JoNova
A science presenter, writer, speaker & former TV host; author of The Skeptic's Handbook (over 200,000 copies distributed & available in 15 languages).
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Statistics
Haapy Australia Day to All
550
Considering the divided opinion on that perhaps this might be more appropriate:
Happy un-birthday
Apologies to Alice and those born on 26 Jan
419
>Considering the divided opinion on that…
Observing the divided opinion on that and after due consideration,
HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY!
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Divided opinion? Fake, fake, fake.
The whole idea that aborigines are insulted or distressed by a specific day of the year is projection and completely fake. Apart from communist activists, who gives a damn? We are all different people. And we are all Australians living in peace. We all want to celebrate our historic gifts. Gifts none of us earned ourselves. And peace and freedom are the greatest of those gifts.
26 January was also the day of proclamation of Australian citizenship. Plus the birthday of one in every 365 people in the country. The arrival of the first fleet was an arbitrary date and one of many, but became popular after the bicentennial in 1988. It equally is the date of the proclamation of Australian citizenship and the rights associated with it, now shared by all aborigines. A day when being Australian was given legal meaning, that we were no longer British.
Aborigines did not know where they lived and did not have a calendar or even peace from endless tribal revenge. They did not have a country in any sense. They lived here and had no rights of any sort.
They did not celebrate any given day in a calendar. Not birthdays, anniversaries nor winter solstice, summer solstice, equinox, religious days. In perpetually sunny Australia every day was the same as every other day. Of course they did not care about a single day of the year. These were innumerate people who did not have a week.
In the leftist, Marxist disruption of our memories, our heroes, our events, someone has concocted faux outrage and the communists never miss an opportunity to stir trouble. It is beyond belief that a stone age people are outraged on learning there are 365 1/4 days in a year, leap years and anniversaries and even counting to 365. We are also told that Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands are all Captain Cook’s fault, to destroy our heroes as well.
As for ‘invasion’. The idea that aborigines owned all of Australia exclusively and perpetually and even lived safely and happily as a nation is just nuts. Again a new disruptive Marxist idea unknown in human history. ‘Finder’s keepers’ as International Law? Who said? Where? When?
Human history is about reality and endless real invasion and wholesale murder. No one owned land except what they could occupy and defend. Handing out titles to land is only as good as the army behind it. Even the idea of countries is quite new. Ask the Germans, Italians and even the British. War came to everyone every 25 years roughly. That’s why castles existed.
And the arrival of the British was very lucky for aborigines, that it was not the Spanish, the Portuguese, the French or anyone else. Their idea of colonization included robbery and enslavement. That didn’t happen either. The British settled, traded and brought the first peace to the endlessly warring aborigines who had no natural enemies except other aborigines. And their endless internecine murder was appalling.
Aborigines now also have a safe home, a new concept. What they had was a living nightmare! Escaped convict William Buckley lived with aborigines for 32 years and survived only because he was 6’6″ and very white and they thought he was a ghost. But he said everyone he ever loved was killed by aborigines. In time British stopped the terrible tribal slaughter. And introduced football, which gave them something else to do. And beer, which remains poisonous to aborigines as they lack the enzyme to digest alcohol. This deadly problem of aboriginal family violence driven by deadly alcohol has not been solved.
Aborigines should celebrate the coming of peace, their own peace, human rights, the rule of law and the end of murderous tribal war. And discovering that Australia existed and was an island and there were ships, farming and clothes. No, this ‘divided opinion’ nonsense is concocted Marxist outrage. Plus AVC, the foreign owners of over 200 Australian pubs who sell beer for a living want to show their morality in flogging alcohol for profit. Especially to aborigines.
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>this divided opinion nonsense is all concocted Marxist outrage
Nice explication, and thorough.
So DOUBLE Happy Australia Day!!
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Thanks TdeF for taking that time to voice what 90% of Australians think. The other 10% which comprise the victim industry of various minor demographics can go and stick pins in their various icons.
For mine have a very big Happy Australia Day!
450
Thanks TdeF,
I very happily spent most of my Australia Days as a Monday of a long weekend , and often celebrating by swimming in the surf. Then we changed to Jan 26, losing that long weekend.
So I went back to check and found Watkin Tench’s diary entries from which I extracted some key dates straddling three weeks in 1788:
…
Fri Jan 18 “Supply” arrived in Botany Bay and
Capt Phillip claims possession
Sun Jan 20 Whole fleet in Botany Bay
Sat Jan 26 Fleet moves from Botany Bay
Sun Jan 27 First landing at Sydney Cove
Thu Feb 7 Proclamation Day
…
I remain happy with the concept of a long weekend ( Monday) at the end of January as the time for our celebration.
Cheers
Dave B
140
After living here all my adult life, only last year I have looked for Terra Nullius in dictionary, bet huge majority of Australians did not bother…
So my learned opinion –
a) it was correct formal position – check contemporary Treaty of Waitangi situation;
b) it was the best for two incompatible civilisations;
c) it has no practical impact on situation of the day – except public manipulation of course..
111
And it persists. Eddie Mabo was not aboriginal. He was Melanesian. One of a family of long term settled farmers on the tiny island of Mer in the Torres Strait (population 450) which Queensland has annexed. The Court found Terra Nullus did not apply because he was settled. They did not make a finding for Australian aborigines. Nor did the court remove Terra Nullius, because it was and remains very reasonable. You have to settle.
However the Keating Government decided immediately to pass a law to apply the idea of land ownership to nomadic aborigines. After all, while completely unrelated, they are black too. Which is very racist. And created the appalling idea that a nomadic people owned the whole place and are currently gifted title over 53% of the land. Plus receiving aid of $42Billion a year, simply because of race. And they are no better off.
This is populist racism, not fairness or law but a culture of victimization which applies only to aborigines. And no one really cares about their awful conditions in the outback despite spending about $1Million a person per year on welfare. So where does the money go? No one seems to know.
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Well argued, as usual, TdeF. It is way too factual for the romanticists and ideologues who continue to sow discord with errors in fact and logic.
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Only woke gullible leftist loonies minority that are offended. Have a look at the protesters, 99% white.
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Yay.
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Yes, it’s a day for the English, Welsh,Cornish, Scots, Irish, Italians, Greek, Yugoslavs, French, German, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Maltese, Jews, Syrians, Lebanese, Egyptians, aborigines and more, a day to celebrate our existence as Australians, our incredible peace and security and prosperity and to remember those who sacrificed so much for people who did not yet exist. Our heroes. No useless ungrateful malcontents or corporate or political ratbags are going to take that away.
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What about the Dutch?
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Sure, Norwegians, Danish, … I am part Dutch. But the point is made. Having Japanese apologise for not respecting Aboriginal sovereignty is insane. 85 years ago they were bombing Darwin to destroy aboriginal heritage. Talk about disrespect!
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Do I have add a /s tag to more of my posts?
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Happy Australia Day !
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Happy Australia day to the free thinking people of Australia. May you find a way to get better politicians!
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Historic statues were vandalised in Melbournistan.
Vandalism of these statues around Australia Day was predictable. I wouldn’t be surprised if the extreme Left Premier Jacinta Allan* told police to stay away from these areas at this time so the statues could be vandalised by Leftists at will. Sorry to sound so cynical.
*When Allan talks she sounds like an over-excited ten year old schoolgirl. She is a simpleton.
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Yes they can setup their cameras anywhere…except on these statues, at a time when vandalism is so predictable it’s virtually garanteed.
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10 year olds still have the chance to grow out of their childhood mistakes. Allen…. Nope, set in her ways.
The balance of Vicdansistan is probably the same. Why stop the self flagellation now?
The masses will always vote for more gifts now with the debt to be paid by others much, much later. And there’s no laws against any government setting these plans in place. And that’s why Allen and co float to the top. Some would say that it’s no different at the wastewater treatment plant, some stuff just floats.
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Nothing will surprise me after Cardinal Pell Affair.
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On this Australia Day 🇦🇺 we should remember the sacrifice of all the Aussie soldiers that died fighting for freedom.
We should also remember that these days, no Labor, Green or Teal politicians and most of the fake conservative Liberals are not loyal to Australia. Let’s vote them out, replace them with conservatives and fellow rational thinkers and have a TRUMP-style recovery.
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Aussie Aussie Aussie joy joy joy. ToM
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Happy Australia Day OldOzzie and All.
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Repealing the climate hoax
Presidential orders strike at the heart of progressive deindustrialization plot
President Trump made his international debut as the 47th president at the World Economic Forum on Thursday. Speaking via video feed, he informed the assembled grandees that the United States is no longer a party to their climate schemes.
In 2019, it was Greta Thunberg who headlined the globalist gabfest to inspire panic over “runaway global warming.” The then-teenage activist added, “We are less than 12 years away from not being able to undo our mistakes.” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the New York Democrat who proposed the Green New Deal, echoed this apocalyptic timeline.
Mr. Trump refuses to play along with the doom-and-gloom grift.
“The Green New Deal was such a total disgrace,” he said. “It was conceived by people who are… less-than-average students and never even took a course in energy or the environment. It was just a game. Remember the world was going to end in 12 years? Well, the 12 years has come and gone.”
This is not the sort of thing elites traveled from every corner of the globe to hear. Heads of state and corporate titans went to great effort chartering over a thousand private jet flights to reach the ritzy Alpine resort town of Davos in style.
However, due to insufficient runway warming, several arrivals from destinations like Barcelona, Cologne and Oslo had to be diverted.
Such delays could have been avoided had they, as Mr. Trump did, taken advantage of videoconferencing. Or, they might have selected a clean-energy mode of transport, such as a sailboat. But comfort is king for those peddling remedies to looming climate catastrophes.
No wonder Mr. Trump isn’t buying what they’re selling.
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Happy Australia day to all! So far as I know the program we wtll drive 80 miles to a 79th birthday party for my eldest sister. And yes, her birthday was always Australia Day.
I clicked on Tallbloke in JoNova’s right hand column and came up with this:
https://tallbloke.wordpress.com/2024/10/31/letter-to-peter-kyle-mp-secretary-of-state-for-science-innovation-and-technology/#more-70169
I haven’t read it all yet, but must. I think we should somehow push it. At least to urge Peter Kyle to pass it on to Donald Trump.
It’s about lack of accountability in the Weather Office. And it sounds a lot like ours.
As I remember it, our temperature records are less than perfect. So our BOM started making “corrective adjustments/ They later changed the word to” homogenised.”
They then “homogenised” our temperature records and published a new set of numbers, which confirmed global warming.
Unfortunately for the BOM, there are in the wider community some people who are rather more competent in both Microsoft Excel and the science of statistics than they are.
AS I understood the story, Ken Stewart “ran their numbers” and found that they were not just wrong, they were absurd.
This proved two things. 1. The BOM were not competent to do that work, and 2. They had not even checked their work to discover the absurdity.
It seemed to me that they were trying to automate stuff that can’t be automated.
So those numbers quietly disssappeared, to be replaced with a quaint acronym, ACORN_SAT, with the assurance that this was world’s best practice. Later we got ACORN-SAT 2. All presented by the same crowd that produced the original absurdity.
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It’s time that the BOM was Pasturised !!!
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An example of these adjustments was for Bourke’s max temp mean in Jan, 1939. The mean for that month was 40.4C – this was adjusted to below 40.0C in ACORN 2. Problem was that Bourke had a higher mean that month compared to Cobar (south of Bourke) but after adjustments, Cobar had a warmer mean than Bourke.
Here’s one graph of Aus temps I find interesting (scroll down to see).
http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/data/acorn-sat/documents/5-ACORN-SAT-TAF-TOR3.pdf
Notice all the pre-1990 adjustments are down but after 1990 they are adjusted up. Must be those pesky eThermometers.
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There was another story about Bourke’s highest recorded maximum. (125 degrees?) It was entered on the record but disallowed by the BOM because it was attributed to a Sunday, and nobody worked on Sundays.
I was under the impression that part of the equipment on any BOM weather station would be a maximum/minimum thermometer, which records the highest and lowest temperatures since last it was reset.
Including Sundays.
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I note that in the official data that no Sundays were included.
http://www.bom.gov.au/jsp/ncc/cdio/weatherData/av?p_display_type=dailyDataFile&p_nccObsCode=122&p_stn_num=048013&p_c=-461044248&p_startYear=1909
Here is the report from the Western Herald regarding this controversy.
https://www.thewesternherald.com.au/single-post/2020/08/12/did-bourke-record-the-hottest-day-why-was-the-record-changed#:~:text=The%20record%20–%20recorded%20at%20Bourke,centigrade%2C%20or%20125%20degrees%20Fahrenheit.
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This coming week I will publicise an update for my analysis of Australian heatwaves.
The update now covers 10 significant weather stations, 6 State capitals plus Darwin, Alice Springs, Cape Leeuwin and Longreach. The latter 2 have low UHU likelihood. There are raw data from the BOM as well as their ACORN-SAT. In all, there are 160 graphs allowing a view of whether or not these stations show the activist chant that globally, heatwaves are becoming hotter, longer and more frequent.
It is more important to see that the heatwaves shown have only tiny variation from year to year. If there are real patterns in this study, they are likely to fall entirely within the range of observed natural variation.
In one word, BORING! Geoff S
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I’m looking forward to your results, Geoff.
Just checking. If a heatwave lasts for 17 days, does that count as 1 heatwave or do you categorise the number of heatwaves based on their length? eg 3 day heatwaves = so many. 4 day heatwaves = so many.
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Have you only picked sites that haven’t moved during your time period?
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Actually up to version 2.5 now:
http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/data/acorn-sat/#:~:text=ACORN%2DSAT%202.5%20includes%20new,the%20inclusion%20of%20additional%20data.
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Yes, it’s amazing how all those Leftists who pretend to “care for the environment” (liars, of course) flew in on private jets and that supposed destroyer of the environment TRUMP actually did a video conference…
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So, what do you think will happen if he changes the world and we no longer worry about global warming??
Do thousands of ‘scientists’ get fired? Whole Govts Depts get disbanded?
Do thousands of politicians who have robbed us blind get strung up?
Does the Govt stop subsidies for ruinalbles immediately and have AEMO level the playing field?
Does the Govt have to take over the private ruinables industry as it gets immediately abandoned by the grifters who know it is just a loss if there are no subsidies? …or do they just get abandoned and fall into disrepair?
Does our price of electricity fall by 20% or more? …do we even get industries starting up again?
Do we get heartfelt apologies in the mainstream media for their disgusting propaganda and lies over the last 30years, from politicians, scientists and the media itself??
…or does the whole thing get ignored then swept under the rug a some new crises is invented and pushed onto us?
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KP, Realising your complete list should wipe the slate clean & save the tax payer billions whilst the economy will add considerable wealth as well.
The electorate want it, do the politicians want it?? Are they capable of doing it??
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COVID response shows they can do anything they want if they put their mind to it.
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Australia Day is the perfect day to be watching part 2 of the interview with Dr David Martin on clubgrubbery.
https://clubgrubbery.com.au/graham-and-john-speak-in-this-part-2-interview-with-dr-david-martin/
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British taxpayers to shoulder £3bn energy bill as turbines switched off in high winds
https://www.gbnews.com/news/british-taxpayers-huge-bill-energy-turbines-switched-off-high-winds
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They automatically switch off, both in low wind conditions and in high wind conditions.
The turbines ‘turn on’ when the wind speed rises above (around) 7 to 11 MPH.
They also turn off at speeds above 55 to 65MPH, (depending on turbine design and size) and the blades ‘feather’ as well.
You can see at the Aneroid site when there are low or no wind conditions (under a High Pressure weather system) and sometimes the whole ‘fleet’ of Industrial wind plants in both Southern States (where almost 70% of all Australian industrial wind plants are located) are off line. At times like this, they are actually drawing power from the grid. So, in low, (and also in high) wind conditions the turbines are not only NOT delivering power, they are consuming it from the grid.
As you can see from the turning off in low and high winds, there are electronics in each turbine’s nacelle which require power so they are ready to turn back on. (not only for that, but for other purposes as well) Added up across the whole fleet, it amounts to ‘real’ power, and, umm, to use their own terminology, you know, that houses supplied ‘excuse’ that they use.
Tony.
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And another data point from everybody’s favourite intermittent energy success story https://www.hydro.com.au/clean-energy/hybrid-energy-solutions/success-stories/king-island
This morning’s highlight is total customer demand of 1656kW with system output of 697kW.
Beats me how you get that combination of figures. But hey it isn’t meant to make sense is it?
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Their meters are screwed, @ 10:22, I saw
Wind 33
Solar 1197
Diesel 0
Resistor 710
—————-
Cust demand 1525.
That just does not tally.
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Very odd.
Electricity on the island was generated entirely from diesel fuel, from the 6 megawatt (MW) power station; serving 12 gigawatt Original system diesel can supply 6MW of power.
At present
Wind -29kw
Solar 1206kw
Battery -5kw
Diesel 0kw
and the balance (1172kw) goes to
Resistor -694kw (thrown away)
Flywheel -136kw (stored)
Output 342kw (actual output)
Customer demand 1563kw. So the diesel output must be 1221kw and only 1/4 of the solar is being used.
This is suspiciously close to the Solar figure of 1206kw which is also 102% of maximum.
Yes, screwed.
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The input and output seem to be in balance. If 1200 kw is coming from solar, 5kW is going to wind, 5 kW is charging the battery, 130 kW is turning the flywheel, 700kW is wasting in the resistor that leaves 360 kW for output. If the demand is 1600kW then 1240 kW is coming from the diesel. When I first went to the site the diesel was supplying about 1250 kW but then it switched to 0 (zero). I suspect that the meter at the diesel has collapsed.
Every time I have looked at the site the diesel has been operating. Because the solar has no switching (ie turning arrays off) then it feeds in all the time when there is sun (of course nothing at night) then the resistors have to dump supply.
Tony (fromOZ) may know -what happens to a domestic solar supply when the grid will not accept supply and the domestic use is less than then the supply? Is there a circuit that wastes the generated power through resistors or will there be a chance of connectors burning out as has happened with my panels.
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I dont. Think that is correct.
If you look at the NEM.log data for SA, it is obvious that the solar farm outputs are “curtailed” during peak periods when there is good wind output.
My own home solar is often in “falt” mode ( no output) with no facility to dissipate the 2+kW potential generation .
Think of it like a battery, …no energy output until it is connected to a load ?
10
Yes, my solar panels are the same. If there is a minimal load then there is minimal power generation. As you say it is like the way a battery produces power.
But I don’t know how the KI resistor works. That may well provide a load to discharge all that the solar panels can generate.
10
Sorry if this has been posted before. In case it hasn’t…
Leaked paper shows EU plans for ‘green’ boost to make bloc ‘competitive’
https://brusselssignal.eu/2025/01/leaked-paper-shows-eu-plans-for-green-boost-to-make-bloc-competitive/
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“European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s so-called “Competitiveness Compass” ..shows that Eurocrats will double-down on the bloc’s controversial “decarbonisation” plans, with Brussels insisting its “green” agenda was not the reason Europe was falling behind.”
Love it!! Head to head with Trump, I’d give 10 to 1 she will come off worst. Surely she’s seen the clear picture that the more ruinables you have, the more expensive the energy. Seems like Russia will be the powerhouse on that continent in a decade or two.
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Trump versus Ursula,
the constrained and the unconstrained vision,
one based on reality(nature) – the other yewtopean.
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EUtopian?
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Sorry Beth, meant green.
00
https://www.gbnews.com/news/british-taxpayers-huge-bill-energy-turbines-switched-off-high-winds
High wind low wind no electricity and something very similar happens here in Australia.
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The windymills get paid when there’s no wind, they get paid when there’s too much wind and they shut down, what a fantastic kind of deal, not for us plebs though.
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John Stossel’s opinion on ESG:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfKVCcV-WcQ
(5m 24s video)
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Laura Ingraham (Fox News) covers Trump’s appearance at Davos. Of particular interest are Schwab’s comments at the beginning of the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mkj8rueBGUU
(8m 23s video)
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DD, in those clips from Davos, post the Trump lecture, the bloke on the right hand end of the group on stage put it very succinctly when he said Tump won and we lost!.
Give that man a sending ovation!
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Don’t be trusting that. Why would they admit any defeat?
Trump has won this round, and may continue to win as may Vance in coming years, but these folk aren’t in the business of giving in.
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Don’t be trusting that. Why would they admit any defeat?
Trump has won this round, and may continue to win as may Vance in coming years, but these folk aren’t in the business of giving in.
Possible duplicate post, my apologies, on the phone.
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Don’t forget Trump will be surrounded by billionaires who expect to make money from his policies, just like the Left have had their own cliques of the very rich pushing their policies. He will have powers behind him that are keen to displace those making money from Socialist policies.
So we end up with billionaires versus billionaires in the fight for the world, and politicians succeed or fail on the billionaires they pick as supporters.
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I suspect that the billionaires producing products and services that the general population actually wants will overcome the billionaires that require govt subsidies to sell stuff to the virtue signalling minority.
It’s hilarious watching the lefties moaning about the threat of oligarchs now that their favourite billionaires have switched allegiance.
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A great summary. It’s interesting to hear of the support for Trump from other country’s leaders.
50
A Tiny, ‘Endangered’ Fish Delayed a Dam’s Construction in the 1970s. Now, Scientists Say the Snail Darter Isn’t So Rare After All
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-tiny-endangered-fish-delayed-a-dams-construction-in-the-1970s-now-scientists-say-the-snail-darter-isnt-so-rare-after-all-180985786/
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Video: This is probably one of the worst and most dangerous places in the world. La Rinconada, Peru.
https://youtu.be/6bJeUGkwbL4
According to Wikipedia:
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Altitude sickness and all that crime. You have to question the wisdom that the brain should be the last organ to lose oxygen, rather than the first.
Then again, maybe this place really is all it’s cracked up to be. When will we see it covered on Escape to the Country, (Peru style) or Getaway?
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Have been to Juliaca, as it’s the airport on the way to Lake Titicaca, where we stayed for a couple of nights. Yes, it’s tough up at that altitude, and you need to acclimatise first by staying at places such as Cusco. Also recommended that you take altitude tablets, available from travel doctors. Don’t drink alcohol or eat much, move slowly, hang onto supports wherever possible. The brain does indeed slow down and it’s difficult to think or make conversation. Very poor country up that high, as almost nothing grows except a few small potatoes. Everybody in our group was affected, but folks from the Colorado Rockies less.
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There is nothing extreme or unusual about anything TRUMP says or does.
Fifty or sixty years ago such things as:
-That there are only two genders.
-Merit based employment.
-Inexpensive energy.
-Fewer government regulations.
-Lower taxes.
-Putting your country first and being proud of it.
-Controlled borders.
-Punishment for crime.
-Law and order.
-Religious belief.
-Expectation that legal immigrants adopt the values of the country.
Etc.
Would not even have been the basis of an election campaign.
These were completely normal expectations, even for the Left of that time.
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Yes, it’s becoming obvious in America that 80-90% of Americans agree with all this. Trump is more popular now than before the election.
What has happened is close to football mentality. People barrack for one side no matter how bad their policies and performance. So a vocal minority can drag that side to unbelievable extremes and people still vote for them. This way parties can be captured and false narratives pushed, like 26 January being unacceptable to Australians when few care at all, let alone find it ‘deeply offensive’.
Robert Kennedy put it best. He did not leave the Democrats. The Democrats left him.
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We also get the flip side of this. Dutton believes that at least half the population think man made Global Warming is real, so he tries to accommodate their view. And you get both sides pushing man made Global warming when a majority of voters do not think so. As in the Voice. All the media and companies thought it was popular.
I suspect if you ran the Voice referendum again, 90% of Australians would vote against it.
And if you asked people whether they were ‘deeply offended’ by the date of Australia day, almost no one would agree.
In this way the Greens manipulate public opinion, especially when Prime Minister Albanese is too weak to say no.
It puts Adam Bandt in charge of government policy. And he is now attacking non government schools. The attack on our society by the Greens has nothing to do with ecology or botany or conservation. It is the Greens blowing up our power stations and crippling our society. They are the enemies of society. Their hatred of Jews is quite explicit. And what part of that is Green?
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But the vitriol from the TDS sufferers doesn’t slow down. Last I heard he is + 17 favourability.
30
If we learned anything from the elections, it is not to trust polls. The Kamala polls were ridiculous. Up 5% in Idaho? There was no knife’s edge. It was all lies.
60
A bit like this Extreme Right garbage. Thousands of Anti-Fa fascists wrecking the city. But when required, there are always ten in Ku Klux Klan outfits. Or skin heads in leather. Is there an agency for Extreme Right actors? Is there a minimum number of actors for credibility?
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Videos:
Why Electric Cars Failed 100 Years Ago.
https://youtu.be/Xzk6acQO-KQ
Jay Leno’s Baker Electric Car.
https://youtu.be/OhnjMdzGusc
The Baker Electric, made 1899-1915 had a range of 50miles / 80km and was marketed to women to do their shopping. It was desirable for women as it was clean and simple to start and use, no hard and dirty hand cranking as with ICE cars of the time, or dirty and messy steam cars.
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Interesting especially the (near end) bit about swapping battery packs in 1903 in NY.
End of range anxiety.
End of queing time to get to the changer.
End of waiting to charge up (35 seconds to switch).
Of course mostly useful around the city, but it seems that most of the disadvantages of electric cars were worked out over 100 years ago.
80
Interesting. Didn’t use rheostats like the trams did, just switched battery cells in and out.
60
Batteries have 10% of the power density of chemicals. That’s the problem.
I have always thought we should burn and recycle metals. And have a closed cycle for oxide back to metal. As with aluminum. Aluminium is almost 100% pure electric energy in cost. It has a power to weight ratio close to petrol and with density of 2.2, occupies half the space. So alumina ->aluminum-> alumina.
But as we are trapped with windmills, solar panel thinking. We are also trapped in hydrocarbon fuels. Which will run out.
I suppose we could burn Lithium too. It has a density 1/10th that of aluminum. The reason batteries are so heavy is that everything else is very heavy.
20
In a 185kg EV battery
Mineral Cell Part Amount Contained in the Avg. 2020 Battery (kg) % of Total
Graphite Anode 52kg 28.1%
Aluminum Cathode, Casing, Current collectors 35kg 18.9%
Nickel Cathode 29kg 15.7%
Copper Current collectors 20kg 10.8%
Steel Casing 20kg 10.8%
Manganese Cathode 10kg 5.4%
Cobalt Cathode 8kg 4.3%
Lithium Cathode 6kg 3.2%
Iron Cathode 5kg 2.7%
Total N/A 185kg 100%
So lithium is only 3.2%. Except it has a density of 0.53 where most of the metals are around 8-9, so about 20x lighter and by volume the bulk of the battery. There may be other ways to use lithium without building a lithium power store which is 97% by weight something other than lithium.
30
In those days there were no electric starters so there was a clear advantage over petrol.
I read that the electric starter development was prompted by a guy whose friend died of complications of a broken arm when he did the Sir Galahad bit and tried to start a Lady’s car. He thought there must be a better way, the rest is history.
40
FWIW
“Mischief is Important”
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GiAZAvHW4AAKKBl?format=jpg&name=small
Via https://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2025/01/25/mischief-is-important-65/
11
In the TRUMP world, even WEF Davos attendance is down.
Leftism is in massive decline (hopefully).
Also see link for names of other Aussies who attended.
80
Bring a Leftist pretty well guarantees that you are also a hypocrite, but we already knew that.
130
Murray Rothbard’s essay “Anatomy of the State.” is worth a read.
“The State provides a legal, orderly, systematic channel for the predation [plundering] of private property…”
Seems spot-on.
The “corporate state” is NOT a “friend” to REAL PEOPLE.
Murray Rothbard’s essay “Anatomy of the State.” It is worth a read. Here is a flavour: Per Jordan Peterson: “Policies that require fear and force are BAD policies”.
Furthermore, as C. S. Lewis posited:
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good, will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”
130
More mischief
https://accordingtohoyt.com/2025/01/25/the-memes-have-dropped/
Enjoy
50
Love that one with Trump-
“Climate? I’m going to build a wall so high you won’t be able to climate..”
110
Graceless Tame – attention seeking garbage.
Saturday, 25 January 2025
She wore this to the official Australia Day Reception.
From the Comments
– She wants everyone to know she’s looking to have s@x with a nonagenarian? What an odd girl.
– Even at his age he’s probably more discriminating.
– Surely to G@D Luigi has a staffer whose job is to ensure that no one wearing a shirt displaying a message like that is allowed within camera range of him.
…or does he approve of such a GraceLESS display by this young woman who has repeatedly herself to be what can only be described as ‘rough trade’?
– How far we have fallen as a society when someone greets our PM wearing a “f@ck murdoch” t-shirt and nobody seems to give a damn, not even the PM himself, I despair.
180
When I was younger, wearing a T-shirt would have excluded you from the venue.
She might be (in)famous but she is without class. Some people will/should never be role models.
170
I don’t recall ever wearing a T shirt and it must be 40 yrs since wearing a tie. Polo neck for work, weddings, funerals and christenings. 😀
I do have some Burberry shirts as a job lot from a Manilla market when I need a little class. Few Filipinos wear XL shirts so I gave the stall holder a chance to clear out the last.
10
Does this mean that it is open season on similar T-shirts?
Imagine somebody arriving at an official ceremony wearing a “F##k Benny Wong” T-shirt!
Would the PM and staffers laugh at that one as well?
I guarantee he wouldn’t, just as he should not have with the Murdoch T-shirt.
Albo has a natural ability to incorrectly “read the room”.
He was supremely confident in his VOICE Referendum. He was wrong. The population told him equivically so. He needs to remove himself from his bubble of like-minded people and engage with more of the realists. This applies to most politicians.
Finally I have come to the conclusion that if a problem doesn’t exist at the moment, give it time, a politician will surely create it.
160
He can’t mingle with the realists, they’d carve him a new one.
40
So eloquent.
Auto
00
“Copy and paste” editing on the fly is a dodgy business.
00
Happy Australia Day!
Over here it’s Anniversary Day long-weekend public holiday, celebrating Gov Hobson’s 1840 signing into law the colony of New Zealand, followed by the Treaty of Waitangi on 6th Feb.
The country is presently being slammed by (another) Tasman Low, with gale force northerlies and rain and thunder (I’m in the calm ‘eye’ this morning) to be followed by cold southerlies tomorrow with SNOW TO 1500 METRES (4,500’) down south the next 48 hours.
Two years ago to the day a similar summer storm hit Auckland, and due to poor planning, lack of maintenance, and council-approved housing built in gullies and on reclaimed floodplains, whole suburbs were inundated: there’s no need to say what the eggspurts claimed was the cause of this (totally man-made) chaos.
Lest we forget: it was on 15 January 2022 that Hunga Tonga blew its top and the weather hasn’t been the same since…
170
I was involved in establishing the marketing system that NEMMCO adopted at the outsert of the national electricity market. I represented large consumers at the monthly meeting usually held in Canberra. The basic concept was that generators would be scheduled on the basis of merit order of marginal cost. All generators were essentially equal in being able to offer dispatchable power on demand. The stacking order was not envisaged to change much from day-to-day.
AEMC introduced the semi-scheduled category in 2008 to cater for growing WDG capacity to bid into the market system. That rule change led to the market corruption we now see. It is time to dismiss the semi-scheduled category based on marginal cost and go to a full cost of dispatchable power.
With this in mind, I asked Perplexity to work out the cost of dispatchable power from a wind farm in western Victoria. This is the result:
To estimate the cost of dispatchable electricity from a wind farm in western Victoria, Australia, with battery capacity for a 2-week wind drought and 300km transmission, we need to consider several components:
1. Wind farm costs:
The search results don’t provide specific costs for wind farms in western Victoria. However, we can use general estimates for wind power.
2. Battery storage costs:
Recent battery costs in Australia have decreased significantly:
– Current prices range from $300/kWh to $437/kWh for large-scale projects[1][5].
– For a 2-week capacity, we’d need to significantly scale up the battery size, which could increase costs.
3. Transmission costs:
For 300km of transmission:
– 200-299km/h speed design: $600,000/km
– Total transmission cost: $180 million (300km * $600,000/km)[3]
4. Calculation for 2-week storage:
Assuming a 100MW wind farm with a 35% capacity factor:
– Energy produced in 2 weeks: 100MW * 24 hours * 14 days * 0.35 = 11,760MWh
– Battery cost at $400/kWh: 11,760MWh * $400,000/MWh = $4.704 billion
5. Total capital cost estimate:
Wind farm (100MW) + Battery + Transmission
≈ $200 million + $4.704 billion + $180 million = $5.084 billion
6. Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE):
Using a simplified LCOE calculation with a 10% discount rate over 20 years:
LCOE = (Capital Cost * Annuity Factor) / (Annual Energy Production)
Annuity Factor (10%, 20 years) ≈ 0.11746
Annual Energy Production = 100MW * 8760 hours * 0.35 = 306,600MWh
LCOE ≈ ($5.084 billion * 0.11746) / 306,600MWh
≈ $1,950/MWh or $1.95/kWh
This estimate is significantly higher than conventional power sources due to the large battery storage requirement for a 2-week wind drought. It’s important to note that this is a simplified calculation and actual costs could vary based on specific project details, technological advancements, and economies of scale.
This cost is about 3 times what I can do with solar; thirty times the cost of a modern lignite fuelled generator and ten times the cost of nuclear generator.
180
So my $600 electricity bill becomes $3600 when they close down coal… Anyone told Albo?
Back a thousand years of civilisation, to getting up at dawn and going to bed when the sun sets!
90
The electricity price inflation over the past decade is running at about 5%pa so doubling every 15 years. This is on the verge of public tolerance. Blackout is relieving the pain by taking the subsidies from general revenue rather than heaping more on electricity consumers.
The RET theft ends in 2030 and that might actually reduce consumer costs. Taxpayers will carry the extra burden under all the capacity guarantee contracts that AEMO is putting in place.
10
KP,
You should be asking if anyone has told Dutton & climate luvvies in the LNP??
Dutton is still fixated on net zero hoping his leaning toward NUCLEAR will give him free rein to persue the unattainable net zero.
Go figure! Maybe we just let Albozo carry on!!
00
Rick,
You give important information. Please keep it going as long as you wish.
The high cost calculation for wind is hard to access by interested outsiders like me.
The trick is to get it into the public arena because it seems to be hidden by those who fear its impact.
I see parallels to Peter Ridd letting the public know that the Great Barrier Reef is in fine shape, contrary to activist claims.
Would you feel inclined to refine your analysis and then send it to newspapers? Geoff S
100
20 year life for the battery?
I don’t think so. I would have hoped for the LCOE to have included the cost of changing the battery out at 7 years. So you can add another $10B to that sum.
This will effectively triple the cost of power, taking it closer to $6/kWHr, (add in more for disposal of the batteries). And add in more for battery insurance?
Also, where is the maintenance costs in this estimate. Is that going to add even more to the bill?
If wind and batteries is the answer. What was the question?
140
Dear Rick,
How much effort will it take
a) to convert your calculation into a checked and signed leaflet,
I said “checked” as there will be more contributions on this blog.
I think double sided as: the whole text and a summary of one-two paragra.
b) to print it in time for the Autumn campaign?
40
Anyone can use Perplexity AI. You simply need to register. That requires giving an email address.
The answer depend a lot on how you frame it. I could have added things like assume the battery life is 10 years and the annual operating/maintenance cost is 2% of capital cost to make it more realistic.
This is the exact question I asked to get the answer I posted:
What would be the cost of dispatchable electricity from a wind farm in western Victoria, australia allowing enough battery capacity for for a 2 week wind drought including cost of 300km transmission at 10% discount rate
The LCOE cost for lignite generated electricity was USD67/MWh.
I recently got an estimate for a battery to go off-grid. I had tio fill out a comprehensive load data file before they would even quote. What I was impressed with was that the additional solar panels and batteries were very close to what I determined from operating my off-grid system. That battery offered 50 hours for the winter demand and the panels needed 1 hour equivalent rated sunshine (1000W/m^2) to cover worst day.
So
10
I would dispute at least two of those assumed initial costs:
1. Battery Costs: The problem with establishing a true large-scale battery cost in Australia is that the system installers negotiate a “commercial-in-confidence” deal with state govt’s, in which the actual cost is spread across many years, with specified contractual cost increases each year. Even Renew Economy complained about this hidden cost process. Therefore I believe that it’s better to use other countries’ costs, and in the U.S., the cost is usually stated to be US$500,000/MWh, which translates to A$800,000/MWh.
2. Transmission line costs: These seem to be too low compared to actual line costs. These were $2.5m/km, but the latest blowouts in line costs, such as HumeLink, now put these costs at $13m/km.
3. Wind power: Surely the recent quoted for wind installations in the U.S. Should provide a good guide for these costs?
30
If I may expand:
1. Battery costs: look at the Waratahs Super Battery as an example, Attachment A, Aggregated schedule of payments. The approximate cost can be calculated at $650,000/MWh. But as stated, the true cost is not known because the CEFC put in $100m into the project.
Also a commentator stated in The Australian 28 May 2024, that in WA, Synergy spent $1bn for a 1GWh battery, which works out at $1000/kWh.
As for stating that 2-3 week’s grid backup would be required, I don’t believe that this argument can be sustained when actual grid-wide dunkelflautes rarely exceed 48 hours. I acknowledge that for the stated reliability requirement of 99.998%, more storage would be required, but where did the figure of 2-3weeks come from?
20
Gents,
like most Australians I only dealt with, in your understanding, micro-projects but we all are witnesses of Snowy 2 and Melbourne links projects, so we used to $Ms which suddenly turning into $B.
I believe the value of your (many on this blog) opinions is your name, your participation in this or that actual project or, like humble me – spending 60 years measuring temperature in 10 industries.
20
Further to Vladimir’s, I suggest that to help realize the magnitude of the sums (of OUR money) being splashed about by our beloved pollies, we only use millions.
A million can be grasped by most.
Billions, Trillions – less so, perhaps.
So, here in the UK, the Marvellous Mr. Miliband’s 2 Very Expensive Underwater Wires come in at £6,300 million – at 2024 prices.
Rather than six billion, which may be a snip.
And these will be revealed to the Pleasant Poisoner Putin –
https://www.offshorewind.biz/2025/01/24/after-maiden-job-in-the-netherlands-chinas-first-subsea-cable-shuttle-barge-going-to-uk/ as obviously the UK hasnt got comparable barges, with or without sabotage capabilities.
So Putin’s Giant Underwater Scissors can be used to great effect, once these Wonderful Wires are completed – if not yet paid for!.
Auto
20
Wind costs: Could use the Hepburn costs as an indicator, because their costs are known. But this is only a small system. As for offshore wind, NY State rejected supplier offers of A$207/MWh. These costs were originally estimated at A$228/MWh. Kincardine in the UK, another offshore system, generated power at A$176/MWh and still lost money.
And the British BEIS recently advised that offshore wind build costs would be GBP2200/kW, with operating costs GBP19/MWh.
00
Added to this, in the U.S., South Fork Wind offshore recently had a 132MW addition for A$940m. At least in the U.S., it’s possible to obtain actual cost figures.
JoN9va 2 August 2018 had all the figures for Stockyard Hill in Vic.
00
Stockyard Hill cost $700m for 530MW nameplate. Operating costs were stated at $24/MWh.
00
I did not specify AUD or USD. The costs may be in USD. I would need to ask the question again and specify the currency to be certain. What is obvious, it that battery firmed wind is horribly expensive electricity, which Blackout will one day realise..
20
OK. Thus I’m assuming that the many of the quoted costs are based on U.S. figures and perhaps their labour costs, not actual costs here in Australia. This might explain some of the discrepancies between the costs and actual Australian costs.
10
This is a more detailed question with currency specified:
What will be the cost in USD of electricity from a wind farm in western Victoria able to supply dispatchable power during a 2 week wind drought with overbuild to minimise battery cost with battery life of ten years; annual maintenance and operating cost of 2% of capital; a 300km transmission line and 10% discount rate.
To calculate the cost of electricity from a wind farm in western Victoria with the given specifications, we’ll use the most recent data available and make some assumptions where necessary. All costs will be converted to USD using an exchange rate of 1 AUD = 0.66 USD.
1. Wind farm costs:
– Capital cost: $1,749/kW AUD (medium-cost scenario)[1]
– O&M fixed: $25/kW/year AUD[1]
– Lifetime: 25 years[1]
2. Battery storage costs:
– Current prices: $300-$437/kWh AUD for large-scale projects[2]
– We’ll use $350/kWh AUD for our calculation
3. Transmission costs:
– Overhead transmission: $3,860/MW-km AUD[1]
– 300km line: $3,860 * 300 = $1,158,000/MW AUD
4. Overbuild factor:
– Assume 50% overbuild to minimize battery costs
5. Calculation for 2-week storage:
– Assume 1,000 MW wind farm with 35% capacity factor
– Energy needed for 2 weeks: 1,000 MW * 24 hours * 14 days * 0.35 = 117,600 MWh
– Battery cost: 117,600 MWh * $350,000/MWh = $41.16 billion AUD
6. Total capital cost estimate:
– Wind farm (1,500 MW due to overbuild): 1,500,000 kW * $1,749/kW = $2.62 billion AUD
– Battery: $41.16 billion AUD
– Transmission: $1.158 billion AUD
– Total: $44.938 billion AUD
7. Annual costs:
– O&M: 2% of capital = $898.76 million AUD
– Battery replacement (every 10 years): $4.116 billion AUD annualized = $411.6 million AUD
8. Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) calculation:
– Annual energy production: 1,000 MW * 8760 hours * 0.35 = 3,066,000 MWh
– Capital recovery factor (10% discount rate, 25 years): 0.11017
– Annual capital cost: $44.938 billion * 0.11017 = $4.951 billion AUD
– Total annual cost: $4.951 billion + $898.76 million + $411.6 million = $6.261 billion AUD
LCOE = $6.261 billion / 3,066,000 MWh = $2,042/MWh AUD
Converting to USD:
LCOE ≈ $1,348/MWh USD or $1.35/kWh USD
This estimate is significantly higher than conventional power sources due to the large battery storage requirement for a 2-week wind drought and the overbuild factor. It’s important to note that this is a simplified calculation and actual costs could vary based on specific project details, technological advancements, and economies of scale.
10
Wind: costs seem ok, and in line with Stockyard Hill, plus appreciation.
Battery: still way under, would double the capital cost. Still don’t understand why two weeks storage is required.
Transmission line cost: seems to be an unusual way of quoting cost. All recent references to transmission line costs have been in $/km, a fixed figure, regardless of how much power is transmitted.
Your wind CF figure is out – should be 30% in Australia. I believe that 35% is a classic EIA figure for the U.S., and is still wrong for there.
30
The system proposed by Perplexity has an installed wind capacity of 1500MW and annual output of 3,066,000MWh; corresponding to a CF of 23.3%. Probably realistic given the level of battery storage.
I specified a wind drought of 2 weeks, which is commonly observed in Victoria usually in May or June. There is only 50% overbuild in wind capacity so not much extra capacity to catch up fast.
Perplexity is not capable of optimising the mix of generation and battery storage to minimise the cost but it would be possible to run a few scenarios to get an indication of what a cost minimised system would look like.
IN 2024, the installed wind generating capacity of 13.3GW produced 31.9TWh corresponding to CF of 27.4%. So far, economic offloading is minimal so this is not far off their unbridled CF. The situation is different when overbuild is required to be a dispatchable source.
20
Thanks for the National grid wind figure for 2024 – good solid numbers to reference in the future.
I have always allowed for 10% of the National grid backup to be provided by Snowy 2, allowing 90% to be backed up by gas or batteries.
00
This is what could be achieved with firmed solar.
What will be the cost in USD of electricity from a solar farm in western Victoria able to supply dispatchable power allowing for a minimum of 2 hours full sunshine over two days with overbuild to minimise battery cost with winter time capacity factor of 15%: battery life of ten years; annual maintenance and operating cost of 2% of capital; a 300km transmission line and 10% discount rate over a 20 year life.
To calculate the cost of electricity from a solar farm in western Victoria with the given specifications, we’ll use the most recent data available and make some assumptions where necessary. All costs will be converted to USD using an exchange rate of 1 AUD = 0.66 USD.
1. Solar farm costs:
– Capital cost: $1 million to $1.5 million AUD per MW[5]
– We’ll use $1.25 million AUD per MW
– Assuming a 100 MW base capacity: 100 MW * $1.25 million = $125 million AUD
2. Overbuild factor:
– To account for 15% winter capacity factor and 2 hours full sunshine over two days, we’ll assume a 400% overbuild
– Total solar capacity: 400 MW
3. Battery storage costs:
– Current prices: $300-$437/kWh AUD for large-scale projects[2]
– We’ll use $350/kWh AUD
4. Battery capacity calculation:
– 100 MW * 2 hours = 200 MWh
– Battery cost: 200 MWh * $350,000/MWh = $70 million AUD
5. Transmission costs:
– 300km line: $1,158,000/MW AUD[1]
– For 100 MW: $115.8 million AUD
6. Total capital cost estimate:
– Solar farm (400 MW due to overbuild): 400 MW * $1.25 million = $500 million AUD
– Battery: $70 million AUD
– Transmission: $115.8 million AUD
– Total: $685.8 million AUD
7. Annual costs:
– O&M: 2% of capital = $13.716 million AUD
– Battery replacement (every 10 years): $7 million AUD annualized = $0.7 million AUD
8. Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) calculation:
– Annual energy production: 100 MW * 8760 hours * 0.15 (winter capacity factor) = 131,400 MWh
– Capital recovery factor (10% discount rate, 20 years): 0.11746
– Annual capital cost: $685.8 million * 0.11746 = $80.556 million AUD
– Total annual cost: $80.556 million + $13.716 million + $0.7 million = $94.972 million AUD
LCOE = $94.972 million / 131,400 MWh = $722.77/MWh AUD
Converting to USD:
LCOE ≈ $477.03/MWh USD or $0.48/kWh USD
This estimate is higher than conventional power sources due to the significant overbuild factor, battery storage requirement, and transmission costs. It’s important to note that this is a simplified calculation and actual costs could vary based on specific project details, technological advancements, and economies of scale.
Wind droughts are serious economic impediments to firmed wind because the storage cost is an absolute killer. Sun comes up every day but there are some days when not much gets to the ground. But still more reliable than wind.
Also, I think Perplexity has screwed up the battery replacement cost. I would need to get it to review this. It tells me it is incapable of making mistakes but it sometimes gets things wrong.
10
Think your solar CF is off. Correct me if I’m wrong as it’s not clear, but you seem to be assuming an average large-scale solar CF over the year at 25%. In practice, it’s only 16.26%.
The figures I have for full-system costs of both wind and solar, taken over the longer lifetime of nuclear, are:
Solar: $15,000/kWh.
Onshore wind: $12,400/kWh.
The amount of backup isn’t stated, but I expect that it’s minimal, well below your two weeks.
20
I just specified the requirement for dispatchable power under realistic sunlight conditions. Perplexity arrived at the CF of 3.75%. The CF is based on its chosen 400MW of panels producing 131,400MWh annually.
If the panels were tracking then the winter CF would be higher than 15% in most of Australia.
My off-grid system has a CF of 3.8% so the 3.75% looks reasonable.
10
Does anyone want it that way or not, this issue will be at the very top in a month or so.
How about we produce our own argument and distribute it ourselves?
There is no need for any Party involvement.
Got a nice name Windpower For Dummies.
00
Probably something that JoNova should promote.
I am happy to help people use Perplexity to get it lowest cost firmed wind power cost.
00
The figure of 16.26% was produced I believe from Tony and the team, based on actual grid inputs averaged over a year.
Every time I look at images of large-scale arrays in Australia, I don’t see any ability to track. There may be some that do, but I doubt that they are the majority.
00
The two local solar farms are tracking, I think that is standard.
00
I have not seen any tracking applied to recent solar PV installations.
Since solar panel prices dropped significantly, it is cheaper to simply install more panels with diverse E, W, angles to even out the power distribution during the day.
Hopefully someone with recent experience of commercial solar installations can comment !
00
Best wishes to all who celebrate living in this beautiful country. My husband and I have travelled from east to west (literally – crossing the amazing Tanami Track) and from north to south of Australia and criss crossed over the rest of it. It is a stunning land, traversed, worked and loved by Aborigines and later immigrants from all over the world. It lives within all our hearts.
Sadly, we noted fewer Australian flags celebrating this connection this year. We must resist those who would divide us. Those of us who live on the land (and within its heartland) develop an especially close relationship with it, as do those who live on its beautiful coastline. We can reconcile the preservation of the natural environment with the development and harvesting of its resources.
Happy Australia Day.
220
Yes, a happy Australia Day to those love our country, for what is was rather than what it had become, but what it will be again.
Deport the haters to the UK or Canada.
/sorry to poms and Canadians. Grin.
Of wind turbines and….lamb!…
https://youtu.be/TgNVLr54G6E?si=LA5E0cJ367nRPOnU
60
Google does an oopsy and forgets Biden!
Joe Biden was hit with one final insult after handing the White House to Donald Trump – Google left him off the list of US presidents
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14317471/joe-biden-insult-google-search-engine-donald-trump.html
Well, he was always an installed puppet anyway.
80
I’ve decided to start 2025 on Feb 1st.
I’m considering January to be a 30 day trial, to see how I like it.
70
JC II
Or maybe this one –
“To all my Friends: I need to be more active & spend less time on the computer,
so December 31st will be my last day on Facebook for the year.
I will return at the start of the New Year on January 1st.
Thank you for understanding,
I’ll miss you all dearly”
https://accordingtohoyt.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/10858514_10155563430007355_3299995930792045548_n.png
30
Distribution of foreign nationals in Australia (and Canada)
https://imgbox.com/BFKCnIk3
Where do you buy a meat pie in Oz any more? 😎
10
Plenty of meat pie shops in Australia. For NSW, there is a good one at Half Circular Quay in Sydney NSW. A good one in Kiama NSW and at Moss Vale NSW.
Any ‘Cafe De Wheels’ sells a good meat pie.
40
There was a good one in Lithgow until retirement came around and they failed to sell the business. He sold the recipes instead.
21
A Shell Service Station in Lithgow sold the pies and they were the best pies of all in my opinion, I often drove through Lithgow heading to Far Western NSW and always stopped there.
A little bit off putting located alongside a very large cemetery
30
Meat pie and green peas is a good meal.
20
Miami Bakery outlets, when driving down south out of Perth.
10
Yatala Pies
70
Is it still going?
00
Yatala Pies is 2.8 Km from where I live here in Beenleigh.
I get their family steak and bacon pie around four/five times a year. Without doubt, the best pies (any of them, and I’ve had a few) are from this outlet, and there is a fairly long queue every time I visit.
They also make the best custard tarts as well.
Tony.
30
Bucks Pies, Yark, Victoria. Tiny little miners cottage done up as a shop front. Open 4 days a week, the other days they’re out the back baking.
As a plus a couple of other little places also sell “where the fark is Yark” stubbie holders. Always HUGE crowds at this little beauty of a pie shop!
30
Will give them a go when next there!
10
Haydens pies Ulladulla, NSW.
https://www.haydenspies.com.au/menu
10
FWIW
“Facebook “Fact Checks” Prof. Will Happer”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/01/25/facebook-fact-checks-prof-will-happer/
10
It may have been noted here before that Pete Hegseth has been confirmed as USA secretary of Defence. Margin was just 1 vote.
Marco Rubio, John Ratcliffe and Kristi Noem have also been confirmed. Some nominees are still awaiting hearings.
https://people.com/trump-cabinet-nominees-confirmation-process-tracker-8775134
Kash Patel to FBI, Tulsi Gabbard are RFK Jr are likely to be hardest to get confirmed. They probably have more enemies than friends in congress. It will likely be a leap of faith for the republicans to support any of them despite Trump’s nomination.
43
“It may have been noted here before that Pete Hegseth has been confirmed as USA secretary of Defence. Margin was just 1 vote.”
3 RINOs voted “No” making it 50 – 50. Then Vance had the casting vote
31
The demonrats made a big deal of that, ignoring that Harris cast the deciding vote in the Senate 33 times iirc.
40
The big deal on that one was that they were able to go around the democrat and RINO opponents
10
FWIW
One way of water bombing
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ReuvkT09NaE?feature=share
Via SDA
10
That’s not as easy as it looks. The aircraft is a hell of a lot heavier at lift off than it was at touchdown.
10
H – yes but sort of but –
I saw an item on this a few days ago pointing out that the fire bombing planes carry payloads lower than their potential with freight and normal airstrips – so are relatively more manoeuvrable.
I’ve got a magazine article on the Martin Mars boats that were used in British Columbia as fire bombers –
20,000 gallons (probably Imp as Canada) every 15 minutes –
The downside? You needed a 5 mile lake to operate from
(I’ll dig up the reference tomorrow)
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There is a video of a water truck kicking up dust on a hillside as they pulled up.
There is more on the topic here: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=blancolirio+channel+aerial+water+bombing
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Wow !..20,000 gallons is 75+ Tons !…..are you sure ?
I read that the C130 water bombers only carry 3000 gals . (<15 tons )
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