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
Britain is a very small country. Take ultra inefficient renewables that need lots of space for turbines or solar farms to produce enough energy (sometimes) to power a few thousand houses. Add in the need for pylons to carry the electric from often out of the way places to those areas with big populations. Add in the need for battery storage.
You can see 2 of those 3 requirements in the link below. No doubt many of those jumping up and down were very happy with the idea of renewables until it came to (many) fields near them
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13033219/Fury-villagers-slam-plans-900-shipping-container-development-homes-Buckinghamshire-countryside.html
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Ruinables are certainly destroying the “green and pleasant land” as William Blake described it.
But ruinables and wokeism in general destroy everything and everywhere they are imposed.
Low energy density and hugely inefficient wind and solar plus masses of transmission cables are huge wastes of valuable land and huge destroyers of landscapes.
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Until the ruination of the land happens to their loved landscapes directly in front of them then those who vaguely support renewables will take no notice.
300
Not even then, I’m afraid. You see, the average lefty follows a strict regime of ‘top trumps’ when it comes to so-called ‘principles’. This is how they navigate a tortuous path through their seemingly warring objectives, such as ‘Muslims are good’ versus ‘we support gays’.
When it comes to the desecration of what remains of the UK’s wild areas, I have no doubt those Blue Tits and Badgers will come a sorry second to windmills and pylons, simply because the latter is a more effective means to attack capitalism (or what benefits it provides to the proletariat at least).
70
Time was when efficiency and longevity was a principal consideration behind the development of yer coal fired generator; lord knows when these characteristics shall again prevail but there is an inevitability to it, after all our masters’ surveillance state needs uninterruptible power surely.
60
Not if/when there are negligible numbers to surveil.
50
William Blake’s Jerusalem is a critique of the Industrial Revolution. England was once a “green and pleasant land” but by Blake’s time it had become a land of “dark satanic mills”.
314
That’s good.
Just a little spin and we can bring it to the present:
“Among these tall Satanic Windmills “.
Easy to imagine Klaus, John Kerry, Albo and others with bulging pockets worshipping before a tightly packed field of turbs.
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“Jerusalem” is an extract from a larger work. It isn’t really a critique of the satanic mills of Industrial Revolution but of the Church of England and was a call for a new Holy Land in England. Blake was not a fan of England’s patriotic nationalism in a time of war.
80
Actually, no. The dark satanic mills were the theological colleges.
40
Good to hear that UK communities are fighting back. Major article in today’s The Weekend Australian about similar Australian proposals to use good farming land for wind or solar farms, and how local communities are now saying a big NO to this stupidity.
70
Western armed forces seem determined to become carbon neutral. Jolly good thing to0, as long as we can get any enemies to promise us that they won’t attack at night, during the winter or ask our tanks to go up hill as the renewable energy we would be using wouldn’t be up to the job
https://dailysceptic.org/2024/02/02/in-the-land-of-net-zero-the-man-in-the-diesel-tank-is-king/
251
Not to be out-woked, Australia has an electric combat vehicle, the EV version of the Bushmaster.
Apparently no one thought of where you’re going to plug it in to recharge it when out in the bush or fighting in some foreign sh-thole,
https://www.australiandefence.com.au/defence/land/army-unveils-electric-bushmaster
270
I am shocked (pun intended) that Ukraine have not asked for EV Bushmasters.
sarc
By the way, Ukraine did request supply of the smaller armoured vehicle Hawkei also made here in the Bushmaster factory and were told no based on the claim that the ABS braking system was not yet satisfactory.
So who needs ABS braking on a war zone vehicle mostly driving off roads?
151
So it’s an assault AND battery unit?
130
Ha ha!
20
Remember the good old days when we used to discuss climate science?
Now we talk about the political and cultural madness that ‘Climate Science’ has spawned.
240
I mentioned that the other day when DM posted a link to a thread on this site from 2011. It was a different level of conversation from (90% or more) different people. It went to – from memory – 679 separate numbered posts.
30
I remember a few years ago when truckies from around the country held a convoy protest to Canberra to which Albo said, “It’s a convoy of no consequence”. I fear this will be “protest of no consequence” in Albo’s mind.
80
Back then we didn’t know the plans of the so-called elite and their subservient lapdog political puppets.
40
During covid many firms were at their wits end as to how to keep going, keep employees safe and still make money whilst obeying the often hysterical rules imposed by govt
This company seems to have had a common sense approach
https://dailysceptic.org/2024/02/02/lockdown-was-ruinous-and-masks-were-useless-heres-what-worked-for-my-business/
180
Excellent article Tony.
Among other things it emphasises correction of Vitamin D deficiency, an extremely common deficiency even in Western countries.
In fact, Vitamin D is so important, testing ought to be routine.
It is so important for good health, I fully expect government to discourage its use.
Oh wait! In Australia Vitamin D tests are already being restricted.
170
If their system is normal this report, which should be the basis for major reform, will rather be rejected. One or all of: not peer reviewed; no medically qualified authors; sample size too small; contrary to Govt guidelines; other.
Common sense and employer initiative is especially anathema.
Any optimism I had towards government objectivity or scientific integrity has been very successfully removed from my psyche over the past few years.
But, well done Alastair MacMillan. And thanks, tonyb.
Cheers
Dave B
81
A key factor in this response is that it was developed by an engineer, or at least within an engineering environment. So, in this case all the factors were considered with intelligence and common sense and viable paths were taken and adjusted sensibly as required. There was also a healthy scepticism towards idiot governments. Too many of the major issues in our nation lack the rigour that good engineers could provide.
60
Biden’s new climate envoy had a close relationship with CCP/Chinese United Front influence group
https://justthenews.com/government/diplomacy/bidens-new-climate-envoy-had-close-relationship-chinese-united-front-influence
121
Podesta? Same group of Swampy bad actors jumping in bed with the Chinese Communists since the Bill Clinton years.
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If there’s an honest election which means Trump will win, his absolutely top priority from day one must be to drain the swamp and eliminate all Swamp Creatures.
His mistake last time was not realising just how big and pervasive the swamp was plus naively trusting certain people who later turned out to be Swamp Creatures.
He must be ruthless in his cleansing efforts.
251
The ‘swamp’ problem exists pretty much everywhere and is just a new label for the left’s takeover of permanent public institutions via the Long Slow March. I just read a report about the recently failed leftist government of Scotland and one of the criticisms was that they had politicised the public service. Well that’s not news to me; it’s happened here in Oz too and explains why conservative governments struggle to deliver their promised policies.
So draining the ‘swamp’, while most definitely overdue, is a much bigger job than most people realise, especially in today’s connected world.
180
Trump cannot do it on his own. He is going to have to select and appoint new heads of departments for the FBI, CIA, the Tax Office, the EPA and any other obstinate institution. These guys/girls will have to tough, astute and focused. Not sure if he will find enough loyal people like that.
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Best way would be to get Julian Assange to data dump every record of current projects those Depts have going… Every file, every email, every folder… who they are spying on, what false flags they are planning, what contingency plans they have ready… CIA, FBI, Homeland Security.. all of them opened up fully to the public’s scrutiny, and let the public decide if they are worth the taxes poured into them!
It might be quite a revelation for some people to find their own name on some ‘watch list’.
20
David: O/T but I think of interest to you.
Advanced Homo Erectus or Denisovans Discovered in Australia?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4yEJsTSK1U
Archaeologists Just Discovered a Denisovan Skull in Australi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45NDvjhAdsk
The latter is a little annoying with volcanos in the background and you may have to pause the playback –
If do you have a youtube downloader it’s easier- round about 3, 5,5 and 9 minutes roughly.
40
Thanks Graeme.
I will take a look.
Of course, this won’t be allowed to be scientifically studied as it doesn’t conform to the Official Narrative.
30
Graeme,
How many people worldwide have Denisovan or Neanderthal genes in their genetic makeup ? Evolution of our species has scrambled everyones DNA . If you want to follow that rabbit down its hole reparations become meaningless . MLK had the right attitude – we are all human (I hope) and should all have the same opportunities and rights regardless of our differences . Ideology is a monster that is out of control .
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And ‘culture’ begins with that four-letter ‘c’ word – ‘cult’.
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Old Goat:
You appear to have got the wrong idea. David M (and I) are unconvinced that the current “politically correct” about Australia being settled ONCE and a long time ago, without any evidence.
As for your claim about the number of those having some Denisovian genes I don’t know. It seems that much of east Asia (China, Tibet, Indonesia & possibly elsewhere) and some in South America and in particular Melanesia and Australian native decendents have some. Apparently Eskimos don’t but they are rarely seen in the Australian desert.
50
Indigenous Australians around Cape York have more Denisovan genes than anywhere else in the world. Remains have also been found at Kow Swamp in Victoria.
On the long trek from the Altai Mountains to Victoria they adapted and changed.
21
CU Boulder professor dresses like butterfly to fight ‘climate anxiety’
https://www.thecollegefix.com/colorado-professor-dresses-like-butterfly-to-fight-climate-anxiety/
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I got as far as the « read more » button and decided that was far enough! What a fool. How do these idiots get jobs teaching our kids?
40
From the Seattle KOMO news online:
OLYMPIA, Wash. — “Nearly 5,000 new electric vehicle charging stations are coming to more than 500 sites statewide.
Gov. Jay Inslee’s left coast state: $85 million in funding marks the first phase of investments through the Washington Electric Vehicle Charging Program, with support from the Climate Commitment Act. In total, 4,710 level 2 EV chargers with 5,362 individual charging plugs and 271 direct current fast chargers with 420 plugs …
Half the grants will go toward installing chargers in communities most at risk of negative health effects caused by fossil fuel pollution.”
About the last sentence: Washington electricity is almost all from water-power and a single nuclear plant, plus a bit of thermal. And, it seems half of the units will be installed in communities whose citizens can’t afford an EV.
Lesson #97 in how to wasted money.
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The charging cables and other parts will be stolen for valuable copper scrap.
Think of it as welfare that they actually have to “work” for (due to the hard work of stealing the copper).
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Another win against Leftist insanity.
Fantastic news.
Leftists in Canada tried to claim that requiring prospective math teachers to do math proficiency tests with unlimited re-tries possible was “racist”.
I believe the test was equivalent to a 9th grade level.
The Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that it wasn’t racist.
https://youtu.be/WtiW2QIDGgM
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In Pol Pot’s Leftist Cambodia math teachers and other intellectuals were taken to the “killing fields”.
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Sure, but in the 2020’s, hardly a single Canadian or Australian teacher would pass the Khmer Rouge “intellectual” requirements.
50
The purpose of the CIA lead ‘Five Eyes’ is to brainwash Australians using ‘Fifth Generation Warfare’ techniques where people’s conscious minds are targeted, and information streams are controlled, so that they only talk about ‘Net Zero’ and are deflected from the basics of the science.
The basics of the science are (1) There is no proof of warming from laboratory experiments or experiments using an Atmospheric Chamber with the atmospheric pressure kept at one bar pressure so as to simulate the Earth’s average air pressure. (2) Radiative forcing does not show up even in a laboratory experiment involving concentrated CO2. (3) Market Gardeners inform scientists that they do not use carbon dioxide to (a) raise the temperature (b) save money or (c) poison the plants, by pumping carbon dioxide into the Greenhouse. (4) Venus with a quarter of a million times more carbon dioxide than the Earth provides the best answer to the problem. The temperature on Venus at the altitude that has identical pressure to that on the Earth’s surface is 1.176 times the Earth’s average surface temperature. The radiating temperature of Venus is 1.176 times that of the Earth, proving that input from the Sun and a change to thermal inertia due to pressure as a precise function of altitude are all that is needed to calculate the atmospheric greenhouse effect. (5) This warming by molar mass rather than radiative forcing in confirmed by the fact that the average temperature at the one bar pressure points on each of the planets, is the same, adjusted for distance from the Sun, despite the different main gases, Nitrogen for the Earth & Titan, Hydrogen for Jupiter, Neptune, Saturn & Uranus and Carbon Dioxide for Venus.
Also the CIA do not want you to watch Robert Malone on Epoch TV
190
R.I. Holmes discusses how the temperatures of planets and moons with thick atmospheres are determined solely by total solar irradiance and pressure.
https://youtu.be/4ZKI40d5YHs
References to his published papers are in the description.
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‘Five Eyes’ brain washing is soaking and soaping culture top to bottom.
Hardly limited to climate.
(Probably developed for ‘Climate’, improved for TDS and COVID … now we have EU farmer rebellions … about which EU governments seem to not care a wit)
Here the US, it’s as if the Democrats are confident they have the ‘election’ in the bag and don’t care how bad they look.
Don’t know if ya’ll are hearing about this in Oz?
Illegal migrants in NYC attacked police officers on video, were arrested and released without bail within hours*.
Flipping off the generous citizens of their new homeland as the walked to freedom and departed for CA.
Where there will probably be a parade.
https://dailycaller.com/2024/02/01/new-york-city-illegal-migrant-flips-camera-assault-nypd-officer-jhoan-boada
*(This usually means there was legal representation waiting for them to facilitate the release. I have a friend that was recently charged with minor assault, and spent 13 days in jail until he was able to procure a lawyer.)
‘Science’ hasn’t been about science since the word has been preceded by ‘follow’.
140
The whole back radiation in the lower atmosphere does not stack up given:
Molecules are thousands of times more likely to pass energy to the next molecule via collision therefore there is no time to re radiate.
basic physics – end of discussion this is why a higher humidly adds molecules to the atmosphere thereby delaying heat escape.
If one did sneak through to re radiate the chances of it hitting the ground are so close to zero to not matter.
as scatter towards the ground is less than 50% chances are it will hit another molecule and has to overcome the same collision theory above. not going to happen.
the sun, planets & moon drive the climate cycles.
10
More evidence of the covid “vaccine” disaster which is being completely ignored by “authorities”.
https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/the-covid-booster-cancer-time-bomb/
260
UK allows male police officers who identify as women to strip search female suspects.
https://youtu.be/td8ETfqtXzA
110
A legal way to get your jollies no doubt. Much like men being able to go to women’s prisons.
60
Why don’t those “new women” fully commit to their new identities?
Grab that bread knife or pair of scissors and finish the job?
Didn’t think so…
40
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Lost in Translation
https://www.simscale.com/blog/nasa-mars-climate-orbiter-metric/
50
An ebike fire in Devon required three fire appliances to put it out. Battery likely left on charge but it was the correct charger for the bike
https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/warning-after-charging-e-bike-9076700
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Never charge an EV in an enclosed space and preferably not within 10m of any other vehicle or structure.
120
https://www.skynews.com.au/lifestyle/health/doctors-demand-overhaul-of-australias-medical-ethics-guidelines-over-new-woke-set-of-codes-arguing-for-return-to-hippocratic-oath/news-story/fe5f2f49fcd0e192e40e2952144beb04
190
David,
I am looking for a doctor who hasn’t been captured by the current insanity . Most of them have retired……
60
Yes, the remaining ones tend to be young and woke and fully compliant with the Official Narrative.
They’ve got rid of all the problem ones who ask questions.
70
Finally! Something resembling integrity seeks to make a return to the medical system.
The Hypocratic oath seeks to displace the Hypocritical oath.
On a side note I’ve been seeing signs on doctors surgeries doors saying “No new patients accepted. Doctor shortages.”
Draw your own conclusions. 😎
22
They got “vaxxinated”.
Well it was free, if nothing else.
10
The BS just doesn’t end…
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NET ZERO
The sum total of all the IQs of the politicians pushing the anthropogenic global warming fraud.
And Australia’s anti-energy Minister, Chrissy Bowen is a simpleton with a negative IQ.
252
Net zero emissions policies will without doubt end up causing net zero economic prosperity.
110
Spreading further
“Polish Farmers Plan Solidarity General Strike for Next Friday
February 3, 2024 | Sundance | Leave a comment”
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2024/02/03/polish-farmers-plan-solidarity-general-strike-for-next-friday/
110
Solidarność all over again?
80
More of that “Government Magic”
“Why Are Pickup Trucks Ridiculously Huge? Blame Government.
Regulations, tariffs, and other government-imposed hurdles reward American car companies for building bigger, more expensive trucks and keep out any potential competitors.”
https://reason.com/2024/02/02/why-are-pickup-trucks-ridiculously-huge-blame-government/
60
Good article.
I would be prepared to buy one of those huge pickups (called “utes” in Australia for “utility vehicle”) just for the pleasure of “triggering” Leftists.
(As if they’re not already triggered by my six litre V8 car.)
Dodge RAMs are now available in Australia.
https://www.ramtrucks.com.au/
50
So is the Ford F150 – the most popular “car” in the USA and more popular than the RAM.
They are expensive but should have great resale value – unlike EVs!
Aussie Ford F-150 “better than left-hand drive”
https://www.carsales.com.au/editorial/details/aussie-ford-f-150-better-than-left-hand-drive-142695/
50
Good article.
10
Ask most trades people about the big US trucks as compared to their favourites from Toyoto Hi Lux, Isuzu, Mitsubishi, Ford Ranger and the others.
Number one problem with big trucks is access to building sites in cities and suburbs where street parking spaces are too short for big truck, where hardware supply often provides confined under building parking, etc.
Near where I live there is a shopping area with angle parking spaces and occasionally tourists park their US truck tow vehicle with the rear end extending into the drive past roadway.
30
I bought a RAM in 2019 as a caravan tug. It does the job superbly and when compared to a Mazda BT50 which I had for the same job does so just as economically. I recently took the RAM (no caravan) to Tasmania via the ferry travelling 5000 km in all. 2500 km was driving to and from the ferry from my home. It averaged 10 litres per 100 km or 28 mpg. My wife’s 20 yo Liana weighs half that of the RAM but only does 36 mpg which shows the great advancement in ICE technology. I parked alongside a new F250 on the ferry to Bruny Island. I was embarrassed until I worked out the guys truck would have cost close to $250,000. $130k in the US 66c exchange plus 30 to 50k for the conversion.
70
When the time comes to trade in the RAM consider the Ford F150 – the Australian re-engineered version is better than the US original.
30
And get the Greta “How dare you!” image artwork for one side of the car.
I’ll see your 6l v8 and raise you my 2l 4cyl. 😉
30
Americans have always loved huge cars – remember the Cadillacs of the 1950-1970s
People buy what they like and can afford.
The sales success of EVs is evidence of that!
70
During the 1990s I spent time in California for Christmas with family there and others from Australia and elsewhere, the host allowed me to use a spare Lincoln Town Car and I drove to various places including to San Francisco return. The sloppy suspension designed for ride and providing poor handling was not to my liking or the no feeling power steering with finger tip operation possible.
However my then young son did enjoy clicking the speedometer from MPH to KMH mode and pointing out how fast (not exceeding speed zone) I was driving, back seat driver grandmother not impressed with me.
21
The Lincoln Town Car Reliability Rating is 4.0 out of 5.0, which ranks it 2nd out of 30 for luxury fullsize cars.
It used the same Panther “Body on frame” chassis as the Ford Crown Victoria which was widely used as a police car
Note: The Ford F150 also has a “Body on frame” chassis. The final Lincoln Town Car was produced on August 29, 2011.
20
Note also that the body is now aluminium and recommendation is that you lift the cab up to work on the power train.
This part of western Qld I see mostly Rams, an occasional F Truck and rarely anything GM.
And most of them look like that US term “parade queens”
20
Toyota produces a large pick-up truck to compete with the Ford F150 and RAM
Smaller pick-up are now the top selling cars in Australia so the bigger US pick-ups should sell well which will trigger the Greenies here!
50
I have sighted two Toyota Tundra trucks here in Australia last year (2023).
10
This might cause more “exploding heads” though –
“The automotive media has been abuzz with stories about a new Toyota pickup truck (IMV 0) that, unlike even the smallest pickups available in the states, features a large and useful bed. It’s relatively light and fuel efficient. It can be configured in myriad ways, including a flatbed. According to Road and Track, it was developed in Thailand, where nearly half of all new vehicle sales are pickups. It is a bare-bones affair, but—get this—will only cost around $10,000.”
From link at #17
40
Well, I’m a-standin’ on a corner in Winslow, Arizona
And such a fine sight to see
It’s a girl, my Lord, in a flat-bed Ford
Slowin’ down to take a look at me
[the Eagles]
20
Recall driving through Winslow & siting the tune!
20
Pickup Man – Joe Diffie
This uptempo song with it’s catchy lyrics was No. 1 on the Country Music Charts for four weeks. The singer described how his pickup truck is perfect for picking up girls, singing, “I’ve met all my wives in traffic jams / There’s just something women like about a pickup man.”
10
Well, I’m a-sittin’ in a Tesla in Winslow, Arizona
And such a fine sight to see
It’s a generator, my Lord, in a flat-bed Ford
Slowin’ down to take a laugh at me
/modernised
20
If you did not listen to the Day 11 podcast then you can read Steyn’s submission for dismissal:
https://www.steynonline.com/documents/14064.pdf
This was homework given to both defence for dismissal and plaintiff to continue. I have not seen or heard any detail from Mann’s team other than a verbal plea by Mann’s lawyer to listen because the judge had misheard them.
The submission includes:
Also:
Steyn missed the point that the defence witness stated that the funding dried up after climategate, which had nothing to do with what Steyn and Simberg wrote. Of course that becomes irrelevant if the reduction in funding to Penn State is not admissible.
Steyn has not mentioned Mann’s stated emotional harm due to the supermarket stare. It also suffers from the causation linkage.
I am at a point where I expect the case will be dismissed on a matter of law and defence awarded costs. Judge Irving was Bush appointed so it would be better for defendants to have the case dismissed on basis of law rather than going to jury decision where jurors have been selected from the wokest community in the world.
70
Dan Bongino talks to human biologist Gary Brecka about the hyped weight loss drug Ozempic and other things. On that drug, one third of your “weight loss” is muscle mass not fat.
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/m624fTyfCEufEbjx/
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Our ABC
ABC Claim: The Sex Mad Global Warming Penguin Population Explosion is a Cause for Concern
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/02/03/claim-the-sex-mad-global-warming-penguin-population-explosion-is-a-cause-for-concern/
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And what about that Poster Child for “Climate Change” the Polar Bear? What does Our ABC say aabout that?
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-27/fact-check-gina-rinehart-polar-bears/100569118
40
Gina is correct, numbers are increasing.
The AGW zealots are dropping the narrative of doom over the imminent demise of polar bears.
https://polarbearscience.com/2023/08/08/climate-activists-are-silent-on-polar-bears-because-their-doom-mongering-blew-up-in-their-faces/
70
Gina is correct.
Polar bear researchers hiding significant increase in Southern Hudson Bay numbers
https://polarbearscience.com/2023/10/16/polar-bear-researchers-hiding-significant-increase-in-southern-hudson-bay-numbers/
Fact checkers fail to refute polar bear number increases despite extensive ‘expert’ rhetoric
https://polarbearscience.com/2021/10/27/fact-checkers-fail-to-refute-polar-bear-number-increases-despite-extensive-expert-rhetoric/
50
That’s odd (not surprising) as here scientists say warmer sea temps are decreasing fish life causing penguins, seals, and even seagulls, to lose the will to rock’n’roll due to a lack of food. The theory of everything is a theory of nothing.
60
I could hardly read that out to my husband as I as laughing so much!
30
Coincidence: God’s way of remaining anonymous – Albert Einstein.
And this weekend’s Godly coincidence was on Better Homes and Gardens on Channel 7 on Friday night which featured an item by Doctor Harry (everyone’s favorite vet) who recently visited Phillip Island to see the little penguin colony.
During his report he pointed out that action had been taken to get rid of foxes on the island and that this had now been accomplished. Harry accompanied a ranger as she inspected the chicks in the breeding boxes that have been put there for the penguins. So the ABC fluff piece is unfounded.
Great 11 minute item if you are interested.
30
The fully woke Renew Economy talks about a giant new 1680 MWh “super” battery, Australia’s biggest battery.
But wait, what’s that in the background?
It looks like four gas fired generators to back up the battery.
What do you think it is?
https://reneweconomy.com.au/grid-superload-giant-477-tonne-transformer-makes-road-trip-to-super-battery/
110
110
I bet it makes most of its money by power arbitrage (buying electricity cheap and selling it expensive). That’s how the one in South Australia works.
70
I believe that was Malcolm’s objective to buy electricity from wind turbine installations when not required for grid supply and use it to pump the water uphill to the dam.
Or at least the objective for the “renewables industry”.
20
Here is the answer David;
40
The Waratah Super Battery is on the old Munmorah power station site in NSW
30
Wow – the “Super Battery” will provide 3 minutes of back-up power for Australia’s current energy demand before adding in the demand to recharge EV cars and trucks
The cost of providing full battery back-up to a “renewables only” grid is around $10 TRILLION (Australia’s GDP is around $1.5 Trillion)
To seek the truth always folllow the money trail
50
Better deal a couple of Small Modular Reactor nuclear energy generator “plants”?
41
The Liberal faction of the Uniparty banned nuclear reactors by law. It won’t happen any time soon.
30
The woke stupidity that allows gas plants but is determined to keep the ban on nuclear energy and is also targeting coal.
40
The battery will enable more intermittent generation into the grid. The grid is presently saturated with solar at lunch time and SA is often saturated by wind throughout the day. The only way to get more intermittent generation into the grid is through increasing storage.
It is never good to just look at averages when it comes to the grid but, as a first pass, I will use averages. The battery could be cycled twice per day charging when price is negative in the wee hours and lunchtime and releasing at morning and evening peaks when price is positive. So daily deliver is 3GWh. The current average for intermittent is about 30% so lets say 168GWh each day from intermittents. The battery can increase that to 171GWh per day or 1.7% up on present 30% penetration.
At retail level, it means an extra 3,000MWh every day can extract $46 from retail customers for the privilege of using “renewable” energy and the smoke and mirror magic that is the RET. So the battery will cost consumers a tidy $50Mpa in LGC payments that retailers legally extract from consumers.. But as you pay your electricity bill you can thank your various levels of governments for enabling you to contribute to saving the planet. It is a wonderful thing you are doing.
The battery is really an LGC extractor that very few consumers would understand. Also, LGCs are forecast to rise in 2024 and 2025. The battery is essential to dampening that increase. Without more storage, it would be impossible to meet increasing RET so the price of LGCs would go ballistic.
The 2030 RET is 82% but I am yet to find the actual schedule for the intervening years. There has to be some basis for setting the price of LGCs. Maybe the impact of rooftops means there is no way of actually increasing the penetration of grid scale intermittent so the basis of the LGC pricing is the 2020 target.
50
Battery back-up is not only required for daily solar cycles where sunlight can vary from 10 to 15 hours on a sunny day but is also required for many days (weeks) for periods of cloudy skies and periods of low wind (or too high wind).
Look at Northern Queensland over the last few weeks – how many days of battery back up would be required if Northern Queensland were to rely mainly on solar power with some wind?
A battery to provide 12 hours of night time demand for a large city would cost in the 100s $Billions.
20
Lithium batteries have limitations in the number of charge/discharge cycles they are capable of.
The limit is 300 to 500 full charge/discharge cycles. Or, 600 to 1000 cycles if the discharge is 50%.
https://au.renogy.com/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-lithium-battery-charging-cycles/
So, in your scenario of 2 cycles per day, if they were 50% discharge, the life of the battery would be 1 or 2 years at best.
That isn’t economically reasonable by any rational measure.
70
Yes, the full capacity of a battery is considerably more than the capacity that’s most amenable to maximum longevity.
It’s a bit like capacity factor of wind subsidy farms. It’s considerably less than the nameplate capacity which is what’s advertised when they say some new wind plantation will power “100,000 homes”. A capacity of 30,000 homes is more honest, but not even that because the random power is essentially useless and it has to come from coal anyway.
70
“life of the battery would be 1 or 2 years at best ”
I am baffled by the discrepancy between such battery claims and those claimed for EVs. Some of the latest numbers I see are a life of 8 to 10 years.
If the battery lasts 8 years (416 weeks) then a once-a-week charge must be the assumption. Or does a charge, say, from 50% to 75% get drastically different results?
20
If a Lithium battery is discharged 20%, then yes it has a 10 yr life. The point is that there is no “real world” feedback from the actual users as to what their experience has been. Lots of propaganda. Not so many facts.
The battery experts claim 1000 cycles at 50% discharge. I’m welcome to be proved wrong with actual facts. Opinions mean much less.
40
It depends on the cell technology and it is gradually being improved. The new LTO cells have been tested to 25,000 cycles at 100% DoD. LFP cells I have installed for the last eleven years are still doing their job. They go through some cycling every day but have only been discharged to 10% of capacity a few times and are never charged above 90%. They have a typical daily range of 30 to 50% with seasonal variation.
The HPR could have sold energy at $300/MWh last night and got paid to recharge at $48/MWh today. Then they also make money on the FRACs they can provide so there is really no worries about the battery recovering its costs. THe HPR recovered most of its capital cost in the two weeks SA was disconnected from Victoria a couple of years ago now.
But the real benefit of the battery from a network perspective is the increased access it gives to consumer wallets be enabling more “renewable” energy into the market. Every MWh of “renewable” energy from grid scale generators currently garners an extra $46 from consumers.
Please let me know when your electricity bill goes down.
30
We are not mean to present technical arguments and specifications.
The “industry” prefers to claim how many houses could be supplied from installed capacity (Nameplate).
sarc
30
CO2 lover,
It’s just there to allow load shedding , before the complete collapse of the grid . As we saw in South Australia if the grid goes down the restart is not a quick operation . That’s a catastrophe the AEMO wants to avoid . Brownout instead of blackout – until the brownout option is gone as in the other S.A.
40
You would recall the very early period and the first series of destabilisation events and the Labor SA Government in panic buying gas and diesel fuelled generators and installing them in the vacant former GMH factories at Elizabeth, suburb of Adelaide.
30
Colongra Gas Generation Plant (also known as Colongra Power Station) is a 667 MW gas-fired power station located in Colongra, New South Wales, Australia, and is the largest gas-fired power station in New South Wales. It will generally be used during peak demand periods in New South Wales
30
So that 477 ton transformer ( first of two ) ..
How many tons of that is copper windings ?
00
The Noble Savage
Shadow Indigenous Affairs spokesperson Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has hit out at what she calls a romanticised ‘noble savage’ view of Aboriginal culture that traps Indigenous people ‘in abject poverty’ and cycles of violence and abuse.
‘For those people of Indigenous heritage in this country who live successful lives it is because they have absolutely embraced modern Australian culture that comes from western culture,’ she said.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13031265/Jacinta-Nampijinpa-Price-romantic-myth-Aboriginal-Australia-Voice-Peter-FitzSimons.html
At the time of European settlement the number of native inhabitants has been estimated to be around 300,000 to 500,000.
Australia has a similar size to China and India but at the same time the population of India was around 200 million and that of China around 300 milion.
Rice and wheat were domesticated around 10,000 ago putting an end to “hunter gatherer” societies with a few exceptions such as Australian natives.
Since hunter gatherers are always on the move practices such as infantacide became the norm since mothers could only carry one child under the age of two to three with them when moving camp with no wheeled carts to assist.
160
Elderly people who would be considered middle aged today were left to die along the track or away from camp.
60
Bloody Jean-Jaques Rousseau! What an abundant source of evil misunderstanding of humanity he was.
40
I’m sure, if you were to ask Bruce Pascoe, he would tell you that the wheel was invented by aboriginal Australians. It must be true because many of them were cultivating large farms apparently, and building stone cities, which would be very hard without the wheel and pulleys.
80
I am waiting for the “discovery” of Aboriginal stone road ways with worn cartwheel tracks 4 feet 8.5 inches apart so that the claim can be made that steam trains once operated in Australia before “Invasion Day”!
110
As Andrew Bolt has pointed out many times, Pascoe’s memories must be from his UK ancestry.
70
Maybe we could ask for First Nations navies to send war canoes to patrol shipping lanes with our allies?
70
The Malcolm Roberts Show with Steven Nowakowski.
Good honest discussion on renewable energy, by two good men.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErssIRnFMQY
1 hour.
81
Sunday sarcasm:
Congress: “We’ve just passed the free soft drink act.”
The prople: “Awesome! When do we get our free drinks?”
Congress: “Free drinks? The bill makes growing your own food illegal.”
40
Meanwhile in Australia
10
Experts Warn That the Food You’re Eating May Have Been “Pre-Digested”
A ton of the ultraprocessed foods we snack on were created by a process that can be described as “pre-digestion,” which makes it all the less filling and all the more addictive.
As CNN reports, many of the most processed grain-based foods we eat, from burger buns and pizza crusts to potato chips and puddings, were made in a manner that is quite similar to a mama bird pre-chewing her baby’s food — except in this case, it’s as if she digested it before regurgitating it to her offspring.
“The bulk of what is extracted is starch slurry, a milky mixture of starch and water, but we also have extracted proteins and fibers,” a video from the European Starch Industry Association explains. “Roughly half of the starch slurry goes to produce starch-based sugars and other derivatives. Those are created by hydrolysis, a process similar to human digestion.”
“It’s an illusion of food,” Chris van Tulleken, a virology expert, associate professor at University College London, and author of a 2023 book on ultraprocessed foods, told CNN. “But it’s really expensive and difficult for a food company to make food that is real and whole, and much cheaper for food companies to destroy real foods, turn them in molecules, and then reassemble those to make anything they want.”
Because these pre-digested foodstuffs don’t require the same kind of gastrointestinal breakdown that occurs when we eat whole foods, they go down much easier. As some experts argue, that’s not how the digestive process is supposed to go.
According to preventative medicine expert David Katz, who founded the True Health Initiative nonprofit dedicated to “cutting through the noise” of modern diet talk, these kinds of foods are essentially bypassing the “stretch receptor effect in the stomach,” which tells you when you’re full.
https://futurism.com/ultraprocessed-food-predigested
No surprises there. Solidified mush.
40
Coffee or Tea?
Kopi luwak, also known as civet coffee, is a coffee that consists of partially digested coffee cherries, which have been eaten and defecated by the Asian palm civet.
Although kopi luwak is a form of processing rather than a variety of coffee, it has been called one of the most expensive coffees in the world, with retail prices reaching US$100 per kilogram for farmed beans and US$1,300 per kilogram for wild-collected beans.Another epithet given to it is that it is the “Holy Grail of coffees.”
10
After my heart attack I was offered mental health, physio and nutrition advice. The class on nutrition was needlessly complicated – essentially a long list of good vs bad, plus a lot of waffle about where we get our vitamins and nutrients from. I got bored very quickly because I felt the topic was much simpler and, looking round the room, most attendees were hopelessly confused. So, when they wrapped up and asked for comments and questions, I offered the following advice:
When you go shopping, make sure your basket or trolley is mostly full of raw, fresh foods – meat, fish, veg and fruit. That’s it. You’re good to go.
60
That’s complete cobblers.
Sourdough starter is predigested, which is the whole idea of the starter … to kick off the breakdown of the flour and thus make a bread dough that rises.
Beer is predigested … a necessary step in the making of alcohol.
Kimchi is predigested, which is why it boosts your actual digestion … and by the way, everyone’s digestion requires microorganisms to operate.
Natto is predigested, and that’s what processes the soy protein into a bunch of useful organic chemicals.
20
Nattō is one of the few dietary sources of Vitamin K2. Most people in the West don’t have any natural source of K2 which is why supplementation is so essential although few people have much awareness of that, including medical professionals.
60
If only it were possible to sound a buzzer or a gong..
The source of the K2 is not not exactly the natto, it is from the Bacillus Subtilis BACTERIA THAT SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE JOB OF K2 production AMONGST A HOST OF OTHER JOBS IN BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS FOR THE ENTIRE ANIMAL KINGDOM IN GENERAL….OH, JUST NOTICED MY CAPS LOCK IS STUCK…iN ANY CASE, IT IS HIGHLY DECEPTIVE AND IN MY OPINION, DANGEROUSLY WRONG, TO IDENTIFY “NATTO” AS THE SOURCE OF K2 WHEN THE BACTERIA SUBTILIS CAN CREATE K2 ON PROTEIN SUBSTRATES OTHER THAN SOY BEANS, GOOD GRIEF.
…and so in the past, before the advent of the apparatus known as a ‘fridge’, this bacteria was rampantly enjoying life in substrates like soup, baked beans, and anything else that subtilis finds tasty so that while a cowboy back in the day is riding his horse with some some baked beans now a few days old and thoroughly fermented in his/her saddlebag……WE DID NOT CALL 2 DAY OLD BAKED BEANS ‘NATTO’ BACK THEN….WE CALLED IT ‘LIFE’ AND THERE WERE NO FRIDGES TO SLOW IT DOWN !!
Our diets were full of k2 because without a fridge, the previous nights soup would start to be fermented by the B subtilis. Before we had fridges back then in Pre Fridge Times (PFT), things were fermenting left right and center, becoming more nutritious in the process, elevating the amount of available k2
Had to get that off my chest. Sorry about my caps lock getting stuck.
60
Amy explains in part.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUTtZJTFRm8
10
The source is the soy beans, but the bacteria are what predigests this into something more useful to humans. That said, humans can also digest soy, but not the same way.
00
I said it was a dietary source. And Nattō by definition is a fermented product which contains the bacteria that make K2. Another common fermented product is Sauerkraut which also contains K2 (not the cabbage, the bacteria it is fermented with).
10
Astonishing but not surprising.
10
Honey
10
Coal plants staying online because AI needs so much power
The booming AI industry is putting a massive strain on the US’s aging electricity grid as energy companies struggle to power the massive data centers that the technology requires, Bloomberg reports.
In fact, the situation is already dire enough that coal plants once set for retirement are being kept online as a stopgap measure with more set to follow, highlighting AI’s worrying environmental footprint that can sometimes go overlooked.
“We do need way more energy in the world than we thought we needed before,” Sam Altman, CEO of ChatGPT-creator OpenAI, said at the World Economic Forum last week, as quoted by Bloomberg. “We still don’t appreciate the energy needs of this technology.”
Centers Cannot Hold
AI data centers are different from traditional ones, which are already formidable energy hogs, because they’re stacked with specialized graphics processing units that perform more demanding tasks than typical computer chips.
Meta, formerly Facebook, itself heavily invested in AI, is building one such data center in Kansas City. Perhaps not coincidentally, the energy company that services the area, Evergy, announced in June that it was delaying the retirement of a coal plant by five years to 2028, according to Bloomberg.
Elsewhere, in an area of Northern Virginia aptly known as “data center alley,” local provider Dominion Energy was forced to temporarily pause new data center connections in 2022. It reportedly warned the data center company Digital Realty of a possible “pinch point” that could prevent new projects until 2026. A Dominion representative, however, told Bloomberg that this was inaccurate and that the pause only lasted a few months.
Still, what is a matter of record is that Dominion is also considering keeping a coal plant online along with several natural gas ones to service the area, Bloomberg noted — despite having a massive wind farm in the works.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-25/ai-needs-so-much-power-that-old-coal-plants-are-sticking-around
True AI won’t need the bulk. 😎
20
Do not overlook digital currencies
Australia’s electricity demand is about twice this amount
00
Does Bill Gates want to stop plant-life getting CO₂? Or is this a cut fish and eat bait situation?
https://www.americanthinker.com/cartoons/2024/02/1_22_2024_19_18.html
10
Ethics Journal Defines Pregnancy As A Disease
We argue that there are some compelling grounds for regarding pregnancy as a disease. Like a disease, pregnancy affects the health of the pregnant person, causing a range of symptoms from discomfort to death. Like a disease, pregnancy can be treated medically. Like a disease, pregnancy is caused by a pathogen, an external organism invading the host’s body.
These fiends literally regard a human child as a “pathogen.” This is consistent with liberal ideology, according to which all human activity is harmful because it offends the climate by producing CO2.
https://jme.bmj.com/content/early/2024/01/28/jme-2023-109651
Loony lefties strike again.
100
Once again I apologize profusely, in American, for being immoderate.
20
Student Grades Get Even Worse After California School Drops $250,000 On ‘Woke Kindergarten’ Program
An elementary school in California paid an organization called “Woke Kindergarten” $250,000 to train teachers to confront “white supremacy” and “racism” in the classroom, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Woke Kindergarten has been giving teachers at Glassbrook Elementary School in Hayward training sessions for two years and is funded through a federal program for assisting low-performing schools, according to the Chronicle. Test scores for students at the school have fallen under the program, which pushes anti-police, anti-capitalism and anti-Israel messages.
English and math scores at the school hit new lows in spring of 2023, with less than 4% of students proficient in math and slightly under 12% scoring at grade level in English, which was nearly a 4-percentage-point drop in each category, according to the Chronicle.
https://www.womensystems.com/2024/02/student-grades-get-even-worse-after.html
4% proficiency in maths. Careers in meteorology and government await.
80
The benefit of global warming cannot be underestimated.
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2024/02/02/world-cereal-production-set-to-hit-record-high-in-2023/
40
And more CO2 plant food.
It’s a no brainer really – speaking of no brains what it the latest from Chrissy Bowen our Minister for Energy and Climate Change?
40
Well a “Shleeper Electrishity” saving of $275 did not work out so Labor has another phantom saving scam.
The attack on Ford 150s and Dodge RAMs has begun
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13042923/New-vehicle-efficiency-standard-Anthony-Albanese-Australia.html
40
The current excise rate on petrol is 48.8 cents per litre
The goverment willl just replace this excise tax with a “Road Usage Tax” conveniently calculated by those computers with wheels (aka EVs)
30
“This will save Australian motorists $100bn in fuel costs to 2050.”
No doubt they calculated that on the basis that they plan to add crushing taxes and levies onto ICE vehicles, coal and gas, thus making renewables ‘cheaper’.
30
“The NRMA had advocated following a path taken by the US”
Standing up for the motorists just like WHO are there for the health of the population… Traitorous organisation that relies on the stupidity of the average person.
No mention of the PRICE of these vehicles of course! They will save you fuel money to the tune of $1000/yr, while only costing $15000 more than your current car!
30
FWIW
“Best Headline Caption?”
“Recently, in our beloved Toronto, a raccoon was reported to have knocked out the power of thousands of people. There clearly must be an hilarious caption for this story but I can’t think of one. Dear SDA comedians, please help!”
https://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2024/02/03/best-headline-caption/#comments
Among the comments –
“Officials Quick to Point Out that this Couldn’t Happen with Wind Farms, Because they Don’t Produce Any Energy”
50
On Farcebook they have further increased their censorship of conservatives lately, I assume in preparation for the US Election.
30
I believe you David, but what brings you to that conclusion?
20
A lot of people I follow have posted that they have had posts deleted but usually FB doesn’t even say what posts or what the reasons are beyond the vague “community standards”. It has been especially noticeable lately and these people mainly post on conservative topics.
60
Anatomy of the Deep State
70
The problems caused by being successful… People want to steal what you have made! Now the American Govt want to take over Musk’s Starships and turn them into intercontinental bombers so they can do secret things they wouldn’t want civilians to know about.
“The Pentagon wants to make some of the Starship upper stage and the two-stage super heavy booster and Starship into government-owned, government-operated assets instead of contracting the company every time the rocket is needed according to Aviation Week.
The SpaceX Starship with improved Raptor engines could deliver 200 tons of cargo at about 10-20 times the speed of sound…anywhere on Earth in an hour
The B-2 stealth bomber cost $2.1 billion. B-2 Spirit travels (…at the speed of sound..) and has up to 20 tons of bombs.
The new B-21 stealth bomber … will also have a top speed of about 600 mph and a bomb payload of about 15 tons.
A SpaceX Starship would have more range than most airplanes. It could fly about 8000 miles. It could be converted into a reusable hypersonic bomber.”
No wonder Musk wants to move to Mars!!
https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2024/02/us-dod-wants-to-fully-own-and-operate-spacex-starships-and-boosters-for-military-missions.html
10
South Carolina democrat primary –
“Biden Brags of “Blowout” in South Carolina With 4% Turnout”
https://www.frontpagemag.com/biden-brags-of-blowout-in-south-carolina-with-4-turnout/
Try a search on
Democrat South Carolina primary results
and see if the YSM mention that
40
The beginning of rain and snowfall in California.
https://i.ibb.co/0jCQ1NC/Zrzut-ekranu-2024-02-04-140735.png
20
I subscribe to “Get Up” as well as “Advance Australia” in order to combat my tendencies to laziness and ignorance.
Sadly, this one went to ‘spam’.
Nevertheless what they had to say will interest some here:
GetUp!
Image of Barnaby Joyce addressing an anti-renewables rally with headlines reading: Barnaby Joyce rallies anti-renewable and transmission groups for mass protest, and Chris Kenny speaks to protesters at ‘Reckless Renewables’ rally
Leo,
Barnaby Joyce is leading a dangerous new culture war – and they’re heading to Canberra.
Speaking in front of a sign reading “climate crisis is a lie” at an anti-renewable energy rally in Sydney last year, the former National Party Deputy Prime Minister deployed a torrent of lies and disinformation to rail against what he called the “obscenity” of wind farms.1
And when he returns to Parliament on 6 February, he’s hoping to front a national anti-renewables rally: “so we turn up like an army in Canberra”.2
Barnaby, Dutton and the Murdoch press are driving a national misinformation campaign to stop progress on climate action for their mining mates, win back power, and tank renewable energy.3 And they’re gaining traction.4
This is the latest culture war the hard-right is hoping to import from the United States – where big oil is funding anti-renewables groups and conservative politicians to stop offshore wind threatening their profits.5,6 We cannot let this gain a foothold here.
We have a plan to crash Barnaby’s anti-renewables rally and combat their lies with mobile billboards roaming around Parliament House at the exact same time. Together we can ensure the hard right doesn’t control the narrative on the first day back in Parliament – so journalists and politicians can see that everyday people support clean renewable energy over dangerous fossil fuels.
But these billboards don’t come cheap, and we need to act fast to lock them in before Parliament returns next week.
Will you chip in $12 to take on Barnaby’s dangerous rhetoric with pro-renewables Canberra billboards?
YES, I’LL CHIP IN!
01
Surely you jest?
00
Is El Niño causing drought in Australia? It doesn’t. But it does bring flooding in Peru and California. Lake Tulare is going to get bigger again.
https://i.ibb.co/QmNRbtS/himawari9-ir-07-P-202402041050.gif
https://i.ibb.co/zbNg8Sh/himawari9-wv-mid-07-P-202402041050.gif
20
More “movement at the station”
“Volvo Cuts Off Funding For Its Troubled EV Partner”
https://hotair.com/headlines/2024/02/04/volvo-cuts-off-funding-for-its-troubled-ev-partner-n609528
10