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
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So we can expect no improvements or changes in SOP in news reporting or science?
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If at its core the acronymn ‘AI’ is simply a search engine bundling the most popular search results together with a publishing program, then further questions on a subject will naturally morph to reflect the common ‘AI’ responses. The logical conclusion is over time ‘AI’ will find that it is the only source of true wisdom and will disappear up its own rear end in search of the truth.
A bit like a Celebrity or Powerful ruler eventually you start to believe your fawning courtiers and actually believe you are the font of all knowledge.
As King Canute /Cnut warns:
50
When I accidentally stumble into some AI generated content on YTube, I have noticed that it has trouble saying numbers as words – like saying “thirteen thirteen” for 1,313.
You would think that this would be the easiest language bit, just viscerally anyway
20
Blackouts as Bliss? Why Some Celebrate Power Outages as a Return to ‘Connection’
From MasterResource
By Robert Bradley Jr.
…
LA-based climate campaigner Michael Mezzatesta, self-described economics and climate educator, has a new one for the climate debate: blackouts are good, bringing us together! He states:
Back to Nature, the Garden of Eden? Off the grid for happiness and solidarity? Small is beautiful? Less is more? Negawatts? Degrowth? “I campaign for the extinction of the human race“?
…
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/05/19/blackouts-are-good/
30
While clutching at their paper straws, they will quickly find the ice melts in that gin and tonic and then there is no more.
and then the high rise apartments in the 15 minute cities can’t pump the water to flush the toilets. And it starts to smell.
and the backup generation fails in hospitals, in emergency departments. In the prisons. In the madhouses. In the morgues.
and the barbers can’t cut hair and the dentists can’t clean teeth and the welders and builders can’t repair.
It get’s ugly, hairy, smelly and the whole ‘connection’ buzz is sapped quickly
110
There was a noted baby boom after the big one hit the East coast/New York in 1963. ..or was it the one in 1977? or the 2003 one? Maybe all, anyway, being stuck in a lift overnight seemed to help people get more connected.
..unless you believe Snopes.
10
Moonshot project for Australia to continue its wealth trajectory.
If it wasn’t Net Zero, what would you do? Let’s talk opportunity cost.
https://www.kvetch.au/p/ambitious-australia
10
AI has / will become a political tool of the political world. “ If the people won’t believe the BS we’re feeding them from our own mouths or the biased / controlled media ( ABC, #7,#9,SBS ) the only way to lie to them will be the use of AI. Simple reasoning is that technology can’t lie ( like PM who does leadership impressions ). AI WILL be used as a propaganda tool. Trouble is smart individuals will lose confidence in the tech. Except of course those those that have little or no mental capacity to think for themselves.
The education / indoctrination system of course is taking care of that. We’re in deep doo doo folks!
60
I think I prefer the Zombie Apocalypse or Cyberpunk Roaming Gangs future than this omnipotent moral busybody one
10
Turning a cartoon meme into writing since we cant post images:
Two people in an office are talking.
One says to the other, “Are you concerned about the increase in artificial intelligence?” The other says “No, but I am concerned about the decrease in real intelligence.”
80
Canadian Government and Pharmaceutical Giants destroying inexpensive, natural antiviral solutions
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/world-news/corruption/why-the-canadian-govt-and-big-pharma-are-waging-war-on-an-ostridge-farm/
40
FWIW
More on Biden’s cancer
https://open.substack.com/pub/coffeeandcovid/p/oil-spill-monday-may-19-2025-c-and?
10
And
“A Medical Doctor Dropped a Bombshell on MSNBC About Biden’s Cancer Diagnosis”
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2025/05/19/a-medical-doctor-dropped-a-bombshell-on-msnbc-about-bidens-cancer-diagnosis-n2657290
00
FWIW – More
“Biden lacks any credibility to dismiss suspicions about his cancer announcement”
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/3415635/joe-biden-cancer-suspicions-no-credibility-dismiss/
Including a possible game plan –
https://x.com/BuckSexton/status/1924260027608502435
Via https://instapundit.com/720550/#disqus_thread
00
FWIW – brain waves and consequences
“Two Tit-For-Tat Absolutely Predictable Stories”
https://chiefio.wordpress.com/2025/05/19/two-tit-for-tat-absolutely-predictable-stories/
10
BURN COAL AND EXIT NET ZERO
It is time to plan to exit net zero and we are suffering from paralysis by analysis, dissecting the entrails of a system that is simply not fit for purpose. The Energy Realists of Australia have been explaining for years that the so-called transition is not happening, won’t happen, and it was never going to happen due to the conjunction of wind droughts and lack of grid-scale storage.
https://www.flickerpower.com/index.php/search/categories/general/list-of-briefing-notes
It is a matter of simple observation that trillions of dollars have been spent around the world and incalculable damage has been inflicted on the planet to obtain electricity which is ever more expensive and unreliable.
In Australia, most of the cost is still to come, and blackouts on windless nights will be inevitable when we lose one more coal burner. It is less stable in frequency and voltage which can cause crippling malfunctions of equipment in households and industry (see South Australia.).
Expectations for the energy transition should collapse like a punctured balloon when there is widespread awareness of the number of times when breakfast and dinner would have to be served cold without coal power in the grid to provide heat. And also light and all of the other things like trains, traffic lights, coffee shops and lifts that you might encounter on the way to your unlit office, where the computers are not working.
People are advised to regularly check the NemWatch widget at sunrise and sunset to see how much green (wind) you can find alongside the black and brown (coal) on the bars representing the power supply in each state.
https://www.nem-watch.info/widgets/RenewEconomy/
Imagine, if you dare, the multiples of the current number of windmills that would be required to turn the black and brown into green in that picture!
For the alternative energy futures in Australia, see the paper by Holland and Tunny that provides the skeleton of a program to get cheaper power in the near future and save some sticks of industrial furniture for the time in a decade or three when nuclear becomes competitive with coal.
https://rafechampion.substack.com/p/slowing-the-rise-of-power-prices?r=5c3gj
Starting at the bottom with 100% renewables, calling for $332 billion in investment. Retail electricity prices will rise by up to 70% and there is no guarantee that it is achievable.
Number three is the current policy pathway with an Investment of $261 billion. Retail prices are expected to rise by 30 to 69% while the destruction of forests and farmland continues.
Number two is the technology-neutral pathway or “all of the above,” including nuclear energy, with a capital investment of $163 billion.
Retail prices could rise 35% in the short term with the possibility of a 4% decrease in a decade or three. Again, forests continue to be trashed while toxins in solar panels become the asbestos of the future.
Option 1 is “No net zero” with cheap and reliable power from new coal burners. Capital investment is $103 billion with retail prices potentially decreasing by 25%. Pillage of forests and farmland stops.
We urgently have to fast-track a reliable and cost-effective energy supply that is not captive to the scientific illiteracy and ideological obsessions of the Greens and their fellow travellers in the major parties.
30
Rafe
Read #10 and the worst might be yet to come
00
FWIW
Top management?
A comment at
https://chiefio.wordpress.com/2025/05/03/w-o-o-d-3-may-2025-russia-wins-germany-bans-globalists-panic-treasuries-stocks/#comment-177080
“After “Go Woke, Go Broke“, we need a new phrase for companies that bet themselves on AI.
As GenAI becomes more ingrained in C-Suite decision making, a newly released SAP survey reveals that 32% of executives worry about a widening skills gap. Yet, despite these concerns, the majority of executives — 74% — place greater confidence in AI-generated insights than in advice from colleagues or friends. … The survey also found that more than two in five executives (44%) would trust generative AI to override their planned decisions based on insights, while 38% would trust AI to make business decisions on their behalf.
Meaning three quarters of CEO-type people are so gullible that they believe AI more than their own people.
What could possibly go wrong?
Link: https://www.eweek.com/news/ai-trust-executives-sap-study/ “
20
And
“How Big of a Disaster Is AI Going to Be for Education?”
https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2025/05/19/how-big-of-a-disaster-is-ai-going-to-be-for-education-n3802931
00
More on Propellers
Yesterday Rick Will posted a link to a picture of a propeller.
https://joannenova.com.au/2025/05/monday-106/#comment-2849348
Rick,
Can you provide any more details of that propeller?
I am interested because it is claimed to have a very high efficiency.
00
It’s only going to effect you if you buy energy. You can’t buy it if it’s not there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELaBzj7cn14
00
(Too late for yesterday’s thread on Statins)
Sugar is said to be inflammatory.
Is the mechanism at work in Heart Disease like this: (1) the sugar inflames the inside walls of blood vessels, (2) the cholesterol comes along to repair it … but because of the prevalence of ‘junk food’, (3) our over-consumption of sugary foods overwhelms the ‘repair system’ to the point the ‘protective plaques’ just get larger?
Just speculating. I studied biology, got a science degree but didn’t go into a medical career so I could be wrong.
00
Choke hold: The 33 taxes, levies and duties Victorians are paying that have us at tipping point
Victorian businesses, property owners and the opposition have issued a plea for tax relief on the eve of the state budget, warning the cumulative effect of nearly three dozen state-based taxes is choking economic growth and blocking Victoria’s path out of debt.
A previously unpublished Parliamentary Budget Office paper shows there are 33 state-based taxes, levies and duties on Victoria’s books, including 18 separate but overlapping imposts on property ownership, investment and transactions.
The growing burden has left Melbourne’s depleted manufacturing sector saying they are struggling to absorb recent land tax hikes, and retailers bracing for the future impact of a proposed expansion of Melbourne’s congestion levy which will next year add $4.5 million to the annual running costs of a popular Richmond shopping centre.
Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Paul Guerra said Victoria’s still rising debt and the government’s decision to resort to higher taxes to balance its books had created a crisis of confidence that was deterring private investment.
“Victoria has a confidence issue – confidence of people within the state and confidence of investors wanting to invest in the state,” Guerra said. “That is driven by two things; the debt and uncertainty over how that debt is going to be dealt with.
“Our view is that you can’t tax your way to growth, you need to inspire and facilitate business to grow. That is the only way out of this. Business needs certainty, and investment needs stability.”
00
Parliamentary Budget Office
Victorian taxes and levies – List of taxes, levies and duties
State Revenue Office
▪ Payroll tax
▪ Mental Health and Wellbeing Levy
▪ COVID Debt Levy – Payroll $10m+
▪ Land transfer duty
▪ Foreign purchaser additional duty
▪ Landholder duty
▪ Leases, grants and transfers duty
▪ Land tax
▪ COVID Debt Levy –
Landholdings
▪ Absentee Owner Surcharge
▪ Vacant Residential Land tax
▪ Commercial and industrial property tax
▪ Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund
▪ Windfall gains tax
▪ Casino tax
▪ Keno tax
▪ Wagering and betting tax
▪ Metropolitan Planning Levy
▪ Growth areas infrastructure contributions
▪ Congestion levy
▪ Insurance duty
▪ Motor vehicle duty
▪ Livestock duty
▪ Commercial passenger vehicle levy
▪ Short Stay Levy
▪ Penalty tax
Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action
▪ Environmental ContributionLevy
▪ Melbourne Strategic Assessment levy
▪ Metropolitan Improvement Rate
Department of Justice and Community Safety
▪ Public lotteries tax ▪ Electronic gaming machines tax
Department of Transport and Planning
▪ Transport Accident Charge
Department of Treasury and Finance
▪ Financial accommodation levy
In addition to taxes, Victorian Government departments and agencies impose a wide range of fees for
services and regulatory functions, and fines for misconduct and unlawful behaviour. Attachment A
provides a list of Victorian legislation which provides for collection of fees, charges and fines.
00
FWIW
“Wasting Away in Wind-and-Solarville”
“While green advocates commonly use the terms renewable, sustainable, and net zero to describe their efforts, the dirty little secret is that much of the waste from solar panels and wind turbines is ending up in landfills. ”
More at
https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2025/05/15/wasting_away_in_wind-and-solarville_1110296.html
Via https://instapundit.com/720389/#disqus_thread
00