Sunday

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218 comments to Sunday

  • #
    CO2 Lover

    The Cost of Battery Storage

    The is currently around 3GWh of Grid Scale battery storage (BESS) in Australia with another 3GWh in domestic solar panel battery storage

    The current cost of Grid Scale BESS storage is around A$750
    https://www.agl.com.au/about-agl/media-centre/asx-and-media-releases/2023/december/final-investment-decision-reached-on-the-500-mw-liddell-battery-#:

    The current cost of domestic battery storage is around A$1200
    https://www.solarchoice.net.au/solar-batteries/price/

    Based on current wind and solar generation capacity some 4,500 GWh of Battery Storage would be required to make variable wind and solar fully dispatachable throught the year based on daily (wind + solar + Battery Storage) = average annual wind and solar generation

    Since the cost of battery storage runs into the A$ Trillions there will be a push to have more home owner to install more domestic batteries at a higher cost to grid scale batteries plus the associated risk of battery fires and with the government controlling your own domestic battery.

    This will not be made explicit in CSIRO and AEMO reports.

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    • #
      CO2 Lover

      Australians are being warned to check their solar energy systems for a specific type of lithium-ion battery which can spontaneously overheat and catch fire. The LG solar storage batteries have now been linked to 13 cases of property damage in Australia, including one blaze that destroyed a house in Victoria.5 Feb 2024

      https://www.9news.com.au/national/lg-solar-lithium-ion-batteries-proposed-recall-overheat-catch-fire/80686271-333b-410b-8a6f-774918740a41#

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      • #
        Greg in NZ

        When Grumpy (spoiled Scandinavian doom troll) said, ‘I want you to panic, our house is on fire’, who knew she was a prophetess!

        Surely the man with the pointy fish-hat living in the Vatican will anoint her as a saint (or) burn her – she’s a witch!

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        • #
          KP

          “Surely the man with the pointy fish-hat living in the Vatican will … burn her ”

          Might not have to do it himself, I’m sure her house is full of batteries!

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      • #
        Graeme#4

        I’ve yet to find anybody that can show me their data and calculations that prove that they can pay off their solar and battery system within the battery’s short lifetime.

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        • #
          John Connor II

          I’ve yet to find anybody that can show me their data and calculations that prove that they can pay off their solar and battery system within the battery’s short lifetime.

          Here ya go:
          https://www.choice.com.au/home-improvement/energy-saving/solar/articles/solar-panel-payback-times

          “The ATA has a free Solar and battery advice tool if you’re thinking about installing a solar system. You enter your household type and location, and choose a budget range. You’re then emailed a report showing the solar-only and solar plus battery systems in your budget. The report lets you compare cost, bill savings, environmental benefit, and payback period.”

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          • #
            Graeme#4

            Thanks JC. That was interesting. For a start, the calculator doesn’t include Opportunity Cost. Amortised over 10 years, this would add another third to the system cost. (You could amortise this cost over 15 years, the expected lifetime of your inverter, but I chose 10 years.)
            So their expected result was 5-5.5 years, but my calculations show 7-8 years, and currently I’m on track for that duration. The difference would be mainly due to the extra Opportunity Cost.
            When I ran the calculations for solar plus 10kWh battery, without the Opportunity Cost, the answer was 9.5-10 years. Adding the Opportunity Cost would extend this out to around 13 years.
            In the end, when Opportunity Cost is included, I still believe that a solar plus battery system will NOT be paid off within the battery’s lifetime.

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            • #
              Tel

              I think the best and fairest way is to presume the household has a mortgage which charges interest at about the going rate … perhaps 6.5% is typical right now. Thus, what they might spend on Solar/Battery systems could instead go to paying down the mortgage and thus reducing interest payments.

              This is compounding … so if you put $10k extra into your mortgage now, then in 10 years not only is your mortgage $10k smaller, but you also saved almost $9k in interest charges … so that’s $19k all up.

              If you instead decided to spend the $10k on a Solar/Battery system, then it needs to deliver $19k of value after 10 years, just to break even.

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        • #
          RickWill

          I’ve yet to find anybody that can show me their data

          I have been on a 66c/kWh FIT since 2010 with a 3kW grid connected solar system. In 2012, I installed an off-grid system that included 3kW of solar panels and 5kWh of battery storage. I spent $5,900 on that system. I was set up to feed the fridge and freezer demand that has a seasonal daily demand range from 2.5kWh to 3kWh. Can go a bit higher than 3kWh if we have overnight visitors through summer.

          I installed all the panels and battery with own labour. The panels and mounting gear cost almost $1000/kW and the battery almost $500/kWh.

          There have been around 6 full days over the last 11 years when the battery was near flat and I resorted to grid power. I have not kept a complete record of the system output because I have used it for testing water heating and other things throughout its life. The fridge+freezer demand now total around 11,000kWh. If all of that contributed to additional export then the value would be $7,287.

          This link has my last year monthly charges showing outgoing and incoming for energy. It does not cover the connection fee.
          https://1drv.ms/i/s!Aq1iAj8Yo7jNiG4_gzUIVy9TsCvs?e=6d1DyO
          You will see that I am strongly positive overall for most months and just ahead during the winter months. My electricity income has payed for my gas costs since I installed a wood burner.

          Throughout the 11 year period, the term deposit rate has averaged around 4% and electricity price inflation has been around 8%. Using these numbers as the basis for comparison, my investment was positive after 9 years.

          This gives a reasonable idea of the unit price you need for electricity for a solar/battery system to give a return. My system components were slightly more expensive than now but I used my own labour and own rooftop of course.

          My view is that the grid scale cannot do a lot better than I can so the price of electricity at net zero is going to ne around 66c/kWh unless there is dramatic changes in technology. South Australia is not far from the 66c/kWh now if you allow for the connection charge and it is still benefitting significantly from its interconnections with other states.

          My 66c/kWh FIT is supposed to end this year. So I am now considering options.

          The State governments are starting to realise that land access is becoming an issue. You cannot reconcile saving the planet with destroying a whole lot of pristine land and ocean. So they see that using rooftops for solar panels and private premises for batteries is becoming an easier path. That means they will have to continue to incentivise that path to keep their fantasy alive.

          The battery capacity is down a little from original. I know this because I have been gradually increasing the working range of the battery and now take it closer to minimum permitted voltage before the inverter cuts out. There have been two days so far this year when I transferred to the grid for a few hours each time to avoid the inverter shutting down. There have been a number of years when the system provided 100% availability but none in the past 3 years. Late autumn and early winter cloudiness is an increasing issue.

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          • #
            Graeme#4

            You haven’t mentioned your Opportunity Cost Rick. Is that included in your calculations? Also your system size doesn’t appear to be very large when you have a fridge and freezer consuming 11,000 kWh, which I presume is annually. I run a 7kW home air con, plus an electric hot water storage system, and there is no way I could support that amount of power during Perth’s hot summers.
            During winter I only average 8.6kWh a day, climbing to over 18kWh in summer. My solar output, down to 9% efficiency this month, doesn’t worry me as I don’t need to run the air con much in winter.
            I track my costs in a spreadsheet that I first started when calculating if a solar system would work for me. I’m saving an average of $980/year, on a 5200W system that cost a total of $6674, including $1524 calculated Opportunity Cost.
            Interesting that your battery is still reasonable after 12 years. Presume that it wasn’t a lithium battery?

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            • #
              RickWill

              Is that included in your calculations?

              I mentioned the loss of interest on TDs on the capital. Keep in mind that that the income from the term deposit does not cover the cost of electricity actually used so its value is being eroded.

              Most large private projects could get funds at 4% interest and would aim for a return after 10 years.

              The main point is that for Net Zero to be economically viable, the cost of electricity needs to be up around 66c/kWh.

              fridge and freezer consuming 11,000 kWh, which I presume is annually.

              I made it clear the 11MWh was over the 11 years. I stated the dsily output is somewhere between 2.5 and 3KWh or very close to 1000kWh per year. the 11,000kWh was achieved around May after 11 years installed.

              The rest of my demand runs around 4kWh per day so total close to your 7kWh.

              Presume that it wasn’t a lithium battery?

              The battery comprises 16off 100Ah large format lithium cells. When I installed them, not many people had heard about lithium. I did the project to verify the operating cycle life. I did buy some 50Ah cells that I used for initial testing that came straight from China but then went for the 100Ah cells that came from Perth.

              I used my experience to do a scoping study that I provided for the Finkel inquiry. My scoping study, based on real experience over a number of years, is proving to be close to the mark. I even included a photo of my battery.
              http://www.environment.gov.au/submissions/nem-review/willoughby.pdf
              The cost given for the battery quoted was over twice what I paid because I just bought the cells but was quoting something like a Tesla Powerwall. I have a battery balancer but it is not permanently connected and I have only used it once. I occassionly check the cell balance.

              The then NEM demand for 2016 could be met with 240GW of solar panels in outback Australia and 750GWh of storage. If Australia ever gets to NetZero for the NEM then that will be the scale of the system.

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          • #
            Graeme#4

            If I may comment further on your comment that the State govt’s claim that we can add more roof solar to solve the looming energy crisis, my view is that this is rubbish. The Govt surely cannot force everybody to purchase solar if either they cannot afford it, or it’s not worthwhile for them to install it.
            Secondly, I think that most places that want solar already have it.
            Thirdly, with a very low efficiency during winter, home solar would contribute very little to the total grid power. Even in sunny WA, DPV contributes less than 10% on a sunny winter’s day, and virtually nil on cloudy days.
            I think the authorities are clutching at straws. They know that there is a chance of us running out of power, but they won’t shift away from the unachieveable goal of 82% renewables by 2030.

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            • #
              ozfred

              And WA will not let me add the panels that can be handled by the current inverters (150% of 5kw input) which would never be achieved in winter.
              another 1kw mounted vertically (wall mount rather then roof) would likely be useful in winter.

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              • #
                Graeme#4

                I could have purchased a more expensive inverter with three inputs and added a few panels on my north-facing roof side, but thought that the west and east-facing panels should be sufficient. Ideally, I should have had more panels on my west side though, because I use most power on a summer afternoon.

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            • #
              RickWill

              There is still a lot to come on the energy front. Dutton;s nuclear plan is at least 10 years down the track.

              I put solar panels on the roof based on advice from an old work colleague who had moved into managing private super for clients. He advise that rooftop solar was with a 66c/kWh FIT was to good to pass up So I installed a system in the early days.

              Thirdly, with a very low efficiency during winter, home solar would contribute very little to the total grid power. Even in sunny WA, DPV contributes less than 10% on a sunny winter’s day, and virtually nil on cloudy days.

              You have this ass about. The solar panel actually improves efficiency in winter because it is cooler. And if mounted at the optimum angle for May or June sunlights;ight will not collect snow anywhere that snow falls in Australia.. That was one of the key lessons from my off-grid instaltion. The last 1kW of panels are tilted at 56 degrees to do well in May at 37S. I could have reduced the 3kW if I had all panels tilted at around 60 degrees.

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              • #
                John Connor II

                The solar panel actually improves efficiency in winter because it is cooler

                Correct, however there are solar panel “misters” that can cool panels during the day by spraying water over them optimising performance, and it’s something a decent handyman or handywoman could make.

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              • #
                Graeme#4

                Not back to front Rick, look at the AEMO WA website in summer and winter, to see the difference between DPV inputs. And it doesn’t snow much in Perth.

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              • #
                ozfred

                And the deciding factor in the summer versus winter debate is the length of the day (agumented by greater cloud cover in winter)
                Summer = 14 hour daylight
                Winter = 10 hour daylight

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          • #
            MP

            I have been on a 66c/kWh FIT

            FIT, call it by what it is, a rape and pillage tariff. We the rate payer are buying your sunshine at 66 cents and selling it back to you at 27 cents and you “off griders” think this is a good business model, its extortion. Your parasite class has attracted so many similar minded parasites you have sucked the hosts dry.
            Your solution is we need more roof top, lunch time power, more of something I don’t need when I don’t need it, but you expect me to pay you for it then listen to you brag about your Ponzi scheme.
            You’re the reason we all pay huge costs, subsidies your purchase, your power, you’re everything.
            What are the actual costs, as your R&PT is double what its worth, work it all out without my input instead of telling me how much you screw me for every month.

            You’re not Robin Hood and Black Beard never stole from those who had nothing, so congrats you have advanced to the lowest form of life.

            “If all of that contributed to additional export then the value would be $7,287.” Your sunbeams are valued at 66 cents a KW and you run your house and charge your battery off this then export the loose change and this is a good idea?
            You have not thought your scam through.

            Your entire business model exists on subsidies, on other people paying your way.
            By the way “off grid” is, that umbilical cord running from a pole to your box needs to be severed.

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    • #

      Speaking of solar power I have been listening to the word cup cricket final

      One of the stands has a roof covered in soar panels.

      The commentators frequently say that another six has shattered one of the panels and that most of them have been hit by a ball at some time and have star shaped cracks in them.

      My question is, would that put a soar panel out of action completely or merely reduce capacity a little in the specific area where the crack was?

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      • #
        Hanrahan

        I will bow to anyone more experienced than I on this topic but I would say it kills it. As it will be part of a string [series connected] the whole string drops to zero output.

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        • #
          Graeme#4

          Yes, this is the issue. One of my neighbours recently had a system installed where some of the panels would be in shade for a part of the day. When I checked her string outputs, one entire string had zero power.

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      • #
        Jon Rattin

        I can’t speak for cricket balls but l can say thousands of icy golf ball sized hailstones will wreak havoc on solar panels and greatly reduce their output. Toward the end of the article, there is some info relating to insuring solar farm projects. It suggests costs for insuring these types of farms will increase and cause delays for the repairs required to restore them to full output

        https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/solar/utility-scale/texas-hailstorm-damages-thousands-of-solar-panels-at-350-mw-farm/

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        • #

          I have a portable battery and solar set up, and if there is a small piece of shadow on a panel, there is a very large reduction in output. A few sq cm, and that panel is down maybe half!

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          • #
            Graeme#4

            While shadowing on panels is not major for a portable system such as yours, it’s certainly significant for home solar systems. In these system it’s not just the panel that’s impacted. Most home solar systems have either two or three panel strings with the panels in series in each string. So the loss of one panel impacts all other panels on the same string. Micro inverters attached to all panels solve this problem, but this is a very expensive option and rarely used.
            (I had to generate a VET solar training course, generate the training notes, develop practical exercises and online questions.)

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      • #
        John Connor II

        My question is, would that put a soar panel out of action completely or merely reduce capacity a little in the specific area where the crack was?

        Depends on the panel and damage location.
        If they’re the newer “half cut” panels and the damage is only on the upper or lower section, then the panel is still producing power, albeit half.

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      • #
        RickWill

        My question is, would that put a soar panel out of action completely or merely reduce capacity a little in the specific area where the crack was?

        The consequence depends on the amount of damage. If the surface is just crazed then it may not cause any problems. If the surface is crazed and no longer watertight then it will deteriorate quite rapidly as water gets in and eventually corrodes connects or shorts it out. If the damage is severe then it could cause an immediate short circuit and the panel contributes nothing.

        I have used flexible panels with temperature rating of only 60C and they do not last long in Australia because the insulation breaks down. Softens to the point of being easily damaged by minor impact.

        A single panel going down should not impact the entire operation because the connection boxes have bypass diodes. Modern large panels have multiple bypass diodes so they still work OK with partial shading.

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        • #
          Graeme#4

          As much as you say that Rick, I actually checked the neighbour’s string output, and it was zero. (She had a Fronius inverter fitted, similar to mine.) While I don’t know which panels she had, it was a recent installation.

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          • #
            RickWill

            I would be looking at the roof isolator first. Then the individual panels for a faulty bypass diode.

            I have seen instances where a shadow falls across all panels such as from a pole but there is sunlight on every panel but not enough voltage to operate a buck inverter. So there is no output. But there will be voltage, just to low for the inverter to kick in.

            I have had issues with the sealing of one of the array isolators on my grid connected system. So that is a good to look.

            My experience with the array isolator is not rare because the standard has been altered to now accept so-labelled disconnection points.
            https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/disconnection-point-vs-dc-isolator/

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            • #
              Graeme#4

              Ok, that’s interesting. The neighbour made a mistake in putting the panels on her Southside low-angled garage roof in the first place, where the rest of the folks in our townhouse group all have our panels up high on the west and east roofs. She mainly wants extra power in the winter, but she has the panels located where they cop a lot of shade in the winter.

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    • #
      OldOzzie

      Surprisingly The Age Melbourne

      Gas – Australia’s east coast needs the equivalent of 26 new gas plants to back up renewables

      The energy grid will need a massive roll-out of new gas plants to back up renewable energy, defying the current trend where one plant was built in the past decade.

      Many new gas power plants will be needed to back up renewables, despite warnings that gas supplies are running out in the eastern states.

      The east coast of Australia will need to 13 gigawatts of new gas fired electricity generation – the equivalent of building 26 new gas plants – within the next 25 years to back up the rollout of renewables.

      The Australian Energy Market Operator’s (AEMO) finding that an extra 13 gigawatts would be needed was contained in its latest energy grid road map, released last week. It also warns that eastern Australia’s gas supply is running so low that emergency diesel fuel supplies would need to be built next to each new gas plant.

      AEMO’s warning is a high stakes challenge to the Albanese government and Peter Dutton’s opposition given just one gas plant was completed in the past 10 years, with one more in development at Kurri Kurri in NSW.

      With 10 months before the election, neither major party has detailed their plans to build crucial energy infrastructure or boost gas supplies.

      AEMO said new gas powered capacity must be constructed between now and 2050 so the fuel source can continue to produce 5 per cent of the total energy mix in the grid. These plants will be needed in addition to a huge boost in batteries and pumped hydro.

      The figure of 26 gas plants is extrapolated from AEMO’s report. Assuming that each plant can generate about 0.5 gigawatts, a total of 26 plants is needed to deliver 13 gigawatts of capacity – a tenfold increase on the current rate of construction given only gas plant to be built in the past decade.

      The number of gas plants is a conservative figure, given the only plant built in the past 10 years, EnergyAustralia’s Tallawarra B gas plant, was 0.3 gigawatts.

      From the Comments – Again surprisingly for Victoria/The Age

      – Can someone send the article to the Victorian State government who have banned gas production in Bass Strait. There is plenty of gas there if production were to be incentivised. Unfortunately, all we get is sulphuric gas from Spring St.

      – So… nuclear then.

      – Then you have the cost of all this patchwork of renewables, grids and backup gas peaking units. 26 Expensive peaking units which are estimated to run 5% of the time, what a waste of resources and money! Then Bowen says nuclear is too expensive!
      The wheels of Labors energy policy are looking very wobbly which should not surprise anyone as renewables have not worked anywhere else so what made Bowen think it would work here?

      – Requiring 13GW of carbon-emissioning gas plants is a big testament that the current renewable story just doesn’t add up. To completely decarbonize the grid we would need either these plants to be able to burn green hydrogen or just build nuclear.

      – I think I may look into buying a generator.

      – If only there was another form of emissions free power generation that could deliver the base load supply that Australia needs…

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      • #
        Graeme#4

        If you add this amount of gas just to backup the unreliable renewables, then firstly you cannot achieve only 18% fossil fuel generation by 2030. Secondly, these backup gas generators would surely have to be kept running all the time, because with 82% solar and wind, wind has a tendency to vanish very quickly, and I doubt that the gas generators could be ramped up in time. Thirdly, if you have to keep the gas generators running all the time, why not remove the renewables and just use the gas? It’s not cost-effective to run two energy sources simultaneously when only needing one.

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      • #
        el+gordo

        ‘These plants will be needed in addition to a huge boost in batteries and pumped hydro.’

        We won’t need batteries or pumped hydro, coal and gas will suffice.

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    • #
      Graeme#4

      The Liddell cost is an estimate. Somebody, I thought it was you, previously advised that the most recent battery build was in WA, which cost $1000/kWh or $1bn/GWh.
      And I believe that I have already pointed out that 4GWh storage for the National grid is totally inadequate as it wouldn’t cover the longer dunkelflautes that can sometimes stretch out to 48 hours. If you want to reliably backup the entire grid, you would need at least 960GWh of storage.

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    • #
      Ronin

      If you accept govt subsidies to install your own battery, you will likely not have any control over it.

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    • #
      Environment sCeptic

      Nahhh !!!….yer just get a fist full of super capacitors, an inexpensive transfer switch, couple of car batteries, a reasonably fast MPPT (maximum power point tracking) to pump those charge and operating amps to the parallel connected battery and super-cap combo, and voilaaa!!!

      An ultra minimal solar system that only needs a couple of batteries, a super capacitor to assist with any heavy ‘start up currents’ and enough battery longevity to keep the system going throughout any cloud breaks, and 100% grid power when there is not enough solar output. The transfer switch detects the battery and super cap system voltage and switches between 100% solar and 100% on grid power in an instant.

      Even a few batteries without a super-cap in parallel is suitable for example, a similar system with a transfer switch is often used in a caravan setup when powering from the caravan park power and transfer switched solar.

      Notes and errata …SkelStart Engine Module
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQLsGzCqHuk

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      gazzatron

      CO2 Lover-great points, I think many commentators are already saying that AEMO are expecting consumers to “assist” with creating a solar /wind / battery compatible grid. Ben Beattie of The Baseload podcast has pointed this out of the hidden costs in the AEMO/CSIRO Gen cost report.
      In WA, Synergy are already talking about having controlled use of customers household appliances to manage grid demand, they list household Hot water systems, ACs, Pool pumps, “SMART” appliances, roof top solar and battery systems as items that will be part of the “Distributed Energy Resources” that will assist AEMO (& Synergy / Government) to transition to a low CO2 Energy System, quote “The ultimate goal that the DER Roadmap seeks to achieve is a smooth transition into a decentralised, democratised, data-driven and low emissions power system.”
      So the consumer is expected to fork out on the costs of these items and wear the risks of early appliance failures , fires etc while the Grubberment give themselves back pats on achieving shutting down the reliable hydrocarbon fuelled power plants.

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    CO2 Lover

    Post-Debate 2024 Election Map Projection | TRUMP ODDS SKYROCKET!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlv3WgKNoQw

    The Democrats cannot use phoney mail-in ballots this time – what will the Deep State do?

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    • #
      Lawrie

      Shoot him. THen the Democrats will lose more votes and his replacement will win even bigger.

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        Dave in the States

        Whom are referring to?

        Liz and company already unwittingly made a martyr of Trump. He’s already Robin Hood. They don’t want to turn him into Lincoln…or JFK.

        But brandon is a liability to them now.

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      Honk R Smith

      – what will the Deep State do?

      So many options.

      Aliens
      Terror (MAGA in origin as to assuage the faculty at Harvard)
      A pox (I’m sure there’s another script in the hopper at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health Security)
      A campaign excursion to Dallas

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    • #
      OldOzzie

      An external view – SITREP 6/29/24: Biden’s Unraveling Sets New Course for Ukraine

      SIMPLICIUs – JUN 30, 2024

      PS love the meme of the Time Cover

      Plus – Tucker Carlson
      Sunday, 30 June 2024

      Joe Biden’s dementia, as seen from 10,000 miles away. pic.twitter.com/Vc2QzqwQQM

      — Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) June 29, 2024

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      • #
        OldOzzie

        [Can we source this? I saw you tried to put in a link, but it was the quote itself in the html code. – Jo]
        ———————————–

        Backs up what Tucker Carlson said in his 8 Min 47 Sec Speech referenced above

        Look, something’s gotta be done—we need to get rid of him. But for now let’s hold the line and continue pretending everything’s rosy. Once the debates go down, we’ll announce he’s suddenly suffered a catastrophic decline and declare him unfit in unison, in order to protect us individually from accusations of contradicting ourselves.””So what I mean to say by that is: the sudden, totally coordinated “outrage” and faux-shock from pro-regime media pundits and MSM outlets is clearly orchestrated in order to merely use the debates as the springboard to let Biden off gracefully.

        They couldn’t do it before because it would have required them to admit Biden was mentally compromised at a time they were still hoping to hold out and prop up the desiccated corpse.

        But the concerted nature of the now contrived apoplexy allows them to use the debate as a smokescreen to sort of collectivize their hypocrisy and previous covering for Biden by hiding each individual voice in the loud chatter of the wider corporate media cacophony—this way you can’t call out a particular one of them for being a hypocrite, but are rather forced to chalk it up to an organic process, which it clearly wasn’t.

        But to attuned observers, the fabricated nature of the outrage is clear to see because Biden is obviously no worse today than he was just a day ago, a week ago, or even months ago.

        The debate showed no sudden inexplicable “change”, apart from his slightly hoarse voice, claimed to be the result of a ‘cold’. As other commentators have noted, it’s obvious they moved the debate up to a much earlier date than normal (the first 2020 debate was nearly in October) in order to give the DNC time to dump Biden and find someone new.
        [SNIP]

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        el+gordo

        He is a great speaker, very amusing and instructive.

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      OldOzzie

      Who’s really running the US? – In 31 Secs
      Sunday, 30 June 2024

      Thanks to reader KB for this thing that makes you go hhhmmmmm.

      Makes sense… pic.twitter.com/CUe8B3AN3l

      — Brian Kennedy (@Brian_Kennedy) June 28, 2024

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  • #
    David Maddison

    Nothing to see here…

    The Government didn’t like the data so they simply altered the methodology of collecting it…

    https://supersally.substack.com/p/history-has-been-rewritten-australian

    History has been rewritten, Australian pre-vaccine death rates and post-vaccine death rates are not to be compared / data is not provided. The Post-covid Era starts in 2022. I used forecast data to assess the still ongoing excess mortality. Jan-Mar Australian mortality data has just been released. Older Australians, particularly women, have their highest ever death counts in 2024.

    SUPERSALLY888

    JUN 29, 2024

    The Australian Government is still promoting covid-19 vaccination as safe, effective, and recommended for people aged 18 and older.

    Below are the latest Covid-19 vaccine cases, deaths, vaccine dosing and people dosed, but no longer taking doses, from Australia. It looks like only about 2 million Australians, out of some 27 million, are still taking Covid-19 jabs. That says a lot for public confidence!

    Independent Assessment of ABS Mortality Data

    I downloaded and assessed the latest data against prior historical data. The first thing to note is that death rates prior to 2022 cannot be compared with current data due to changes in methodology and source data!

    Many people in Australia are sick. Including young people becoming chronically unwell; some of these within my family and social network and including children! All accepted the intervention; some are multiply boosted.

    There seems to be efforts to induce collective amnesia on what population health used to look like; led by ABS and government agencies which are changing comparator baselines and presenting abnormal data as normal. Nothing to see!

    SEE LINK FOR REST

    Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book has been rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And that process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except the endless present in which the party is always right.

    George Orwell

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      Vicki

      The government control of the Covid/vaccine narrative was incredibly effective in Australia. I have read the the total vaccination number was well over 90% of the population – I have seen a figure of 96% which would make it the highest, I understand, in the western world. A friend who is about to travel OS recently had another booster, despite her specialist (amazingly) advised her against it. “Why, then, have another vaccination?” I asked her. “ Because I have underlying health problems” she answered. You just can’t argue with these people. The fear generated by the medical authorities in the last few years was all pervasive. A complete tragedy.

      250

      • #
        Honk R Smith

        The most shocking thing about the Pandemic was how easy it was to scare the population into compliance.
        For nearly two years.
        Long after it was clear it wasn’t the Black Plague.
        And with ridiculous, almost laughable, obvious propaganda.

        But it’s the compliance level of Ozzians, Scots, and Canadians that disappoints the most.
        I just expected more rugged individualism.
        Too many movies I guess.
        Only slightly better here in the US.

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      Lawrie

      The government or one of their lackeys did the change-the-methodology thing once before; just when the Auditor General agreed to audit the BoM temperature data. The crooks have form. Our swamp may not be as deep as that in the US but it is apparent that it exists. There needs to be a clean out of the bureaucrats. I would use “Surefire”tm.

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      Peter C

      The Australian Senate is supposed to be holding an enquiry into the excess deaths.
      Will they take evidence fro Super Sally?

      90

  • #

    Too good not to share. Don’t go swimming in the River Seine in Paris

    The 10 Billion US Dollar Paris Olympics Disaster –

    “The French are outraged by the amount of money their government has spent on the 2024 Paris Olympics. The government has already spent 9 billion euros on the games, but costs continue to grow daily, and it is now estimated that it will cost France at least 10 billion euros to host the games. There have been countless mishaps when building arenas that have multiplied costs. Parisians know that their city cannot hold the estimated 15 million visitors. Macron believes he is royalty, and hosting the Olympics has always been about boasting rights as it never results in a profit for the hosting country.

    Emmanuel Macron had the audacity to announce that open water games would be held in the Seine River, which is brown, unsanitary, and completely contaminated by sewage. Macron said that he and the mayor of Paris would take a swim in the Seine on June 23 to show the world that it is not a floating water of waste. Creative protestors, the French decided to show their disgust by collectively pooping in the river on the day the president was set to swim. Websites were constructed to tell people in neighboring cities precisely when to poop in the river so that it would reach Macron in time for his swim. The river was still utterly polluted on June 23, and Macron conveniently announced that he would delay his swim until after the July election.”

    https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2024/06/too-good-not-to-share-thank-you-armstrong-economics-and-protected-political-commentary.html

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      CO2 Lover

      How can we get Albo to go for a swim in the Yarra?

      152

      • #
        John Connor II

        The rivers up north have crocs, but I suspect even a croc wouldn’t like the taste. Too slippery and scummy.

        60

    • #
      David Maddison

      And after throwing away all that money, no air conditioning in the athlete’s accommodation…

      140

      • #

        I don’t understand the issue. French electricity is primarily generated by Nuclear Power and not by Coal/Gas/Oil.

        None or minimal emissions should be a big plus for the Climate Alarmists.

        130

        • #
          David Maddison

          The fact that even nuclear energy is rejected is evidence that they are opposed to plentiful and inexpensive energy in general, not just coal and gas (and even hydro, they are demolishing hydro dams in Californiastan).

          160

          • #
            David Maddison

            It’s not about the weather.

            It never was.

            It’s about the deliberate destruction of one of the fundamental inputs to industrial civilisation, energy.

            150

          • #
            Bruce

            Yep!

            Luddite death-cultists.

            As best.

            70

    • #
      MrGrimNasty

      Rishi Sunak had a recent encounter with a floater voter. Someone from a group called Youth Demand broke into his estate and took a dump in his lake, as a parting gift they said. Seems to be the latest rather disgusting protest trend.

      90

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    CO2 Lover

    Germany Released a NEW Nuclear Fusion Reactor and DESTROYS The Entire Industry!

    There has been a lot of hype over nuclear fusion for power generation for a long time so I would treat this with caution.

    However, this might be a reality by say 2050 and where would this leave the Climate Cultists?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1nhJdm5X8o&t=43s

    50

    • #
      Yarpos

      Not sure it would change much , they always have transport and the entire petrochemical industry to fallback on for things to protest about.

      50

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      Graeme#4

      While their approach is new, they still haven’t achieved greater than 100% efficiency. To claim that their approach destroys the current nuclear systems is clearly wrong.

      60

  • #
    David Maddison

    Sunday humour (but true).

    Speaking English but with German grammar.

    3 mins

    https://youtu.be/50jkO2s4Sp0

    50

  • #

    Renewable? lol.

    A wind turbine in the southwest of Victoria has been destroyed by fire overnight, with a giant blade crashing into the ground.

    Firefighters were called to the Portland wind farm around 8pm last night, finding the top of the tower in flames.

    https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2024/06/renewable.html

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    • #

      A great way to start a bush fire.

      100

      • #
        TdeF

        Caused by Climate Change. Without Climate Change there would be no windmill.

        200

      • #
        Vicki

        A bushfire was started by a similar occurrence in farmland in NSW a few years ago. A neighbouring farmer, whose property was damaged in the fire, successfully sued the company who maintain the turbines. It was a landmark case, but is relatively unknown.

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      • #
        Graeme#4

        The falling flaming bits, and one bit was certainly large, set fire to the grass underneath.

        30

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      Ronin

      Notice the generator bit isn’t involved, just the blade which appears to have started near the tip, could be a lightning strike, more proof that the big fella upstairs is not happy.

      50

      • #
        Graeme#4

        The photos and video show the generator housing totally destroyed – it appeared to be an empty shell.

        00

    • #
      Ronin

      “Renewable? lol.”

      Yep, it’ll need renewing.

      60

  • #
    Honk R Smith

    It is clear now that Joe Biden is not running the US.
    It’s probably been a while since a POTUS was really in charge.
    There is a Dark Consortium. (Probably global.)
    Dark ’cause its’ structure and personnel are obscured from the public.
    And partly for the other implications of ‘dark’.

    So the name of the office should be changed to reflect reality.
    Perhaps ‘Liaison of the Deplorables to the Dark Consortium’ … or LDDC.

    The LDDC gets a parade and a pension.
    And a nice big white house within DC, which is the accurate updated acronym for Dark Consortium.
    And from there goes to jail if He/She/They POs the Dark Consortium.

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    David Maddison

    You know how I identify anything that’s a likely target of the Left to destroy?

    I just think of anything that’s good, decent, fun, convenient, true, respectful, educational (not propaganda), inexpensive, doesn’t hurt anyone, traditional, moral, private (as they don’t respect privacy), historical fact, biological fact, objective science, engineering reality, enjoyable, democratic etc..

    They want to destroy it all.

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    • #
      David Maddison

      And if you enjoy real food, they are going after yiur eggs and meat.

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    • #
      Geoff Sherrington

      David,
      At 83, I deeply resent that the sparkle of my remaining years has been stolen by people with no right to interfere.
      While I should be blogging about the beauty of some old masters paintings at the art gallery (or something like that) I feel a duty to publicise the errors of those trying to direct our lives.
      There is no climate catastrophe. There are many evil, ignorant, interfering bad people, starting at the “top” with some elected politicians. They are wrecking the education of our offspring, which leaves me very concerned about the prospects for their future happiness and for society around them. This is not progress. The downers of climate change are bad enough, then they do an insanely mad insult to the future health if the world by the con jobs, the lies, the abrogation if duties by our medical watchdogs named Covid “vaccinations”.
      Always, I ask “Who benefits?”
      Geoff S

      50

  • #
    Penguinite

    Joe Biden the solar panel of politics! He’s only viable between 10am to 4pm

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/06/bombshell-report-biden-only-fully-functional-10-m/

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      TdeF

      Joe will go again. He answered all the questions. He had all the facts. And he made it down that step with two people watching his feet.

      His boss Barack Obama said he just had a ‘bad debate’. It happens.

      And Gavin Newsom said he won.

      He will prepare hard for a 9pm debate by sleeping till lunchtime at the beach every single day.

      So he will come out swinging and knock the liar down next time.

      The world can’t wait for the next exciting episode of Angry Joe vs the lying dog faced pony soldier.

      This man is in charge of the most deadly arsenal of nuclear weapons in the world.

      And he knows where Trump lives. New York. And perhaps Palm Beach, Florida. Why not?

      Pretend it’s the Russians.

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      Leo G

      America, the intermittent republic.

      50

  • #
    David Maddison

    Apparently it’s quite hard to name colours these days because nearly every conceivable name for a colour has been trademarked.

    60

    • #
      CO2 Lover

      Plum Crazy is one of my favourite colours

      It was offered along with other so-called High Impact colors such as Top Banana (yellow), Vitamin C (orange), and Sublime (green)

      https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a15353477/dodge-goes-plum-crazy-again-with-purple-hued-charger-and-challenger/

      60

    • #
      TdeF

      And many times over. Each Trademark has at least 20 categories. So Commodore has many meanings, many trademarks.

      Fake Trademarks are about fooling people, which is illegal if the Trademark is registered. Otherwise anyone can make and sell a fake Apple phone.
      But Apple have to prove it, pay and keep paying. Or anyone can open a McDonalds, the ethnic Scottish restaurant.

      These people do not own the colour, but the colour in a very narrow context. I actually have a nominated shade of blue on one Trademark. Every shade has a number.

      And you still have a legal battle to fight, like patents. I have 24 trademarks. In a number of countries.

      It can be very expensive. And you have to pay every country. I had a legal battle in Turkey and had to buy it back.

      One Australian champagne manufacturer used the same orange as Veuve Cliquot. They had to stop.

      I remember an awful bottle of Mumms champagne in Dusseldorf. Who knows on a wine list? But it was German Mumms in a blue bottle, not white with a red stripe.

      But I still have a very funny bottle of D’Arenburg Dadds Champagne. Identical to Mumms and very funny. They had to stop.

      Patents actually protect the public, but they are funded by the vendor. And like patents stop people being robbed with dodgy fakes.

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      • #
        TdeF

        There is so much history to colour. And I think most people could pick at least twenty shades of Green. The Germans have parks with varying shades of green, no flowers. Monet’s Harmonie Vert. It is the attraction of the Green party. Calm, restful.

        The Russians and Chinese love red. Red Square in old Russian is the same as Beautiful Square.

        The emperor of China had his own Royal purpose for the forbidden city, even the walls. It was a death sentence to use that colour on your house.

        And indigo, the Indian plant dye, the colour purple was the most expensive colour in the world, used by emperors and cardinals.

        When the British and Dutch shared the East India Company, the Dutch owned the spices and the Britsh won the Indian cottons. And Europe went crazy for the colours. It made the British Commonwealth more than gold or wheat or furs or fish.

        And the Greeks loved colour and still do. All those white statues were coloured to lifelike.

        A history of the move from grey/brown life to a modern colourful life has been an amazing one. And yes, people protect their shades of colour and their application of colour. How many colours did the aborigines have? Ochre? I don’t count black, which is an abscence of colour. 0000F

        80

      • #
        KP

        “Patents actually protect the public,”

        There’s a downside T, they stifle improvement so the public are stuck with a just-developed product until the patent runs out. Without patents the inventor would release a product that the public would buy, but immediately some people would say, “oh its better if made this way, or if it can do that as well” and so technology advances faster.

        The cost of blocking innovation can be high, look at the terrible pieces of crap that aviation use, piston engines designed in the 1940s, absolute gas guzzlers with poor power but they never get updated.

        11

        • #
          Ronin

          Just like Stephensons patent stifled the development of the steam engine for many years.

          30

        • #
          TdeF

          Without patents there would be no inventions. They are just not worth capitalizing if everything good is immediately stolen. It is what sets the US and Europe apart from zero incentive countries. Even then they are massively expensive and time consuming. You have to reveal all secrets and lose all rights after 20 years. So you have to make money fast. And some patents take 10 years to achieve, so you only have 10.

          And if someone has a genuine improvement or discovery, there is no restriction. Yes, there are those who play legal trapdoor spider, but that is very risky business. And no worse than those who steal everything. Business is a battleground with rules. As is politics and justice.

          And you have to fight in court, which is not cheap. Millions. The Wright brothers lost the lot and one died during their patent battle. And I write as someone who has 80 patents across many countries. Without patents, I would not bother to invent anything. Nor would anyone else. It would be a mug’s game.

          Plus everything is copied in China anyway. The invention of Letters Patent for the King James Bible was a turning point in the industrial revolution. People generally do not know much about the story or the essential role of patents.

          It is as important as stocks and bonds, a central currency, exchange rates, a central bank. All themselves inventions, largely by the Dutch and passed to the UK in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. And an engine in the British Commonwealth. Thus a gift to the world, including America.

          60

      • #
        Graeme#4

        I believe Visa uses one colour for use in countries with more sunshine, and another colour for use in countries with less sunshine.

        10

    • #
      CO2 Lover

      But it was German Mumms in a blue bottle, not white with a red stripe.

      Color has a profound effect on the perception of odors. For example, strawberry-flavored drinks smell more pleasant when colored red than green and descriptions of the “nose” of a wine are dramatically influenced by its color.

      https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/jn.00555.2004#:

      40

      • #
        TdeF

        And emotions. We are influenced by colour, shine, gloss, tactile sensations, juxtaposition of colours. I was always struck by the drabness of London, London style and the bright colours of other countries. To not have colour is comparable to not having music. Carnaby Street in the 1960s was a huge break from British tradition in British fashion. A seaside village in Italy had more colour than a whole city in England.

        30

    • #

      Well, I like an orange so try and trademark/patent a fruit and it’s colour. Now that would be plum crazy and make see red. And I could give black looks as black is not a colour apparently.

      And what about the colours of the Rainbow.

      40

      • #
        TdeF

        Plum crazy always bothered me. Plums didn’t make sense.

        But I suddenly realised it was one of the many occupational poisons in Victorian times.

        Mad as a hatter was Arsenic poisoning which affected Hat makers as they used Arsenic to cure the felt/leather. And I suddenly realised Plum crazy was lead poisoning, not a colour. Plumb is the Latin for lead, Plumbum. It’s obvious in hindsight. The rich in Rome had lead plumbing, not terracotta. It possibly explains Caligula’s madness. And you get plumbers. Workers in lead.

        Then you have Phossy Jaw which afflicted makers of matchsticks and was Phosphorous poisoning which ate bone. And similarly with young women hand painting watch dials with radium who licked their brushes to get a point. Ivan the Terrible went mad with the mercury they gave him for his chronic back pain. And women in France took arsenic to achieve the ideal of white skin. So people went plumb crazy. Just as people we plumb certain, which is a reference to a lead weight on a string, a plumb bob as used by the Romans. And they used trenches filled with water for the horizontal level. So something on the level was true.

        80

        • #
          CO2 Lover

          Why do people say plum crazy?

          Because “plumb” means truly, completely, entirely straight (eg the Plumb Bob), the slang dictionary says, about 1748 someone was called “plumb silly.” From there came “plumb crazy” (or its twin, “plumb loco”), “plumb tired,” and other such straightforward expressions

          20

          • #
            TdeF

            I am unaware of the history. It’s all speculation. But lead crazy makes sense. As does plumb silly, plumb crazy, plumb loco. Plum tired is an odd one. Remember no one writes this stuff down. It is an oral tradition, not a written one. So we have no way of telling Plumb from plum. It is only my conclusion. And I do not think plumb crazy is a colour.

            10

        • #
    • #
      Penguinite

      Once again Nature comes to the rescue! It’s not possible to TM natural colours however the smart asses, like Cadbury have tinted one and the LBTQ freaks have adopted The Rainbow which makes it impossible for normal folk to use the word/image without appearing to support them!

      20

      • #
        Liberator

        It’s a shame that the LBG etc have adopted the rainbow as their. Well before it was adopted by them, it was used to support fundraising and organ donation awareness. Zaidee’s Rainbow Foundation was established back in 2004.https://www.zaidee.org/home#about. “Zaidee Rose Alexander Turner, aged 7 years and 22 days, died suddenly on 2nd December 2004 from a Cerebral Aneurysm. At the time of Zaidee’s death the Turner family had been registered Organ and Tissue Donors for 5 years. Zaidee donated her Organs and Tissues at the Royal Children’s Hospital, as were her wishes at the time.” She loved rainbows!

        Unfortunately with the LBG commandeering the rainbow, this well regarded foundation is now well lost in the ether. I think the LGB etc should be supporting Zaidees Rainbow foundation and donating to it instead of their own “causes.” Organ donation awareness can certainly use some support, time the LBG team got on board!

        30

    • #
      ozfred

      As a budding philatelist in my youth, the stamps of the early years of postal history were a genuine education in colours.
      The source of the much squinting and guessing of the past seems to have been replaced by computers.
      https://www.stanleygibbons.com/products/stanley-gibbons-colour-key-reprinted-edition

      30

  • #
    David Maddison

    For Melbournistanis, apparently there’s been some snow at Mt Donna Buang.

    30

  • #
    Leo G

    America, the intermittent republic.

    10

  • #
    Richard C (NZ)

    I like to think of Jonathan Turley as the legal equivalent of Glenn Greenwald without the speech inflexions and now deceased “husband” – a red-pilled, maybe old-school, liberal who’s public output is almost entirely composed of left wing hypocrisy exposure, the Deep State menace, and the ridiculousness of blind-eye journalism and punditry.

    Good example today:

    The Art of Being Eternally Shocked: How the Press and Pundits are Again Mystified by the Obvious – Jonathan Turley

    The laptop is real, the President is really old, and Washington is really really phony.

    https://jonathanturley.org/2024/06/29/the-art-of-being-eternally-surprised-how-the-press-and-pundits-are-again-mystified-by-the-obvious/

    Then the presidential debate happened and, after years of being protected by staff, tens of millions of people watched the president struggle to stay focused and responsive.

    After the debate, there was total surprise, if not shock, on CNN and MSNBC. Suddenly, it is not a cheap fake but reality.

    Just seven days before the debate, the New York Times was running cheap fake articles on how Biden was being wrongly portrayed. The day after the debate, it was calling for him to withdraw from the race after expressing shock at his appearance.

    On CNN, Biden biographer and CNN contributor Evan Osnos admitted that many Americans were likely “shocked” by Biden’s appearance: “I don’t think there’s any other way to put it. This was clearly a person who was diminished from where he was on the debate stage four years ago.”

    Pro-Biden columnist Thomas Friedman wrote that he was floored by what he saw and that “heartbreaking” appearance of Biden made him “weep.”

    Washington is now full of surprises. It is a city of people who display that practiced faux shock that you adopt when you learn in advance that your friends are throwing a surprise party. The key is to look stunned and then mingle.

    Saw a meme on X comparing Biden’s Madame Tussauds wax statue to Biden in the debate saying – “Which looks more lifelike?”

    Here’s the Tussauds statue:

    Joe Biden – Madame Tussauds
    https://www.the-sun.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/01/NINTCHDBPICT000705987635.jpg?strip=all&w=640

    Not the Slack-Jaw-Joe we saw in the debate.

    50

    • #
      Richard C (NZ)

      >I like to think of Jonathan Turley as the legal equivalent of Glenn Greenwald

      Hmm, just remembered Greenwald is/was a lawyer too.

      10

    • #
      Richard C (NZ)

      >the ridiculousness of blind-eye journalism and punditry

      Like journalism, by far the most lawyers and judiciary operating in the US political spectrum are left-wing Democrats – hence “Lawfare”.

      So there’s a related category – blind-eye law.

      Examples – Bragg-Meachan, James-Engoron, Smith-Garland, FBI-DOJ etc

      Consider themselves “The Law” or even above the law and defending “Our Democracy” (in a Republic), Constitution archaic and irrelevant, beyond a shadow of doubt out the window, a charged crime unnecessary to define, human rights and humane society (e.g. J6) – meh!

      I think these 2 – media/journalism and law – epitomize the descent of USA into tyranny.

      50

    • #
      Richard C (NZ)

      >[Madame Tussauds statue] Not the Slack-Jaw-Joe we saw in the debate.

      >the Deep State menace

      Tuberville [Sen. (R-AL)] on Biden Debate Disaster: ‘The American People Need to Understand the Deep State Is Running This Country’

      https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2024/06/29/tuberville-on-biden-debate-disaster-the-american-people-need-to-understand-the-deep-state-is-running-this-country/

      “President Trump did a good job of pretty much using facial expressions and staying out of the way,” Tuberville added. “The rules kind of helped him in terms of not being able to interrupt. But it’s a sad state of affairs. I don’t know what direction the Democrats will go right now, but they’re in panic mode, and the American people just need to understand the deep state is running this country. And they’re going to continue to do it if the Democratic Party and the RINOs of this country keep electing them.”

      Getting close to de-facto martial law/coup d’état.

      40

    • #
      Richard C (NZ)

      >a red-pilled, maybe old-school, liberal who’s public output is almost entirely composed of left wing hypocrisy exposure, the Deep State menace, and the ridiculousness of blind-eye journalism and punditry.

      Bill Maher: I Mock the Left More After Oct. 7 Hamas Attacks, ‘They’re Dumber Than They Used to Be’

      https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2024/06/28/watch-bill-maher-i-make-fun-of-the-left-more-after-october-7-hamas-attacks-theyre-dumber-than-they-used-to-be/

      Not suggesting Maher is a beacon of hope – just the opposite. A foul person IMO.

      40

    • #
      Dave in the States

      We need more CTs because all the old ones have come true.

      20

  • #
    CO2 Lover

    The Future of Submarine Warfare

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7OTgpxedp0&t=66s

    Meanwhile Australia spends $240 Billion on manned subs!

    “Generals are always preparing for the last war”

    80

  • #
    David Maddison

    The Left are attacking Nigel Farage because some of his supporters said supposedly racist things.

    But at least one of those cases was a paid actor who volunteered to distribute leaflets for the Reform UK party and the whole thing was set up to make Farage and the party look bad.

    Never trust the Left. Ever.

    Jeff Taylor discusses:

    The bit about Farage starts at 5.5 mins.

    https://youtu.be/H9rPr8bD794

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    another ian

    FWIW – Replacement theory complications –

    “Uh Oh… More Bad News for Democrats: Biden Cannot be Replaced on Ballot in Three Swing States, Except for Death or 25th Amendment”

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/06/uh-oh-another-bad-news-democrats-biden-cannot/

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    • #
      CO2 Lover

      For an in-depth look at the federal election process in the U.S., read USA In Brief: ELECTIONS.

      https://share.america.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Elections-USA_In-Brief-Series_English_Lo-Res.pdf

      We’re sorry, this site is currently experiencing technical difficulties.

      Mmmmmm….But then I am just a Conspiracy Theorist!

      50

    • #
      another ian

      More Newson

      “Adam Carolla Leaves CA Gov. Gavin Newsom a Stuttering Mess “A Man Whose Policies Are So Bad He Can’t Even Defend Them” ”

      https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/06/adam-carolla-leaves-ca-gov-gavin-newsom-stuttering/

      60

      • #
        Ronin

        This pillock is likely going to be President, the toothy smile, the blonde wife with the 4 perfect kids is all it will take.

        30

      • #
        el+gordo

        Proof that Biden has dementia, he suffers from sundowners syndrome.

        The comments are a hive of knowledge.

        11

    • #
      another ian

      More on that –

      “Tucker Carlson Gives His Opinion on Joe Biden’s “Dementia” Debate Performance
      June 29, 2024 | Sundance | 8 Comments”

      https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2024/06/29/tucker-carlson-gives-his-opinion-on-joe-bidens-dementia-debate-performance/#more-261625

      See “replacement qualifications” at the end

      50

      • #
        Lance

        Spot on.

        What is happening is a preparation to raise a candidate that can “plausibly” justify an electoral loss for Trump on 5 Nov 2024.

        Biden is “too far gone” and “too obviously incompetent” to “win in a landslide” or “win by a small margin” against Trump.

        But. There is a desperate need to legally pardon Joe and Hunter Biden, and all the crooks. Think about it.

        Biden is removed by a 25th Amendment challenge, leaving Kamala as President. She can “pardon” the Bidens and crooks, then the New President and Former Vice President, can legally “choose” who becomes the New Vice President.

        So, let’s say Gavin Newsom is chosen as VP. This presents a problem as both Newsom and Harris are from California, and if both ran for election in 2024, they would lose the 54 electoral votes from California because of that.

        But. If Newsom was VP, and Kamala Harris voluntarily abdicated the presidency, then Newsom could choose the “next” VP as he would become President. All of this without any elections, and prior to the election year actual elections.

        The entire point is for the system to be tampered with, barely legally, such that “someone electable” can run for President that would enable illicit voting schemes to “just barely” win over Trump.

        That is what is going on here, IMHO. Or, something so similar there is no difference. This is a power grab. Everyone knew that Biden was incapable, before and after he was “elected”. What you see now is just a PsyOp and Smokescreen to justify another stolen election and keep the Deep State intact.

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      Graeme#4

      A lot of problems for the Democrats, not the least being that apparently Brandon still wants to run. I believe that he has already said that he will participate in the September debate.

      40

      • #
        Lance

        What Biden “wants to do” is irrelevant. He is being pushed out.

        Plans are afoot to replace Biden and justify a Trump “loss” by the slimmest of margins.

        There is too much power and money at stake for the Dems and Deep State to allow a Trump win.

        I’ll be surprised if Trump is allowed to win. Everything you see now is a Deep State Psyop.

        50

        • #
          ozfred

          The states that are not confirming the US citizenship of their “new residents” are setting up the possibility of a judicial challenge to the outcome of the November election in the USA.
          No matter what side “wins”

          10

      • #
        Ronin

        “that apparently Brandon still wants to run. ”

        Jill has informed him he wants to run.

        30

  • #
    David Maddison

    In Australia I’ve been noticing a lot of supermarkets like Coles, Woolworths and Aldi installing refrigeration with doors on it, rather than having traditional open refrigerated displays for meat etc..

    It is much less convenient to access than the open displays as well.

    No doubt this is done because of the huge cost of “green” energy and, absolutely, the large cost of replacing all the refrigeration will be borne by the consumer.

    And as more green electricity is installed the cost will continue to rise and our standard of living will continue to fall.

    It’s too bad the CSIRO, professional “engineers” and others are all lying about the destructive effects and high cost of wind and solar electricity.

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    • #
      CO2 Lover

      But still not as bad as what is happening in Democrat cities in the USA – everything is behind glass doors – with locks!

      https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2024-04-25/retail-theft-locked-up-merchandise

      70

    • #
      Richard C (NZ)

      >installing refrigeration with doors on it, rather than having traditional open refrigerated displays for meat etc..

      Just makes sense and savings.

      A door is a better barrier than an air curtain (Those open displays should be covered overnight BTW – seen it but not sure how wide the practice is)

      Used to work in energy sector research for an electricity retailer. Visited a hot dip galvanizer plant. Biggest cost by far was electricity so everything possible was done to conserve energy.

      Example was ping pong ball insulation covering one of the acid-bath tanks (pickling from memory – not zinc obviously) which was heated.

      Biggest hazard and energy risk turned out not to be internal but external. A truckie drove down the street outside with hiab crane still up, took out all the o/h service lines in the street including the galvanizer plant.

      Air curtains and refrigerator doors are probably near the bottom of the energy conservation ladder but ok, the’re everywhere. The big numbers though are in high energy-intense industries.

      A u/g service line would have saved the plant above from blackout. Just means thrusting or horiz. drilling under the road and some trenching. Initial cost but a more secure supply thereafter.

      40

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        Richard C (NZ)

        >A u/g service line would have saved the plant above from blackout

        Around BoP kiwifruit and avocado country Te Puke NZ there are shelter belt trees, truck hiab lifting, hydralada lifting platforms for picking/pruning, etc – all o/h electricity line hazardous situations.

        Consequently service lines, both LV and HV, and even some HV distribution lines are buried both inside orchards and in road reserves. HV/LV transformers ground-based rather than pole-mounted too.

        That was the biggest difference I noticed going from Waikato, where most lines to dairy farms were o/h, to BoP where service lines are buried (at higher cost for cables and excavation)

        Means a lot of buried cable location required before excavation.

        Different story in Rotorua area where ground is volcanic, abrasive, scoria. HV cables are double sheathed where buried under driveways, roadways, anywhere where vehicles cross the surface above the cables. Vehicular action on scoria breaks down a single sheathed cable’s insulation and Boom!.

        I’ve seen the hole left by a 33 kV cable failure and blowout. It was like a bomb crater.

        20

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  • #
    David Maddison

    In Australia, make no mistake, the Left are becoming increasingly violent.

    Liberal (pretend conservative party) MP Ian Goodenough posted this:

    Flammable material was set alight at the front door of my Joondalup electorate office last night.

    It concerns me that there have been many similar attacks on electorate offices around the country, involving wilful damage.

    We live in a great country with very accessible Members of Parliament — it would be a shame to see these unacceptable acts result in tighter security measures implemented in the future.

    Everyone has a right to express their views in our democracy, but it must be done peacefully and lawfully without injury or damage to public property.

    https://thewest.com.au/politics/federal-politics/fire-set-at-liberal-mp-ian-goodenoughs-joondalup-office-c-15159593

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    • #
      Ronin

      “In Australia, make no mistake, the Left are becoming increasingly violent.”

      That seems to indicate desperation.

      20

  • #
    OldOzzie

    Numbers Don’t Lie

    Global energy use in 2023 hit a new record, 620 EJ, of which about 81.5% came from hydrocarbons. Image: Energy Institute.

    The ball don’t lie. Neither do the numbers in the latest Statistical Review of World Energy. – 76 Page PDF Download

    Amid the ongoing blizzard of propaganda about the “energy transition” and the tired antics of the goobers from Just Stop Oil — a pair of whom vandalized Stonehenge with orange paint last Wednesday — the Statistical Review, published by the Energy Institute, KPMG, and Kearney, provides a much-needed reality check to the narrative being promoted by major media outlets, academics, and the NGO-corporate-industrial-climate complex.

    The new Statistical Review, released last Thursday, shows, yet again, that despite the hype, subsidies, and mandates, wind and solar energy aren’t keeping pace with the growth in hydrocarbons.

    Global hydrocarbon use and CO2 emissions hit record highs in 2023, with hydrocarbon consumption up 1.5% to 504 exajoules (EJ). That increase was “driven by coal, up 1.6%, [and] oil up 2% to above 100 million barrels [per day] for the first time.” Global natural gas demand was flat, mainly due to stunning declines in Europe. Gas demand in the U.K. fell by 10%. It also fell by 11% in Spain, 10% in Italy, and 11% in France.

    Soaring electricity demand was, yet again, the big story in 2023. Global power generation increased by 2.5% to 29,924 terawatt-hours. About 32% of that juice (9,456 TWh) was generated in China, where electricity production surged by nearly 7%. The U.S. came in a distant second in power generated, with 4,494 TWh. Domestic power production dropped by about 1% last year. Power generation in India also increased by about 7% last year to a record 1,958 TWh, 75% of which came from coal-fired power plants.

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    OldOzzie

    These Are The World’s Oldest And Youngest Countries, By Median Age

    The median age is a single indicator of the age distribution of a population – where half the population is older and half is younger than the listed age.

    It can help government and private companies plan for age-specific demand for goods and services from the resident population.

    In the chart below, Visual Capitalist’s Pallavi Rao visualizes the world’s oldest and youngest countries by median age, based on 2024 estimates from the CIA World Factbook.

    77 🇦🇺 Australia 38

    Our Local Area Seaforth came close to Australian median age, and was surprised by % of Children.

    The median age of people in Seaforth (NSW) was 40 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 25.5% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 12.8% of the population.

    We are well outnumbered by kids and good to see.

    20

    • #
      OldOzzie

      My apologies that link for Seafoth was 2016 Census

      In 2021 Census we have gone up to 42 for median Age versus 39 for NSW and 38 for Australia

      https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/POA2092

      20

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        OldOzzie

        Hey ABS site is a really fun site – 12 Year Old Grandson was looking and brought up Chatswoo (note he has Hong Kong Aunt & China Aunt married to his Father’s Brothers)

        https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/POA2067

        Ancestry, top responses

        All people 2067, NSW % 2067, NSW New South Wales % New South Wales Australia % Australia
        Chinese 11,241 41.5 581,641 7.2 1,390,639 5.5
        English 3,949 14.6 2,404,990 29.8 8,385,928 33.0
        Australian 3,099 11.4 2,307,549 28.6 7,596,753 29.9
        Korean 1,418 5.2 72,499 0.9 136,888 0.5
        Irish 1,317 4.9 735,340 9.1 2,410,833 9.5

        Country of birth of parents

        All people 2067, NSW % 2067, NSW New South Wales % New South Wales Australia % Australia

        Both parents born overseas 20,030 74.0 3,181,894 39.4 9,321,603 36.7
        Father only born overseas 1,044 3.9 509,789 6.3 1,670,476 6.6
        Mother only born overseas 1,056 3.9 369,492 4.6 1,257,942 4.9
        Both parents born in Australia 3,877 14.3 3,529,168 43.7 11,663,577 45.9
        Not stated 1,064 3.9 481,824 6.0 1,509,188

        20

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    David Maddison

    “Sustainable” cars are ICE cars.

    (Copied from elsewhere.)

    Mercedes 240D the most driven taxi in Africa and the most sustainable car in the world.

    Built for 30 years and 600,000 kilometers of use, these vehicles are now still reliably driving in the taxi service with often over 2 million kilometers and 45 years.

    They can simply be operated clean and CO2 neutral with:

    – Nut oil
    – Fish oil
    – Rapeseed oil
    – Sunflower oil
    – Jatropa oil
    – Palm oil
    – PTL Diesel
    – Care Diesel
    – Old frying grease
    – Biodiesel

    or don’t keep CO2 neutral with fossil fuels either

    – Mineral Diesel
    – Mineral Kerosene

    Currently, the life span of a new car is approx. 7 years old Mercedes W123 have not been built 7 times compared to a new vehicle and save 7 times the CO2 backpack of a new car.

    We demand a turn away from the disposable cars to vehicles that are built for 30 years and 600,000 kilometers of use!

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    • #
      Penguinite

      And if the alternative substances are short they just hijack a fuel delivery truck or tap into a pipeline.

      40

    • #
      Tel

      Current lifespan for a vehicle is 7 years?

      That can’t be right.

      How do you define “lifespan” anyhow? I don’t believe there’s a single ICE vehicle on the market that would not easily keep going for 20 years of regular use with normal servicing and average driving. That doesn’t mean every vehicle lasts 20 years in practice … it might crash or be stolen or maybe flood damage, etc. There’s lots of reasons a vehicle can get written off other that wearing out.

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    another ian

    FWIW – if you are game

    “CDC Recommends New COVID-19 Vaccines For Nearly All Americans”

    https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/cdc-recommends-new-covid-19-vaccines-nearly-all-americans

    30

  • #
    YYY Guy

    I don’t think you’ll beat this for a news sharticle today
    No idea of the content of it. Some things don’t deserve a read.

    20

    • #
      KP

      “Sadly, this article is dead serious, and seems to be an attempt to explain why the global warming isn’t actually happening by telling its readers that the world is both warming and cooling at the same time, which “Climate zeitgeist reporter” Shannon Osaka calls “one of the great ironies of climate change“.

      And now that we are reducing air pollution, she tells us, climate change is really going to start (finally!).”

      Says it all….

      Another article on that page points out how the Japanese and Germans are still occupied by American soldiers looting and raping the local inhabitants. Seems those countries cant get rid of them-

      “The pro-US Liberal Democratic Party …which was created by the CIA and has ruled Japan on Washington’s behalf as a one-party state since 1955, has repeatedly held that the World War II American military occupation’s presence is non-negotiable.”

      “As in the case of Japan’s LDP, Germany’s two post-war institutional parties — the Christian Democratic Union and the Social Democratic Party — were created by the Allies and propped up by the CIA to manage the country in Washington’s interest. “

      10

  • #
    OldOzzie

    How long does it really take to sober up? I drank as much as I could in two hours to find out

    After six pints, a G&T, a rum and Coke, two cocktails and six Sambuca shots I attempted to sober up with an alcohol monitor attached to me

    10

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    KP

    Meanwhile, the sudden coup in Bolivia..

    “Laura Richardson, the No1 US general in Latin America explains how important Bolivian lithium is for the US. I bet the coup d’etat that’s taking place as we speak in #Bolivia is organic and has nothing to do with her country.”

    https://x.com/_michalis12/status/1806069754068611244

    “Bolivia, which is among the countries with the largest lithium reserves on the planet, has announced the signing of a $450 million investment deal with Russia’s state-owned Uranium One to exploit the key mineral for the energy transition. Uranium One, a subsidiary of the Russian nuclear energy giant Rosatom, will shoulder the entire cost of the investment in Bolivia until 2025, that is, it will allocate all 450 million dollars.”

    https://warnews247-gr.translate.goog/diethnh/hpa/amerikanida-strathgos-deixnei-thn-aitia-tou-praksikophmatos-sthn-bolibia-to-lithio-ths-xwras-einai-eksairetika-shmantiko-gia-mas/?_x_tr_sl=el&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB

    30

  • #

    An excellent band name – “Obama and the Pseudo Democrats.”
    I’m wondering if the Farage quake might ignite a dormant Tony Abbott!? He’s still a youngun.

    60

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW – Willis E finds a hockey stick mine

    “Mining For Hockeysticks”

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/06/29/mining-for-hockeysticks/

    20

  • #
    Richard C (NZ)

    Seen at American Thinker:

    LGBTQWERTY+

    60

  • #
    Mike Jonas

    Am I alone in thinking that Joe Biden’s debate performance has boosted his chances of being re-elected? By making the debate all about him, he has successfully deflected attention away from the g-awful mess that he has turned America into. Now with carefully crafted pre-recorded media appearances, he can appear to be fit and well again – that’s all the media will be looking for – but the real issues will have gone to the back-burner.

    30

    • #
      Forrest Gardener

      My starting point would be to say that Biden is not in charge of his dessert menu choices let alone capable of executing any sort of sophisticated strategy.

      The people who crafted the debate rules included his own team. I am left with two obvious possibilities. First is that his own team did not realise the severity of his condition and made a massive blunder. Second is that his own team did realise the severity of his condition and set him up for a fall.

      My guess is that the powers that be have a plan which will become blindingly obvious once it is too late to do anything about it.

      60

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    Richard C (NZ)

    NZCSC/ET lost in the court due to an ill-conceived case:

    NIWA’s climate science vindicated in Court of Appeal
    https://niwa.co.nz/news/niwas-climate-science-vindicated-court-appeal

    Mr Morgan [NIWA CEO] said: “We were not surprised by the outcome in the Court of Appeal, because we were very confident in the High Court’s ruling, and never doubted the robustness of our science and the integrity and professionalism of our scientists.”

    This is complete BS of course because NZCSC has won since in the peer-reviewed literature with a statistically rigourous and clearly defined methodology:

    A Reanalysis of Long-Term Surface Air Temperature Trends in New Zealand
    C. R. de Freitas & M. O. Dedekind & B. E. Brill (2014)
    https://www.climateconversation.org.nz/docs/a-reanalysis-of-long-term-surface-air-temperature-trends-in-nz-defreitas-final-ema-2015.pdf

    NIWA cannot produce an equivalent peer-reviewed paper supporting their methodology because theirs is arbitrary.

    So who really won?

    20

    • #
      Richard C (NZ)

      >NZCSC has won since in the peer-reviewed literature with a statistically rigourous and clearly defined methodology

      deFDB14:

      5 Method
      5.1 Description
      Our method follows the RS93 neighbour comparison tech- niques for estimating the effect of known site changes but extends that approach to comparisons between well-correlated distant stations. We de-trend the inhomogeneous section where necessary by using the slope calculated from a reference time series. Note that we have not modified the RS93 method at all, and we follow the same process as laid out in the worked example (section 2.4) in that paper

      Stipulation of the statistical methodology follows in 5.1.

      There’s no wriggle room whatsoever for NIWA in this but the Govt Judges sided with the Govt Dept. First Judge was known as “The G Man” by colleagues.

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      Richard C (NZ)

      >NIWA cannot produce an equivalent peer-reviewed paper supporting their methodology because theirs is arbitrary.

      The point here is that it is impossible for an independent statistician to reproduce NIWA’s NZ 7-Station temperature series using NIWA’s arbitrary methodology.

      And if the data is not reproducible it is not science:

      Reproducibility

      Reproducibility, closely related to replicability and repeatability, is a major principle underpinning the scientific method. For the findings of a study to be reproducible means that results obtained by an experiment or an observational study or in a statistical analysis of a data set should be achieved again with a high degree of reliability when the study is replicated. There are different kinds of replication[1] but typically replication studies involve different researchers using the same methodology. Only after one or several such successful replications should a result be recognized as scientific knowledge.

      With a narrower scope, reproducibility has been defined in computational sciences as having the following quality: the results should be documented by making all data and code available in such a way that the computations can be executed again with identical results.

      In recent decades, there has been a rising concern that many published scientific results fail the test of reproducibility, evoking a reproducibility or replication crisis.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reproducibility

      NIWA’s irreproducible temperature series does not reconcile with CEO Morgan’s “robustness of our science” statement.

      20

      • #
        Richard C (NZ)

        >many published scientific results fail the test of reproducibility, evoking a reproducibility or replication crisis

        In NIWA’s case, they don’t introduce their NZ 7-Station series results via the scientific or statistical literature but via their website:

        NIWA – ‘Seven-station’ series temperature data
        https://niwa.co.nz/climate-and-weather/nz-temperature-record/seven-station-series-temperature-data

        All they say about methodology is this:

        NIWA has documented its analysis for each of the 7 locations, including all the station offsets used to merge temperature records for each place:

        More information about the offsets [Link]

        Scientific references about the temperature series adjustment process, and the internationally accepted best practice approaches to adjusting raw climate data to accurately calculate temperature trends:

        References [Link]

        Their report is here:

        Report on the Review of NIWA’s ‘Seven-Station’ Temperature Series December 2010
        https://niwa.co.nz/sites/default/files/import/attachments/Report-on-the-Review-of-NIWAas-Seven-Station-Temperature-Series_v3.pdf

        Nowhere in the report do they document the actual methodology they use to enable replication.

        References next.

        20

        • #
          Richard C (NZ)

          NIWA –

          Scientific references about the temperature series adjustment process, and the internationally accepted best practice approaches to adjusting raw climate data to accurately calculate temperature trends”

          This is a bluff by NIWA. Sure they provide references but they do not actually apply any of those methodologies in a consistent, coherent, or replicable way.

          NIWA’s References are these:

          NIWA – References
          https://niwa.co.nz/nz-temperature-record/seven-station-series-temperature-data/references

          Rhoades, D.A. and Salinger, M.J., 1993

          Salinger, M.J., McGann, R., Coutts, L., Collen, B., Fouhy, E. 1992

          Della-Marta, P.M. and H. Wanner, 2006

          Easterling, D.E. and Petersen, T.C, 1995

          Karl, T.R., and C.N. Williams Jr., 1987 [USHCN]

          Kohler, M.A., 1949

          Vincent, L. A., Zhang, X., Bonsal, B. R., Hogg, W. D. 2002

          Fouhy, E., Coutts, L., McGann, R., Collen, B., Salinger, M.J., 1992

          First on the list (in bold) is Rhoades and Salinger (1993). Rhoades was the statistician in the duo. It was Rhoades statistical method that de Freitas, Dedekind, and Brill (2014) exactly followed in documented detail to compile their peer-reviewed 7-Station series i.e. it can be replicated.

          NIWA’s completely method loosely follows R&S93, is arbitrary, is not documented, and therefore cannot be replicated.

          Problem for NIWA now (and BOM) is that Reanalysis datasets e.g. ERA5, GFS, make these adjusted time series redundant. It is very easy to just bring up Region: New Zealand (or Australia) and plot the series and trends. The Reanalysis data does NOT conform to the adjusted time series – NIWA or BOM.

          The other Reanalysis access is to define a custom region by Lat-Lon coordinates. NIWA and BOM are thus elbowed out by up to date and near real time data.

          20

          • #
            Richard C (NZ)

            NIWA Ref >Karl, T.R., and C.N. Williams Jr., 1987 [USHCN]

            Hardly reassuring:

            61% Of NOAA USHCN Adjusted Temperature Data Is Now Fake
            https://realclimatescience.com/2019/02/61-of-noaa-ushcn-adjusted-temperature-data-is-now-fake/#gsc.tab=0

            The amount of fake data is up 500% since 30 years ago.

            And,

            The fake data is running two degrees warmer than the measured adjusted data. Not hard to create warming when you are simply making the data up.

            Fine referencing a method. Not so fine is the reference method overwhelmed by fake data in USHCN.

            And not so fine when NIWA doesn’t follow their referenced method anyway.

            40

  • #
    CO2 Lover

    No Natural Gas for You

    The Age has a cover story on AEMO’s report that Australia needs more natural gas power stations to backup unreliable wind and solar (they know the cost of battery back-up will cost A$ Trillions)

    But has the goverment of the People’s Socialist Republic of Victoriastan got the memo?

    https://www.planning.vic.gov.au/guides-and-resources/strategies-and-initiatives/victorias-gas-substitution-roadmap

    30

    • #
      Graeme#4

      This has to be the path for the left, as we were discussing yesterday. The slow boiling frog approach that will constantly increase electricity prices.

      10

      • #
        CO2 Lover

        Yes – A lot of “How we will achieve Net Zero” but no mention of the costs or whether it is actual achieveable in the real world.

        50

    • #
      Sambar

      Now heres a silly proposition CO2. Imagine a state like Victoria, huge debt, going bankrupt and suffering a shoratge of all sorts of energy suddenly realizing that
      a/ Going nuclear can keep the lights on and the wheels of industry turning.
      b/ By developing and exporting our large resources of coal, natural gas, oil and gold
      the whole debt could be paid down and the state once again could be a great place to be.

      50

  • #
    David Maddison

    ICE cars are fundamentally more environmentally friendly than EVs.

    An ICE motor, can be rebuilt.

    An EV battery pack, it’s most expensive component, cannot be rebuilt and has to be disposed of.

    Once an EV car battery pack is worn out, the whole car needs to be disposed of.

    When an ICE engine is worn out, it can be rebuilt. It is worthwhile to do as long as the rest of the car is in good shape.

    50

    • #
      Tel

      Once an EV car battery pack is worn out, the whole car needs to be disposed of.

      Says who?

      01

      • #
        David Maddison

        Because they’re not worth replacing, they are a substantial proportion of the value of the car.

        That’s why insurance companies write-off EVs even for minor damage if it’s suspected the battery has been damaged.

        40

      • #
        Ronin

        Would you spend 50% of the value of the car on repairs.

        20

    • #
      Hanrahan

      My low milage hybrid is in it’s 14th year. I would probably replace its HV battery, but it is far smaller/cheaper than that in a BEV

      00

  • #
    YYY Guy

    Insiders this morning, in a sentence – Biden was bad but Trump was worse.

    20

    • #
      Penguinite

      You/they surely reference the US version?

      10

    • #
      TdeF

      I notice that with most Australian journalists. They cannot resist being negative on Biden’s performance but always keep the story going about how bad Trump is, what a terrible man and how people hate him. Which is obviously not true.

      Adam Creighton, the Australian journalist in Washington never misses the chance to play the moral equivalence game. The same game played between Hamas and Jews. Each as bad as the other, or Islam and Judaism. It’s how you have to write if you want to be invited anywhere in Washington, DC.

      40

  • #
    John Connor II

    Words of wisdom

    The more ignorant, reckless and thoughtless a doctor is, the higher his reputation soars even amongst powerful princes.
    – Erasmus

    /think Fauci

    40

  • #
    Kalm Keith

    Up top there are comments from Vicki and Honk R about Kovid and how easily the Australian population was overwhelmed by the narrative.

    On the car radio there’s an almost constant narrative about dangerous, CO2 induced, Global Warming.

    Recently there’s the release of Julian Assange that’s been smothered with verbalism over the last decade and a half to illustrate how the truth can be easily kept out of reach by the powers that be. I have little idea about the depth of his guilt or innocence but after that long in isolation, it’s time it stopped.

    My prime interest is in getting the opinion of others here on an incident that took place many years back.

    Was the rubbishing of Lance Armstrong deserved?

    My initial view was that someone was trying to make a name for himself by bringing LA down and humiliating him.

    It seemed that every second cyclist in that tournament circuit was on something or other and that LA was targeted unfairly.

    ?

    30

    • #
      Sambar

      “It seemed that every second cyclist in that tournament circuit was on something or other and that LA was targeted unfairly.”

      Dunno Keith, maybe he was the victim of his own “success”. In a sport as competative and demanding as cycling it may well have been the “seven straight wins” that put the whole industry under the microscope. Generally “top” athletes can only really maintain that position for a relatively short period of time. The perennial crash of youth rising into maturity versus the rate of decline as age takes its toll on any current top player.
      In Armsrongs case, winning the race 2 years after beating cancer and at 27 years old was fantastic. To then go on for another 6 wins when technically you are past your peak seems a little implausible. As many people know from personal experience, chemotherapy rarely leaves the person recieving it in a superior place than before.
      Had he and his team been happy with a few less wins maybe it would have gone down as a great achievement but to push it past the credible was to raise questions in many peoples minds. Next previous bests only won 5 times and all younger than Armstrong

      20

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        Kalm Keith

        Certainly drugs can make a difference, and it’s a team sport where he may have had great teams to ease him along, but I recall watching most, if not all, of his tours and was a fan.

        He had obviously trained hard and intelligently, was determined and deserved his wins in a competitive environment that wasn’t coming down on “chemical assistance “.

        He was one of many in terms of supplements.

        Having said that, I haven’t watched the Olympics for ages because of the doping and gender stupidities.

        🙂

        20

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      Honk R Smith

      KK/Sambar
      I’ve been close to the sports/fitness world for decades.
      Was very interested in the LA story from the beginning, and read Lance’s auto?biography.
      To me the LA saga, is similar to the CAGW, TDS and Pandemic sagas.
      There is a Poli/Corp/Gov narrative saga complex that is always looking for a starchild or a villain, or looming catastrophe to sell to a populace hungry for starchildren and villains and doom.

      We are witness to an absurd zenith of this in real time with with the Biden Savior of Democracy and Trump Would be Dictator Villain drama.

      To my perception, there is a very strange propensity for human myth making.
      Anyone seriously involved in sports know the pervasiveness of PEDs.
      Like CC and COVID, I was at loggerheads with friends back then … “you know, Lance is using PEDs just like all the others, because there is no getting there without them.”

      Lance was only exposed after he aged out of the winner’s circle.
      It was no longer profitable to preserve the myth.
      And … it was necessary for the preservation of the ‘clean’ sports myth to throw him to the wolves.
      Rinse, wash, repeat.
      (Notice the media myth handlers turning on a dime and throwing Biden to the wolves after the myth suddenly becomes obviously a myth.)

      Lance was given a lot of money by a certain sports shoe product company.
      When these contracts are signed, it’s a legal deposition.
      You can find on vid Lance claiming in deposition that he used no PEDs.
      Everyone in the room knew this was untrue.
      That’s why Lance never had to return any of the money.

      Also, in Lance’s book, there is a photo of him with shaved head with his neurosurgeon.
      There are 5 magic marker Xs on his head where the surgeon is going to drill in and remove tumors.
      A year later or so he wins the T de France.
      God bless him if he achieved the pinnacle of athletic prowess after having multiple tumors cut from his brain.
      A true miracle.

      Call me cynical but something seems off.

      Also, there is a very good documentary about PEDs called ‘Bigger, Faster, Stronger’.
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigger%2C_Stronger%2C_Faster%2A

      It is an entertaining watch even for those not into sports.
      It also shows how even those using them, convince themselves of, and live, in a myth.

      Watch the old late 50s ‘Superman’ TV show.
      When we had real men and real women.
      The current archetype of both male and female beauty is unattainable without Pharma.

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        Kalm Keith

        Thanks Honk.
        It was obvious that everyone knew what was happening, and my main beef was that nobody else was gotcha’d.

        Why.

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        Chad

        Armstrongs downfall was his arrogant treatment of his team mates, friends and compettors.
        The guy was an A-hole.

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          Geoff Sherrington

          Chad,
          The guy Armstrong knew the rules that enabled his wealth and he deliberately chose the be dishonest, to cheat, to be the opposite of a role model for others.
          Don’t even attempt to glorify this slug.
          Geoff S

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            Chad

            Geoff, i used tothink he was just doing what he had to , tobe competitive (no secret that much of the Tour wereon PEDs)
            But whenthe movies and books started leaking LAs treatment of his friends (LaMond) and team members, destroying careers, relationships, complete liives in some cases…….. i quickly changed my opinion.
            As i said, the man is an A-hole !

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    David Maddison

    How exciting.

    A “rain bomb” and “polar blast” for Australia this weekend.

    But nothing much happened.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13578775/Weekend-weather-Rain-bomb-strike-Australia-polar-blast-heres-whats-store-city.html

    Weekend weather: Rain bomb is about to strike Australia, along with a polar blast – here’s what’s in store for your city

    By David Southwell For Daily Mail Australia
    07:46 28 Jun 2024, updated 07:46 28 Jun 2024

    Australians living in the largest capital cities have been warned to rug up once again with more cold, wet and windy on the way.

    South-east Australia is about to get hit by super-chilled air from the Antarctic which will cause thermometers to plunge.

    SEE LINK FOR REST

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    John Connor II

    Bye bye Biden?

    https://x.com/ajc/status/1807151882785444184

    https://x.com/simonateba/status/1807214581833502954

    https://x.com/profstonge/status/1806692401626431993

    Everyone wants him gone. But of course once he is, it gets much worse. Oh what a tangled web the crazies have spun themselves.

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    John Connor II

    Sunday sarcasm: if the Titanic sank today

    https://imgbox.com/R5pZXVsm

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    CO2 Lover

    Last year 60GWh of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) capacity was added to global capacity

    Ausralia has around 3GWh of BESS connected to the NEM grid now.

    Australia needs around 4500 GWh to make variable wind and solar fully dispatchable with current wind and solar generation capacity before added twice as much variable wind and solar to acheive an 80% reduction target by 2030.

    At current global BESS production rates it would require around 75 years to meet Australia’s current requirements with other countries receiving none.

    We are witnessing an energy train wreck in slow motion.

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    Hanrahan

    Was Friday’s debate (our time) even more than the end of Biden’s reelection chances? Was it a genuine Tipping Point™?

    The more I look at it the more I see the exposure of Operation Mockingbird in all its glory. It was only possible for Biden, individually, and the dem party collectively, to have happened to America if, like a spoiled child, they were never corrected or disciplined. It should be the press’s job to expose bad government and the electorate’s job to mete out punishment but if the foibles and criminality are not exposed but covered up and the public is gas lit to such an outrageous degree that MSM can convince half the electorate that Joe is “sharp as a tack” and that every word word Trump says is a lie, [specific examples not given or required] then a spoilt brat child matures into a narcissistic adult democratic party, the political arm of the three letter agencies not “the people”.

    These agencies have been gaining power for 80 yrs so people don’t realise that what they have is not right or “normal” so may not wake from their slumber. If they do it could be the dawn of a new era.

    There is so much at stake, I fear for Trump’s health. By any means necessary.!

    This is an awkwardly written piece, but I’m a mechanic, not an English major.

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    • #
      KP

      “It should be the press’s job to expose bad government”

      I think that vanished some time ago H, when Govt started spending big advertising budgets for their ‘social conditioning’ (don’t smoke, don’t gamble, don’t..) and even more-so when they stated blatantly subsidising favoured media around Covid.

      Mainstream media is bought and paid for, which is why they deride independent media all the time.

      I think they’ve kept Trump alive to distract from Biden’s mess, but maybe his time is coming up.. How about a massive explosion at a debate kills both of them and Russia gets blamed! Hillary flies in to rescue America and is immediately elected with the Republicans supporting her!

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    David Maddison

    The Australian Government is looking for a new Chief Scientist.

    Applications finish soon.

    The closing date for applications is 11.00pm AEST 14 July 2024.

    https://www.nature.com/naturecareers/job/12819547/chief-scientist

    The Chief Scientist’s primary role is to provide independent advice to the Australian Government on matters relating to science, technology, and innovation. Additionally, the Chief Scientist champions science and research to the Australian community. The Chief Scientist serves as the Executive Officer of the National Science and Technology Council, chaired by the Prime Minister. The Council is responsible for providing advice to the Prime Minister and other Ministers on important science and technology issues facing Australia.

    SEE LINK FOR REST

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    • #
      CO2 Lover

      Will Flim Flam Flannery be throwing his hat into the ring?

      Seems like the perfect man for Albanese and Bowen

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      John Connor II

      You should apply for it.
      You are woke, left and corrupt aren’t you?
      You’ll need to be.
      Just lie on the application and say you are.

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      Leo G

      The Chief Scientist’s primary role is to provide independent advice to the Australian Government

      On the other hand, the Chief Scientist serves as Executive Officer of the National Science and Technology Council, chaired by the PM.

      Independent Advice means advice by an advocate who is not a party to transactions related to the advice nor representing any associated party (such as the National Science and Technology Council or CSIRO etc).

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    David Maddison

    Distance from Melbourne CBD to Antarctica 3120km.

    Distance from Melbourne CBD to Darwin 3140km.

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  • #
    David Maddison

    Instead of killing millions of chickens because of bird flu, couldn’t we just lock them down in the coop for two weeks to flatten the curve?

    90

    • #
      Leo G

      Coop lockdown likely involves animal cruelty. We wouldn’t want to be accused of chicken inhumanity.

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      John Connor II

      Should we look at the intensive chicken farming in China as a primary cause of outbreaks?
      Did you know they slaughtered 15.7 BILLION birds in 2021?

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    John Connor II

    Sunday funny: are you vaccinated or unvaccinated?

    https://seed122.bitchute.com/JWa8508PdoWK/IBzxzxx8DORm.mp4

    Wait for the ending. 😁

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    OldOzzie

    Inside America’s least probable prison experiment

    How letting men in one of America’s toughest prisons raise dogs for wounded veterans and first responders works

    That Puppies Behind Bars (PBB) could never work at Green Haven, one of the toughest maximum-security prisons in the country.

    Of the 20 men who originally began in PBB in June 2022, only 10 remained seven months later. By the dogs’ graduation the following year, that number would dwindle to four.

    PBB was founded in 1997 by Gloria Gilbert Stoga, a former member of Rudy Giuliani’s mayoral administration, to train incarcerated individuals to raise service dogs for wounded veterans, first responders and police officers, many of whom suffer from PTSD or traumatic brain injuries. The programme also trains facility dogs for use by police around the US and explosive-detection canines. It now operates in seven New York prisons, has worked with thousands of incarcerated men and women, and trained over 4,000 dogs.

    Green Haven, an enormous, imposing building in upstate New York, is the largest maximum-security men’s prison the programme has operated in, and by far the most difficult. Almost half the 1,800 men incarcerated in Green Haven are serving life sentences, the highest rate in the state. With little hope of release, despair runs through the concrete halls like a draught. The prison struggles with violence and drug use, a problem that has turned deadlier with the proliferation of the synthetic opiate fentanyl. Facing sentences counted in decades, some men slowly lose their minds. For those who will never leave it, the building is a tombstone.

    [SNIP too long]

    NoteLink can be read in Safari Browser, Firefox, not Chrome or Brave

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      Kalm Keith

      A blast from the past.

      Kalm Keith

      March 27, 2022 at 7:24 pm

      As I have noted on many Occasions:

      This is not a noise issue.

      It is far worse than “Noise”.

      It is the VLF pulsing that overrides the central nervous system.

      The use of the term noise is designed to throw off the complaints; it is Not Noise which is measured in decibels.

      Noise is perceived largely through the ears; VLF pulsing dominates the CNS when it enters the lungs and also works on the largest organ in the body: The Skin.

      The whole business is disgusting misdirection about the real issue, and to think it’s being done by “nature worshipers” just makes the hypocrisy greater.

      Money, money money. And

      Kalm Keith

      March 28, 2022 at 9:35 am

      Yes.
      When the major trauma from wind turbine action is nausea, aka sea sickness, and longer term heart trouble this is not a noise issue.

      Just imagine being fitted with an inflatable vest covering the entire torso and then having the pressure valve releasing and re-inflating sixty times a minute.

      That’s about the same as our pulse rate and that override damages the heart lung brain system.

      Heavy machinery and truck and train drivers also get shaken by the pulsing of the equipment they’re operating; they get heart trouble.

      I hate being sea sick and the misrepresentation of this as noise is ugly.

      KK

      https://joannenova.com.au/2022/03/victorian-windfarm-loses-court-case-on-noise-must-turn-off-turbines-at-night/#comment-2532581

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        Richard C (NZ)

        KK >It is the VLF pulsing that overrides the central nervous system.

        Or whatever it is “tuned” to e.g. Sonic weapons

        Extremely high-power sound waves can disrupt or destroy the eardrums of a target and cause severe pain or disorientation. This is usually sufficient to incapacitate a person. Less powerful sound waves can cause humans to experience nausea or discomfort [as per wind turbines].

        And,

        The possibility of a device that produces frequency that causes vibration of the eyeballs—and therefore distortion of vision—was suggested by paranormal researcher…

        5G is “tuned” to glands like tear glands and sweat glands on the hands. They act as an antennae. Time will tell if there’s adverse effects esp. given line-of-sight transmitters everywhere (there’s been next to no research).

        A 4G transmitter was sited at a San Diego school for $$$. Had to be taken down when teachers students neighbours got cancers.

        Such is life in the modern world.

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          Kalm Keith

          Thanks for the material kn 5G and 4G.

          I tried looking up info and found little/nothing of use. That in itself was a big tell which suggests that they are hiding something.

          Noticeable by it’s absence.

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      TdeF

      There is no country which would not trade in US dollars. They are the de facto standard. And it drives every other country mad because there is nothing a central bank can do about it. Even if the Communists in China want their currency to be the world standard, the decision is not made by a UN committee they can infiltrate. And even their own government parks excess money in $US. Which is why Fannie May and Freddie Mac cost the Chinese trillions in the GFC.

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      • #
        Kalm Keith

        Fannie and Freddie: and when the United States got into trouble they devalued their currency.

        When the Chinese got their dollars back they had the same number of dollars but couldn’t buy anywhere near as much with them.

        A lot of people got shafted.

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        Kim

        There is no need for a global reserve currency. Use a virtual gold FX system -ve QEd at source, +ve QEd at destination.

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    KP

    Love it!

    “In retaliation for the Western banning of Russian media, the Russians have limited access to broadcast resources for 81 ‘foreign’ media outlets. These include Le Monde, La Stampa, Der Speigel and so on. Moscow has said that these restrictions will be lifted when restriction on Russian media are restricted.

    “Russia’s decision to block a number of European media outlets is severe censorship, while the EU’s decision to block Russian media outlets is a fight against disinformation.”

    Typical Rules Based Order drivel: ‘do as we say not what we do’.”

    https://robcampbell.substack.com/p/ukraine-weekly-update-7b4

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    Skepticynic

    Interviews and newly unearthed records reveal FBI program to stage Nazi rallies under then-Director Robert Mueller

    This was the subject of Part 1 of The Hidden History of Robert Mueller’s Right-Wing Terror Factory

    Articles & videos

    And to top it off, the group involved in all these Nazi protests, the National Socialist Movement (NSM), is an FBI FRONT GROUP!

    Read these documents closely together, and you’ll see an FBI informant founded NSM in 1975

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