia Party
        -Libertarian Party
        -One Nation.

        She is wasted in the Liberal Party and if she stays, they would never support her for PM. They want a pretend conservative for PM, not a real one.

        If elected, Liberals will just deliver much the same Labor-lite policies as they have for decades.

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          MP

          Clive Palmers, United Australian Party.
          Clive has ripped of his employees, ($66 million) contractors, local city, state taxpayers, and Australian tax payers for hundreds of millions.

          “I am happy to announce that this first-class asset has found enthusiastic and expert new owners in Zero Carbon Investek,’’ Mr Palmer said in the statement provided to The Australian.
          First class is it Clive, or rusty piece of junk, with tailings dams full to overflowing.
          Expert new owners is it Clive, Zero Carbon Investek, founded by people with no mineral processing background.
          “Palmer signed a deal to sell the refinery to an obscure Switzerland-based group known as Zero Carbon Investek, which doesn’t have a website and has only two directors: Australian David Rigoll, who lives in Switzerland, and Swiss lawyer and accountant Hans Josef Frey. Rigoll is listed as president of Zero Carbon Investek.”

          https://www.news.com.au/finance/money/wealth/clive-palmer-sells-queensland-nickel-refinery-for-2-billion/news-story/658c6a0a76534436a10990f1f6158695

          Is this the Clive Palmers, United Australian Party which you refer?
          The fish rots from the head.

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            MP

            The replacement value for a brand spanking new plant is as stated by Palmer to be $2.5 Billion, so we have a brand new company, pay $2 billion for a rundown closed down refinery with massive rehabilitation costs if it were to close permanently, this is why Palmer only paid $1 for it.

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          PeterPetrum

          Jacinta Nampanjimpa Price belongs to the National Party, not the Liberals. She is a Senator in the Liberal/National Coalition.

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    Neville

    At least Dr Finkel told the Senate hearing the TRUTH six years ago about our sacrifices on the altar of their CC CULT.
    Aussies could cut ALL of our co2 emissions today and the DIFFERENCE in Temp or Climate would be SFA or NOTHING.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJY8xKknpms

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      CO2 Lover

      Over the last decade Australia reduced its CO2 emissions by 7% and electricty prices doubled

      China and India increased theirs 100 times Australia’s reduction – so next time you get your electricty bill remember the doubling in cost was all for nothing.

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    John Connor II

    Well, 2024 is shaping up to be the year from hell, as predicted and it’s only early Feb.!

    “Now we see the violence inherent in the system.
    Help, help, I’m being repressed!”
    -Monty Python

    The neocons will be getting seriously pi$$ed off around now with all those pesky peasants disrupting their plans, and will be pushing for WW3 real hard.

    March to May – critical time period to watch as it’s the Russky elections, and if Putin goes for any reason……

    I saved those tweet vids for posterity.

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    David Maddison

    I don’t believe the Lamestream media reported it but Senator Babet (United Australia Party) spoke at Reckless Renewables protest in Canberra on Tuesday.

    https://youtu.be/WNxX5f9BMeg

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    James Murphy

    It’s true that French farmers are generally supported by the sane public. What I’m not sure about is the talk of “empty supermarket shelves” in Paris. The 2 supermarkets near me were unaffected. Covid lockdown panic caused far bigger holes on shelves. Obviously I can’t speak for the whole city, but judging by the lack of complaints from my friends and colleagues (and it’s true that a lot of French have turned complaining into an art form), I think there’s a media beat-up over this aspect.

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    • #

      Always good to hear from someone on the ground. I can only go from reports on Twitter, and there were photos of empty shelves in both cities. Perhaps it was just a few stores. But imagine if food actually did run out in a widespread way?

      There were other more extraordinary scenes I didn’t mention. There are videos of forklifts or dozers overturning semitrailers in car parks (presumably trucks without a driver) and the food being dumped on the street. Perhaps the food was blocked from one store, and the message was that it would escalate? There were shots of people putting all the foreign foods into carts at shops and wrapping them with black plastic to stop people buying them. There are other shots of something like a bulldozer/plough tearing through asphalt in both a carpark and an open road. I couldn’t get any context on those, and didn’t want to encourage such kind of damage, and didn’t have time to verify them either. But I would assume that the Parisien police had a list and these events such as they did occur were tallied up and sent to Macron.

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        James Murphy

        Hi Jo,
        When I saw the farmers rhetoric and resolve, I did certainly wonder about the consequences of a really successful food blockade. It was, and is always a possibility. I was in some ways hoping for it to happen, because it would really exceed the normal level of protest, even for the French, and there would be some measure of success.

        I don’t doubt that there were supermarkets affected in some way because many cannot store much beyond what is on the shelves, and rely on daily deliveries.

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          But do, please keep telling us what is happening in Paris. We have so much to learn.

          I fear though that it appears the French Farmers are already wards of the state, in that there are so many rules, and subsidies, that the farmers may just be bought off with a few more subsidies. Where is the free market…?

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    Ronin

    Maybe the farmers should combine with the truckies who have a beef with fuel costs, govt regulation and bullies who relish booking a driver for bugger all.

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    Ronin

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-02/sa-wind-farms-ordered-to-pay-million-dollar-penalty/1002

    2 SA windmill farms fined $1.2 million for their part in SA blackouts.
    2 generators on a stick caught on fire , one at Breadalbane near Goulburn , the other started a grassfire of several hectares requiring 6 trucks, a water tanker and two other vehicles plus farmers fire apparatus.

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    gary garner

    as an inhabitant of Belgium, I rely on an Australian website for impartial news… I really wonder what is happening to Europe.

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    Kalm Keith

    Thanks for this post Jo.

    Another extraordinary piece that gives us hope that we can fight this ugliness.

    It’s incredible to see how society has been hogtied and enslaved by the demonisation of CO2.

    Science fiction must be dealt with in the way it deserves; total obliteration.

    Maybe the world needs more tractors and loads of manure delivered to appropriate destinations.

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    Old Goat

    Well , someone had to say it – finally the manure is hitting the turbine . Stand clear…

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    Anton

    Unless this is seen as a start then nothing will have been achieved.

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