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
When grilled on the insanity of building solar installations and then blocking out the sun, the British Secretary of State fails to answer:
Video 45 seconds
https://files.catbox.moe/3qysg9.MP4
160
The clueless is staggering.
And the area of Once Great Britain as a percentage of the earth’s total surface is 0.05%.
How many degrees is blocking out the sun over that country going to lower the temperature by?
Even if they could convince other stupid countries to do this like Australia (1.51%) or Canada (1.96%), how much difference would it make? They certainly won’t convince other large area countries such as the USA, China, Russia or Brazil to block put the sun.
The lunacy is unbelievable.
And more importantly why would you want to do it in the first place?
190
They’re not clueless, they’re corrupt. The whole point of AGW is to spend huge sums of money on ‘stuff’, in the process of which fortunes are made by the very same people passing the legislation, along with their conspirators in science, academia, NGOs and business. This is why money can be spent on actions that appear to be contradictory; it doesn’t have to make sense when the actual objective is just to move vast sums of money around in a complicated and hard-to-follow manner, thus concealing massive theft.
Musk’s success in exposing the USAID ‘business model’ has brought about a new era of enlightenment, not that it comes as any surprise to me. I have been saying this for years.
90
Net zero
https://i.imgur.com/BBZdbVJ.jpeg
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/spains-power-generation-nearly-back-normal-after-monday-blackout-says-grid-2025-04-29/
190
I like the wording in the link “nearly back to normal”
Not so comforting when normal means teetering on the edge of a blackout. Still I suppose it was a rare atmospheric phenomena after all, I mean what’s the chance of having one of those again?
I’m guessing the remaining real generators and interconnectors are getting a good workout at the moment.
110
Of course they warned them. They know how power systems work. (Nice bit of pre-emptive arse covering tho.)
80
Pity they didn’t get the message through ten years ago.
00
After the Spain/Portugal Renewables Debacle, proceeded by South Australia & Broken Hill Renewables Debacle where even batteries did not work
Restarting Electrical Network Challenges
Restarting an electrical network from scratch, also known as a black start, involves significant challenges, particularly in bringing up baseload power sources like coal, gas, hydro, and nuclear plants to synchronize frequency.
Here are the key issues:
Coal Plants: Coal plants are typically designed for continuous operation and can take several days to start up from a complete shutdown. The process involves heating up the boiler, generating steam, and gradually increasing the turbine speed to match the grid frequency. This slow startup time can be a significant bottleneck during a black start.
Gas Plants: Gas turbines can generally start up more quickly than coal plants, but they still require a careful and controlled process to ensure stability. Combined cycle gas plants, which are more efficient, can take longer to start up due to the additional complexity of the heat recovery steam generator.
Hydro Plants: Hydroelectric plants are often the preferred choice for black starts due to their ability to start up quickly and provide immediate power. Additionally, hydro plants need to be carefully managed to avoid overloading the grid as it comes back online.
Nuclear Plants: Nuclear plants are designed for continuous operation and have very long startup times, often measured in days. The process involves bringing the reactor to criticality, generating steam, and gradually increasing the turbine speed. Nuclear plants are generally not used for black starts due to their slow response time and the complexity of the startup process.
The synchronization of frequency is crucial during a black start to ensure that the electrical system operates stably. Each power plant must be brought online in a controlled manner to match the grid frequency, which is typically 50 Hz.
170
From comments:
>”Low grade spiv” @AlboMP
Perfect description of the fool!
>There’s a reason (Albo’s flatmate) Dan Andrews, while Premier of Victoria, went to China with no Australian media & ’til this day no one knows what he did there 👀
271
I love the way Gerard harasses them in senate question time.
121
Rennick does not harass, he simply and politely asks what are the obvious questions. He receives either deflecting or unintelligible answers from the people supposedly at the coal face of the subject or the question is ‘taken on notice’.
Gerrard should simply be voted back in so the ‘Swamp’ can reply to those ‘questions on notice’. The Liberal National Party is likely to have shifted him to an unwinnable position on their senate ticket as they to do not want the ‘Swamp’ to answer those questions.
Why? because they are paid hacks and owned by the ‘swamp’. As Jo notes regarding the election .
That’s a lot of tax payer maoney invested in maintaining the status quo! Why pay for another layer of Autocracy making stupid decisions that destroy our country, our way of life and submitt our children to lives in servitude? Our elected representatives are supposed to protect us from a powerful bureaucracy not protect the bureaucrats from scrutiny.
91
Moorcroft pottery in the UK is not a big employer, but it is an historic and iconic name. Another victim of net zero.
“Industry commentators have blamed an increase in energy costs.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwynq8jgg3lo.amp
130
This article by CHRIS UHLMANN:
An extract/teaser – The Trouble in Spain/Portugal –
Electricity flows through the grid at a constant frequency, which is 50 hertz in Australia and Spain. Think of it as a rhythm; the steady beat of a metronome. Every generator and every appliance must stay in time. If a few fall out of sync, the system usually recovers. But if too many do, it’s like a drummer losing tempo in a tightly conducted orchestra. The harmony collapses – and so does the system.
Electricity systems were built around machines that spin big wheels – coal, nuclear, hydro, gas – whose speed sets the frequency of the grid. It is an engineering marvel with a century of experience behind it. These are called synchronous generators. The big wheels inside them, spinning at 3000 revolutions per minute, don’t just produce power. They also help stabilise the system. They keep the rhythm steady and absorb shocks when something goes wrong.
Wind and solar work differently. They generate only when the sun shines or the wind blows, regardless of when power is actually needed. That means supply often peaks when demand doesn’t and can vanish when demand surges. And because they don’t spin large wheels, they can’t directly support the grid’s frequency. Their electricity has to be converted, through inverters, to stay in time with the grid.
But when trouble hits, these inverter-based generators can’t offer the same stabilising force. They can’t ride through shocks.
But the tale to date eerily echoes a warning made in a 2021 engineering paper by University of Queensland researchers Nicholas Maurer, Stephen Wilson and Archie Chapman. They found that when power systems rely heavily on inverter-based generators like wind and solar – especially above 70 per cent of total supply – the grid becomes dangerously vulnerable to sudden disturbances. Their simulations, using Australia’s National Electricity Market as a model, showed that the system could survive a single failure. But if a second shock followed too quickly, there wasn’t enough time to recover, and the system would cascade into collapse.
Sound familiar?
We’ve seen this before – on September 28, 2016 – when South Australia suffered a statewide blackout. As Matthew Warren later wrote for the Australian Energy Council: “The more material issue was the insufficient levels of inertia in the system to slow down frequency changes and enable load shedding … in other words, the SA grid was configured in a way which made it more fragile.”
SA was the canary in the coalmine. Spain is the mine. And Australia is digging a very large hole for itself. The federal government wants 82 per cent of electricity to be generated by weather-dependent sources by 2030. And the more we have, the more fragile the grid will become.
Spain’s blackout is all the more alarming because, unlike Australia, it still has a solid base of reliable power. About 20 per cent of its electricity comes from nuclear and up to 15 per cent from hydro, depending on rainfall. These sources provide steady, inertia-rich generation that helps stabilise the grid during shocks. We are building a more fragile version of the Spanish system: more solar, more wind, less firming, and no link to a stronger grid.
The purpose of an electricity system is to deliver affordable, reliable power. Politics
410
Chris Uhlmann here mentions the heavy weight of ‘those great spinning wheels’, and why that was so important.
(and this might be a little boring)
Back when I started all this I do, the hardest thing to explain was how big those huge generators were and why they needed to be so ….. big, and then just what was required to actually make that huge weight rotate at fifty times a second.
It’s basically Electrical Theory, and it all comes back to the rotor inside the generator.
In 2010, I posted about how it was an impossibility for Solar Thermal plants to ‘run’ huge generators like these. That Post is at this link, and right at the top I explain some of that (boring old) Theory.
As I said above, it all comes down to the weight of that rotor and some are around 200 Tons, with some even larger, and the technology is now better, so that weight has come down.
With all Australian Units online, (those big coal fired power plants) and there are only 36 of them, this enormous rotating weight provides that stability.
When a Unit ‘spins up’ after maintenance, it doesn’t come back online until its rotational speed is synchronised with the other Units at that same plant, and those other already rotating Units at that plant are already synchronised to EVERY other Unit on the grid.
Those 36 Monster Units provide that absolute stability for frequency control, all spinning in perfect synchronisation, and here, note that every single thing you plug into that proverbial ‘hole in the wall’ at home is specifically designed to operate at exactly 50 Hertz, that fifty times a second rotational speed of the generators themselves.
Pi55y little wind turbines (now around 2500 of them here in Oz) and solar inverters in their millions CANNOT replace that. And now, try to even begin to think about trying to synchronise all of them, especially those home solar inverters.
The perfect ‘humming along’ of just those 36 Units IS that reference.
Tony.
300
TonyfromOz
I remember working away with large electrical motors during Electrical Engineering Year 2 at Sydney University Electrical Engineering Department, as part of Civil/Chemical Engineering Degree
Then going, as part of the course, to see Hydro Electric Turbines & NSW Coal Fired Plants Steam Turbines
Big & Impressive
80
Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, OldOzzie.
What you said here about hydro plants made me go and look at an old hobby horse of mine, the Motuo Hydro plan by the Chinese in Tibet.
Back in 2014, I found an obscure reference to it, and did some preliminary research, and then made some Posts about it and then in 2024, I revisited it, and worked up three more major Posts about it, again speculating on what it might look like.
This Hydro plan was for a ….. wait for it ….. 60,000MW plant, and think about that. Australia’s total Nameplate from all fossil fuel plants, hydro plants, wind plants and solar plants (not rooftop solar) is around that same 60,000MW, so the same as what powers ALL of Australia, well, excepting WA, so just the whole of the AEMO coverage.
All along, what I wrote was, well, basically, just speculation, even though founded in Electrical engineering.
When I went and checked again this morning, I found this from barely eight weeks ago.
China Authorizes a new Hydropower Project in Tibet
True, it’s written from the standpoint of a ‘true believer’, but it’s now going ahead, and in the same area I speculated on. This article was written from the standpoint of a journalist, so she’s possibly thinking of this a ….. one humungous dam, which, in this area is absolutely impossible, and my Posts from 2024 explain what it would really look like.
I’ll now be working up more about this.
Eleven years ago, I found it, and the time hiatus was just to get all the infrastructure in place, an engineering feat on a humungous scale no less, as you’ll read at my Posts, where it would be, and how they would do it all.
My posts on all of this are at this link.
Tony.
120
Have bookmarked Tony and reading & listening to youtube video
Have you used https://satellites.pro/China_map#29.515580,94.881878,13
10
I have seen a 110MW hydroelectric turbine that was smaller than 3m overall diameter and spoons only 700mm high. It spins at only 327rpm with direct drive to the generator. So not a huge amount of inertia in the rotating mass but with a head of 2,500 feet and a long head race tunnel, there was added inertia in the water.
The turbine spoons were something to behold. Cast steel about 3″ thick and 22 of them on the wheel.
10
What kind of generator?
Just interested in details.., was not making 50 Hz, was it?
00
No not 50Hz – 60Hz machine. GE alternator with output voltage of 13.6kV. The turbines were Pelton shipped from Vancouver in 1954 but designed by Pelton of SanFrancisco.
This station is rated just over 1GW. All the civil works to double its capacity by 1970 was completed and additional turbines on site but it was never completed because the changing lake level may have affected a rare fish species. The station happens to be bomb proof; about half a mile underground and a mile inside the mountain from the access point..
10
Never say never.
Right now another Edison or Tesla might be quietly preparing for Year 12 exams when one of the questions prompts a bright spark in her head and – voila! an idea of universal, omnivorous, continent-wide, self- stabilising, self-repairing power grid is born.
Covering the whole country with copper blanket has already proven to be not the best we came up with.
Everyone is looking for massive AI justification – here is one really needed.
21
Great info, Thank you. I’m guessing a similar sort of synchronisation issue is reflected in the EV battery. I read how it was (technically) possible to replace a cell of an EV battery (the Nissan Leaf was given as one example) but the replacement cell had to have the same generating capacity/level of the others in the battery otherwise there would be issues. Hence the expensive, waste pollution generating but logical action of replacing the whole battery. Apparently, the cell option has become impossible with modern EVs given the level of gluing and welding – bit like mobile phones where the battery is not separate to the case so throw it all away.
That makes 2 “obvious” manifestations of the synchronisation problem (EVs and power grid) that researchers/developers should have already known let alone “discovered”.
There should be an annual global award competition set up to recognise and highlight the “best” disasters developed by man. The awards night would kill 2 birds with one stone in so far as getting around non-reporting by msm and the eCommissar’s dismiss information program. How about the Covid Lifetime Awards with the ultimate prize category being the best “Safe and Effective” contribution/invention. Sub-awards for most expensive, longest time from contract to commission (Snowy II would clean up) and one for quickest collapse after commission would each have plenty of contenders.
40
Portugal/Spain “extreme weather event” to start with.
About second place, it is very tempting to say Trumps’s First 100 days.., please note that I do not say it…
20
Plus 100,000,000,000,000.Tony from Oz, what works is Nature’s physical reality,
the rest is sweet dreams are made of this, fairy floss.
Thank you Tony from Oz.
00
Johnny,
When we were starting quite a few new mines in remote places in the 1970-80 era, we studied the value of generating electricity with other than the usual choice of diesel.
Wind and solar never made it out of the starting blocks. We knew about intermittency well enough to reject them.
The bigger question is, because competent electrical engineers knew about intermittency before Australia went balmy with mandated wind and solar, why were they not heard and their protests acted upon?
Geoff S
10
Because the purpose of Australias energy policy for the last 30 years appears to be dismantling and destroying the grid in a way that it cannot be repaired.
10
DMI have decided Arctic sea ice volume has peaked. Whereas sea area with at least 15% ice coverage looks comparable to recent years, the volume indicates a substantial drop in the actual amount of sea ice.
https://ocean.dmi.dk/arctic/icethickness/plots/CICE_curve_49_EN.png
50
Dutch Scientists Expose Fake Data on Death Rates Among Covid-Vaxxed
https://slaynews.com/news/dutch-scientists-expose-fake-data-death-rates-among-covid-vaxxed/
I wonder if a couple of Australian Scientist would have the guts to do the same study here?
100
Flog that dead horse rather than keep alert for the next skulduggery eh.
13
So somehow learning from history doesnt prepare you for the future?
110
I have said several times on this site that the one thing we learn from history is that we don’t learn from history. ToM
110
FWIW – making waves
“Yesterday, Secretary Kennedy and HHS made what could be the simplest but most impactful announcement in American history (if you count in total life-years-saved). From now on, with limited exceptions (like the annual flu shot), the FDA will require all vaccines —including those already on the schedule— to be tested against an inert placebo, like pure saline.”
More at
https://open.substack.com/pub/coffeeandcovid/p/anomalous-thursday-may-1-2025-c-and?
140
And
“RFK Jr. Shatters The Measles Narrative With One Brilliant Point”
https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/rfk-jr-shatters-measles-narrative-one-brilliant-point
70
“Survival of the fittest” – Herbert Spencer 1864 (after reading Darwin theories).
What if measles was nature’s last test (and/or tinkering) of the babies auto immune system?
Interesting how it used to be a childhood disease once caught never repeated and if there was an outbreak mothers were happy for their child to catch it too.
Then along came the vaccination and measles is now a concern amongst adults. The Australian narrative is that those born between 1968-1982 who may have received only 1 dose of the MMR vaccine are particularly vulnerable. The current median age for measles now being 26 years with 54 cases recorded by the end of March 2025. [AI information hence no links].
Interesting 2007 results paper on a study of susceptibility among young adults in Victoria (aka the lockdown state) which back then stated “…it was recognised that, by the end of the twentieth century in Australia, measles had become a disease mostly affecting young adults”.
Measles appears to be making a comeback in the west (in Africa, Asia and developing countries it has never gone away) and given Victoria’s measles re-emergence history (2007 paper), then sift in “other” health events what kind of mess is bubbling away down there. Good thing Victoria does not have an Arican gang problem – Daniel Andrews.
00
Reminder about Lake Goldsmith Steam Rally this weekend.
3rd & 4th of May, 2025.
About two hours drive from Melbournistan.
https://www.lakegoldsmithsteamrally.org.au/
50
FWIW
“Alberta Is Talking Tough Love to Carney”
https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2025/05/01/alberta-is-talking-tough-love-to-carney-n3802340
40
And
“Elections Have Consequences”
https://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2025/05/01/elections-have-consequences-9/
20
Plus
https://img.patriotpost.us/01JT41X43GVD1ED0B6C25YND8K.jpeg?w=1024&dpr=1&q=75
00
Morning all,
I havent watched yet sorry been very busy however this is Topher Field interviewing David Burton aka Inigo Jones.
a bit on the floods that are coming.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybtkBz2TAMM
40
Watched it and similar to other long range forecasters using historical records, sunspot activity, planetary influence, weather cycles and a dart board. Their predictions are just as good as the BOM can dish up. This bloke predicted the March floods in Outback Qld a long time ago. So, his record is good. Thinks Australia will get “ wet” years between now and 2029. Also says, whatever you do, don’t reside in a floodplain because our more recent floods ( decades time scale) do not even compare to past floods ( centuries time scale).
40
‘Thinks Australia will get “ wet” years between now and 2029.’
That is a long stretch, La Nina and ENSO neutral should do the trick. At the moment La Nina is predicted for later this year.
01
Steve,
Having been through 2 rounds of Intensive Chemo which did not work and lucky enough to get on a trial of 34 Rounds of Immunotherapy which did work and is now on PBS – all the best to you & your wife – stay positive – I have had CLL for 25 years and they gave me 2-3 years when first diagnosed – All the Best
10
FWIW – more covid scene
“Tulsi Gabbard Reveals The Reason Anthony Fauci Sought a Preemptive Pardon from Joe Biden – Wicked Doctor Could Now Face Federal Perjury Charges (VIDEO)”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/05/tulsi-gabbard-reveals-reason-anthony-fauci-sought-preemptive/
80
FWIW – education
“Children’s reading and writing develop better when they are trained in handwriting, study finds”
https://phys.org/news/2025-04-children.html
40
FWIW
“I strongly recommend you open and read Brett Trembly’s important, terrifying thread on TikTok.”
https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2025/05/i-strongly-recommend-you-open-and-read-brett-tremblys-important-terrifying-thread-on-tiktok.html
10
I refuse to install it and many Government agencies have banned it on work devices.
It harvests an incredible amount of personal data and is much worse than Farcebook and Goolag, etc., as bad as they are.
70
I didn’t know this about people from Brazil.
(COPIED from Quora Digest.)
20
Grok says “Brazilians shower frequently, often multiple times a day, due to a mix of cultural and environmental factors. The tropical climate, with high heat and humidity, encourages daily showers to stay fresh and comfortable. Culturally, personal hygiene is a strong social norm, tied to notions of respectability and self-care, influenced by European and Indigenous traditions. Public health campaigns in the early 20th century also promoted frequent bathing to combat disease, embedding the habit. Plus, access to water and a love for cleanliness make showering a routine part of life, often seen as a moment of relaxation”
30
I was invited to India for Mukesh Ambani’s daughter’s wedding years ago but I declined.
My friend who went said he was showering 6 times a day because of the oppressive heat and humidity.
Precisely why I didn’t go!
A dry heat is one thing insufferable humidity another.
50
“A dry heat is one thing insufferable humidity another.”
It makes me wonder why people want to live on the East coast of Aussie, and how they will fare when the grid breaks. The same with the temperature not falling at sunset, so the night is as hot & humid as the day.
30
Depends how far north you are and how afternoon sea breezes work in you location.
10
Before I had to work for a living, I spent up to 8 hours a day in the water during school holidays on the Gold Coast. Car air-conditioners consisted of a handle on each door that moved glass up and down. (Just had to train father to flick his cigarette ash further out)
None of the few houses we lived in growing up had ceiling fans although they were common in certain places.
Humans are quite good at adapting to the climate they live in.
10
FWIW
Not the way it is usually described
“Victims of Communism Day”
https://accordingtohoyt.com/2025/05/01/victims-of-communism-day/
40
Latest comments on Spain’s blackout –
https://chiefio.wordpress.com/2025/04/28/iberian-power-outage/
10
https://spaceweather.com/ (home page):
• Spain’s ruinable collapse was not the sun’s fault
• CCCP’s 1972 Kosmos 482 is due to crash May 10, having failed to exit Earth’s influence to land on Venus 53 years ago
• Recent red spheres seen in the sky are leftovers from SpaceX launches, H2O & CO2 mixing with oxygen ions, O+, creating photons with the same wavelength as red auroras [apparently]
• No coronal holes on the sun yet its swirling patterns are a work of art – thankfully out of reach of ill-mannered spoiled brats spraying tomato soup
Apart from that the universe is fine! Oh, apart from Canberra boiling on 1 degree above freezing this morning yet still they shout ‘the house is on fire’. All the best for tomorrow [sorry, poor joke].
90
Bye bye Canada
“Western society is morally rotten, and it has been corrupted by capitalism.
This requires rigid controls of personal freedoms, industry and corporate funding. This is not a promise to make the lives of ordinary people better but temporarily worse. This will be a world of severely constrained choice, less flying, less meat, more inconvenience and temporarily more poverty. Assets will be stranded, Gasoline cars will be unsellable and inefficient properties will be un-rentable”
~Mark Carney, in his book,
“Values: Building a better world for all”
Better stock up on Maple syrup.
90
Western Canada — even lefty BC — is apparently in the beginnings of at least economic rebellion after the election. RCMP has allegedly been “ordered to watch western separatist leaders for subversion of national stability”. Watch this space . . .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIGBtkaInc4
20
“RCMP has allegedly been “ordered to watch western separatist leaders for subversion of national stability”.”
Wasn’t I just reading that sort of thing attributed to Communism in Ian’s post 16?? ‘I can’t complain..’ meme.
20
Sounds just like the DDR was.
30
Consequences Arrive for Canadian Voters, and They Deserve Every Bit of It
50
My generation has already “enjoyed” the benefits of socialism as described by Carney – was worth it, they said, in order to “build up the new socialist human being”.
Famously, a state-run greengrocer in that world of mundane shortages put up a sign in the door to say “We have potatoes”. One of my uni mates added “Another slap in the face of capitalism”.
But nobody learns from history, it seems. Especially when it’s no longer even taught.
30
“It’s not even taught”. Is the main problem
10
Jordan Petersen’s take on Canada under Carney. Not good. 12 mins. ToM
50
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wire/
In yet one more way to bypass the rapidly and increasingly irrelevant mainstream media, the White House has announced the launch of what they are describing as a “Drudge-style” website that will promote pro-Trump stories and give accurate information on what is happening throughout the administration.
The new site is called “White House Wire.” One White House official summed up its purpose this way:
“To give pro-Trump influencers a central hub to disseminate Trump-favorable coverage. It’s a place for supporters of the president’s agenda to get the real news all in one place in a shareable and readable format. The website will be a one-stop shop for news and is part of the Trump administration’s effort to provide transparency and institute policies that put America first.”
The site links to a variety of different media outlets. A sampling of headlines and links from the site on Tuesday, April 29, included “THE MOST SUCCESSFUL FIRST 100 DAYS IN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORY,” and linked to a Fox News story.
Another read, “Border shutdown tops list of Trump’s successes at 100 days,” and linked to a story in the Washington Times.
There was also a link to an Op-Ed at Newsweek written by Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) entitled, “The President’s First 100 Days Is a Return to American Greatness,” and a link to Trump’s interview with ABC News.
A ticker at the top of the site page read, “24/7 FORTY-SEVEN.”
40
U.S. Army Plans Massive Increase in Its Use of Drones
HOHENFELS, Germany—The U.S. Army is embarking on its largest overhaul since the end of the Cold War, with plans to equip each of its combat divisions with around 1,000 drones and to shed outmoded weapons and other equipment.
The plan, the product of more than a year of experimentation at this huge training range in Bavaria and other U.S. bases, draws heavily on lessons from the war in Ukraine, where small unmanned aircraft used in large numbers have transformed the battlefield.
The Army’s 10 active-duty divisions would shift heavily into unmanned aircraft if the plan is carried out, using them for surveillance, to move supplies and to carry out attacks.
To glean the lessons from Ukraine’s war against Russia, U.S. officers have debriefed its military personnel and consulted contractors who have worked with the Kyiv’s military about their innovative use of drones.
“We’ve got to learn how to use drones, how to fight with them, how to scale them, produce them, and employ them in our fights so we can see beyond line of sight,” said Col. Donald Neal, the commander of the U.S. 2nd Cavalry Regiment. “We’ve always had drones since I’ve been in the Army, but it has been very few.”
20
Another Shocker: WSJ Reveals Russia Arming Massive New Rear Reserve Force
You see, more and more we hear Ukrainian officials and military experts themselves echo what the pro-UA OSINT community has been warbling for a while now: that Ukraine is shifting almost entirely to a drone-centric defense strategy.
A recent claimed Ukrainian POW statement highlights this:
Starshe Edda: Recently, an AFU soldier who was captured on the Krasnoyaruzhsk direction said:
You are receiving 2 Kamaz [trucks] of soldiers, while we are receiving 2 Kamaz [trucks] of drones.
Of course, his phrase is somewhat exaggerated, but in general it makes sense.
The era of drones has introduced such a thing in military tactics, which led to the fact that in defense, that in the offensive, the presence of manpower minimized.
A company stronghold is defended by a squad, at most a platoon.
Drones relentlessly attack defensive lines and in fact they (engineering structures) have lost very significantly in the quality of their original intent.
Now the basis is not powerful ramparts and slabs, but maximum camouflage, even at the expense of protective functions.
The soldier often sits in a simple burrow, without heating, in order to maximize camouflage.
Once the location of a shelter with a live force inside has been compromised, it will be sprayed with a variety of drones, from kamikazes to [VOG grenade] drops.
As such, in this type of shifting tactical environment, Russian commanders have begun favoring small, fast, expendable civilian vehicles.
Certainly vehicular shortages do play a part to an extent—but it’s not the whole story.
10
1000 drones/division, 1000 batteries to be charged, then the drones goes off and suicide, so another 1000 drones, and another 1000 batteries to be charged.. or its reconnaissance and comes back every 20minutes for fresh batteries, or drops its grenade and comes back for fresh batteries.. Thousands of little petrol generators chugging away at the edge of battle.. There’s a good reason they don’t have electric tanks!
They’ll need as many batteries as they have bullets these days! What if you don’t have a war for a few years?? Millions of flat batteries to throw away or charge?
Its a gamble the first time you try them! Of course if they want their Marines to be experienced in drone wars they just have to send them off to join North Korea and get the experience at the front, not hiding away in the bunkers of Kiev being ‘advisors’.
40
Just ordered last night and received this afternoon Amazon Basics 100 pack high performance AA alkaline batteries for $33.87 delivered not in finger cutting b’hard to open blister plastic but in 2 neat boxes with 5 in neat soft plastic – beats Bunnings hands down & you don’t have to go there – Why so many – 3 X Box controllers, 3 X grandkids games controllers, wife’s battery Magic Mouse etc
20
The Phalanx anti-aircraft gun consumes $3,500 of ammo every second.
Ship launched missiles cost in the range $750k to $3M.
Drones are low cost compared with what is now regarded as conventional weapons.
I suspect the RAN needs PM approval to test fire a missile. The have just spent AUD7bn on upgrading the missile inventory. You could buy a lot of cardboard drones and lithium batteries (from China) for AUD7bn.
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Dmitry Trenin: Here’s why Trump’s foreign policy is calculated, not chaotic
America’s new realism means peace with Russia and focus on China
By Dmitry Trenin, a research professor at the Higher School of Economics and a lead research fellow at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations. He is also a member of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC).
The first 100 days of Donald Trump’s second presidency have sparked a wave of commentary portraying him as a revolutionary.
Indeed, the speed, pressure, and determination with which he has acted are striking. But this view is superficial. Trump is not dismantling the foundations of the American state or society. On the contrary, he seeks to restore the pre-globalist republic that the liberal elite long ago diverted onto a utopian internationalist path. In this sense, Trump is not a revolutionary, but a counterrevolutionary – an ideological revisionist determined to reverse the excesses of the liberal era.
At home, Trump benefits from Republican majorities in both houses of Congress. Legal challenges to his policies – particularly on downsizing government and deporting illegal immigrants – have so far made little progress. Accustomed to media attacks, Trump continues to hit back hard. The recent story alleging that top officials debated strikes on Yemen over Signal has not gained political traction. If anything, it reinforces Trump’s image as a president who acts decisively and without fear of scandal.
Trump’s economic course is clear: re-industrialization, tariff protectionism, and investment in cutting-edge technologies. He is reversing decades of globalist integration, pressing allies to pool financial and technological resources with the US to rebuild its industrial base. Tactically, Trump applies pressure early, then offers retreats and compromises to lure competitors into negotiations favorable to America. This approach has been effective, particularly with Washington’s allies. Even with China, Trump is betting that Beijing’s reliance on the US market, and America’s influence over EU and Japanese trade policy, will yield strategic concessions.
In geopolitics, Trump embraces a realist doctrine grounded in great-power competition. He has defined his global priorities: secure North America as a geopolitical fortress from Greenland to Panama; redirect US and allied power toward containing China; make peace with Russia; and consolidate influence in the Middle East by supporting Israel, partnering with Gulf monarchies, and confronting Iran.
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Thanks Oz! This is a great article. TDS has scrambled people’s ability to analyse his political manoeuvres critically. Many have been despairing of the future of the West. Trump is offering hope.
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Vicki,
It is always useful to look at both sides of the equation, which is always why I read Sydney Moaning Herald article’s and always the Comments, as well as all left leaning sites plus comments to get a balanced perspective on life
00
Looks like Oregon coast is the place to buy your next seaside holiday home. No worries concerning polar ice melts or other man-caused sea level risings. Back in 2015 when the Axial Seamount (mile-wide underwater volcano) last erupted its lava flows caused the bottom of the ocean to sink nearly 8feet.
The possible downside is that it is looking like it may be about to blow again but setting aside tsunami, ash or other destruction your new house should be fine. I hear Tim Flannery has expressed an interest in the area lol.
20
New ice core from Antarctica illustrates that conditions were warmer during the early Holocene.
https://notrickszone.com/2025/05/01/new-study-us-and-60-90s-temperature-trends-do-not-align-with-the-humans-did-it-narrative/
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My wife, who has ovarian cancer, has been taking Ivermectin for some months now, in the hope that it will extend her life. There is some evidence that it has cancer-fighting properties. However, thus far it doesn’t appear to have helped, as her tumour marker (CA125), has continued to rise post-chemo.
However, some studies suggest that it is most efficacious when administered alongside chemo and, because she has had a recurrence, she restarted chemo three weeks ago. Today we were there for round two, but also to get the latest CA125 test result. Before chemo, it was 184. Earlier this week, after just one infusion, it had plummeted to just 43. Happy? You bet. Of course we don’t know what the value would have been without the Ivermectin, but even her oncologist was surprised by the extent of the reduction after just one infusion, so maybe there IS something to this. I am of course hesitant to get too giddy just yet, with five more infusions to go.
Also, the side effects this time around are stronger. She has lost most of her hair already, a process that took many weeks last time. Perhaps this is an indicator that the Ivermectin enhances the effect of the chemo? I’m a bit wary of that, if true, because chemo is wicked stuff and I worry what else might be going on if the chemo effect is being amplified.
I hate not being able to discuss this with her oncologist, but it would be a huge risk to even mention it. What a strange, strange world we now live in.
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All the very, very best Steve.
Just great that you have been able to convince your wife’s oncologist to give Ivermectin a go, along with standard chemo.
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Steve,
Having been through 2 rounds of Intensive Chemo which did not work, and lucky enough to get on a trial of 34 Rounds of Immunotherapy which did work and is now on PBS – all the best to you & your wife – stay positive – I have had CLL for 25 years and they gave me 2-3 years when first diagnosed – All the Best
00
If you are after night vision binoculars for your nighttime outings, ALDI is selling them at a competitive price.
20
Hop into the time machine: Spain 2021
Spain does not have a blackout risk, neither by capacity, by generation, nor by distribution.
The power plants generate twice what we are capable of consuming on any given day. This means there is no risk of a generation collapse, nor is there a risk of nuclear collapse, and if it does, 10 different energy sources are available to back it up every day.
https://euroweeklynews.com/2021/11/10/spain-and-the-blackout-that-austria-is-warning-europe-about/
LOL…
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Re electricity blackouts.
When we set up large camps or built small towns for mining, diesel is the first choice to power generators in remote places.
Our electricians used a “dummy load resistor” like a heavy iron engine block in a big tank of water in case the generator was suddenly interrupted from powering its usual load. The principle seemed to work, but, but –
In recent times, the probability of a state or near-national blackout, like Spain’s, has increased because of intermittently.
Also, the dummy load resistance has been replaced with citizens in homes on the grid.
Geoff S
00
Steve,
Having been through 2 rounds of Intensive Chemo which did not work and lucky enough to get on a trial of 34 Rounds of Immunotherapy which did work and is now on PBS – all the best to you & your wife – stay positive – I have had CLL for 25 years and they gave me 2-3 years when first diagnosed – All the Best
00
Meant for Comment 26 – Problem of Mobile Phone & Blindness of Old Age
00