Tuesday

7 out of 10 based on 28 ratings

230 comments to Tuesday

  • #
    tonyb

    Owner of Telegram arrested in France

    https://dailysceptic.org/2024/08/25/billionaire-founder-of-telegram-arrested-in-france/

    This is allegedly for not moderating content and has concerned Musk who has tweeted on the subject. The EU have been after him also

    340

    • #

      Tyrants hate free speech. This move is dark.

      510

      • #
        TdeF

        Not sure this is the whole story. He is alleged to have been allowing all sorts of illegal dark web activity such as drug smuggling. But that should be visible to law enforcement as well, which negates the whole point. You cannot stop people sending coded messages and signals. But the reports says “Durov was arrested under a warrant related to “various violations of his encrypted messaging service,” An encrypted message service is equivalent to Dark Web and great for all sorts of illegal and dangerous terrorism activity.

        Breitbars says “offenses ranging from fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying, organized crime, glorification of terrorism, and fraud”.

        However if it is only suspicion of misgendering or supporting JK Rowling, that would be different. And keeping copies of all unencrypted input for casual examination by government agents without warrants is a real problem for people paying for the service. But that’s true of all internet traffic if police control the internet content.

        Basically if villains want to encrypt their transmissions with unbreakable DES algorithms, they have been able to do it for fifty years.

        151

        • #
          Leo G

          According to a BBC report:

          In April 2018, the Russian authorities began blocking access to Telegram, only to lift the ban in 2020. Today, not only do Russian officials use the messenger, but so does the Russian military, including soldiers fighting in the so-called “Special Military Operation” (Russia’s war in Ukraine).

          I think the whole story includes consideration of Pavel Durov’s Russian nationality.

          110

          • #
            KP

            ” Today, not only do Russian officials use the messenger, but so does the Russian military,”
            “I think the whole story includes consideration of Pavel Durov’s Russian nationality.”

            I think that’s 90% of the reason behind the arrest, another way to try to cripple Russia in the war, and it supports their general propaganda, ‘He’s Russian, must be bad.’

            Govts don’t give a sh1t about drugs or child porn, they are heavily involved in it themselves. If they wanted to arrest media owners for lack of moderation why not start with Musk?

            120

            • #
              Dave in the States

              Right now the back lash of going after Musk would be too massive. It would be like a tsunami possibly toppling the powers that be.

              50

        • #
          Skepticynic

          Nothing unusual there. Police always try to fit as many charges as possible no matter how banal or far-fetched.
          Almost everybody uses encrypted messaging & emails.
          Even 10 years ago Turnbull & Morrison were using Wickr,
          while passing laws to allow police and spy agencies to access encrypted messages.

          Snowden revealed that all encryption can be cracked by the TLAs.

          40

        • #
          OldOzzie

          Basically if villains want to encrypt their transmissions with unbreakable DES algorithms, they have been able to do it for fifty years.

          Bit longer – Julius Caesar Secret Code

          Julius Caesar used a simple substitution cipher, known as the Caesar Cipher, for secret communication. It works by shifting each letter of the alphabet by a fixed number of positions, known as the “shift” or “key”. In Caesar’s case, he shifted each letter three positions forward.

          For example, if the original letter is “A”, it would be replaced by “D” (since “D” is three positions ahead of “A” in the alphabet). Similarly, “B” becomes “E”, “C” becomes “F”, and so on.

          This technique was used to encrypt military communications, making it difficult for enemies to intercept and decipher the messages.

          The Caesar Cipher is considered one of the earliest and simplest methods of encryption, and its concept has been widely adopted and adapted in cryptography.

          Key Features:

          . Substitution cipher: replaces each letter with a letter a fixed number of positions ahead
          , Shift: three positions forward in Caesar’s case
          , Simple and easy to implement
          . Used for secret communication, particularly in military contexts

          Note that the Caesar Cipher is not a secure encryption method by modern standards, as it can be easily broken with frequency analysis or other cryptanalytic techniques.

          However, it remains an important milestone in the development of cryptography and a testament to Julius Caesar’s ingenuity in using simple yet effective encryption methods for his military communications.

          90

          • #
            Dave in the States

            If the German Enigma could be broken 80 years ago with primitive vacuum tube computers, then I imagine that simple cipher wouldn’t stand a chance. Something I wrote several years ago on Enigma:

            The basic Enigma machine utilized the concept of movable rotors. Each rotor had 52 terminals, 26 on the input side and 26 on the output side. Each terminal represented a letter of the Roman alphabet. The signal from each input terminal ran through a maze of wiring to an output terminal. How each rotor was wired was a closely guarded secret and each rotor was wired differently. Each time a letter was typed into the machine the first rotor in series rotated ahead one position. If there was just one rotor then there would only be 26 possible substitutions or permutations. However, if there were two rotors then it became 676 permutations to work though, and 4 rotors yielded a period of 456,976, and 5 rotors 11,881,376 and so on…

            Each time the first rotor completed a full rotation the next rotor in series would move ahead one position and then next rotor in series would do the same when the second rotor completed its cycle. The military Enigma machines utilized three movable rotors and a fourth unmovable ½ rotor called the reflector. The reflector turned the signal around and sent it back through the rotors again. This not only increased the period of permutations available, but made it possible to de-cipher the message by another machine on the other end by simply typing the cipher text into an identically set up machine. On the Enigma machine each input terminal on the rotors could be assigned any letter from the alphabet, by setting an alphabet ring concentric to the rotor, further scrambling the permutations.

            Even if the enemy had a machine with the correctly wired rotors, they still could not de-cipher messages unless they knew exactly what locations (1, 2, or 3) the rotors were positioned, and the start positions of the rotors and alphabet rings. These setting were intended to be changed daily. The solution to yesterday’s riddle was useless today, and today’s solution would be useless tomorrow. Thus, Enigma had to be “broken” anew every single day. It wasn’t like they finally broke Enigma one day and from that day forward they could read Enigma ciphered messages.

            Sorry Hollywood, it was not capturing a machine that mattered either, but the daily settings or the keys that were needed.

            70

            • #
              Graeme4

              Some German operators had an unfortunate habit of starting each message with the same word. At times this made the rest of the message easier to decode.

              30

              • #
                Graeme No.3

                Some operators also finished their messages with “Heil Hitler”.
                Once noticed it helped decryption.

                30

        • #
          Strop

          Interesting that the host of a service is expected to read encrypted messages and stop them if their content is innappropriate. If I post a letter, Aus Post gets into trouble if they open and read the letter.
          The police can intercept my communications if they have a warrant.
          So why does a message service have the responsibility to do the vetting of private messages?

          I can understand needing to moderate illegal public content, such as if I was to post illegal material here in this message for all to see. But an encrypted private communication should be no business of the message service.

          The logical extension of all that is the CEO’s of Telstra and Aus Post could be gaoled for my phone calls or letters involving illegal activity. Or they need to listen to or read my communications to ensure I’m acting appropriately.

          I don’t understand why the owner of Telegram is held to a different standard and expected to read private messages, or be implicated as complicit. Unless it’s govt’s way of fighting against those who support free speech.

          130

      • #
      • #
        Vladimir

        What bothered me for years is inability of the State to end telephone schemers .
        It is a crime in any jurisdiction, no freedom of speech is involved and how technically hard should be to find a person behind phone number ?

        270

        • #
          KP

          :What bothered me for years is inability of the State to end telephone schemers .:

          Good point, that’s another thing they don’t give a sh1t about. What happens to the little people just doesn’t matter unless we get a petition going around election time.

          140

        • #
          Vladimir

          Just got an email with fake PayPal invoice. No coincidence, everyone here probably got some fake invoice today or yesterday:
          Not sure if +618 6102 5750 phone number is genuine. Is so called Attorney General Dreyfus bothered ?

          30

        • #
          Dave in the States

          I have been called by scammers using my own phone number.

          20

      • #
        Vladimir

        Jo, thanks.
        Appreciate that web moderation is a hard work. There was a good movie years ago No More Secrets – does anyone remember how it has finished ?

        20

      • #
        John Connor II

        …and absolutely nothing to do with hackers releasing thousands of sensitive documents and emails from Israeli sources…

        Gotta move in the right circles…

        23

      • #
        OldOzzie

        Zuckerberg Admits Facebook Killed Hunter Biden Laptop Story After FBI ‘Warned’ of ‘Russian Disinformation’

        Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed that Facebook killed the Hunter Biden laptop story after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) “warned” of a “potential Russian disinformation operation,” and acknowledged that it “shouldn’t have demoted the story.”

        In a letter to Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Zuckerberg wrote that after being warned by the FBI about a possible “Russian disinformation operation” regarding President Joe Biden’s family, Facebook went on to kill an article from the New York Post.

        In response to the article about “corruption allegations” about the Biden family, Facebook “sent that story to fact-checkers” and had it “temporarily demoted.”

        “It’s since been made clear that the reporting was not Russian disinformation, and in retrospect, we shouldn’t have demoted the story,” Zuckerberg added. “We’ve changed our policies and processes to make sure this doesn’t happen again — for instance, we no longer temporarily demote things in the U.S. while waiting for fact-checkers.”

        30

    • #
      CO2 Lover

      California Colludes With Big-Tech To Wield Control Over Local Newsrooms, Incorporate AI

      Remember when the government colluded with Big Tech to censor news detrimental to Democrats ahead of the 2020 election? Well, they’re at it again, this time openly bragging about their latest collusion.

      https://www.zerohedge.com/political/california-colludes-big-tech-wield-control-over-local-newsrooms-incorporate-ai

      40

    • #
      David of Cooyal in Oz

      Coming to Oz via the Albo electorate, and others, heading your way:

      Taliban bans ‘even the sound of a female voice’ in public across Afghanistan as UN denounces new virtue laws

      https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-27/taliban-bans-womens-voices-faces-in-public-afghanistan-un/104273178

      Cheers
      Dave B

      150

    • #
      OldOzzie

      Durov arrest exposes ‘upside-down’ West – Serbian leader

      The Telegram founder was treated as a free-speech champion when it suited Western interests, Aleksandar Vucic has said

      20

    • #
  • #
    James Murphy

    I wonder when Gilmour Space Technologies will be able to launch its first rocket, or at least attempt it…?
    The official story is “waiting on government approval”, which is entirely believable, but I am looking forward to seeing an Aussie designed/built rocket take to the skies eventually.

    A lot of fuss was made when SpaceX said they want to launch from Australia, but it seems almost all the coverage neglected to mention that the agreement with the USA does not benefit Australia one little bit.

    Thanks to the Technology Safeguards Agreement (TSA), Australians will be locked out of every process whenever the USA decides to launch a rocket from Australia – from manufacture, transport, preparation, and launch. It’s got to be one of the craziest agreements ever negotiated by an Australian government, surely…?

    190

    • #
      Ted1.

      Australia should develop a space service station without delay on Nauru. Not joking!

      tonyb, do you know anybody besides China who might be interested in joining?

      50

    • #
      Graeme No.3

      James Murphy:
      Look at our current (Federal) Government when you say “It’s got to be one of the craziest agreements ever negotiated by an Australian government”.

      180

    • #
      GlenM

      Since I live in the district I’m keen to witness “take-off” one day. It was anticipated that July would be the latest for the event. But unfortunately we live in a country subsumed by poor governance who have outsourced our national autonomy to others. We are led by morons.

      131

    • #
      yarpos

      Its really no crazier than our LNG exports arrangements with China.

      I don’t think negotiations come into it. The US says how things will be, we tug our forelock and certainly sire!

      10

  • #
    tonyb

    Thiis spectacular landslide happened just up the coast from us in Devon

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13780151/Heart-stopping-moment-thousands-tons-rock-crash-popular-beach-right-groups-sunbathing-families.html

    It is always happening and the area close by is renowned for its fossils, brought down by the same rockfalls

    70

    • #
      Ted1.

      Just WOW!!!

      They tell us we had two 4.7 earthquakes at Denman, about 120 km east of here in the last few days. Right among the open cut mines that serve the world’s biggest coal exporting port. I wonder iff they caused the earthquakes?

      I wonder the same when I hear of earth tremors at Orange, where the Cadia gold mine is supposed to be one of the world’s biggest.

      We were o holidays in the shopping mall at Bateau Bay, about 100 km south of Newcastle when the earthquake struck there. Some people felt it, especiaally in the upstairs offices. I didn’t, and declared “nah, we don’t get earthquakes in Australia”. But we did. A 5.6 one, and some people were killed.

      The lights went out for perhaps half a minute and I was starting to worry thar people might panic, but they came back on.

      70

      • #
        Bruce

        Australia may be old and stable, but the entire rock-show is liable to all manner of “activity. The entire land mass has actually been in motion since before the breakup of Gondwanaland, a while back.

        Here in Briz Vegas, we get the occasional “bump in the night”. The city SITS on a huge fault line which extends from the upper Brisbane Valley, hundreds of Km east-ish, to the sea.

        The “quakes” of my experience are more like a single “bump”, sometimes with a sound like a car hitting a power pole outside your window, as opposed to Newcastle which copped the full treatment of different wave motion and soil liquefaction. The latter was the ultimate cause of building subsidence and collapse.

        As Australia slowly invades Asia, the very movement of the Oz Plate is responsible for geological “liveliness” in Indonesia and New Guinea. Not much post shock Tsunami action here lately, but there is evidence of some ripper waves along the east coast; huge, rounded boulders tossed ashore along the Northern NSW coast, high above current sea levels, for starters. Some of the North Queensland indigenous folk have detailed stories of giant waves rolling ashore in the Bowen-Ayr region. Some point to specific high ground where the “better runners” sheltered.

        How about we all start wearing the classic T-shirt”:

        “Stop Continental Drift”?

        I am not a rock-doctor, nor have I ever played one on TV, so, could any real geo-science types please chime in with clarification.

        70

        • #
          Leo G

          As Australia slowly invades Asia, the very movement of the Oz Plate is responsible for geological “liveliness” in Indonesia and New Guinea.

          The Plate is moving north at a discomforting rate. It may be just what we need- a bit more latitude for climate change.

          30

        • #
          beowulf

          There was some very good work done on NSW tsunamis just south of Wollongong by Prof Ted Bryant when he was active at Wollongong Uni some years back, if you can track down his papers and his book Natural Hazards.

          Massive boulders deposited on top of cliffs where the boulders had no relation to the underlying strata; high rock strata with massive circular holes gouged into them by grinding rocks driven by eddies as the waves sucked back out, similar to what you see in some stream beds, but ginormous in scale and created presumably in the space of minutes, not hundreds of years.

          There is a young fellow on YouTube that has the channel OzGeology. Some of his stuff is a wee bit dodgy — he seems to be self-taught — but he has done work on the type of crescent dunes which are diagnostic of tsunami formations. From memory he has explored the dunes of SW WA and the NSW south coast around Jervis Bay, possibly other places. Worth a look.
          https://www.youtube.com/@OzGeologyOfficial/videos

          30

    • #
      John B

      The unstable cliffs in that area are Triassic mudstones which, as you say, contain abundant fish, amphibian and reptile fossils, some rare; E.g., the Mastodonsaurus, one of the largest (6 metres) amphibians ever found.

      120

    • #
      Penguinite

      Oh no! Fossils Fools?

      50

  • #
    tonyb

    I haven’t heard much of Pauling Hanson in recent years but she still seems to be active on the matter of “welcome, country”.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13763899/welcome-country-pauline-hanson-ban.html

    130

    • #
      John B

      The MSM tries to silence her because of her popular views. But, if they do mention her, they always do it in a negative & condescending way.

      320

    • #
      TdeF

      She has been very active on the internet with excellent and very funny parody videos of the total chaos at the top of Australian politics.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pUQQx9EIOg

      For example on Australia accepting more Gazan ‘refugees’ than any other country, even adjacent Arab countries.

      372

    • #
      CO2 Lover

      The children will also be brainwashed to “pay their respects to Aboriginal elders” when anyone can self-identify as an “elder” no matter what the colour of their skin and no reaon is given as on what basis such respect should be given!

      Incorporating Acknowledgement of Country and Welcome to Country into meetings, gatherings, and events shows respect by upholding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural protocols.

      Taking the time to Acknowledge Country, or including a Welcome to Country at an event, reminds us that every day we live, work, and dream on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lands.

      This is racism 101.

      110

      • #
        Annie

        When was Victoria ever TSI land?
        Also, my only uncles and aunts are my own real family ones, not some strangers I’ve never met.
        The local ‘elders’ I respect are the likes of the people who built the township of Marysville by their sheer hard work and after whom local roads are named.

        120

    • #
      Ted1.

      I must write to Pauline and beg her to not die in this job,

      We need her to supervise the first movie.

      It’s 28 years since she showed how foolish our political leaders are. And it’s still showing loud and clear in Alice Springs.

      150

    • #
      Earl

      heard much of Pauling Hanson

      I thought Ms Hanson’s transition asine – sorry my mistake – as ine was complete. On reflection the left would probably say my mistake was in fact correct.

      10

    • #
      SteveR

      I am a proud AngloAustralian and I give respect to British and European Elders for bringing civil society and prosperity to Australia and starting the country on its evolution.

      10

  • #
    Leo Morgan

    Australia’s government is issuing Tourist Visas to Palestinians.

    These are functionally identical to permanent residence visas. International Law ius cogens forbids us to return over-stayers to a war zone. [snip]

    When the leader of the opposition told Parliament these simple truths, he was accused of racism by Independent MP Zali Steggal. But Steggal is the only person who considers Palestinian to be a race. Dutton doesn’t think so, and the Palestinians themselves don’t think so. The Chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, Yasser Arafat himself denied that Palestinians were a race. The only person seeing the issue through the eyes of race, is the racist Zali Steggal.

    Of course the threat by the Islamic Spokeswoman that not issuing these visas would ‘increase hate’ should be taken seriously. If the people who selected a government that uses kidnap, child rape, and murder of civilians as state policy are going to hate us more, it’s best that they be required to do so from thousands of miles away.

    302

    • #
      Forrest Gardener

      This is tantamount to saying that Zali and the Teals are not the repository of sugar and spice and all things nice.

      Next somebody will say they didn’t really think up the whole Teal thing themselves.

      Remember that hell has no fury like a woman scorned.

      211

      • #
        CO2 Lover

        The Teals are just a bunch of “Champagne Socialists” who vote mainly with the Australian Greens!

        champagne socialist
        noun [ C ] politics UK disapproving

        “a rich person who says he or she supports a fair society in which everyone has equal rights and the rich help the poor, but who may not behave in this way”

        201

        • #
          Ted1.

          Those Teals are taking a pay cut to go into parliament.

          Don’t expect them to last till their third election. They won’ tolerate the frustration. The day after the second will be enough for them.

          50

      • #
        Vladimir

        An interesting question – if common opinion is that both Lib & Lab are the same party then why no teals appeared in NT election?

        70

        • #
          yarpos

          Lack of scale and not enough excess people with too much time on their hands

          20

        • #
          el+gordo

          The Teals only have appeal in inner city electorates south east Australia. They are essentially just a flash in the pan, a fringe group going from nowhere to oblivion.

          The concept of a uniparty is worth discussing, the major parties try to attract votes and in a democracy political platforms rub together. There are few radicals in parliament.

          But there are differences and you see it with Dutton calling for nuclear power, the government is livid, but in the end windbag Bowen will have to concede defeat. Unreliables don’t cut it.

          50

    • #
      OldOzzie

      Australian Federal Police charge 28 former immigration detainees with 90 federal offences since March visa reissue

      The Labor government has faced calls to enforce emergency preventative detention powers as data obtained by SkyNews.com.au revealed former immigration detainees have committed at least 90 federal offences since March.

      The decision to reissue these visas in March followed the government’s mistake in granting invalid visas to about 150 former detainees released by the NZYQ High Court ruling against indefinite detention of non-deportable individuals, including criminals.

      These former detainees included seven murderers, 37 s@x offenders, and 72 violent offenders, among them child r@pists and people smugglers.

      The government invested $255 million into a joint initiative between the Australian Federal Police and Australian Border Force, known as Operation Aegis, to monitor the cohort, but the released detainees have continued to reoffend.

      An AFP spokesman told SkyNews.com.au on Tuesday: “The AFP has charged 28 individuals with 90 Commonwealth offences… under Operation AEGIS since the re-issue of new visas on March 12.”

      While the Migration Act has stipulated visa holders convicted of offences involving minors must not go within 200m of a school, AFP have pressed 13 charges relating to requirements not to go near schools.

      There were also 12 charges for failing to comply with monitoring conditions, 57 charges for failing to remain at a notified address, seven breaches related to monitoring devices and one charge for contacting a victim of a previous offence.

      Shadow immigration minister Dan Tehan told SkyNews.com.au on Tuesday the government had “botched” the release of the 153 detainees.

      “The Australian people can’t trust the Albanese Labor government when it comes to immigration or national security,” he said.

      80

  • #
    MrGrimNasty

    “At a meeting at Ibama this afternoon, alongside Minister Marina Silva, the president of the organization said that so far there have been no fires detected due to natural causes.”

    So, again, Brazil fires are total arson, not climate, what a surprise.

    https://en.mercopress.com/2024/08/26/arson-suspected-lula-holds-emergency-meeting-to-address-unusual-number-of-fires

    230

  • #
    Graeme No.3

    Meanwhile there is consternation among Climate “Scientists” with the news that the Atlantic ocean is cooling.

    “For over a year, surface temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean hit new highs, but that trend has reversed at record speed over the past few months, and nobody knows why.
    In June, temperatures in the Atlantic were 1 to 3 degrees Celsius hotter than normal in much of the ocean, with some areas getting as much as 5 degrees ℃ warmer than average. Those temperatures weren’t a one-off, as the Atlantic had regularly seen record-breaking levels since March 2023.
    Since June began, temperatures have been 0.5 to 1℃ colder than normal for this time of year.”

    https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2024/08/25/the-atlantic-is-cooling-at-a-mysteriously-fast-rate-after-record-warmth/

    Having ascribed the warmer temperatures to Man Made Global Warming (as all good “climate scientists” do) how can they explain cooling?

    160

    • #
      Murray Shaw

      Better still, how can they NOT explain cooling?

      120

    • #
      Peter Fitzroy

      From the quoted article
      ‘ NOAA data shows Atlantic sea surface temperatures have cooled at a surprising rate since May. Since June began, temperatures have been a degree or two Fahrenheit colder than normal for this time of year. That means El Niño will likely be replaced by its counterpart, La Niña, a weather system that allows cold water to rise to the surface of the Atlantic, some time between September and November. ’

      Note the use of Fahrenheit instead of Celsius to inflate the temperature range.

      71

    • #
      TdeF

      It’s happening just as predicted by Prof Carl Otto Weiss and team. The end of hte maxima for ocean currents (AMO/PMO) and the De Vries solar cycle. It will be a fast drop of 1-2C.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSgCsb34Bfs&t=1009s

      I wish his team would update their data for us all. 6 European cities with thermometers. 250 years. No rubbish tree proxies or radioactive proxies or made up Southern Hemisphere temperatures. The best analysis I have ever seen. Spot on for 12 inflexion points, not just two things going up roughly at once.

      50

      • #
        TdeF

        And what is amazing is that everyone is surprised? Why? 99.9% of all surface heat is in the oceans. 72% of the planet is covered by oceans which never freeze and received 72% of all incident solar heat and cannot cool down by radiation except from the cool surface, so mostly by endless evaporation. So all our water, all our weather comes from the oceans and Climate Scientists are surprised? And they model the atmosphere which has nothing to do driving the weather.

        Climate Scientists are like deaf people studying dancing. They are not meteorologists, so they have no idea why weather happens. Or that the planet would have weather without CO2, except the planet would just be a big wet rock with no life at all.

        After 36 years of man made CO2 driven global warming, the oceans (surfaces) are cooling rapidly. Soon the idea that higher CO2 causes warming will be a joke. They will blame La Nina of course, which is at least half right.

        70

      • #
  • #
    Kalm Keith

    The comments at #1 remind us of the fact that Jo is aware of the situation she has taken upon herself.
    Very brave to run this blog which examines politics and the world at large.

    Thanks Jo.

    440

    • #
      Forrest Gardener

      Indeed. At times of universal deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.

      260

    • #

      Joanne’s site is such a wonderful asset really.

      The ‘stuff’ she writes about is not only known just by her, as so many people ‘must’ know about it.

      It’s just that Joanne is one of the so very few willing to actually commit to putting all these rational facts down into a format like this is, and getting it out there, and then actually taking comments.

      My impression is that a lot of these comments not only agree with what she is doing, and thank her for it …. but they then add to it, a truly wonderful resource.

      Frankly, that must scare a lot of people.

      Tony.

      440

    • #
      Simon

      Jo could have been sued for promoted the conspiracy theory that Domain Voting Systems had rigged its machines to rob Trump of the 2020 election. Fortunately, she lives in a foreign jurisdiction and her readership is small.

      010

      • #

        Jo asks questions Simon doesn’t like so he calls that “a conspiracy theory”. You were free at all times to post links to independent tests of voting machines, and recounts of paper ballots, and descriptions of how voter rolls were maintained. Too bad you had nothing to post but threats and insults eh?

        170

      • #
        Bronco

        Well Simon, there has been more than one credible report that the Dominion machines where not secure. One report, authored by University of Michigan computer science professor Alex Halderman for the plaintiffs in a federal court case seeking to block the use of Dominion machines in Georgia’s elections, argued that the machines are critically vulnerable to hacking. According to CBS, “But for the hackers at Symantec Security Response, Election Day results could be manipulated by an affordable device you can find online. “I can insert it, and then it resets the card, and now I’m able to vote again,” said Brian Varner, a principle researcher at Symantec, demonstrating the device. The voter doesn’t even need to leave the booth to hack the machine.” The North Carolina chapter of the NAACP sent a letter to the state’s board of elections Monday after voters complained that machines had flipped votes in five counties. I could go on.

        160

  • #
    another ian

    “Having ascribed the warmer temperatures to Man Made Global Warming (as all good “climate scientists” do) how can they explain cooling?’

    Be patient and there will be yet another “flip side” to that miracle molecule CO2

    110

    • #
      Skepticynic

      >How
      Easily, they stoke the fear and anxiety by expanding the threat! Now it not only causes warming, it can cause literally ANY WEATHER under the updated catch-all term Climate Change(TM). A much more useful term which can be easily inflated into the more urgent label, ‘Climate Crisis’!

      130

    • #
      Forrest Gardener

      But Ian everybody knows that global warming causes cooling, rain and drought, and great subservience from the masses.

      Besides, this is the warmest cooling EVAH.

      180

  • #
    CO2 Lover

    New Senate Inquiry

    Australian Bureau of Statistics production of inflation rate statistics.

    On 19 August 2024, the Senate referred an inquiry into how the Australian Bureau of Statistics produces statistics relating to the inflation rate to the Senate Economics References Committee for inquiry and report by 19 September 2024.

    https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Economics/InflationStatistic

    Terms of Reference

    That the following matter be referred to the Economics References Committee or inquiry and report by 19 September 2024:

    How the Australian Bureau of Statistics produces statistics relating to the inflation rate, including how the Consumer Price Index and Cost of Living Indexes are measured.

    The Senate also directed the committee to hold a public hearing on Monday, 9 September 2024, commencing at 6.30 pm and concluding no later than 8.30 pm, for the purpose of hearing from officials of the Australian Bureau of Statistics regarding the production of statistics relating to the inflation rate.

    The ABS average inflation rate for the last 5 years is 3.5% per annum.

    However, the price of a Big Mac has increased by 7% per annum over the same period!

    100

    • #
      Robert Swan

      On 14 August I posted this comment at JoNova’s on the mixed-up way inflation appears to be calculated. And just five days later:

      On 19 August 2024, the Senate referred an inquiry into how the Australian Bureau of Statistics produces statistics relating to the inflation rate…

      Coincidence? Er, yeah, I guess so.

      Good that they’re having a hearing, but it’ll probably stick to the usual script:

        Senator: How is inflation calculated?
        Public Servant: Well Senator, here’s a page covered with scary Greek letters. And remember: I’m the expert, so don’t you worry your pretty little head about it.
        Senator: Thank you. That all seems to be in order.

      60

      • #
        Robert Swan

        Incidentally, I did my own rough inflation calculation based just on what I buy at one supermarket, which is pretty consistent and easily spotted on the credit card bills. I flapped around a bit before realising the *easy* way to calculate it was just to add up each calendar year’s total.

        Pretty flat from 2014 to 2018. Since then it’s been hovering between 12% and 8% pa increase year on year. This year (up to Aug. figures x 1.5) looks nearer the 8% end.

        Adding in petrol, insurance, electricity isn’t going to pull those figures down. The virtual basket must be full of cheap electronic gadgets.

        60

  • #
    • #
      Graeme4

      Think that’s another onshore wind and solar project. On top of the SunCable boondoggle, that’s another project I believe will go nowhere.it originally proposed to also send power to Singapore, same as SunCable, and I think was also held up because of lack of water to produce ammonia. There already is a Pilbara ammonia plant, running off cheap local gas.

      40

      • #
        Graeme4

        From November 2020: AREH: Asian Renewable Energy Hub
        World’s largest renewable energy project ditches electricity in favour of ammonia exports
        https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11-10/renewable-energy-hub-ditches-asian-cable-for-ammonia/12862916
        AREH have ditched plans to send electricity through thousands of kilometres of undersea cables to Singapore, despite receiving environmental approvals.
        The Asian Renewable Energy Hub is now hoping instead to use the proposed facility, to be located in the north West Australian desert, to produce ammonia for export instead of electricity.
        The Asian Renewable Energy Hub has changed its focus several times since it was first proposed in 2014, increasing in size as investment interest grew.
        Under the latest proposed change, the size of renewable energy production will be expanded up to 26 gigawatts — more than a third of Australia’s current total power-generation capacity.
        This massive output would be generated from up to 1,743 wind turbines, each 290 metres tall, covering 668,100ha, and a sea of 18 600MW solar panel arrays, covering 1,418ha of land…

        40

      • #

        Quite right, my mistake. I confused a renewables mag with an offshore one.

        11

    • #
      CO2 Lover

      The second is a hydrogen production and downstream processing facility within the Boodarie Strategic Industrial Area with the potential to foster new industrial opportunities aligned with the Canberra’s Future Made in Australia agenda, including green iron and green fuels.

      “The Dreaming” or “Dreamtime”, is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal mythology.

      “Green Hydrogen” in the outback is the perfect fit for this religio-cultural worldview.

      70

    • #
      Strop

      It’s also a long way from anything.

      More than 1000km to the nearest state capital city, and more than 3000km from the main population concentration along the east coast of Aus.

      10

  • #
    YYY Guy

    The first initiative from the new NT Chief Minister will be to reunite criminal children with other family members.

    Northern Territory criminal law faces an overhaul with repeat and violent alleged offenders to be refused bail and the age of criminal responsibility lowered again to 10, in what the incoming Country Liberal party chief minister, Lia Finocchiaro, says are her priorities

    Guardian article, you know the rest

    70

    • #
      Kalm Keith

      It took me a while, it’s counter intuitive.

      00

      • #
        Kalm Keith

        So, the lowered “age” to 10 is going to see more family members joining their older family inside.

        30

    • #
      Earl

      IMHO an employment roster of uncle and aunt elders should be set up and when an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander is arrested the next on roster should be called in and they sit with the perp for 8-hours then hand off to the next elder etc providing 24×7 companionship.

      While on duty the elders could reinforce the traditions and values of the tribe and act as a great backup to ensure no suicide/death in custody outcomes. As elders they would possibly carry more influence on and acceptance by the perp and actually help them on the journey of finding themselves.

      The elders would therefore have a paid job and training/certificate courses could be offered to upskill and earn more money. The police would have it “easier” with no need for spit hoods, restraints, disciplinary investigations etc.

      Of course, the big danger would be that the structure of elders’ authority and internal tribal hierarchy might be found to not actually be there as in the youths are not just anti-social to the community at large but also their own community as well. Even this would be a benefit because the real issues would get some sunlight and some of the claims of racism, colonialism damage etc might get a rethink.

      Instead of sitting on the sidelines the elders need to get into the depth of the problem and be part of the solution on the front line.

      10

  • #
    OldOzzie

    PM’s offence minister: ‘Dutton is dangerous’

    Jim Chalmers has attacked Peter Dutton as the ‘most divisive leader of a major political party in modern history’, in a major speech in which he outlined his blueprint for a ‘fourth economy’. – Geoff Chambers Chief Political Correspondent

    Support for Hamas OK? John Howard says not a chance

    The Gaza visa mess, entirely created by the government, is not the fault of a cynical opposition. The Albanese government is failing in the most elementary duty of governance. – Greg Sheridan – Foreign Editor

    Treasurer Jim Chalmers brands Peter Dutton ‘dangerous’ accuses Opposition Leader of ‘pathologically’ dividing Australia

    Treasurer Jim Chalmers has used a fiery speech to claim Peter Dutton is “the most divisive leader of a major political party in Australia’s modern history,” as he accused the Opposition Leader of embracing a “destructive” ideological approach. Max Melzer Sky News Digital Reporter

    Comments Not Kind to Jim Chalmers or Labor

    – If ever there was a description that totally sums up Labor’s time in office Jimbo has nailed it “Leadership which is destructive, and divisive, is not really leadership at all” We therefore look forward to proving that at the next election when your voted out

    – Labor incompetents are the biggest threat to this country. The most divisive, useless government that seems to hate patriotic Australians

    – And the VTP wasn’t divisive, a pro Palestinian approach isn’t divisive, union loving isn’t divisive, get me a break.

    – Anthony Albanese – The Most Divisive Prime Minister in Australian History

    Labor’s spendathon is leading us down a dangerous debt path

    The temptation for politicians to use other people’s money to buy votes is always strong. Add in the emergence of identity politics, in which some groups are defined as permanent victims, and this force can become overpowering. – Judith Sloan – Contributing Economics Editor

    160

    • #
      Penguinite

      “Labor’s spendathon is leading us down a dangerous debt path”

      In case you hadn’t realised that that is its whole point! Poor people are easier to control!

      100

      • #
        OldOzzie

        Sussan Ley dismisses Treasurer’s ‘silly’ attack of Peter Dutton, claims Jim Chalmers has taken Australia ‘backwards’

        Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has dismissed Jim Chalmers’ “silly” attack of Peter Dutton, arguing the Treasurer should be focused on improving the economy after taking Australia “backwards”.

        Max Melzer Sky News Digital Reporter

        Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has hit back at Jim Chalmers after he branded Peter Dutton “dangerous” and claimed the Treasurer should focus on improving the economy as he had “made Australians poorer”.

        In a fiery speech on Monday night, Mr Chalmers unleashed on the Opposition Leader as he argued Mr Dutton’s rhetoric was “destructive” and served to distract from his party’s lack of genuine policy.

        “He is the most divisive leader of a major political party in Australia’s modern history and not by accident, by choice,” the Treasurer claimed.

        Mr Chalmers also talked up the Albanese government’s economic management, dismissing criticism over how it had handled soaring cost of living pressures created by high inflation and interest rates.

        However, speaking to Sky News Australia on Tuesday, Ms Ley was quick to return fire, claiming she felt “a bit sorry” for the Treasurer due to his inability to manage the nation’s finances.

        “I think if you look at where this Treasurer has taken this country it’s backwards, which is why we have to vote Labor out at the next election,” she said.

        “To be honest, I feel a bit sorry for Jim Chalmers. He’s spent his whole life planning and plotting in Labor’s factional queue only to come up with this sort of stuff.

        “He said he’d remake capitalism, he’s made Australians poorer, he’s got a PhD in politics, not economics, and that’s on full display today.”

        There was “a lot of pain” in the Australian community due to cost of living pressures, Ms Ley continued, arguing Mr Chalmers should be placing his full focus on helping struggling households and not generating “silly political headlines”.

        10

      • #
        CO2 Lover

        Commrade Andrews led the charge

        The most recent budget update shows Victoria’s net debt will be $135.5 billion this year, rising to $177.8 billion in 2026-27.

        Margaret Thatcher — ‘The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.’

        80

      • #
        OldOzzie

        Therapeutic Albanese off to Tonga to discuss The Weather and give away your money.

        He’s already warming up the cheque-book……

        ……..to discuss important issues affecting our region, including climate resilience

        Australia understands that climate change remains the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and wellbeing of Pacific Island communities.

        From the Comments

        – the collective chiefs dressed him up as a clown. – actions speak louder than words.

        – “ Me big Chief Albo “ hahaha

        Can he give money from his own bank account for once After all he gets the glory

        40

    • #
      OldOzzie

      ‘Hellishly complex’ and regressive IR changes will hold Australia back

      A $20,000 fine for contacting employees after hours?

      Anthony Albanese has never run a business and is disconnected from reality.

      The Australian Editorial

      40

    • #
      OldOzzie

      Chalmers’ personal attack on Dutton is bizarre and unwise

      Intellectually, Jim Chalmers must know that the minute a Treasurer steers away from his day job, it sends the wrong message. So why do it?

      Simon Benson The Australian Political Editor

      30

      • #
        KP

        “the minute a Treasurer steers away from his day job”

        Well, looking at how fking abysmal the Aussie economy is, and seeing what a totally incompetent treasurer he is, he needed to find something else to do..

        40

  • #
    • #
      OldOzzie

      Democrats’ Deception May Win the Presidential Election Again

      If voters believe the chants of ‘USA! USA!’ they’re in for another four years of far-left governance.

      You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose.

      Mario Cuomo’s adage has been updated and adapted by his successors in the modern Democratic Party.

      The duality they present to voters either side of an election is a deception that has defined American politics and culture for the past 20 years.

      As they campaign for office, they present a kind of idealized version of themselves to the electorate as mainstream Americans, seeking merely to bring a little unity and compassion to a fundamentally great country in need of reform.

      Once in office they act as if they have a mandate to remake a benighted country, to reorder an unjust system, to replace American exceptionalism with European social democracy, and to rewrite the nation’s values with the precepts of their cultural Marxism.

      Last week in Chicago we got the poetry, a Frostian pastoral of Democrats posing as regular Americans, honest toilers in a darkening landscape (of their own making, as they didn’t tell us). They propose only to enlighten with their benevolence.

      I don’t mean poetry in the literal sense. With a few exceptions the quality of our political oratory is dire—and plumbed the usual depths last week.

      This verbal illusion of American iconography was reinforced by the crowd’s chants of “USA! USA!” like ecstatic fans at the Olympics, and a waving sea of red white and blue “USA” placards.

      Is anyone fooled?

      The answer, I am afraid, is yes. Every time.

      31

      • #
        • #
          yarpos

          This inability to basically maintain electoral rolls systematically is totally out of kilter with a country that touts the value of democracy so much. The linkage between someones death and things like rolls, government benefits etc should be rocket surgery, especially now we have those computer thingies.

          100

        • #
          Earl

          I hope they have the presence of mind to keep them as a separate database and on election day anyone turning up using the identity sets off a screen warning and a polling station cop arrests them. That way they might be able to track back and get the higher ups in the voting [snip] cartel.

          30

      • #
        OldOzzie

        It’s Not Right Versus Left; It’s Sane Versus Insane…

        “Our society is now a strange hybrid of the Middle Ages, the Third R@ich, and Brave New World. We have two classes – lords and peasants; we are in the midst of a very profitable g@nocide; and it’s all infused with surveillance technology, mind-altering drugs, and wall-to-wall propaganda.”

        The alliance between Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Donald Trump is many things. But first it’s an all-clear signal to a large class of less-than-fully brain-damaged Americans that it’s okay to quit being insane.

        As you know, this election is no longer a battle between the political Left and Right. It’s an epic struggle-session between the sane and the insane.

        You just witnessed the Democratic Convention nominating an empty pantsuit whose only record as a high government official is failure to protect and defend the nation and to support its constitution.

        All arranged without any real votes cast. Pretty neat trick, pulled off under the banner of Saving Our Democracy.

        Please understand that it was the result of hypnotizing so many vulnerable personalities into a mass formation psychosis.

        They were vulnerable because they are scared stiff by propaganda specifically targeting their deepest archetypal fears — in this case, fear of Daddy, meaning fear of behavioral boundaries, in short, of being civilized.

        70

      • #
        OldOzzie

        Democrats’ deception may win the presidential election … again

        Politicians campaign in poetry and govern in prose – but if you believe a President Harris will more closely resemble last week’s Candidate Kamala than the vice president from the last four years it isn’t poetry you’ve been reading.

        It’s a fairy tale.

        The Australian Gerard Baker Columnist

        21

      • #
        OldOzzie

        “The word almost never spoken was the name of Ms. Harris’s actual hometown: Berkeley, Calif.”

        “That little yellow house sits on Bancroft Way in the university city known, fairly or not, for a hippy-dippy vibe where residents gamely embrace the nickname, ‘People’s Republic of Berkeley.’

        Ms. Harris’s old neighborhood is now called Poets Corner for its preponderance of streets named for writers such as Chaucer and Byron.

        The neighbors, who tend a community garden and circulate a newsletter, have a theory about why Ms. Harris does not shout out her hometown much these days. ‘Oh, people would definitely think Berserkeley!’ said Anna Natille, who lives near Ms. Harris’s childhood home and was walking her pug, Figgy, past it last week. ‘We have such a reputation for being on the far left, that we’re all a bunch of communists and socialists.’

        In other words, maybe not a great way to lure the country’s middle-of-the-road voters to the Democratic ticket…. ‘Berkeley is viewed as the most liberal city in the United States, and we’re proud of that,’ [[T]he mayor of Berkeley said.

        ‘But maybe for some people in the red states, that may freak them out.'”

        00

        • #
          Lucky

          Bancroft Way! Brings back memories.
          I lived just round the corner, before her time I think, but not before that area went mad-hard-left.

          20

    • #
  • #
    Greg in NZ

    Moron Slave Madness [MSM] reporting northern half of Aus *hottest EVAH* this week, yet all the weather map shows is a calm wind-drought: however, the southern coasts of Aus are getting slammed with gale force WNW winds for the next 7 days, accompanied by something called SNOW and sub-zero temperatures for alpine areas for those same 7 nights… Hush, not a word, to morons

    If they lie about the weather, what else…

    120

    • #
      GlenM

      Temperature readings have been way above average – breaking records in numerous places by up to 2degrees C. the synoptic charts have been strange of late with a strong westerly belt in the 40’s driving SE winds inland and across the continent. Also there has been a lot of inland heat developing over Northern/central Australia. Hasn’t the weather been strange lately.

      12

      • #
        el+gordo

        The Roaring Forties have finally returned and the Southern Hemisphere is in sync.

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

        11

      • #
        DOC

        The term ‘average’ drives me nuts.
        It’s used as though ‘average’ is the permanent temperature the location being described has always had. The term ‘average’ used in this way is what pushes the climate scare on ordinary people who think little about or know little about the meaning of the term ‘average’. Honesty in discussion on these matters in public can only be restored by each time ‘average’ is used as a relativity for measurements, the lowest and highest measured historic temperatures making up part of what makes that average should be given in brackets. Similarly for every other use of ‘average’. ‘Average’, as used, drives the popular credibility of anthropogenic climate change in our people. The use of the term as describing a ‘normal’ measure of what we should expect any measured variable to be, is either lazy or deliberately false messaging. The use of it by the BOM, without explanation, to infer just how (terribly) abnormal’ some measurement is, is scandalous!

        30

    • #
      Dave in the States

      It snowed in the Sierras yesterday.

      10

    • #
      another ian

      All hazard reduction permits in our part of SW Qld are cancelled because we are going to be blown off the landscape.

      “At this stage Winds are expected to be anywhere between 30 – 80 kph across the Warrego and will cross the area from Wednesday through to early next week”

      Yet Weatherzone has us at up to about 20-35 km/h tomorrow

      So a real time comparison coming up

      00

  • #
    • #
      CO2 Lover

      Russians Launch a MASSIVE Air Strike Against Ukraine’s Energy Facilities – Power and Water Outages Recorded All Over the Country (VIDEOS)

      In Australia we have the Albanese goverment implementing the same strategy (without the need for bombers) to appease their global masters.

      https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/08/russians-launch-massive-air-strike-against-ukraines-energy/

      80

    • #
      RickWill

      The disappointing aspect of this video is that Peta Credlin is not in a position of significant influence. I think she would go to the very top of Australian politics if she put her hand up..

      With regard electricity, at 10am all regions were running around minus $50/MWh. The rooftops were serving 31.7% of the market. All grid WDGs are in curtailment.

      I would not be encouraging any young person into an apprenticeship in the “renewable” industry. The only aspect that makes marginal economic sense is on rooftops to supply household batteries.

      61

    • #
      OldOzzie

      Gas shortfall ‘risks our viability, chokes our competitiveness’

      Australia’s leading manufacturers have sounded the alarm about the impact of the looming gas crunch that could send some to the wall and costs thousands of jobs.

      50

    • #
      Hanrahan

      No 1 son is a leccy on solar farms. He is no chicken and has never been the guy you would ring for work around the house, always industrial.

      He and his ilk are thinly spread and there is no way he could train an apprentice and there would be no suitable TAFE courses any way. He would need an already qualified sparky to train up. He has been to both Malaysia and Italy for training.

      “Green jobs” are a figment of lefty’s imagination. There are a hundred more sparkies in the mining industry.

      30

  • #
    • #
      John Connor II

      Add this one:

      https://x.com/ClownWorld_/status/1828123025390346329

      Hilarious, but language warning.

      30

    • #
      RickWill

      I expect it would be possible to make a whole series of ads with Harris debating Harris.

      Unlike Biden, Harris speaks coherently. But she has limited thinking capacity so every time she utters a word is an opportunity to find an inconsistency with something uttered in the past.

      50

    • #
      Ross

      Yep, another great flip flopper. So KH can join the queue. Anthony Albanese, Keir Starmer and now Kamala! Guaranteed to change their views 180 degrees on nearly every subject possible, within a very short timeframe. For reference to Keir Starmer being the great flip flopper, look up Dominic Frisby (singer of “We’re all far right now”). Just interchange Keir Starmer with Kamala Harris.

      20

    • #
      DOC

      With notes, the microphones open and her selected VP by her side for support. Gives every sign that even she believes she is incompetent for the job of President. Or maybe she recognises that anyway after the one time she attempted a selection by primaries selection saw her the first candidate tossed.

      One could infer therefore that the powers behind the Democrat movement that have been in control of the incapacitated Biden Presidency are setting themselves up to continue to control what happens to the nation behind another totally incapable face occupying the POTUS position, with the prestige of the position being the payoff for the contender.

      The problem with that is, Harris’ ego is such she is unlikely to permanently be anybody’s bunny and her extreme political policy opinions could become law because she owns the Presidential signature! The Democrats aren’t keeping her locked away for no reason. If she is exposed to hard policy questioning (CNN or MSNBC? Unlikely) and offers her policy solutions or has to explain her current 180degree turn back on past utterances, then the Democrats are dead in the water. Unless she gets her way with the setup of the debate IMO it is highly unlikely to happen.

      10

  • #
  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    Another one

    “Kamala Harris Slayer Tulsi Gabbard Endorses President Trump Just Days After RFK Jr. Decided to Do So (VIDEO)”

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/08/kamala-harris-slayer-tulsi-gabbard-endorses-president-trump/

    And

    “Lifelong Democrat Bret Weinstein Now Considers Voting for Trump After RFK Jr. Endorsement — Calls Democrats an “Existential Threat” to the Republic”

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/08/lifelong-democrat-bret-weinstein-now-considers-voting-trump/

    Rumour hath it more coming

    110

    • #
      CO2 Lover

      Trump will run out of cabinet position for all the defectors from the Demorats!

      80

    • #
      another ian

      And

      “Because of the RFK endorsement women are telling me they are willing to publicly say they’re voting Trump for the first time”

      https://x.com/yoalexrapz/status/1827083696668864982

      70

      • #
      • #
        Hanrahan

        I spend far more time than is healthy [I’m old and clapped out anyway] on US politics. It is the greatest show on earth and free.

        While I see the positives of Tulsi and JFK Jr getting on board the Trump train there will not be much of a shift in the short term. 30% of the electorate will vote blue, no matter who. An extra 10% have incurable TDS. On the other side 40% are solid Trumpists. I have no idea how many of the remainder even know Kamala is already Veep.

        I am hoping for a tsunami for Trump which makes a win beyond fixing, with a Reaganesque victory. Anything less will have a chaotic administration where Trump is tied up in the courts and unable to do much that’s useful.

        I fear for his life. There is no indication that USSS is willing to commit to their charter.

        40

    • #
      CO2 Lover

      Fake news you can trust

      A Comparison of the Democrate National Convention with the Republician National Convention

      https://babylonbee.com/news/rnc-vs-dnc-a-comparison

      60

    • #
      RickWill

      Obama may have backed a dud.

      Tulsi Gabbard supporting Trump is a massive move. She is an impressive individual and is clearly unimpressed with Harris.

      80

  • #
    John Connor II

    Uncovered FEMA Report Warns: 4-10 Years WITHOUT ELECTRICITY After Major Solar Storm

    A perfect solar storm similar to one that slammed into Earth in 1859 would knock out the United States electric grid for four to 10 years if it hit today, an unpublished report from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) indicates.

    The 36-page report was posted this month at GovernmentAttic.org, which uncovers old government documents that often are acquired via Freedom of Information Act requests. The 2010 document was titled, “Mitigation strategies for FEMA command, control, and communications during and after a solar superstorm.”

    But even a smaller storm, like the one that hit Earth in 1921, would “could cause large-scale power grid collapse” if it hit today.

    The report predicts that Internet, cable TV and telephone service would shut down. Cell phone service also would quickly be lost.

    “Approximately 60% of the cellular towers in the U.S. have battery backup only for 2-24 hours,” the report states. “As these towers lose power, large portions of the cellular network will begin to fail.

    https://prepper1cense.com/2024/08/25/uncovered-fema-report-warns-4-10-years-without-electricity-after-major-solar-storm/

    There was a documentary years ago showing the sorry state of US infrastructure and how it would cost trillions to fix.

    No point now.

    60

    • #

      Candles and wood for sale. All going for expensive prices while stocks last………………..

      00

    • #
      David Maddison

      I can understand months to repair or even a year but for 4 to 10 years, that would have to be under a Democrat regime.

      00

      • #
        KP

        Big, heavy, hard-to-transport transformers are slowly made on a pre-order basis, not stocked, so if a hundred of them were destroyed, that would be years to replace.

        Anything we buy overseas would be unobtainable unless, we were the highest bidder AND great friends with the manufacturing country AND were happy to wait until they had enough electricity to make the transformers AND then satisfy their own needs, AND then satisfy whoever is a greater friend to them.

        I can’t see anyone rushing to help Aussie if there’s a major global meltdown of grids. Darwin would get fixed for obvious reasons then maybe Canberra, then … we would all get told its coal’s fault we have no power for 2years, please be patient.

        20

  • #
    John Connor II

    The USA’s DHS Information Technology Strategic Plan 2024-2028

    The DHS Information Technology (IT) Strategic Plan 2024-2028 enables the Department to set goals and support cross-functional and cross-organizational priorities to achieve our mission. This plan is intended as a guide to help define goals and objectives for the DHS workforce and support delivery of modern, innovative, and efficient services and solutions to safeguard the homeland.

    Goal 1: Invest in the DHS IT Workforce
    The DHS IT community is made up of thousands of talented, dedicated, and mission-driven technology professionals. They are our greatest asset, but they are also too few. DHS will attract,hire, develop, and retain diverse technology talent to meet expanding needs. We will invest indevelopmental and training opportunities to help employees develop new skills in emerging technical fields. Through these efforts, we will make DHS a place where IT professionals can do meaningful work, grow their careers, and bring their authentic selves to work every day.
    Objectives
    1.1. Build a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace: DHS strives to attract individuals across all levels of the DHS IT workforce, including senior leadership positions, that represent the diversity of the populations we serve. We will expand partnerships with diverse academic institutions, professional organizations, and communities and strengthen internship, rotation, and developmental programs that promote equitable access to career advancement for all employees.
    We will also expand our distributed and remote hiring to reach more diverse qualified candidates across the country.

    https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2023-09/23_0927_cio_24-28-information-technology-strategic-plan.pdf

    Yep, the #1 goal for cyberdefence is DEI.
    Cybercriminals must be laughing nonstop with tears streaming down their faces into their noodles and Vodka.

    40

  • #
    CO2 Lover

    The report predicts that Internet, cable TV and telephone service would shut down. Cell phone service also would quickly be lost.

    Do dollar bills self-immolate in a major solar storm?

    I keep a few stored under my bed in case of emergencies.

    20

    • #
      John Connor II

      Do dollar bills self-immolate in a major solar storm?

      Which raises an interesting point – how will CBDC’s be protected?
      A building isn’t protection.
      Putting your tech into a nice checker plate steel tradie box won’t save them from an EMP or similar.
      You can’t even allow a 1mm gap for EMR to get through…

      20

    • #

      Just get a load of Australian 1 dollar Kookaburra silver coins. Nice currency for when the System collapses. Also load up on tinned/dried food and water.

      11

  • #
    John Connor II

    Police Departments Beginning To Integrate ‘Game Changer’ AI Technology Into Reporting

    Police are now integrating artificial intelligence within their police reports to speed up the process from 30-45 minutes, to around 8 seconds.

    Axon, the company that produces police body cameras and tasers, has now begun to pitch AI designed to write police reports in seconds.

    “It was a better report than I could have ever written, and it was 100% accurate. It flowed better,” stated Oklahoma City police sergeant Matt Gilmore.

    https://www.oann.com/newsroom/police-departments-beginning-to-integrate-game-changer-ai-technology-into-reporting/

    AI – GUILTY!😆

    10

  • #
    CO2 Lover

    Butchering the language – just as they butcher children

    Christian whistleblower nurse is FIRED by children’s hospital after exposing ‘federal funding of gender-affirming care’

    The mutilation of confused young children is not “gender-affirming care”. Many are the victims of Munchausen syndrome by proxy – which is a mental illness and a form of child abuse. The caretaker of a child, most often a mother, either makes up fake symptoms or causes real symptoms to make it look like the child is sick.

    People who seek to abuse children sexually are not “minor-attracted people” {MAPS} – they are paedophiles.

    The evil of the Left knows no bounds.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13781971/Christian-whistleblower-nurse-Vanessa-Sivadge-FIRED-Texas-childrens-hospital-federal-funding-gender-affirming-care.html

    90

    • #
      John Connor II

      Yep. Let the rainbow squad pervs parade their booties at an old folks home for once.
      They’d be pelted with gruel and falsies en-masse!

      The level of decadence is a barometer of the state of society. The more depraved the acts that are accepted, the further it is towards collapse.
      Rome was the same, WAY more than just gladiators battling…

      20

      • #
        CO2 Lover

        Caligula the Mad Emperor: The Horse That Almost Became a Senator and Other Strange Tales

        https://museumhack.com/caligula-mad-emperor/#:

        00

      • #
        KP

        “The level of decadence is a barometer of the state of society. The more depraved the acts that are accepted, the further it is towards collapse.”

        Well, seems the BRICS will inherit the Earth.. You can see why Putin banned the West. Maybe it won’t go anti-woke and the Muslim religion will take over instead of politics, a clear set of rules for men and women.

        There have been many instances where humankind goes backwards in development for some centuries, we may peak and collapse backwards.. or just go renewables and go backwards anyway!

        10

  • #
    John Connor II

    Tuesday ejukayshun: why is this black bear being so picky with its food?

    https://va.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_sitzo99ERg1z23obp.mp4

    Black bears probably have the best sense of smell in the animal kingdom, around 7 times better than a bloodhound and a range of over 30km!

    30

  • #
    John Connor II

    Tuesday funny: kids first day at kindergarten

    https://x.com/atensnut/status/1828072640092778956

    Bringing kids up the right way!

    40

  • #
  • #
    • #
      CO2 Lover

      Naval Air Defence Systems are designed to counter dozens of incoming missiles – but can they deal with hundreds of incoming drones?

      20

    • #
      RickWill

      It gets expensive when the enemy can produce serious threat weapons for a fraction of the cost of the missiles used to shoot them down.

      It will be interesting to see how the military conversion to solar power pans out. The solar panels on the deck of an aircraft carrier would only be compatible with vertical take-off aircraft. At this stage, the most successful electrically powered aircraft are vertical take-off but they may be a bit slow.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuJEf4v05Z0

      When you see the cost of operating a carrier group in the Red Sea you realise how big a business warfare is for the USA. Being the global bank, the costs can be spread across he globe so everyone actually pays to wage these wars. No wonder Trump is a threat top the war machine.

      60

      • #
        Ross

        The best thing about munitions and missiles is that once used (ie blown up/ vaporised), there’s virtually nothing to clean up! It’s a Military Hardware manufacturing company marketing executive’s wet dream! Quick, manufacture another 1000 155 mm shells at $500 a pop. Almost as good as Pharma executives when countries order hundreds of millions of vaccine doses at a time. One invoice, one biller. Accountants love it too!

        50

        • #
          Hanrahan

          ONLY if they are used is there no cleanup. Otherwise there are disposal costs, that’s why obsolescent hardware given to Ukraine doesn’t actually cost much.

          00

      • #

        Yes and and while Australian Taxpayers spend over 300 Billion South Pacific pesos on Nuclear Submarines, technology will be developing way, way cheaper drone submarines for way, way much cheaper pesos. With no sub mariners.

        10

        • #
          Hanrahan

          Please explain how any fully submerged vessel can be controlled in real time.

          10

        • #
          Hanrahan

          If submarines were obsolete the builders would be beating a path to our door trying to sell some before those dumb Admirals woke up. There are simply no slots in production runs.

          00

  • #
    CO2 Lover

    Au revoir Bill Shorten? Political insiders say the PM wants to offer his former leadership rival an overseas posting but it’s not clear he will go.

    The latest speculation centres around Mr Shorten being offered the job of Ambassador to France.

    However, it’s not clear that Mr Shorten has accepted or rejected an offer, after telling colleagues as a general proposition he remains committed to reforming the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

    Is Albo worried that the “Night of the Long Knives” might be drawing closer following the NT election results that surprised even the CLP?

    40

    • #

      How about making Tennis Elbow the Ambassador to Tonga and Blackout Bowen the Minister for Drains. Bill Short On Brains can be the assistant Minister for SFA.

      30

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW – Right to repair

    https://youtu.be/EPYy_g8NzmI

    10

    • #
      Graeme4

      Interesting. But having a state bill won’t force a manufacturer to hand over all the design info.

      10

  • #
    OldOzzie

    As someone who played 2 seasons of Baseball as a Teenager with Mosman Baseball Club (Short Stop & Relief Pitcher) and have just finished watching 17 espisdes of Korean Hot Stove League based on Ficticious Korean Baseball team

    This is an Amazing Catch & Double Play!

    Aaron Judge robs homer, starts double play in jaw-dropping Yankees effort

    Judge added to his likely AL MVP highlight reel with a leaping catch at the wall in left-center field at Nationals Park, using every inch of his 6-foot-7 frame to rob Andres Chaparro of a home run.

    He then threw back towards the infield, with Gleyber Torres providing the relay throw that doubled off James Wood – who had just rounded second when Judge caught the ball – at first base to end the fourth inning.

    Judge’s teammates were seemingly in awe of his defensive gem, with Alex Verdugo throwing up his hands in left field and Nestor Cortes later fired up when the double play was completed to get the left-hander off the hook.

    30

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    “Ultra MAGA Party Video: Two Days Before Attempted Assassination of Trump Victoria Nuland Boasted – “I Don’t Think Trump’s Going to Be President, If That’s What Putin Is Betting on, He’s Going to Get Unhappy Surprise!” ”

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/08/ultra-maga-party-video-two-days-before-attempted/

    50

  • #
    • #
      CO2 Lover

      Blame it on CO2 increasing Corn yields per acre!

      10

    • #
      el+gordo

      This should get traction.

      ‘With small farms in total collapse, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced last week that his support for former President Trump would include making America’s small farms great again.’

      31

  • #
    John Connor II

    RV Downturn Turns Apocalyptic With Largest Dealership Offering 55% Discounts

    In early 2020, a combination of factors sparked the RV boom, including Fed Powell’s reduction of interest rates to the zero lower bound and Democratic cities that imposed tyrannical government-enforced lockdowns that caused folks to flee to rural America. To some extent, Starlink space internet made remote working from RVs possible in some of the most remote areas in the nation. However, as soon as Powell began to hike rates in response to inflationary forces in early 2022, the boom turned into a bust as the affordability of these homes on wheels collapsed.

    The RV bust has now persisted beyond the two-year mark, and to understand the industry’s current environment, look no further than Lazydays, an RV dealership with over two dozen locations nationwide, which bills itself as the world’s largest. The company recently reported significant revenue declines and sluggish sales, with no immediate recovery.

    Powell slays the RV bubble with interest rate hikes. Notice how Lazydays’ revenue beg

    https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/rv-downturn-entering-apocalyptic-mode-largest-dealership-offering-55

    If anything one would expect the opposite – high demand. The ability to be mobile and escape rates, crime, demonrats…

    There’s a uselesstube channel called Liz Amazing that covers the woes of the RV industry in the USA. Build quality and refusing to back their products is a major problem in the industry, and has been for many years.
    Maybe RVers refusing to buy crap is the real driver.

    50

  • #
    CO2 Lover

    Update on RFK Jr endorsing and teaming up with Trump and Elon

    https://www.youtube.com/shorts/sqCuyvjem_c

    20

    • #
      Gee Aye

      Excellent. The oligarchs are coming!

      04

      • #
        Broadie

        Yes I can understand your concern GA. A benevolent dictator would be preferred.

        What government can possibly be better than that of the very best man in the whole state? The counsels of such a man are like himself, and so he governs the mass of the people to their heart’s content; while at the same time his measures against evil-doers are kept more secret than in other states. Contrariwise, in oligarchies, where men vie with each other in the service of the commonwealth, fierce enmities are apt to arise between man and man, each wishing to be leader, and to carry his own measures; whence violent quarrels come, which lead to open strife, often ending in bloodshed. Then monarchy is sure to follow; and this too shows how far that rule surpasses all others.

        You probably are over a couple of thousand years late in your concerns.

        20

      • #
        another ian

        Looks like the CFMEU would tell you that they are already here

        00

    • #
      RickWill

      Need to get Tulsi Gabbard in this to liven up the show.

      I expect Tulsi Gabbard joining Trump will be more influential than RFK Jr.

      20

  • #
    John Connor II

    0.5 percent of the human brain is now plastic

    Human brain samples collected at autopsy in early 2024 contained more tiny shards of plastic than samples collected eight years prior, according to a preprint posted online in May. A preprint is a study which has not yet been peer-reviewed and published in a journal.

    “The concentrations we saw in the brain tissue of normal individuals, who had an average age of around 45 or 50 years old, were 4,800 micrograms per gram, or 0.5% by weight,” said lead study author Matthew Campen, a regents’ professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.

    “Compared to autopsy brain samples from 2016, that’s about 50% higher,” Campen said. “That would mean that our brains today are 99.5% brain and the rest is plastic.”

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11100893/

    10

    • #
      Ross

      Atmospheric CO2 levels have gone from 0.03% to 0.04% in 170 years and we’re idiotically spending trillions of $ to try to reduce something that’s increased by a factor of 1 in 10000. Here we have our brains contaminated with plastic with a 50% increase in 8 years and probably absolutely nothing will be spent. Or is that a little cynical?

      70

      • #
        CO2 Lover

        Current Atmospheric CO2 is (Aug. 25, 2024) = 421.72 ppm

        This is far closer to the CO2 life extinction level than the level that CO2 becomes dangerous to human life and health

        At a concentration of about 150 ppm or less, many plants die of CO2 starvation.

        A value of 40,000 ppm CO2 is considered immediately dangerous to life and health

        20

        • #
          Ross

          Tell me about it! I’ve worked in big vegetable greenhouses. Nothing like a bit extra CO2 for plant growth. On a cold mid winter Victorian day, it was heaven to go inside one of the big greenhouses. No wind, humidity up and about 5-10 degrees warmer and I think they were running about 700 ppm CO2, when they could. You could almost see the plants growing. 🙂

          50

    • #
      TdeF

      Perhaps wine tasting and the new platicized closures? Plastic on the brain from sampling Shardonnay? In earlier days it would have been cork.

      20

    • #
      H P

      The article includes the following sentence ” The present data are derived from novel analytical chemistry methods that have yet to be widely adopted and refined.”

      Hmmmmmmm……

      40

  • #
    CO2 Lover

    Have we reached a turning point on “Free Speech”?

    In Stunning Letter To Congress, Zuckerberg Admits Biden-Harris Pressured Facebook To Censor Content

    Zuck now says that Facebook should not have compromised its standards “due to pressure from any Administration in either direction.”

    “I believe the government pressure was wrong, and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it,” reads the letter. “I also think we made some choices that, with the benefit of hindsight and new information, we wouldn’t make today.”

    He’s also committed and “ready to push back if something like this happens again.”

    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/stunning-letter-congress-zuckerberg-admits-biden-harris-pressured-facebook-censor-content

    “If the First Amendment is intended to protect anything, it’s intended to protect offensive speech. If you’re not going to offend anyone, you don’t need protection.” ― Larry Flynt, Hustler publisher.

    20

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    The ABC hits you with “another dose of truth serum” – to borrow a friend’s sarcastic description

    “The deforestation on farms that ‘people don’t even know’ is happening”

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-27/coles-woolworths-urged-to-dump-beef-linked-to-deforestation/104261314

    20

    • #
      Hanrahan

      Is there a text book that tells how to farm a forest?

      20

    • #
      KP

      Lol! I’ve flown low over wind farms and seen the acres and acres of bush cleared for their roads, their turbines, their high-voltage pylons, their substations, their quarries to build the roads, their administration complexes.. and not a Greenie complaint anywhere.

      Well, I’ll start buying that beef!

      Hanrahan, you just let anything grow and pull out the stuff you don’t want..

      30

  • #
    • #
      KP

      “‘Let’s not forget, the approx. one million migrants this government has brought in, resulted in only approx. 40,000 added to the workforce,’ she said. ”

      Love it! She won’t have any friends in the Labor Party.

      60

  • #
    Ireneusz Palmowski

    Over half of the Sahara desert receives less than 25mm (1 inch) of rainfall per year. Occasionally, more rainfall is found along the southern portions as the ITCZ shifts up and down. But a full on rainfall event across most of the desert is not something we see every year, or perhaps even every decade.

    Below is the latest GFS model forecast for total rainfall in the next 16 days. What you see is rainfall covering a large part of the Saharan desert. The amounts might not look high, but if we consider the total yearly amount, many regions have a few years worth of rain in a few days.
    https://www.severe-weather.eu/wp-content/gallery/andrej-news/weather-forecast-rainfall-anomaly-sahara-event-extended-range-30-day-totals.png

    40

    • #
      Philip

      nice spotting. Interesting. Ive spent some time in the oasis at Siwa Egypt so it caught my interest.

      20

  • #
    OldOzzie

    The Wall Street Journal

    The Separate Realities of Living in Lebanon: Raves in the North, Rockets in the South

    KFARDEBIAN, Lebanon—Fireworks crackled over this mountain resort about 50 miles north of the border with Israel, their reflections glittering in a swimming pool as young people ordered bottle service and puffed on cigars. A nearby cliff-side nightclub filled up with affluent Lebanese dancing to deep house music and drinking cocktails at tables that cost $100 to book.

    Sunday’s heavy exchange of fire between Israel and Hezbollah did little that might interrupt the vibe.

    The militant group fired hundreds of rockets into Israel, and around 100 Israeli warplanes hit dozens of suspected rocket launch sites across southern Lebanon. But much of the rest of Lebanon was untouched, and a feared escalatory spiral appears to have been avoided.

    The two sides have now settled back into the skirmishing that has prevailed for months—fiery exchanges of drone attacks, airstrikes, and rocket and artillery fire that have made swaths of Lebanon’s southern border area unlivable, killing people and cattle and sending nearly 100,000 residents fleeing for shelter while sparing residents to the north.

    “In a dystopian country, you have to hold on to happiness,” said Luna Karame, 26 years old, who works in fashion in Paris and was visiting her home country for the summer.

    Lebanon is living two realities.

    While areas of the south are experiencing the heaviest fighting in nearly two decades, with more than 500 people killed, mostly Hezbollah fighters, other Lebanese are doing their best to live life as normal. That includes escaping the heat and tension to party in a parallel world in the mountains.

    40

  • #
    OldOzzie

    The Wall Street Journal

    Can a Closed Nuclear Power Plant From the ’70s Be Brought Back to Life?

    COVERT, Mich.—When Michigan mothballed the Palisades nuclear power plant in 2022, the facility looked like a perfect relic of nuclear power’s 1970s heyday. Walls were painted salmon pink and pale green. Control panels had analog dials, manual switches and hundreds of lights that flash green or red to indicate on or off. The valves, levers and ductwork in the turbine room gave off a steampunk vibe.

    Just two years later, the 53-year-old plant’s owners are implementing a historic decision to give it another go.

    The federal government and the state of Michigan are spending nearly $2 billion to restart the reactor on the shores of Lake Michigan. When it reopens, Palisades will become the first decommissioned nuclear plant anywhere to be put back to work.

    Driving the rethink: soaring demand for electricity from AI server farms, and billions on offer in state and federal loans and tax subsidies for nuclear energy in infrastructure and green power investment programs. Data centers alone are projected to account for 8% of U.S. electricity demand by 2030, up from around 3% in 2022, according to an April report by Goldman Sachs.

    That feeling has shifted, with a revived understanding of nuclear energy as green power that could add to renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and hydropower. Nuclear-produced electricity is also seen as more consistent than wind or solar.

    Stricter state and federal emissions laws have added costs to fossil fuels such as natural gas and coal, and the financial support from Washington and states has helped shift the balance toward nuclear.

    Last year, the state of Georgia fired up two brand new reactors at its Vogtle complex, aided in part by up to $12 billion in federal loan guarantees. Earlier this year, Bill Gates, the former head of Microsoft, broke ground on a next-generation nuclear plant in Wyoming.

    Utilities have asked regulators to extend the licenses of 14 aging reactors in the past year. Nearly all of the nation’s 94 operating reactors have already had their licenses extended once, to 60 years, and two have been extended to 80 years—twice as long as the original licenses.

    60

    • #
      Graeme4

      And despite the considerable cost blowouts and delays in Vogtle, Georgia is already thinking about building another one.

      50

  • #
    Skepticynic

    Great News!

    BREAKING: Trump just formally announced that Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democrat presidential candidate and DNC vice-chair, will be JOINING his campaign to destroy Kamala Harris

    “She’s got great common sense, great spirit, and she loves our country.”

    40