Saturday

9 out of 10 based on 14 ratings

134 comments to Saturday

  • #
    tonyb

    https://www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-is-solar-power-a-threat-to-uk-farmland/

    This article is about how solar farming can be used in addition to regular farming. in the UK because of our latitude, solar panels tend to be very close together and not raised on supports due to cost and need to maximise the space. Whether the space under panels or around them can be used seems dubious. Does anyone know anywhere that both types of farming can be accommodated on the same land?

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    • #
      Ted1.

      It won;t be cheaper/

      But there’s no sunlight in the shade, so your technical answer is no. You can’t use the sunlight twice.

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      • #
        Dennis

        Have a look under trees.

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        • #
          Skepticynic

          What trees?
          Some trees have zero or virtually zero grass underneath; dark forests such as pine plantations, oak forests, and palm oil plantations for examples. The denser the foliage, the less available sunlight for the understory. The sparser and higher the foliage, all the more sunshine for the grasses.
          Solar panels are generally close enough to the ground to permit easy cleaning and maintenance. That means plenty shade. They would have to be spread out a lot more to provide enough sunlight to permit secondary land usage.

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        • #
          Hanrahan

          Graziers knock down trees so they can graze cattle [until gov. said they couldn’t].

          If you “harvest” 50% of the sun you will be in permanent winter and will need a lot more heating, and gas has been banned.

          If you then come to sunny Qld, don’t bring your crazy politics with you.

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      • #
        Yarpos

        Cows graze in the olive grove across the road from us. As usual the answer isnt black and white. A solar factory could be designed with enough space to graze animals. Wouls anyone do it? Probably not, unless its part of the subsidy mining.

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        • #
          Graeme4

          A commentator in The Australian regularly claims that sheep are grazed under solar panels, I presume on their property. I wouldn’t be keen on consuming any products from said livestock.

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        • #
          Skepticynic

          >the answer isn’t black and white
          Depends on the grazing animals. Sheep would possibly be ok if you could grow enough grass between the panels and rows.
          Some cattle breeds are very hard on fences and other infrastructure which would include solar panels. Horses would be out of the question.
          Geese would be good, they would keep a nice lawn if you were able to grow grass.

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        • #
          Hanrahan

          When you say “cows” I assume you mean the family milker.

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        • #
          ozfred

          Our sheep, aka lawn mowers, happily prune the bottom branches of the olive trees (when I let them in the orchard). The cows and kangaroos mostly ignore them. Though the roos like the shade.

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    • #
      RickWill

      The only real issue I have with the Carbon Brief article is:

      Solar farms in the UK currently have a combined capacity of around 14GW.

      Their dispatchable capacity is zero. This is what matters. The 14GW will never occur in the UK at any time. It is false promotion. It is based on a sticker on the panels. Who wants to rely on a sticker on a solar panel made in China for the power that supports their life.

      In Australia, each WDG is heralded with how many homes they will supply as they come on stream. In reality not one of them can supply a single home. It is false advertising.

      You can have agriculture or you can have solar farms. Right now solar produce 0.45% of Uk’s energy needs and used 0.1% of the available land. If you use a linear relationship then UK could get a meaningful 10% from solar if 2.2% of the land area was dedicated to solar. But the relationship is not linear unless there is infinite storage capacity. Right now the solar farms are likely not being economically curtailed as they are in Australia. IN Australia, the system is limited in how much lunchtime power it can take. Getting to 10% of the current energy requirement in the UK would mean 90% of the current electricity supply coming from solar because electricity is only 11% of the total energy. To get to that level without a huge amount of storage would require massive overbuild in solar collection. At a minimum it would be 4 times; thereby taking land use close to 10% for 10% of the energy needs.

      I know this because I looked at the energy requirements of the UK being sourced solely from solar a few years back and soon realised there was not enough land.

      With great reliance on China, Australia could have all energy needs met with solar and storage at not much more cost than the current retail price of electricity. UK simply does not have enough land area to achieve that.

      The error is the bent thinking around a label on a solar panel having any relevance to the usable power solar panels can produce.

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      • #

        RickWill writes this:(my bolding here)

        Their dispatchable capacity is zero. This is what matters. The 14GW will never occur in the UK at any time.

        I’m going to assume that Nameplate figure is correct.

        If so, the Industrial Solar Plants in the UK over the last 12 Month period delivered 13,263GWH of power to the UK grid, and that made up around 4.8% of all the generated energy delivered across that last year.

        If that Nameplate is correct, then that means that Solar power in the UK is delivering it’s power at a Capacity Factor of 10.81%.

        Umm, what more can I say ….. Pitiful really. (and here see why the only concentration you ever hear about is Nameplate, that whoppingly humungous 14,000MW or 14GW)

        Now compare that to the Solar Sunshine capital of the whole of Planet Earth, the mighty Australia. (Oi oi oi)

        Compared to the UK we only have considerably less Industrial Solar Nameplate at just 10,233MW.

        However, when it comes to delivered generated energy, we produce a whopping 14,585GWH, putting the UK to shame really.

        That’s at a humungous Capacity Factor of 16.26%.

        That’s ….. umm, hey, wait a minute is that CF only 16.26%?

        Umm, what more can I say ….. Pitiful really.

        Tony.

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        • #
          tonyb

          “If that Nameplate is correct, then that means that Solar power in the UK is delivering it’s power at a Capacity Factor of 10.81%.”

          11% is the officially recognised efficiency factor in the UK so you are spot on.

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      • #
        TdeF

        “Australia could have all energy needs met with solar and storage ”

        No.

        Take just the state of Victoria. Australian Climate Council member the late Prof Will Steffen physical chemist proudly announced that enough sun fell on Victoria to supply Victoria’s needs twice over.

        He was right! Except you would have to cover half of the State in solar panels and have storage to match just to supply Melbourne, assuming zero losses in distribution. So the entire state then, 227,000 km2! England is 133,000 km2

        And the cost with solar panels, installation and distribution and allowing for losses is in the trillions. Lifespan, 20 years.

        And then where do we live or grow crops. What is left of this green and fertile land, forests, animals, life? Where do the 8 million people move? The desert?

        Or do we cover 227,000km2 of desert? And build HDC transmission lines?

        No, solar is a joke in the modern world, quite apart from the absolute impossibility of storage on that scale. A solar panel of 1 square metre is 1kw, perhaps enough to power a toaster or kettle at midday. And in the country we need that power for food and life. Solar and batteries do not feed people. We are solar powered internal combustion engines running on hydrated carbon dioxide. And windmills and solar panels hurt our food supply. We can live without television. We cannot live without food.

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        • #
          TdeF

          At $1 per watt, the cost of the panels for Victoria’s 8Gw is $8 Billion. Double that for installation $16Billion. Now add backup storage at $1 per watthrx12 for 12 hours or $12 billion. Toss in HDC converters at a billion each. Maybe you could put it together for $38billion with a discount for volume. Now cover the state. One big problem is that you need a lot more land than just the area of the billions of solar panels, if you want reasonable output away from midday.

          So for area 8Gw means 8billion m2 or 8,000km2. x4 for spacing and 32,000km2. These again are peak insolation values. Now midwinter nearer to sunrise and sunset?

          Anyway you look at it, this is insane. Solar, even in sunny Australia, is not on the scale of a small coal power plant. And China are building a few a week. If only to manufacture solar panels for idiots in other countries who think they are saving their own necks?

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          • #

            Anyway you look at it, this is insane. Solar, even in sunny Australia, is not on the scale of a small coal power plant.

            Almost right you know!

            Last year Bayswater delivered 13,850GWH of energy to the (NSW part of) the Grid.

            EVERY Industrial Solar Plant in Australia – Nameplate 10,233MW and the Energy delivered 14,585GWH in 2023.

            Just Bayswater coal fired power plant – Nameplate 2,640MW and the energy delivered 13,850GWH in 2023.

            Yesterday at Peak solar insolation at 2.25PM from a Nameplate of that 10233MW, Industrial Solar plants were generating 5068MW at a CF of 49.5%. (Heavy Midday overcast in NSW and Vic , so that Peak was early afternoon instead of the usual Midday)

            Yesterday, at the usual evening Peak of actual power consumption, when it’s ‘all hands on deck’ for power generation, Bayswater, with a Nameplate of 2640MW was delivering 2641MW at a CF of 101% from a 38 year old dinosaur? (or so we’re told anyway)

            So, with a Nameplate of almost FOUR large scale coal fired plants, the actual delivered energy from Industrial Solar Plants across a whole year (every Season, so I’m not ‘cherry picking’ Summer good Winter not so good) is just marginally higher than for ONE large scale coal fired power plant.

            Ever feel like you were ….. ‘sold a pup’.

            Tony.

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        • #
          RickWill

          Or do we cover 227,000km2 of desert? And build HDC transmission lines?

          The numbers you have are out by a factor of 100. If you take Broken Hill as an example, the area needed is around 1250km^2. That was my proposal to the Finkel Enquiry. I determined Australia could then meet the need for the NEM with 240GW of panels and 750GWh of battery.
          http://www.environment.gov.au/submissions/nem-review/willoughby.pdf

          At the time of the Finkel enquiry these numbers were considered absurd and way over thee top because the capacity factor for the panels was under 10%. However as time goes by, AEMO is getting closer to these numbers.

          The area would be smaller if located at Alice Springs because an array of 165GW would be good enough.

          For bad or good, Australia is leading the world in terms of an isolated grid and WDG penetration. Australia has the best solar resource of any isolated grid and the trade in minerals with Chine to exchange for solar panels and batteries. So rather than using the thermal coal directly, Australia sends it to China along with iron ore, bauxite and coking coal to convert to solar panels, wind turbines and batteries. Australia is the only place on Earth that has any chance of a workable grid based on WDGs. Land area is in no way a constraint like it is in the UK and most of Europe.

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          • #
            Bruce

            What are these “batteries” of which many speak enthusiastically?

            Lithium Ion?

            The infamous self-immolating “batteries”? Self-immolating batteries the size of a block of flats? The “fireys” will be thrilled.

            Probably not enough Lithium economically recoverable in the entire planet’s crust to address Australian “need”, let alone the rest of the planet.

            Ironic that Lithium has long been used in “psychiatric” medicine in quite small doses. Now it is being promoted by the train-load to INDUCE madness on a colossal scale.

            This entire rock-show reeks of “spillage”; a colossal “money churn, ultimately enforced at gun-point bu the usual suspects.Latest “rumour”:

            The latest proposal is to BILL all the operators of roof-top solar, who currently receive tiny “rebates” for potentially destabilizing the grid. All this while “pop-up” ads promoting roof-top in-feed “rebate deals”.

            Back to the early Bronze-age for the “elites”, and the stone-age for the rest of us?

            That seems to be the plan.

            As they say in the classics; (H. L. Mencken):

            “The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule”

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          • #
            TdeF

            For a lifespan of 20 years? What sort of investment is that? You would not build a house which would only last 20 years.

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      • #
        tonyb

        David Mackay chief scientific officer in the UK at the time of the first Miliband terror told that dept that we didn’t have enough land for the renewables planned but obviously our land masss must have grown since then

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        • #
          Graeme4

          If the CFs were equal, you would need around 17 times more land for a solar system than a coal or nuclear power station. But with only 10.8% CF, a solar system would need 150 times more land to obtain an equal amount of power. Then you would need to add even more land for the backup batteries, or a few stored hydro systems…

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    • #
      Ronin

      Grazing sheep is about all I can think of.

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      • #
        RickWill

        Grass will not grow under panels. The land is sterilised for grazing and crop production. It eventually leads to desertification of the land because there is no biomass to hold it together.

        It would not be easy to make UK a desert island but with enough will, solar panels to block the sun for plants and wind turbines along the coast to still the air, it could be achieved.

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        • #
          Hanrahan

          The solar farm at Claire, Nth Qld, is rated @ 110 MW and is built on a cane field. When it rains, as it does in the tropics, it becomes boggy as ‘ell. It is too small for grazing animals so all that is left is free range chickens. How do you collect eggs?

          Chickens eventually pick every bit of grass, what happens if it rains THEN? It would be gum boots after half an inch of rain. Even quad bikes would just make a mess.

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      • #
        Graeme4

        I think that grazing any livestock under solar panels is risky. What happens if the panels break? Some folks claim that they won’t release much toxic chemicals, but I wouldn’t be keen on consuming any products resulting from the livestock after a few overhead panels were broken.

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  • #
    tonyb

    For those not from Britain Tommy Robinson is considered the ringleader of those rioting over the last few days in England. This article is sympathetic to him and comes from someone the MSM may not expect to be sympathetic to Mr Robinson.

    https://dailysceptic.org/2024/08/08/why-a-nice-jewish-girl-went-on-a-tommy-robinson-march/

    The rioting has been carried out by a small number of people on the front line -in the low tens of thousands. The vast majority of the country has seen no sign whatsoever of unrest. It seems to have been quiet the last couple of nights. We shall see if the arrest and sentencing of some of the genuine violent thugs has settled things.

    There are very many people sympathetic to the overall concept-halting large scale immigration-if not the methods used

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    • #
      Honk R Smith

      If the problem is so small, why has your government set up 24 hour courts?
      https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/08/03/courts-open-24-hours-crack-down-rioters-police/

      While the murderer of three little girls will not face justice until January next year.
      https://ca.news.yahoo.com/southport-stabbing-suspect-17-named-112843116.html

      I guess justice moves slow, something else happens overnight.

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      • #
        tonyb

        In order to deal with an ongoing situation and ensure anyone else thinking of rioting thinks again, it makes sense to get them processed quickly. This has happened before.

        As regards the murderer of the 3 girls no doubt some complex arguments will be presented by legal aid funded defence lawyers including that of mental health. It is very rare for murder cases to be heard quickly as it will be held in a higher court than for cases of affray.

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        • #
          tonyb

          Honk

          Further to your comment. I looked up average wait times for serious offences;

          “Average waiting time
          While each trial will take a different amount of time based on numerous factors, we do have access to the court statistics that are published annually by the government. These show that for all criminal cases recorded in 2021, there was a:

          Median wait time of 128 days between offences being recorded by the police and an individual being charged.
          Median wait time of 35 days elapsed between a defendant’s first being charged and their first court listing.
          Median wait time of 196 days between an offence being reported and a case being completed.”

          There has been a big backlog in cases due to Covid then a Barristers strike. The January date you mention seems perfectly normal for this type of case

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        • #
          Skepticynic

          >In order to … ensure anyone else thinking of (demonstrating or posting on facebook) thinks again

          Former Trotskyite news editor comrade Starmer has had some 500 working class rebels, aka “far right thugs” and “criminals” arrested with a few already shovelled straight into jail for as long as three years through the emergency, 24-hour court system designed for that very purpose. “I say it again, anyone involving themselves in disorder, whatever they claim as their motive, will feel the full force of the law,” Starmer told The Sun.
          https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/29759921/keir-starmer-third-emergency-cobra-meeting-violent-riots/

          But Laurence Fox, leader of the Reclaim UK Party, said the question now was whether would Starmer bring “the full force of the law” down on non-white Labor Party councillor Ricky Jones who got arrested for inciting racial violence after he said far right rioters needed their throats cut.

          Meanwhile The Sun, still pushing the “far right thugs” narrative, demonstrated how police use surveillance cameras to single out young rioters silly enough to throw bricks at cops and police vans. They also cheered on the Stasi-style dawn raids on homes of Brits brave enough to post something slightly provocative on Facebook or unfortunate enough to have been identified at a demonstration that turned to a riot.

          Starmer, underneath this tough-guy prosecutor image cultivated during the August, 2011 UK riots, revealed his ideological colours, that is, the former Trotskyite newspaper editor advancing the destruction of traditional British society by supporting the continued, massive influx of people from nations and peoples culturally separated from native Anglo-Saxon Britons.
          Source

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        • #
          CO2 Lover

          As regards the murderer of the 3 girls

          Easily solved. The “Mirror” has claimed the killer’s parents are “Christians” and who are we to doubt the “Mirror” – once owned by Robert Maxwell!

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          • #
            Annie

            Even if his parents are Christian, it does not mean that he remained one..

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          • #
            Ian

            “Easily solved. The “Mirror” has claimed the killer’s parents are “Christians” and who are we to doubt the “Mirror” ”

            The mirror is a rag catering for the lowest denominator o readers. Fortunately there is no newspaper in Australia that is its equal

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            • #
              Bruce

              “Fortunately there is no newspaper in Australia that is its equal”

              As they say in the classics:

              “Don’t get cocky, kid”.

              “Churnalism” is a perpetual “race to the bottom”.

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      • #
        CO2 Lover

        Two-tier justice in the UK – and you are not supposed to complain about it!

        A convicted Rochdale grooming gang ringleader is still living in the city where he abused children, nearly nine years after he was ordered to be deported. Qari Abdul Rauf, 54, was part of a nine-strong gang of Asian men convicted of sex offences against vulnerable girls in 2012.22 Jan 2024

        https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/01/22/rochdale-grooming-ring-abusers-not-yet-deported/#:

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        • #
          John Connor II

          Lemme get this straight, the @metpoliceuk wants to extradite citizens from other countries who they feel violate their online speech laws even though that citizen doesn’t violate their own country’s free speech laws?

          https://x.com/RealDonKeith/status/1821880720396063032

          Well I did say get out of the UK asap…

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          • #
            John Connor II

            Police Ignore Fake ‘Acid Attack’ Story by Hope Not Hate Because it Fits the Narrative, But Arrest Woman Who Posted ‘Inaccurate’ Details About Southport Murders

            The crime of posting inaccurate information online only applies to right-wing people in a sickening example of Britain’s new two-tier state.

            Here is the most obvious example yet of Kier Starmer’s policing policy: Two near identical posts, one is a criminal offence and gets the full force of the law, the other gets completely ignored and is still online.

            A Chester woman arrested for posting inaccurate information online about the religion of the Southport attacker vs the CEO of Hope Not Hate who posted a made up story about an Acid Attack on a Muslim woman by the Far Right.

            https://www.visionnews.online/post/police-ignore-fake-acid-attack-story-by-hope-not-hate-because-it-fits-the-narrative-but-arrest-wo

            Defund the UK police!

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    • #
      Ronin

      Are the thugs ‘recycled bovver boys’.

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  • #
    tonyb

    former New South Wales Premier ” The Covid vaccine mandates were wrong…”

    https://dailysceptic.org/2024/08/08/another-vaccine-tyrant-repents/

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    • #
      Bushkid

      It’s so much easier to speak out when you’re no longer in politics and no longer concerned about your re-election prospects.

      It would have been useful if he’d bothered to speak out while he was premier of NSW. A strong voice urging some common sense and restraint by government/s would have made a difference.

      Instead we had wall to wall, even pop-eyed and spittle-flecked premiers and chief ministers, spouting raving lunacy and imposing the worst restrictions and forcing/coercing/blackmailing the population into taking an experimental injection. All this against all existing medical practice and even international conventions and rules.

      Yes, even one sensible state leader urging caution would have been helpful.

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  • #
    CO2 Lover

    They Lied! Local Police Officers Warned Secret Service REPEATEDLY to Guard Roof of Building Trump Was Shot From – Secret Service Said They Would But Never Did (AUDIO)

    Local Pennsylvania police said that they warned the U.S. Secret Service that the warehouse where the shooter was positioned needed protection, and the Secret Service lied to them and refused to protect President Trump.

    The Wall Street Journal reported that a Butler Police officer’s bodycam shows the Secret Service being warned multiple days in advance to cover the roof of the AGR building.

    Nothing to see or hear here!

    The former head of the Secret Service was a besty of Jill Biden!

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/08/they-lied-local-police-officers-warned-secret-service/

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  • #
    Skepticynic

    Canada is now Orwell’s 1984.

    Jordan Peterson ordered to attend re-education training after Canada’s top court closed the door on his appeal.

    “The decision is a tragedy for freedom of speech in this country,” said Levitt.

    “With close to (a quarter) of Canadians (being) members of regulated trades and professions, this decision will have a chilling impact on Canadians freedom of speech and debate. They now have to concern themselves with political and other enemies making complaints to their regulatory bodies over their political comments with the risk of their ability to practice their trade. Most simply will avoid debate entirely. A tragic day for Canada.”

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  • #
    Skepticynic

    The Liberal City of Berkeley California Tries to Tax Buildings Using Gas After Court Smacked Down Its Outright Ban On Gas Stoves

    Almost as draconian as The Glorious People’s Republic of Victoria Australia.

    In 2019, the city tried to enact an outright ban on constructing new buildings with natural gas hookups, and gas stoves by extension, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overturned the ban in April 2023 following a legal challenge against the policy brought by California Restaurant Association.

    The tax is seen as a backdoor way of implementing the ban.

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  • #
    tonyb

    Someone (on this blog?) reminded me of this excellent quote a few days ago. Generally I find Brave New World to be inferior to 1984 but I thought this quote really hit the mark

    From Aldous Huxley, Brave New World Revisited, 1958.

    It seems to be the exact situation we have now.

    Under the relentless thrust of accelerating over-population and increasing over-organization, and by means of ever more effective methods of mind-manipulation, the democracies will change their nature; the quaint old forms – elections, parliaments, Supreme Courts and all the rest – will remain.

    The underlying substance will be a new kind of non-violent totalitarianism. All the traditional names, all the hallowed slogans will remain exactly what they were in the good old days. Democracy and freedom will be the theme of every broadcast and editorial – but Democracy and freedom in a strictly Pickwickian sense. Meanwhile the ruling oligarchy and its highly trained elite of soldiers, policemen, thought-manufacturers and mind-manipulators will quietly run the show as they see fit.

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    • #
      el+gordo

      ‘Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution.’ (Aldous Huxley)

      Over population is not a problem, since the advent of the pill, and the people accept non violent totalitarianism because Soma gives them relief.

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      • #
        tonyb

        I reread Brave New World a couple of months ago after rereading 1984. I found the former not as incisive but it does have some great quotes

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  • #
    CO2 Lover

    It wasn’t a Boeing!

    The plane that fell out of the sky in Brazil was an ATR 72

    The ATR 72 is a twin-engine turboprop, short-haul regional airliner developed and produced in France and Italy by aircraft manufacturer ATR (French: Avions de transport régional or Italian: Aerei da Trasporto Regionale), a joint venture formed by French aerospace company Aérospatiale (now part of Airbus) and Italian aviation conglomerate Aeritalia (now Leonardo S.p.A.). The number “72” in its name is derived from the aircraft’s typical standard seating capacity of 72 passengers.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_kdTTYesfw

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    • #
      CO2 Lover

      The plane appears to have stalled and locked in a death spiral. Why the pilots could not break the stall remains a massive question.

      This was the fate of Air France Flight 447 (AF447/AFR447) which was a scheduled international passenger flight from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Paris, France. On 1 June 2009, inconsistent airspeed indications and miscommunication led to the pilots inadvertently stalling the Airbus A330. They failed to recover the plane from the stall, and the plane crashed into the mid-Atlantic Ocean at 02:14 UTC, killing all 228 passengers and crew on board.

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      • #
        John Connor II

        It can only be attributed to human error.

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        • #
          Bruce

          In the design and operation of the aircraft?

          “Small lapses” in any detail of any stage of aviation tends to get very ugly,very fast.

          “Fly by wire” is all the rage, however………..

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  • #
    CO2 Lover

    PM responds after NZ insinuates Aussies are ‘stupid’

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBYD2-EvjjE

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  • #
    CO2 Lover

    The Thought Police of Stalin Starmer – Civil War Update

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iWNXLWn16Y

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    • #
      Kalm Keith

      Extraordinary.

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    • #
      Skepticynic

      I hope nobody falls into the trap of thinking this is just the fascist Trotskyite Starmer, or this is just the insanely Woke UK. This is coming to all of us in the West and elsewhere who have allowed the WEF Young Global Leaders, WEF aligned leaders, and leaders aligned with China to dictate our policies, our directions, and our nations’ destruction in the name of “global governance”. People are so slow to work out what’s happening that it will be all over before they realize they’re screwed.

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  • #
    Graeme No.3

    Chris Uhlman in today’s The Australian has a few words about the current Labor Government, accusing it of being delusional. This court my eye.

    “There is nothing wrong with having an imaginary giant white rabbit as your special friend. Such things can be comforting. But demanding everybody else believe in Harvey is a stretch. And this is not one rabbit, this is a colony.”

    And then he listed a number of Bowen’s previous policies. Possibly from his (or The Australian’s folder) “Bowen down the rabbit hole , again”.

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  • #
    Steve of Cornubia

    I was horrified to learn this morning that a relative in Ireland just took their beautiful little four month old daughter for her first Covid jab. I really can’t get my head around that.

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    • #
      CO2 Lover

      Meanwhile at the Olmypics – must be such a terrible disease

      Noah Lyles earns Bronze in 200-meter race while suffering from COVID

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3pVlD1ZkdM

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    • #
      jelly34

      Well I regularly see people wearing masks to the shops and driving cars(on their own I might add)

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      • #
        Annie

        The vast majority around here do not wear masks, only the occasional person I can never get to smile. 🙁
        Or even respond to a ‘hello’.

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      • #
        Dennis

        This morning at a shopping centre cafe two older Australians walked in wearing face masks, one sat down and one went to the counter to order.

        After both were seated they pulled their masks down around their necks and engaged in conversation and sitting not far from other people at nearby tables.

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  • #
    CO2 Lover

    Would you trust Sadiq Khan the mayor of Londonistan with the safety of your children?

    Swift is scheduled to perform five concerts at London’s Wembley stadium from Aug. 15-20 to close the European leg of her Eras Tour. London Mayor Sadiq Khan said that, while he understood Vienna’s reasons for canceling, “We’re going to carry on.”

    Nonetheless, the Vienna plot drew comparisons to a 2017 attack by a suicide bomber at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, that killed 22 people, the deadliest “extremist” attack in Britain in recent years.

    https://www.politico.eu/article/terror-attack-suspect-arrested-taylor-swift-concert-vienna/

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    • #
      RickWill

      Australian commercial property vacancy rates are 14.8% and not much changed in past quarter

      There needs to a be a pivot from building commercial properties to building residential property probably globally.

      I worked primarily from home from 2001till I retired in 2012. It was a much better life than turning up to an office on a daily basis. Technology has enabled this shift.

      Gerald is thought provoking but I have never seen a report from him that is not impending doom.

      There are still more people wanting to live in the angloshpere than wanting to leave. One way to change that is to allow the people living in repressive regimes to come in and spread their repression. Ultimately there is a nice balance where no one wants to live anywhere because repression under thee UN regime becomes global so immigration slows down. Repression is the winner and a new dark age is born.

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        KP

        “One way to change that is to allow the people living in repressive regimes to come in and spread their repression. ”

        Yes, there is a great argument against letting in refugees as the strongest opposition to the tyranny has now left and those remaining suffer even more. A better solution is to keep everyone in their country so they can fight to topple the Govt.

        You can certainly see what you are remarking on when you toss religion in there as well. People leaving Muslim countries carry the cancer into the country they go to.

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    Vicki

    It is being reported in our national Australian newspaper that there is an emergency shortage of IV supplies in our hospitals. I actually heard this yesterday as well when reported by an orthopaedic specialist daughter of a friend. It is being reported that it is caused by stockpiling of supplies by the US in preparation for war.

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    • #
      John Connor II

      Actually, it’s a global problem, along with drugs supplies, and it’s been on my radar for weeks, and the drugs shortages is months old.
      Stay healthy. Stock up on meds.

      71

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      Hanrahan

      The US is NOT preparing for bloody war.

      12

      • #
        Hanrahan

        Cowards give red thumbs with no attempt to explain where and why the US is about to get into a ground war.

        Please explain!

        10

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW – the Trump assassination attempt

    “Yesterday, Fox ran a story headlined, “Fuming police officer says he told Secret Service to secure Trump shooter building days before rally: bodycam.” Once again showing a level of transparency the Secret Service could only dream of, assuming it could get to sleep in the first place, Butler County’s Police Department released its July 13th bodycam footage. Once again, the story changed. Once again, things got murkier.”

    More at

    https://open.substack.com/pub/coffeeandcovid/p/expensive-things-friday-august-9?

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    CO2 Lover

    Another week – another EV fire in an underground car park!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8NY7abL0Mc

    50

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    John Connor II

    Saturday funny: weapons training day in the army

    https://va.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_shykyryEQp1z23obp.mp4

    The safest place is the target!

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    • #
      Dennis

      I have been given target duty at an army rifle range when several M-60 machine guns were being fired in training.

      It was not a pleasant experience with so many projectiles hitting the targets and mound around the targets, but it certainly demonstrated fire power and what it could be like facing those weapons in battle.

      10

  • #
    John Connor II

    Zelensky buys a winery in Tuscany for €75 million

    English musician Sting (Gordon Sumner) sold his winery Tenuta il Palagio in Tuscany to the family of Volodymyr Zelensky for €75 million, reports the Database Italia portal, which published documents from the cadastral service to confirm the sale.

    Sting and his wife reportedly bought the dilapidated 16th century villa back in 1997 and then restored the villa and the land.

    According to official documents from the Italian land registry, in June 2024, Gordon Sumner sold his wine estate in Tuscany. The new owner of Tenuta il Palagio became the Italian company San Tommaso SRL.

    The company San Tommaso SRL is registered in Italy, but its owners are Ukrainian citizens Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife Olena Zelenskaya, journalists report.

    https://europerenaissance.com/2024/08/08/zelensky-buys-a-winery-in-tuscany-for-e75-million/

    Oh those dumb bunnies who believed in Zelensky…

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    • #
      Vladimir

      The website Database Italia, which was the primary source of this misinformation, was listed in 2021 as a known spreader of disinformation in Italy. Additionally, Italian fact-checkers have repeatedly refuted the news published by Database Italia.

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      • #
        robert rosicka

        You will never guess where these rumours seem to have started ? – Russia !

        30

      • #
        KP

        “The website Database Italia, which was the primary source of this misinformation, was listed in 2021 as a known spreader of disinformation in Italy. Additionally, Italian fact-checkers have repeatedly refuted the news published by Database Italia.”

        JoNova will be credited as a known spreader of disinformation too, but that doesn’t make all the news there wrong!

        What part of the story is wrong Vlad?? That the sale didn’t take place? That the Land Registry didn’t confirm the sale? That Zelensky doesn’t own San Tommaso?

        ..or do we just wait for the CIA fact-checkers to say the whole story is false? Smearing the news source doesn’t make their stories into lies, any more than have “Fact Checker” on your website makes it truthful.

        I’ll tell you a better source, this article-

        https://www.the-buyer.net/people/sting-styler-wine-business-ZONIN1821

        Sting still owns it!

        40

        • #
          Vladimir

          Yes, V. Zelensky was richer than me at the time of his election.

          For instance his 2022 annual income, the Kyiv Post and Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform reported that the document shows Zelenskyy:

          Declared over $700,000 in bank accounts and an additional $650,000 in cash

          Received a presidential salary of $12,218

          Earned $470,000 from selling two houses – one in Ukraine and another in Italy.

          Received $171,120 in royalties, with the biggest stake coming from Kvartal 95, the production company Zelenskyy co-founded in 2003

          Received income from property lease, investment income from securities and bank interest that totaled less than $30,000 (based on the average exchange rate between Ukrainian hryvnia to dollars in 2020)

          Still, not even at a pettycash level for major Western entertainers.
          Sting, who I loved very much, probably does not know how many millions he has…

          00

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      Vladimir

      Buyers Beware.
      One of the fact-checkers available to everyone (not only to RMIT students – https://snowfakery.readthedocs.io/en/latest/fakedata/it_IT.html

      Disclaimer. Yours faithfully have completed a number of sources at RMIT with deep satisfaction.

      30

      • #
        Vladimir

        Apologies – courses, not sources.
        However that was in the 80ies, when RMIT was an institute of education.

        40

    • #
      el+gordo

      ‘Oh those dumb bunnies who believed in Zelensky… ‘

      You are on the wrong side of history.

      25

      • #
        Vladimir

        Thanks e+g, and the history is rolling out in front of our eyes.

        In fact since Sunday, 21 July.

        Coincidence of this magnitude do not exist – neither in science nor in history.

        All of a sudden, after months and months of trench war, big on words and small on action Zelensky discovered that Russian Army is not present in the Kursk Oblast, boarder guards + OMON are on holidays, civil patriotic citizenry is not in hurry to get armed and resist invading Nazi hordes. Nearly 80 years since Panzers rolled across those steps, they rolled there again. So where is nuclear Armageddon, promised by Putin?

        Similarly Bibi (the enemy of all humans, inside his own country and abroad) with surgical precision eliminates his top adversaries in the neighbours capitals – instead of endlessly killing foot solders. And again where is well deserved revenge from those neighbours?

        02

        • #
          Vladimir

          A third hot spot – why all of a sudden AUKUS-related legislation needs secret correction?
          The physical goods are still years and years and many elections away, why rock the boat today?
          May it be that Big Brother in the North also noticed the date 21 July and started to grease his guns?

          Next week will indicate if old Rules of the Game are indeed no more.

          The Ukrainians might be kicked out of sacred Russian land – reasonably expected.
          The ME again explodes in the rockets and drones barrage – less probable than above.

          Or :

          The Ukrainians will dig in and stay or, even, continue to march.
          The International Navy group enforce freedom of passage in the Red Sea.

          Plus: some low hanging fruit might fall into the lap of reluctant winner – Europe.
          Like – PMR, for some in-the-know on this blog – forgotten Tiraspol Garrison, which declared themselves an independent republic 30 years ago, very low on fighting resources but still holding in their stores large number of badly needed artillery shells.

          01

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    John Connor II

    Saturday funny: welcome aboard diversity airlines

    https://twitter.com/Alphafox78/status/1821654381214978438

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  • #
    another ian

    FWIW – latest Kunstler

    ““Who Elected YOU Boss of This Outfit?” ”

    https://kunstler.com/clusterf*-nation/who-elected-you-boss-of-this-outfit/

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  • #
    OldOzzie

    The Telegraph

    How the big bet on electric car gigafactories went badly wrong

    The future will be battery-powered, we are told. Silent electric cars will replace their gas-guzzling predecessors. Energy storage packs will power houses and offices, filled with the electricity generated by wind and solar. Eventually electric ships and aeroplanes will help eliminate emissions altogether.

    The electrified economy will need terawatts of storage.

    In this world, making batteries should be about as solid a business as one could imagine: practically a licence to print money. Hundreds of billions of dollars, euros and renminbi are being invested in battery gigafactories in an attempt to profit from the coming revolution.

    But as the wave of money hits, battery manufacturing is becoming less of a gold rush and more of a brutal race to the bottom. Huge investments in factories as well as ultra-low raw material costs, combined with stalling demand for electric cars, have pushed the world into oversupply.

    The glut has been a boost for motorists, who are seeing the price of electric vehicles (EVs) fall dramatically, but now risk thwarting investments in new factories needed for the next decade as the West seeks to build its own supply chains away from Asia.

    Earlier this month, SK On, the South Korean battery giant, declared that it was in a state of “emergency management” after continuing losses and disappointing EV sales among the Western car makers that make up its biggest customers. The company has recorded 10 quarters of consecutive losses and delayed plans for a giant battery factory in Kentucky amid a sales slowdown.

    On Thursday, its Korean rival LG Energy Solution unveiled a 30pc drop in quarterly sales and said it was slowing investments in order to “prevent excessive inventory”. The company’s chief financial officer said that carmakers were “moderating their speed” when it came to electrification, and that the prospect of Donald Trump returning to the White House could hold back investment.

    – China glut
    – Waning demand

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    • #
      OldOzzie

      NSW closes loophole to stamp out fires caused by substandard lithium-ion batteries in ebikes and scooters

      New rules declaring the popular devices a form of transport mean the batteries must meet strict international product standards

      New South Wales is cracking down on the sale of some ebikes and e-scooters in a nationwide first aimed at reducing the scourge of battery-related fires, while pushing for a nationally coordinated approach to the growing problem.

      Low quality ebikes and e-scooters have contributed to a spate of fires across the country, with lithium-ion batteries now the fastest growing cause of fires in the state.

      Since January, NSW Fire and Rescue has attended 54 fires related to e-scooters, ebikes, e-skateboards or hoverboards. That figure is a fraction of the total 185 lithium-ion battery fires the service has attended this year – about four fires every five days.

      Under the new rules announced on Thursday, ebikes, e-scooters, hoverboards and e-skateboards will become “declared electric devices”. The battery-powered devices will need to meet a set of internationally accepted product standards, including appropriate tests and certification.

      Vendors of non-compliant devices will face fines of up to $825,000 from February 2025.

      The deaths of two people in a house fire in Lake Macquarie in February were believed to be the first fatalities caused by a lithium battery fire.

      In March, the state recorded four lithium battery fires in a single day.

      40

      • #
        OldOzzie

        Given the number of e battteries in our household – Dyson Hand Held Vacuum, Ego Pole Hedger/Chain Saw, Power tools, Mini Hedge Trimmer, etc

        Have decided to purchase 2 – Our high quality 1.8m x 1.2m Lithium Ion Battery fire blanket is ideal for can be used for normal kitchen fires and small lithium-ion battery fires.

        This Lithium Ion fire blanket is brand new, Australian Standards approved, and ActivFire certified. Buy online today at this incredibly cheap price and save.

        A$95.00 Special Price A$82.90
        Availability: In stock
        SKU LION18X12
        Buy 2 for A$79.50 each and save 4%

        10

        • #
          OldOzzie

          Fire-resistant covers for e-mobility storage (eBikes/eScooters) and lithium-ion batteries in Australia

          Australia Lithium Battery Fire Blankets for eBikes/eScooters and Stored Lithium-Ion Batteries

          Several companies in Australia offer lithium battery fire blankets specifically designed for eBikes, eScooters, and stored lithium-ion batteries. These blankets are intended to contain and isolate lithium-ion battery fires, reducing the risk of damage and injury.

          Approved Solutions

          1. Bridgehill Lithium Fire Blanket: Offers customized solutions for various applications, including eBike and eScooter manufacturers, auto repair shops, and recycling stations handling broken and used lithium batteries.
          2. AVD Fire Lithium Battery Fire Blanket: Developed by AVD Fire Ltd, this high-performance, multi-use blanket is designed specifically for fires involving devices incorporating lithium-ion batteries.
          3. Brimstone Fire & Explosion Containment Bags: Already in use with the Australian Defence Force and overseas militaries, these bags have been effective in containing lithium-ion battery fires and are suitable for various applications, including recycling stations and lithium battery manufacturers.

          Key Features

          . Isolate and contain lithium-ion battery fires for hours
          . Designed to prevent fire spread and reduce damage
          . Suitable for various applications, including eBike and eScooter manufacturers, auto repair shops, recycling stations, and lithium battery manufacturers
          . Customized solutions available for specific needs

          Regulatory Framework

          The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has called for a nationally consistent regulatory framework for electrical products, including eBikes, eScooters, and lithium-ion batteries. New South Wales has implemented new rules declaring these devices a form of transport, requiring batteries to meet strict international product standards.

          Recommendations

          To mitigate the risk of lithium-ion battery fires in Australia, it is recommended that:

          . eBike and eScooter manufacturers and retailers ensure compliance with new regulations and use fire-resistant materials in their products
          . Auto repair shops and workshops have a lithium battery fire blanket readily available
          . Recycling stations handling broken and used lithium batteries have a fire containment system in place
          . Lithium battery manufacturers and suppliers have a fire blanket available for use in their facilities

          Follow up

          . How do Australian regulatory bodies ensure compliance with international product standards for lithium-ion batteries and electrical products?
          . Can lithium-ion battery fire blankets be reused or are they single-use only, and what are the implications for cost and environmental impact?
          . What are the key differences between lithium-ion battery fire blankets designed for eBikes/eScooters and those for stored lithium-ion batteries?
          🌐
          theguardian.com
          NSW closes loophole to stamp out fires caused by substandard lithium-ion batteries in ebikes and scooters | Lithium-ion batteries | The Guardian
          🌐
          bridgehill.com
          Lithium | EV Fire Blankets
          🌐
          powdersafe.com.au
          Fire Containment Bags/Blankets
          🌐
          firesys.com.au
          FSS – Lithium Battery Fire Blanket

          🌐
          🌐
          + 2 more

          10

  • #
    Greg in NZ

    The Becalming continues…

    Huge stationary high pressure over Aus for another week (maybe breezy in Margaret River, WA, and coastal QLD, as per usual) and here in N.Z. as well after electricity prices ‘doubled’ last month due to, a) low hydro lake levels, b) lack of wind, c) lack of sun [foggy & cloudy], d) gas supplies running low.

    Nobody saw this coming – apart from those of us living in the real world.

    Huzzah for dirty Indonesian coal keeping the traffic lights working (it’s still KAOS on the roads out there none-the-less). However, a number of businesses, ie. forestry mills, manufacturing, etc, that need constant running, are taking a hiatus as the price of electricity is unsustainable [the original meaning of the word].

    Herr Klaus vill be pleast vis hiss acolyte’s efforts in destroyink ziss island nation unt its population, yah.

    She ain’t no dame, she’s a * * * * *

    50

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    another ian

    Another Woke trip –

    “Remember the Harley-Davidson ‘We’re Back’ Campaign? Well – They’re Leaving Again”

    https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2024/08/09/remember-the-harley-davidson-were-back-campaign-well-theyre-leaving-again-n3792924

    30

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    DD

    If you were wondering about Tim Walz, the media is here to help you out, as this 1m 15s video clip demonstrates:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLgfqVLOdsU

    Things are looking grim. I note that after the mishandling of the ‘identity’ issue by both Trump and Vance, Betfair now has Harris ahead of Trump. I’m sorry to be the one to say it, but they both handled it badly. They allowed the media to lead them into ad hominem territory instead of keeping the focus on policy — that is, cost of living, border security and crime and violence. Trump needs to rehearse his answers to gotcha questions and to repeat his answers over and over, no matter what he is asked. And when speaking about the economy, for example, it is not sufficient to talk about ‘beautiful numbers’ and ‘best numbers in history’ and ‘best employment numbers’. Trump needs to have precise figures to hand. But ‘the economy’ is of little concern to most people, except when it involves an issue that directly hurts them, such as petrol (gas) prices. Of much more concern are the social policies of the Democrats — we all know what they are. Trump should always try to steer the interview back to such issues. Most importantly, he should guard against being led into making ad hominem attacks. He needs to ignore such questions and instead steer to conversation back to Democrat policy failures.

    Perhaps he can take advice from Jim Hacker (Yes PM) on handling the media (56 sec video clip):
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnnY4O3oDpk

    If the polls are accurate and we then allow for ‘a repeat of 2020’, we are all in big trouble because there will be no one to stop the globalists. We just have to hope that there are a lot of shy voters out there who avoid discussing politics.

    https://www.youtube.com/shorts/S8oBLEpRJbM
    (< 1min video clip)

    30

    • #
      KP

      “Trump needs to rehearse his answers to gotcha questions and to repeat his answers over and over, no matter what he is asked. And when speaking about the economy, for example, it is not sufficient to talk about ‘beautiful numbers’ and ‘best numbers in history’ and ‘best employment numbers’. Trump needs to have precise figures to hand. But ‘the economy’ is of little concern to most people, except when it involves an issue that directly hurts them, such as petrol (gas) prices. Of much more concern are the social policies of the Democrats — we all know what they are. Trump should always try to steer the interview back to such issues. Most importantly, he should guard against being led into making ad hominem attacks. He needs to ignore such questions and instead steer to conversation back to Democrat policy failures.”

      But then he’d be just another greasy politician with no morals or ethics.. and the reason he is popular is because he is NOT a politician.

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  • #
    CO2 Lover

    “Christian Terrorists” and the Church of England

    The case for the instrumental nature of Al-Swealmeen’s {Liverpool bomber}conversion can be claimed on the grounds of both his asylum application and his 7-month-long preparation for the attack. With regards to the former, among the critics, one can hear that the Church of England encourages obtaining asylum by persuading immigrants to change their religion. Upon conversion, it is easier for them to show that they may be persecuted in their country of origin. Hundreds of Muslims were to receive the sacraments after a five-week course in the cathedral, a fact that can be easily verified by perusing the baptismal records. The impact of the change of faith on the asylum process is confirmed by church representatives and participants of programs preparing for the adoption of Christianity. As reported in the media, pastor Pete Wilcox, former dean of Liverpool, once said: ‘I cannot recall a single example of someone who, already having British citizenship, would convert from Islam to Christianity.

    https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21567689.2024.2315469#d1e287

    For ASIO’s information CO2 Lover considers all religions to be Satan’s curse on humanity, including the religion of Climate Cultism. There has been a long history of Christians hating the Jews (Christ Killers) and pograms against the Jews were common long before Herr Hitler sought the Christian vote in Germany.

    40

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    “The Kamala Narrative is Silly Now – Marquette University Says Harris Has Eleventy-Five Point Lead Over Orange Man
    August 9, 2024 | Sundance | 224 Comments”

    “We suspected they would go too far, because that’s what the left always does. Once their pop-narrative enters the entire tribe of progressives, the various factions within it always try to one-up each other and highlight their support. ”

    More at

    https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2024/08/09/the-kamala-narrative-is-silly-now-marquette-university-says-harris-has-eleventy-five-point-lead-over-orange-man/

    50

  • #
    el+gordo

    Southern Annular Mode dips into unchartered territory.

    https://weather.plus/aao-index.html

    10

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW – commissioned omission

    “What The Met Office Did Not Tell You About Extreme Temperatures”

    “When we combine hot and cold together, there is no trend at all, either up or down:”

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/08/09/what-the-met-office-did-not-tell-you-about-extreme-temperatures/

    30

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW – a look inside Russia

    “Report from Syktyvkar”

    https://newcatallaxy.blog/2024/08/06/report-from-syktyvkar/

    20

    • #
      Hanrahan

      hit 41,500 at one point (at 920 kms/hr) which must be getting very close to the operational limit of an A330.

      The greater the altitude the less dense the air over the wings and control surfaces so the faster the plane must fly to prevent a stall.

      The problem is that Vmax does not increase with altitude. That max speed [I think I understand this] is limited by the speed where airflow separates from the aerofoil and the plane stalls. This is called Coffin Corner.

      The U2 spyplane flies so high there is only a few MPH between the stall speed and Vmax and must be flown by autopilot…

      https://youtu.be/G556oG55WCE

      20

    • #
      Hanrahan

      These two pilots messed around in coffin corner and found out.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinnacle_Airlines_Flight_3701

      10

  • #
    Honk R Smith

    From Dr. John Campbell.
    Science affirming what the blind could see.
    New study from all places … Trudeauceania.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi5Ii9TARis

    Global Excess Deaths … during ‘Pandemic’ period.

    “incompatible with a pandemic respiratory disease as a cause of death”

    Likely causes …
    1)biological and psychological reaction to lockdown policy
    2)Non-COVID non vaccine medical interventions
    3)COVID vaccine injections

    YouTube is in elect Kamala mode.
    See this before it gets hard to access.

    40

    • #
      another ian

      IIRC he also posts on Rumble

      20

    • #
      Honk R Smith

      Conclusion from the study …

      “We are compelled to state that the public health establishment and its’ agents fundamentally caused ALL (my emphasis) the excess mortality in the COVID period.”

      Time for Wikipedia to redefine ALL.
      And DEATH.
      Actually, every operative word in there.

      60

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  • #
    observor

    RW, Great post, and the simpler you could crunch that down to would be doing the World a favor!

    And also, JoNova dear, get this Site’s format going to where if you increase “Font” one is not looking at individual words up & down.

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    • #

      observor, I don’t know how to solve that. I have no trouble zooming in or out to read the site. Is this a particular browser, or font or phone?

      10