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
This seems an appropriate place to link to an excellent short article on the demise of the High St in the UK
https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/the-assisted-dying-of-your-high-street/
The demise is more marked in the UK than other countries I visit, not helped by more expensive parking fees and the seeming desire of Brits to avoid going out of the house and getting delivered even the smallest most mundane things. Our local supermarket tells me that people are quite happy to fork out the delivery charge of say £5 in order to get delivered quickly a vape or a bottle of something. WE will be like Daleks in future ad lose the use of our legs.
I don’t know what its like in OZ as regards parking charges or a desire to get everything delivered.
90
Agree – an excellent article. For me living near a small town in a relatively rural county (Washington State), some of the points in the article do not apply.
In the State’s largest place:
A waffle shop (Bebop) just closed in West Seattle because of a higher minimum wage; up $3.51/hour, and $4 more than the State’s minimum wage.
I don’t know how many she employed but those folks may — or may not — have found new work. She notified them in November.
70
Completely understandable, who wants to go to shops that masquerade as warehouses, where you have to do everything yourself and then lug your purchases to a parking lot miles from anywhere and pay for the parking?
May as well order online, where the shop employee walks the isles to find your goods and then packages and delivers them.
31
You may be surprised to know that the most mundane of things were delivered door to door until the seventies. The green grocers truck would travel down the street on set days, as would the cordial companies truck, the ice cream van, the paper boy and the before then the night cart, the ice man etc.
Anything else you required was available within easy walking distance at one of the local corner shops with the butcher and baker generally next door.
The advent of the supermarket and the satellite suburbs was to sell cars, fuel & tyres. You had to make it too difficult to walk to the shop. The end result was sprawling suburbs like Los Angeles and we are now reaping the fruits of this marketing disaster. As stupid as the introduction of the Cane Toad.
30
Our supermarkets have more people picking orders than they do on the checkouts. That’s part of the problem, slow checkouts.
51
As an engineer in Mining and Fire..
I have some advice…
To all you “first” world countries now slipping to third world status…
All I can say is… Make Coal Great Again..
Imho, you wont be disappointed.
500
Absolutely agree. And update coal to HELE, if only to halve coal consumption and double the life of a critical resource. It would also halve CO2, but no one really seems to care about reducing CO2. They just hate coal because it’s ‘black’.
420
Reduced CO2 productiom of HELE is a disadvantage for the environment but reduced fuel consumption is good as it will potentially reduce electricity costs and extend coal mine life.
310
I wrote an article on super-critical and ultra-supercritical steam power stations.
I don’t like the term HELE (high efficiency low emissions) because it implies that emissions are a problem when they’re not.
https://www.siliconchip.com.au/Issue/2015/December/Super+%2526+Ultra-Super-Critical+Steam+Power+Stations
I can’t believe it was so long ago I wrote this…
260
David Maddison, #2.1.1.1
____Still remember that article. Got that issue floating around here somewhere.
20
Thanks Paul.
00
The % of CO2 in the environment is determined by the oceans, not by anything we do. So yes, if we could reduce CO2, that would negatively impact life on earth.
But as the ocean surface warms, a combination of increased solar intensity (De Vries osciallation) and ocean oscillations (AMO/PDO), tree cover of the planet is booming in direct proportion to increased Carbon Dioxide. The tiny amount returned to the air by burning fossil fuels (historically <1% of what is already in the air) is of no consequence. And what is in the air is <2% of what is in the ocean.
There is no known connection between human CO2 output and total CO2, except in the very short term of 2.0% in transit. The very idea that humans can change CO2 in the atmosphere is absurd, unsupported by evidence and a denial of simple equilibrium. Any shift of the CO2 equilibrium is due to ocean currents as 98% of all CO2 is flowing in currents in the ocean. Or surface temperature changes which would tend to deplete, not increase ocean surface CO2.
250
As for the pejorative term ’emissions’ we are now in the farcical position with language where CO2 ’emissions’ like breathing are harmful and nuclear ’emissions’ do not exist or are relatively harmless.
140
TdeF makes a strong argument about this but some of the details are unclear.
Why for instance is the atmospheric CO2 rising at present and at such a stready rate?
CO2 correlates with sea surface temperatures over short periods (annual cycle). This is seen both at Mauna Loa and Cape Grim.
https://capegrim.csiro.au/
The annual cycle is evidence that CO2 turnover between ocean and atmosphere is indeed very rapid.
But what is causing the year on year increase?
Does the global deep water circulation (Ocean Conyeyer Belt) have anything to do with it?
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/tutorial_currents/05conveyor2.html#:~:text=The%20conveyor%20belt%20moves%20at,hundreds%20of%20centimeters%20per%20second).
20
My expectation is ocean currents. Almost all CO2 is in the ocean and most of the ocean is moving because it’s water on a spinning ball. These massive gyres take gas and heat in great circles and both up and down. Sometimes very quickly, as with the 9km/hr Gulf Stream and others are likely gigantic vibrations in water which is up to 11km deep and 3.5km on average. These manifest in many ways but the El Nino/La Nina is one such display. Plus the amount of gas is very small in fact. The entire atmosphere is only 1/350th of the weight of the oceans.
So changes are expected. The only question is the frequency of such changes as exhibited in the base level of CO2. And by observation it is quite long at 0.4% a year at present. I would guess at an oscillation frequency of around 1,000 years in CO2. We would however not see this in the ice record because the time resolution of ice cores is a few thousand years.
The other indication that the CO2 has come from the ocean is that ocean CO2 levels have gone up. While this is falsely attributed to increase atmospheric CO2, the more obvious conclusion is avoided. That increased ocean surface CO2 direclty causes increased atmospheric CO2, as in Henry’s Law.
And to answer your question, the time lapse of the very slow ocean conveyor of 1,000 years does seem to match the observed steady change in base CO2 ignoring the seasonal fluctuations near the equator. It’s not proof but just as salinity varies, we can expect that temperature and gas content varies as well. So a real candidate.
But no one really wants an explanation for changing CO2. They are convinced that coincidence is proof. Unfortunately even Dr. Will Happer and his CO2 Coalition who are too determined to laud the value of increased CO2 and determined not to be distracted by proof that man made CO2 is a scam.
90
Whoa! You can’t use the word “blak”: See David’s comment #11 yesterday.
60
The haters against coal are racist, it can’t help being black.
120
The brown coal deposits resent (or is it represent) that…..
00
It is proposed to release GM mosquitos in the Torres Strait islands and elsewhere with a view to reducing the numbers of certain species of mosquitos. Note that supposed “climate change” is one of the factors being blamed for the supposed increase in these pests.
Aa annoying as mosquitos are, is it really good idea to wipe them out or dramatically reduce their numbers? They must serve some ecological purpose.
Notice Brett Sutton, former Chief Health Officer in Victoria during covid is responsible for the project.
What could possibly go wrong?
Well, Oxitec did a similar experiment in Brazil.
130
Australia has a great history of ecological interventions and the consequent disasters. The law of unexpected consequences. The prickly pear, cane toad disaster is still with us. I dread to think of the rapid evolution possibilities of mosquito born DNA. Are we now creating our own plagues and delivery systems, just like adding the AIDS virus to Bat flu?
200
Where logical people like Bill Gates gets it wrong is that the world of genetics and evolution is dynamic. Life will find a way by serendipity. We have no hope of controlling evolution. It’s like trying to keep liquid hydrogen in a metal can. It will seep through the metal. Creating viruses with new unlikely genetic and cell structures will herald a plague to which we have no defences, as they too only evolve by mass death and selection. And we humans will try to stop that.
The Wuhan Flu was stopped by evolution of a defence in South Africa after massive losses. It was not stopped by vaccines. That is a myth. Ultimately the balance between infection and death changes so the virus can propagate, resulting in a more benign virus. This is what ended the Spanish Flu, which is still with us. And now the Wuhan flu, which will never leave us. We do not want people creating more, no matter how benign the intent.
120
Are you opposed to GMO crops?
I agree the law of unintended consequences is a huge problem with these ideas. But I also find it annoying the reaction of the anti-Gates public who are spreading on social media that Gates has a secret plan to get us all vaccinated via mosquitoes. Nonsense that was all over the place yesterday.
My point is not what is right or what is wrong, but the knee jerk reaction and knowledge of the public leaves a lot to be desired. Maybe we need genetic manipulation to try and solve mob behavioural instincts? Affects various sides of the political spectrum and sets one up for reactionary ridicule, by another reactionary mob.
14
“Are you opposed to GMO crops? ”
Hell yes!!
“the law of unintended consequences is a huge problem with these ideas.”
..and that is why! I know enough microbiology to realise their methods of genetic engineering are actually very crude and far from completely understood. You don’t just neatly snip a gene out of one piece of DNA and insert it seamlessly with another, it isn’t that clean and easy, and the problems caused may not become clear until your dud genes are in your children.
I’m sure Gates took that idea of inoculation by mosquito quite seriously, but self-reproducing DNA/RNA systems have replaced it.
The only mob behaviour important is the one that says ‘never trust something new’!
10
Sounds reasonable. But the GMO crops have been around for some time now, since the 90s to my recollection. Cotton was one of the first wasn’t it, that reduced the use of insecticides to control some moth? BT cotton was it? Memory is rusty. No problems so far that we know of at least. Same with some maize and canola? Don’t know.
But I recall the fear among environmentalists of “super weeds” for glyphosate ready crops. Hasn’t appeared so far – to my knowledge.
I agree it’s best to wait with these things for problems to evolve. I’ve done just that with a fungus to control Giant Parramatta Grass I heard of about 20 years ago. Dangerous things fungi so I applied the precautionary principle, and I haven’t heard of any problems yet, so I’m about to get some and release it.
00
The most ridiculous thing about this GM mosquito trial is that its for Dengue Fever control. Which is virtually unknown in Qld and there hasn’t been a case in years. It’s all rather pointless. Big red flag for me is Brett Sutton- old “sluggo”. Now we might get to call him “ mozzie” as well. For those not in the know, prior to his COVID mismanagement, BS public health department shut down a reputable food processing business ( Cook Foods) by planting a slug.
90
Trudeau resigns
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14254921/canada-prime-minister-justin-trudeau-announces-resignation.html
He’s still young, what will he do next? Perhaps you guys in OZ might like another very liberal PM as reading these pages you can’t get enough of them!
I do wonder who will be next, as the Ultra Liberals from New Zealand to the US fall by the wayside?
151
Fantastic news that he’s gone.
I’m sure the Chicomms gave him an offer he can’t refuse, just like when certain Australian politicians “resign” with little or no notice.
I’m guessing he won’t be offering himself for MAID as other Canadians are expected to do when they’re a bit down.
180
I believe those freedom truckers who had their bank accounts frozen
for protesting Covid Mandates will welcome Trudeau’s departure from the political scene.
10
Trudeau will join the ranks of failed dictators at the UN.
Trump could stop that by defunding the UN and deporting non USA citizens as part of his tighter border policy.
70
Yes all fantastic news. He was the worst of them all imo, just with less power.
But, is there some law of balance that applies? I found what went on in the UK yesterday with Farage extremely depressing.
Predictable though. I also predict Elon Musk will cause problems for Trump. As we have seen yesterday, he can turn on a dime in a millisecond. There are too many potential conflicts with Trump to ignore. Climate Change; free trade (what will be made of many Teslas being made in China); and immigration (as we have already seen). Plus more I would expect.
Politics is compromise. The guy is a loose wire who can become quickly obsessed with a subject and jump to abrupt conclusions, and worse, bark about them with maximum tilt. Only a short time ago he was standing with Farage taking photos and just like that, he turns on him. Says something about his character. I couldn’t do that to anyone, I’d have to give a call and discuss first at the very least.
But nope. Not Elon. He is volatile. Handle with care stickers need to be applied.
61
There is no room for two alpha males at the top of the US govt. musk is very volatile and sooner or later will annoy Trump.
Extreme wealth has accentuated any character flaws musk might have and a major falling out is on the cards..
Let’s hope it doesn’t detract from trumps mission to drain the swamp as its a very big one.
32
Err, people in glass houses…………
33
I notice there’s an ongoing egg shortage, at least in supermarkets in Melbournistan. I frequently go to the supermarket and find that the eggs are completely sold out and I have to go back later.
It looks like the government program of mass murdering all the chickens, supposedly to combat bird flu, is having the desired effect. (Destroyng an inexpensive and healthy high protein food, recall that the UN/WEF want to promote insect consumption.)
Rather than killing all the chickens wouldn’t it be better to leave them and then those genetically resistant to the disease will survive and can be bred to create resistant flocks?
And according to Wikipedia “as of December 2024 there have been no observed instances of sustained human-human transmission”.
And according to Goolag AI “Human infections with bird flu are rare and usually occur after close contact with sick birds or livestock. However, the virus can have grave consequences when it does jump to humans”.
So it seems that it is rare in humans, you can’t get it from other humans and you can only get it after sustained contact with infected livestock.
It all seems like a case of what is, quite literally, overkill.
And the disastrous mismanagement of the covid plandemic teaches us that Government and Government scientific and medical agencies absolutely cannot be trusted to properly or honestly deal with the problem.
290
It seems one of the reasons laying hens are catching bird flu is the ‘obsession’ with cage free eggs, this means hens are out in the field and in contact with wild birds that may have come from Siberia and China on their way to an Australia beach somewhere.
91
So the Law of Unintended Consequences applies yet again. Or perhaps not so unintended if the intention is to harm the food supply.
70
I’m not sure that what are marketed as cage free eggs mean that hens are out in the field. They do not live an idyllic life. They may or may not be able to roam outside an industrial scale chook shed.
Whatever you do, don’t look too closely at how the food industry works. You’ll end up like me going right off black pudding when I discovered as a child what it was made from.
50
Nothing wrong with black pudding, after all there is a revival movement to utilise all of an animal, not just the flash expensive bits. When I was a kid the stuff that was on the menu
makes people gag today. Just like a very fat Jewish gentleman that I worked for, the number tattooed on his arm warn with pride, why are you so fat, well son, have you ever been hungry?
71
There is indeed nothing wrong with black pudding or blood sausage as it is called in some parts.
It was just my squeamish sensitivities growing as a child. I’d probably be vegetarian by now if I found any of the recipes appetizing.
10
Grew up on it and still eat it every weekend. Good for iron deficiency.
30
I did read somewhere, that THEY have been working really assiduously, to help bird flu be very infectious to humans.
50
Yes they have.
20
It’s marketing BS as usual.
Free range connotes happy animals on sunny days in huge meadows on some nice old granny owned farm, pecking away.
Free range means animals must be given outdoor access but do not have to be outdoors, and the space can still be just enough to turn around in or be severely time limited.
I call them campervan chickens. 😁
Spend a week in one and you’ll understand.
It’s like a shampoo that says “clinically tested” so the consumer ASSUMES it passed those tests. It could have failed every one but the statement is still true.
Or “low carb” bread when it’s 30% carbs!
Or “high protein” at 8%.
Low is 4× high? Woke marketing?
These companies should all be fined massively.
Get your eggs from a farmer’s market or farmgate.
https://animalsaustralia.org/our-work/factory-farming/what-does-free-range-really-mean/
41
Forgive me if I sound sceptical about this idea that you can generate net energy by removing CO2 from the atmosphere, taking into account the energy cost of making the absorbent etc.
CO2 is the most oxidised neutral form of carbon and has no more energy to offer.
And why would you want to diminish this life-giving gas anyway?
130
The very idea of changing the % of even the tiniest gas in the atmosphere is denial of equilibrium. Especially CO2 which has endless sinks and sources, not least the vast ocean which replaces any missing CO2 instantly.
No gas volume is just floating around like a leaf in the wind. Everything on planet earth is in dynamic, rapid equilibrium established over vastly longer times than the lifespan of a human or a tree. The sheer ignorance in even the scientific community of equilibrium is amazing. Perhaps they think that if there is too much rain, we will run out of rain? Or if we breathe too much, we will run out of oxygen?
Droughts and flooding rains are part of the same story. But don’t ask Professor Tim Flannery about equilibrium. He has none. The drought which will never end, droughts becoming more numerous, more ‘severe’ and longer apparently.
I am still very puzzled about how a drought can be more ‘severe’. Or how droughts can be more frequent without either ceasing to be droughts or joining up and becoming fewer?
But I guess these days you cannot expect a PhD to be too bright. Take Dr. Kevin Rudd who has called Donald Trump the ‘Village Idiot’. Or Dr. Forrest who dreams of exporting hydrogen and carbon dioxide capture.
190
TdeF,
No. I don’t buy that at all.
Not to be too cruel, but I think you’re doing like the climate scientists and averaging away the complexity in the system. The most visible example would be clouds. They’re quite distinct from the surrounding air which is why we see wispy cirrus or fleecy cumulus.
I’m confident there are also pockets of warmer air and cooler air and, likewise, that you’ll have pockets of different gas compositions (e.g. near a fumarole) that don’t quickly disperse.
33
Depends a bit on how you look at it Robert.
A cloud is a local accumulation of water droplets due to local temporary inhomogeneity in the atmosphere.
The water droplets are in rapid dynamic equilibrium with water vapour. Cumulus clouds come and go with an average duration of about 15 minutes.
30
Equilibrium means in balance, even clouds are taking or giving, never in balance.
Night and day dictates equilibrium can never be achieved.
00
“I’m confident there are also pockets of warmer air and cooler air and, likewise, that you’ll have pockets of different gas compositions (e.g. near a fumarole) that don’t quickly disperse.”
The difference is pressure and expansion. Ocean pressures are many atmospheres, up to 1100:1 at maximum depth. 99.9% of the ocean is under more than 1 atmosphere of pressure. However free atmospheric gases are very low density and gas expands greatly on change of temperature. Hot air is incredibly light and can match helium in lift, so hot air balloons. Compare lowering the density of water x2. We can’t do it. The most we get is ice where the density drops 10% and ice rises to the surface. There is also the fact of the 4x difference in heat capacity per kg or specific heat. Air gets 4x hotter (in temperature change) with the same energy input which in turns fuels rapid expansion.
Hot air by comparison rises with enormous force and speed, carrying moisture with it and rapidly mixes. It’s the basis of all our weather, that air expands and rises, cools and falls. None of this is true or possible with water. You can change water temperature by 40C and it hardly grows. You can cool it by 20C and it does not fall. The effect on air is dramatic.
Finally you get compressibility. Air intermingles and is very compressible. Water is not. So water does not mix easily, with hot water rising because there is no expansion or compression creating a force to make it rise or fall. So water currents exist which do not intermingle but flow like rivers in the water. The Gulf Stream is 100km wide and 1km deep and moves at 9km/hr. Which is why ships seek it out or avoid it. In the Convoys of WWII where the Liberty ships could only make 14km/hr it was life and death to catch the 9km/hr current. Such things do not exist in the air on this scale. Air is far too turbulent horizontally and vertically.
The breakthrough for obtaining force with water are the two points, freezing to a solid at 0C and boiling to a gas at 100C when water changes its form. Then you can get the expansion power of a hot gas which drove steam engines. It was the breakthrough, the power of expansion of gas. Water is only good for hydraulics, the transfer of force or power. Ice is comparatively useless, although the Egyptians used the force of the unstoppable 10% expansion to cleave gigantic blocks of stone.
30
TdeF,
That seems like a fair amount of arm-waving and in any case tends to bear out my claims of complexity.
Equilibrium surely applies at the tiny level. That’s where basic physics works. But for the whole atmosphere? Basic physics hasn’t a thing to say.
You describe the behaviour as rapid equilibrium. I say no. It might be the eternal pursuit of equilibrium, but we’ll never see it reached.
22
What a load of speculation.
Equilibrium rules wherever there are exchanges of energy or materials.
It is the basis of physics and chemistry and works at all scales and timeframes.
22
Equilibrium can never be achieved on a rotating ball with half being sunbaked, which I assume is his point.
The planet is not your fridge.
10
Joe,
Very strange claim — quasi mystical — but let me give limited agreement: we will ultimately reach equilibrium. It’s usually called the heat death of the universe. I expect a clever physicist might even be able to come up with an equilibrium temperature. It’s a bit useless though, don’t you think? This is a case where the journey is more interesting than the destination.
10
Triple point
10
You are right to be skeptical.
They said ” The electricity that the team could generate from their nanogenerator could partially offset the energy required to release the captured gas, lowering the overall energy cost of carbon capture, Zhang says. ”
So no net energy is generated so no ” wearable devices powered by CO2 “.
Carbon Capture and Storage is a waste of energy.
120
A quick look at the electronegativity tables indicates that oxygen at 3.44 COULD be replaced by Fluorine at 3.98 and that the reaction could produce some electricity.
Of course, the energy cost of producing Fluorine elsewhere would have to be ignored and also the risks of carrying around a quantity of pure Fluorine.
But in theory, it could be done.
And of course. I’m looking at the elemental electronegativity tables. You COULD have a molecule with a higher affinity than oxygen, however if you thought Fluorine was bad anything that reactive is probably going to be worse.
Would you wear something reactive close to your skin? In a packed train? On a plane?
Maybe the University of Queensland just changed the laws of chemistry instead of actually making this product.
I’m also skeptical of the claims from UQ. Maybe they should demonstrate the product instead of doing a press release.
40
The word ‘nanogenerator’ suggests to one that it may generate a nanowatt or two.
40
The Australian – Fears for Syrian women as Islamist hardliners take key roles
Footage of the execution of two women by al-Qa’ida commanders who are now in Syria’s new government have raised concerns about the new leader’s plans for the country.
‘Moderate’ New Islamist Rulers of Syria Publicly Humiliate German Foreign Minister Baerbock, Refuse To Shake Her Hand, Syrian Channels Blur Her Out in Pictures
Rarely was a disaster so predictable.
BILD reported (translated from German):
“Annalena Baerbock’s visit to Syria on Friday has another aftermath: In Damascus, the new ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa did not shake hands with the Federal Foreign Minister at first – unlike her male companions.
Now comes the next discrimination: Islamist news channels from the environment of the new rulers spread photos of Baerbock’s visit – and censor the German politician in the process!”
The humiliation began at her arrival at Damascus airport: Syrians did not shake her hand – so she shook the hands of German officials instead, with gusto!
Telegraph UK – Teach children to identify as Muslim instead of British, says frontrunner for Islamic body
Wajid Akhter, standing to be general secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain, also condemned new year celebrations as ‘pagan’
Children in the Islamic community should be taught to identify themselves primarily as Muslim rather than British, the frontrunner to lead the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has said.
Wajid Akhter, who is standing to be general secretary of the MCB, warned in an article that teaching children to identify primarily with their nationality or ethnicity could make them shallow, whereas choosing their faith as their primary identity provided a solid foundation to approach life.
He also called being a Muslim an “act of revolutionary defiance… at odds with the prevailing culture” and condemned new year celebrations as “pagan”, “mixed-gender” and “the first step on a slippery slope”, according to analysis of his speeches and writings by think tank Policy Exchange.
Dr Akhter, a doctor from Essex, looks set to lead the MCB, an influential body representing the Muslim community. He had a senior role in The Muslim Vote, a campaign at the last election to defeat Labour and Conservative candidates in favour of MPs sympathetic to Palestine, and hostile to UK counter-terror policy.
The only other candidate, Muhammad Adrees, praised “the Iranian Revolution when the great leader [Ayatollah Khomeini] led the nation to its destiny” in a publication linked to the Tehran regime, according to Policy Exchange.
80
FLASHBACK
Upbeat 1948 newsreel about Yallourn Power Station in Sicktoria, Australia from a time when Australia appeared to have a bright future.
We even had a Labor Government with Ben Chifley as PM but he’d be considered “far far right” by today’s standards, LoL, as he was fiercely anti-communist.
https://youtu.be/eWXFnVT5Wj0
100
At Last Trudeau Resigns in the Face of a No-Confidence February Vote –
Finally, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that he would resign as prime minister and Liberal leader after a replacement was chosen. Our sources have been saying that unless he resigned, they would remove him publicly with a no-confidence vote in February. It chose January 6th, the very day that Congress is set to certify the vote in the United States for Trump. This explains the Arrays from December 27th and January 3rd that showed an important turning point for the 6th with a Panic Cycle on the 7th. Perhaps we were biased in thinking Trump might influence this, but Trudeau chose January 6th, hoping the major news would be on Trump and that he could hide behind those headlines.
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/international-news/canada/at-last-trudeau-resigns-in-the-face-of-a-no-confidence-february-vote/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=RSS
42
Regarding the Trudeau resignation: Haters will say this is AI generated.
https://x.com/DrEliDavid/status/1876326135962751110
40
Looks like a “Yes But” to that
“Is Justin Trudeau Stepping Down? Really?”
In “Comments”
“In other words:
Canada will not be able to take any Parliamentary Action to prevent him doing whatever he wants for the next 3 months as he has put them out to pasture. Meanwhile, as PM, he is in charge and doing whatever he wants. BUT, in a few months, then he’ll resign, maybe, if his party doesn’t ask him nicely to stay.”
https://chiefio.wordpress.com/2025/01/06/is-justin-trudeau-stepping-down-really/
40
With Trudeau on the way out, can Canadians get their free speech back?
BY JONATHAN TURLEY, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR –
20
If Canucks wanted free speech they would have gotten rid of Trudeau years ago. like Australians they yearn for the nanny state.
00
Because the Left have become parodies of themselves, I can’t tell if the following is a joke or not:
Elsewhere it is claimed she can’t get her hand into the package. I guess it didn’t occur to her that she could tilt the tube.
I suspect it’s a joke however, but can’t be 100% sure.
60
What about a convicted terrorist suing UK pubs over ‘offensive’ name.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14251943/Landlord-Saracens-Head-pub-blasts-terrorist-suing.html
80
He said he is offended by the association with the Crusades but the Crusades themselves were partly a response to Saracen expansion.
And the Saracens themselves routinely cut off heads.
Their descendants still do.
80
In Post Modern history, the Saracens were ‘largely peaceful’. Like the Mongols. The White male (European) Patriachy is the problem. And misinformation.
LGBITQ++ is accepted in benevolent Muslim countries like Iran, Pakistan, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Libya and what is called Palestine. I wonder how many gay bars with music there are in Tehran?
60
I’ve heard that the gay bars in Tehran are all roof top bars.
Has anyone heard of any other formats?
100
Other formats include hanging around on the ends of ropes.
But Persians are especially cruel when hanging homosexuals. They don’t “drop” them to quickly snap the neck and cause a rapid death (at a distance determined by the British “Official Table of Drops” or the US “Procedure for Military Executions” handbook, 1947) but just hoist them off the ground where the cruel asphyxiation might take up to one hour.
But interestingly Iran does “treat” homosexuals by exactly the same method as the Left advocate in the West, by requiring homosexuals to undergo transgender procedures. Problem solved!
30
* If you choose to exit this way, be sure to read the instructional book first. Don’t hang around!
10
Is she saying pringles should be in a 4L can.
60
Biden bans offshore drilling for oil and gas.
50
This action raises some aspects of administrative law.
It varies slightly by country but the general idea is that to undo an administrative action the decision maker must have considered all relevant issues and not considered any irrelevant issues.
So the Trump administration is likely to find itself challenged in the courts if it undoes these capricious acts of the Biden administration on its way out the door.
To me the interesting part is the comparative freedom of decision makers to make capricious decisions in the first place. It is a bit similar to the wisdom that it is sometimes better to act without permission and seek forgiveness later. You then get a fight over the forgiveness but not over the act itself.
50
In 2019, during Trump’s first term, a federal judge ruled that OCSLA does not permit presidents to overturn bans established by previous administrations. This means Trump would need congressional approval to reverse Biden’s decision.
Trump said that he “has the right” to reverse such an action, but given that Biden issued the order under a 1953 law that allows the president to enact bans on oil and gas development, he would not be able to simply reverse it.
2 Things
1. Surely any executive order issued by President Biden could be challenged by his Mental State – Bluntly who is signing all this? – because Biden is not Compos Mentis
2. 1 Federal Judge – can be appealed, but probably best to put it to Congress immediately, on basis Trump campaigned on “Drill, Baby. Drill” and DemoCraps voting against it, would be going against the Will of the American People – Democrat Fettterman could be a vote for “Drill. Baby, Drill”.
90
Yes, that’s the nub of it.
And your second point is particularly pertinent because that it how the separation of powers works. When the judiciary goes too far off on a frolic of its own it is up to the legislature to introduce or amend relevant laws.
I should add that Biden has despite all the evidence not been found to be out of his tiny mind. And there is no possibility that the courts would find him so without the congress having trodden that path first.
10
“I should add that Biden has despite all the evidence not been found to be out of his tiny mind.”
But officially too addled to stand trial for stealing confidential Govt documents… Can’t be both.
10
Oh there you go bringing logic into it. The court system doesn’t work like that and the political system even less so.
00
We can only hope that Donald authorises the world’s largest drilling operation just off Rehoboth beach. Unfortunately, in his condition, old Joe probably wouldn’t even notice.
70
American beaches are horrible anyway, from what I’ve seen. Australia has the best beaches by far, including those of the Carribean which people seem to rate, but they have no waves and the water is too warm.
10
News outlet … ABC Australia.
Topic … Summer formation of El Nino 2025
Context of the reporting … “The BOM made a major change to how they communicate climate indicators last month (Dec 2024), moving away from reporting on individual drivers, and instead encouraging the community and media to follow their official forecasts.”
Quote of the day … “A likely catalyst of the change was the “hot and dry summer” headlines following the declaration of El Niño in September 2023, even though historically El Niño has not normally reduced summer rain.”
The ‘laughability’ factor … Sept 2023 BOM press release – which specifically mentioned multiple ‘climate drivers’ and literally forecast above average temperatures and below average rainfall (which was wrong)
Observation … Not only has the BOM be clowned itself – but ABC News Australia has reported itself as a blatant purveyor of Climate Change misinformation
60
FWIW
” “WESTERN “LEADERSHIP” IS ALL ABOUT THE WORDS, NOT THE DEEDS: The Russian Threat and the Apparently Endless Words Vs. Deeds Problem. “If you take the news at face value, Russia is a major threat to Europe — and beyond. If Putin wins in Ukraine, the whole continent is threatened. NATO faces a desperate challenge to contain the Russian menace. So let’s look at how NATO countries are working to meet the danger.” ”
https://chrisbray.substack.com/p/the-russian-threat-and-the-apparently
Concludes
“Apparently the real conflict is the war against seriousness. The performative urgency and panicked rhetoric, the only apparent behavior of the global political class, is paired with…not much shipbuilding. We seem to be living in the age of Potemkin everything. The ratio of talk to teeth speaks loudly.”
Via https://instapundit.com/694349/#disqus_thread
10
He’s a bit slow for the party.. A warship these days is just a target for a missile or a drone. It will take a couple of decades for anti-drone measures to catch up, they are talking of fielding the first AI controlled drones this year, yet another step ahead.
10
Questions for Ken who posted on inflation yesterday.
What State are you resident
What was your rate of inflation for electricity? If you have the split in energy and service fee, I would be interested in their individual inflation rates.
20
RickWill,
I am in NSW.
The inflation rate for Electricity is 10% per annum, but it is only that low because I have switched suppliers several times (about once per year) to get the best deal. The service fee is typically 20% of the total bill, but I don’t have separate inflation rates.
I have a spreadsheet model that evaluates power plans against my usage and yields the best deal overall.
The inflation rate for groceries is 33%, for petrol is 31%, medical 46%, eating out 32%.
20
The inflation figures you have assessed are Whitlam era crazy. The reducing productivity is really impacting now.
I have been doing an assessment for installing a battery and the level of inflation plays a pivotal role in that assessment. Surely the electricity inflation rate of 10% will not continue. My supply charge has inflated at 5.4%pa for the last decade. I think that is a more reasonable number for the next 10 years but then I have lingering memory of the inflation under Whitlam.
10
All of this debanking nonsense came a bit too close for comfort last night.
I have grown used to various pieces of security software asking “is this you” on my phone when I do something on my laptop. So I wasn’t too surprised when an email arrived apparently from my bank asking whether a debit card transaction was really me. The email asked me to respond “yes that was me”. It promised to notify me when my response was processed.
Without thinking very hard I did respond “yes that was me”. But then the follow up response didn’t appear. I decided to log on to the bank web page to see whether anything was amiss. That told me my account had been locked for security reasons. That made me think of two possibilities. Either then bank was being overzealous in protecting me, or something really bad had happened.
The web page gave me a number to call so I did. Wouldn’t you know it they were experiencing a higher than usual number of calls and all of their droids (I forget the exact euphemism) were busy. An hour on hold and my overactive imagination was coming up with all sorts of possibilities. And worst of all I had no way to check anything. My only way forward was to listen to the curiously irritating music.
Eventually a very efficient droid answered the phone. By this stage I was more than a little suspicious as to whether I really was talking to the bank or whether this was all part of an elaborate scam. A few of the questions were a little too close to asking for my grandmother’s sock size.
At any rate the droid fixed the problem while I was on the phone. I never did receive the response promised in the bank’s first email.
But for almost three hours I had no access at all to any of my accounts. Not even an ability to check account balances. And there was nothing I could do other than talk to the bank’s computer through the intermediary of the droid.
For those interested the purchase which triggered this was some catheter valves from an Australian business which instantly debited my card (in A$). For reasons unknown to me a US$0 hold on my card also appeared about 20 minutes later.
And the thought crosses my mind as to how I would buy groceries today had that been my only bank and the computer had said no (in the Little Britain vernacular) and I didn’t have a little cash in my wallet.
And a far worse thought crosses my mind as to what happens when the banks act on evil instructions as they did in Canada and they simply debank a big chunk of the population according to an algorithm and a social credit score.
At least I can sleep uneasily in the knowledge that the bank was at all times acting in my best interests.
31
It pays to think about unusual circumstances.
About 30 years ago, I sat down with a financial consultant. One of his first recommendations was to establish separate banking arrangements for my financially dependent wife. We had teenage boys at the time and he pointed out that she needed to have access to a bank account solely in her name with enough mommy to get by for a few months without any access to my accounts, which would be frozen..
I have a credit card with two banks. I use one of those with low limit for overseas travel and web purchases. It was once used for fraudulent purchases in the Philippines after a visit there.
I have some cash at home but do not carry much cash. In the event of power outage or bank system failure not many businesses continue to function. Better to have food in the garden, pantry and freezer with ability to run freezer without mains power.
On a slightly different tack, with ageing, we have nominated one son to have medical power of attorney and another financial power of attorney.. The one with the medical power of attorney has a good understanding of quality of life. During his medical training, he has spent time in dementia wards and has formed the opinion that some adult offsprings lack an appreciation of quality of life.
00
“with enough mommy to get by for a few months”
Definitely what the kids would have needed Rick!
00
Electile dysfunction: The inability to be excited by any the parties standing for election.
20
Oh no, I have that!
00
Wearing clothes can make you sick
Norovirus microbes can silently lurk in clothes fabric for up to a month, infecting those who touch them, experts warned today amid a worrying spike in infections.
Other fabric-covered objects such a chairs, sofas, cushions and even curtains could also harbour the highly contagious virus.
Cases of the winter vomiting bug, which can also cause diarrhoea, are up 40 per cent on previous years, figures show.
Experts fear any further surges could pile extra pressure on an already stretched health service that is already battling a tidal wave of flu.
Norovirus is usually spread through close contact with someone who is infected, or by touching surfaces or objects, or eating food someone infected has touched.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-14246863/Norovirus-spreading-clothes-furniture-experts-warn-infections-surge-vomiting-bug-linger-fabric-month.html
Seriously, only one person in 500 needs to ditch the clothes. 😆
10
Politicians make people sick.. They’re up 40% this year too.
Its interesting that working from home isn’t decreasing the cases. I’m sure its mainly spread in crowded offices/restaurants/public transport, and via sewerage in apartment blocks and big buildings.
00
I was today old when I found out they were / are putting mercury in some vaccines as a preservative.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Thimerosal&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-au&client=safari
00
FWIW
“Is Wind Power Cheaper Than Gas?”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/01/07/is-wind-power-cheaper-than-gas/
00