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
893 companies have withdrawn from the global climate initiative – the Science Based Targets Initiative
https://blackout-news.de/en/news/893-companies-have-withdrawn-from-the-global-climate-initiative/
Via:
https://notrickszone.com/2025/11/01/bill-gates-893-companies-ditch-climate-initiative-call-for-return-to-economic-rationality/
300
Jacinta roasts Jacinta over Victorian Treaty
Labor ignores voters and pushes ahead with race politics
“The cost of the Treaty to the Victorian taxpayer is going to be in the billions of dollars. We have clearly said that money would be better invested in closing the gap.’
Weak. Do you want to win, or not?
It is not just the money, it is the morality.
The Opposition seems to have forgotten that its primary role is to protect the Victorian people from the Labor Party.
Victoria is a bit like America’s New York City, which is considering a Muslim socialist Mayor. Lots could go wrong. We have little choice but let Victoria run their mad experiment in race politics.”
Lots more at the Spectator Australia –
https://www.spectator.com.au/2025/10/jacinta-roasts-jacinta-over-victorian-treaty/
521
We have little choice but let Victoria run their mad experiment in race politics.”
Problem is the Rest of Australian Taxpayers will foot the Bill for Bankrupt Victoria
380
State of Victoria debt now more than Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania debts combined.
And the tax revenue base is shrinking as businesses close down and jobs are lost, and related supply businesses also suffer from the loss.
Socialist response, higher taxes and new taxes from any source the government and bureaucrats can identify.
170
Vic and NSW have similar debt levels.
QLD is about two-thirds of Vic debt.
Which means Vic debt is way lower than QLD, NSW, and Tas combined.
12
Ii have long feared that too few understand that one state can bust the nation.
20
What’s this gap crap.
Poor choices are not a gap.
How many genuine aboriginals living in victoria?
How many of them living in Poverty?
How much money is spent on removing this so called gap.
What ever!
270
When the first white settlers arrived in Victoria there were maybe 6,000 aborigines in the entire State. From the time Victoria became a separate Colony aborigines were tracked in the Colonial Census. By 1900 there were virtually none.
There are entire areas of Victoria that haven’t had native aboriginal populations since no later than the 1880s.
So where the hell do they all come from?
120
At 42 Billion South Pacific Pesos a year, I would as a poor Old Age Pensioner love to get some of that Gap.
LOL
60
The head of the Sydney Land Council estimates that 30 to 40 % of those claiming to be Aborigines are not, which would leave about 600,000 people with some claim to Aboriginality. Simple arithmetic would indicate that each of those, somewhat to very, Aboriginal claimants should get about $70,000 per year. A family of four then would have about $280,000 tax free each and every year which, to my mind, makes them far wealthier than 80% of the Australian population. So, there is no gap. There is obviously a fair bit of leakage and wastage as the money flows through the bureaucracy. Senator Price was on the money, so to speak, when she called for an audit of the Aboriginal Industry.
70
Maybe the down tick was from that Sictorian Jacinta Allen ‘Pollie Person’.
LOL. What a Muppet she is
100
Federal Nationals Council vote to abandon Net Zero
Wet Liberals cling-on to Teal-seat dream
‘The Federal Nationals Council have just voted to abandon Net Zero,’ announced Senator Matt Canavan.
This decision, handed down during a meeting in Canberra today, is a formality for the Nationals. Since the beginning, they have been dragged begrudgingly by their Coalition partner into Climate Change policy knowing full well it would damage their reputation in rural and regional areas.’
Looks like ‘Nut Zero’ is now dead in the water.
Paging ‘Blackout Bowen’, paging, paging, paging………………………
470
I don’t entirely trust them.
And they have abandoned “Net Zero by 2050”.
Do they still support it by 2051?
It’s a start but not nearly good enough.
They need to explicitly abandon the ENTIRE scam, including cancellation of Paris, cancellation of all subsidies and free up the entire Australian energy market to produce electricity however people please.
Now, wind and solar subsidy harvesters and the commie governments shouldn’t be concerned because apart from losing subsidies, they still keep telling us wind and solar are the “cheapest form of electricity generation” so according to that claim they will stay in business. They wouldn’t be lying would they?
560
Also, Net Zero Prosperity by 2050 is a local Australian political objective, not part of the Paris Agreement.
So we can still remain in Paris but abandon Net Zero 2050.
It’s just virtue signaling.
Don’t get too excited.
360
Enjoy your labor governments (plural). Nothing those of the right could do would never be enough for you and many here. Today you are behind Pauline [I always put her high enough to get a vote on my ballot] but once you really know her policy you will be just as critical of her as you are the libs today.
00
10
Be on the lookout for “weasel words” and phrases that can be used as logic in both positive & negative situations. They’re political animals & cant be trusted!
The phrase to “ abandon net zero by 2050 “ is the first one to be suspicious about! So between 2025 & 2050 they reserve the right to go full steam ahead with net zero!
PULL THE OTHER ONE , it plays “ liar ,liar, pants on fire”!!
The Nationals “leader” David Littleproud ( apt name) exudes reluctance to make a statement like that. Internally he is screaming & kicking against it. If he doesn’t say it he knows the party will implode so he’s said it hoping that given time ( 25 years of it ) he’ll find the wriggle room to reverse it! Sorry mate, the coalition is history & it’s down to the BS & devious attitude displayed by the coalition leaders, past & present!!
270
Agreed Graham. Uniparty politicians, Lib/Lab/Nats/Greens are at the point where not a single thing they say can be trusted or can be considered wise.
The Libs are totally finished. They will likely merge with Labor/Green in a few years.
The Nats MIGHT be capable of reform and if so could merge with One Nation if they agree to be loyal to ON policies and don’t try to impose their own.
301
The masses have been seriously brainwashed, so we have time to cultivate them into seeing reason on climate change and energy.
Ley knows she is only keeping the seat warm and Hastie is a front runner to secure it. If that happens then the next election is in the bag and we’ll see political debate all the way to the line. Enjoy the moment.
60
I agree with you as regard ..” not a single thing they say can be trusted” !
As regard net zero…..???? sounds like the Nats are just ..kicking the can down the road ! …No definite decision !
Frankly I think its time for the ALL the bed wetting Liberals to join with the Teals !
Any “conservative” Liberal …needs to “get out of the rabbit hole ” and join the NEW warren at One Nation.!
51
One Nation is a splinter group in the Senate, all the action is happening in the Reps.
‘Coalition chaos: Ley tipped to dump net zero.
‘Moderate and conservative MPs say there is a growing likelihood Sussan Ley will dump net zero.’ (Oz)
32
David, please have more hope.
‘Nut Zero’ is on the way out of the back door and good riddance to bad rubbish.
Reality always wins in the end.
onwards and Upwards.
200
The Nats only declared that “Net zero by 2050” , was abandoned…
…BUT, in the same statement they also stated they were still committed to ongoing emissions ( CO2 ?) reductions ?
..meaning what exactly ?
Until there is an alternative policy to renewables it is all just political word salad .
190
Meaning they still believe in the scam?
Nobody knows.
The Nats don’t know what they believe.
The Libs have absolutely zero idea of what they believe.
The voters have no idea what either of the 2 parties believe.
I believe it’s called sitting on the fence or having 2 bob each way.
110
‘ … meaning what exactly ?’
It means they are keeping their powder dry until they work out a battle strategy.
A united coalition against net zero will invigorate our democracy, I nominate Andrew Hastie for shadow climate and energy minister up against blackout Bowen.
30
I agree with your caution. Voters are very fickle so the opposition has to tread warily. If the Libs formally dump Net Zero the Coalition can bring forward suitable policies. There is a lot of money to be saved and re-invested in practical solutions. Just stopping the building of transmission lines will provide enough to build new coal fired power stations. Forget nuclear for the moment because we have hundreds of years of coal and gas. Dumping all the clean energy agencies and subsidies could lighten power bills immediately. Ridding us of the EV mandates would win back every one who values choice when purchasing a new vehicle. The numbers are on our side. Labor says nuclear will cost $600 billion but their plan will cost double that while a reliable coal plant would cost $3 billion. It just needs a reasonable salesman.
40
The Liberal Party could dump net zero, but at the same time careful not to let Angus Taylor replace Sussan.
The bookies have already pencilled him in as favourite, followed by Hastie.
10
The unseen trick is that if Oz abandons Paris and goes back to coal, oil, gas, the rest of the world won’t trade with us.
They have protocols written into their SOPs and trade agreements which exclude any products produced by companies which do not adhere to the lunatic compliance schedules of the IPCC. Most foreign companies are also bound by compliance rules to the same effect, which prevents them form sourcing materials/products from non-compliant sources.
In short, we’re screwed if we do and screwed if we don’t.
30
Rick, their story is the same as ours.
They will come around..
30
As someone who alerted Canavan to the role of CO2 in the climate catastrophe some years ago (Dr John Nicol’s paper) I very much doubt that we are seeing anything meaningful from the Nats. Canavan couldn’t be bothered getting some help with the facts of physics then and I suspect the current activity is political/ego driven.
20
Canavan is now a leader. The go to man.
It took a while, but your story is now prevailing.
20
Yet again, Labor claims that renewables provide the cheapest form of energy. Wind and sunshine, they claim, are free. I wish they’d both stop being ever-more free, as we plebes can’t afford the “savings”! Meanwhile, I’ve seen plenty of photos/videos of broken windows in homes, businesses and cars resulting from the super-storms in Queensland. Fortunately, not a single solar panel has been damaged. Otherwise, there’d be photographic evidence. Yeah! Right!
250
It is cheap energy at the immediate source.
However, to deliver that electrickery to your power point is very expensive.
This is the big part that ‘Blackout Bowen’ and the other Marxists just don’t get.
Reality will beat Ideology every time.
ALL Energy Systems must obey the Laws of Thermodynamics. It is written in the Stars.
240
Even that is a big stretch. Those turbines and panels plus installation do not come cheap. From the Conversation.
There are currently 110 wind farms operating across all Australian states and territories of which 31 wind farms, comprising a total of 599 turbines, are more than 15 years old.
A wind farm typically has a nominal design life of 20-30 years, though some wind farms are now designed for a minimum operating life of 30 years.
Wind turbines cost approximately AUD $7 million each to build and cost around half a million dollars to decommission.
40
And running costs? Any approx figure?
10
Any running costs should include the cost of backup generators that are inevitably required when the unreliables fail. Every. Single. Day.
30
Coal is free. The miners don’t write a cheque to The Maker for every train load. In this context it is not equitable for states to charge miners a royalty while allowing wind/solar producers to harvest their primary energy source for free.
ALL energy forms cost money to collect/harvest.
240
I disagree.
When I did my washing and put it on the washing line, I did not spend a penny or a cent to dry it. The Sun and wind did it.
The best solar powered dryer ever invented.
Next.
50
your washing line cost money, the pegs cost money, your time to hang out the clothes and take them back in cost money, the wear and tear of being flapped about in the wind and exposed to UV rays cost money when you have to replace the clothes, it may be the best dryer but it sure isn’t free.
10
This story has a good photo of some slight effect of that hail:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-03/queensland-giant-hail-explainer-injuries-and-damage/105964362
but only one house.
10
Looks like ‘Nut Zero’ is now dead in the water
Well looks the Nationals are having a bob each way!
Want Australia’s emissions to be the same as the European countries. Why not the same as China?
Oh no we can’t do that as we have given all our manufacturing industries to them.
Do we, or rather can we manufacture anything in Australia any more.Despite the fact that we are importing too many low skilled benefit grabbing labour voters
130
Nut zero!
Save that for further use. A good summary!
00
Rooftop solar panel fires increase
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2025/11/02/surge-in-rooftop-blazes-sparks-concern-over-milibands-solar-panel-boom/
The numbers are still relatively small but of course they burn with considerable intensity and are difficult to fight.
170
Fires on a roof top from solar are caused by one or another major defect, (assuming the cables are adequately sized of course).
Type one, the fault being caused by one of the panels shorting to ground, say the positive lead and another panel shorting the negative lead to ground. The fire is a result of the Earth cable, (which is NOT designed to carry full current), being exposed to the full generating capacity of the panels. It gets hot and burns. The solution is to monitor for an Earth leakage from one or both conductors to Earth. Note, the above situation requires TWO Earth faults before the heating begins. Detecting ONE fault and fixing it before the second fault occurs would remedy this issue.
Type two, water ingress into the isolation switches that are roof mounted. The water causes corrosion which provides a path for current to flow from the positive to the negative conductors, releasing heat which eventually causes the isolator to burn. The fix is to not have weather exposed isolation devices on the roof and to have conduit entries into the devices from below with drains fitted. The UK has just started down this path, Oz is yet to make the call.
Type three, where more than three strings are installed in parallel, (and without blocking diodes), if one string is heavily shaded then the other two can push current into the shaded panels and this current flow will be up to twice the standard current expected. The over current causes the panels to heat and catch fire. The solution is to ensure that blocking diodes are installed in all systems with more than two parallel strings. This is now in the installation guidelines but was not enforced for systems that were already installed before the rule change was announced.
And of course there is always the bad connections between panel plug/sockets. The current installation guidelines require that connections only be made between plugs of the SAME brand and model to avoid mismatch and possible heating. But again, this was a new rule and it was not required to fix old installations.
Solar panels can cause fires but in all cases a fix can be implemented. It just comes down to money. And of course, a panel on the roof is not only out of sight, it’s out of pocket to fix it.
I’m not advocating for annual inspections but it would be sensible to monitor the systems more than is happening at present.
180
Do codes stipulate that the insulation of exposed wiring, conduits or other materials used with panels be UV and heat resistant (and in cold places cold resistant)?
110
Yes. According to AS/NZS 5033 and EN 50618, all solar cables are wiring must be UV-resistant.
And 5033:2021 now doesn’t require roof-mounted isolation switches as these were fire-prone. The isolation point is usually located either adjacent to or within modern inverters.
40
There are numerous Oz standards that cover wiring. The selection of the cable, including it’s support is all covered for UV and weather exposure. It also covers for all expected loads, including wind. rain, live loads, earthquake, etc.
The material selection for cable is also covered, eg cold or heat capability. Amperage rating is already derated for hotter climates. Cold weather cables aren’t typically a problem in mainland Oz but they are also addressed under the fit for purpose requirements. A catch all clause that is suitably vague. What most installations get wrong is the support of the cable, cables must not be supported by plastic cable ties, (as the primary support). How many on this blog will now have a look at their cabling to see if it is supported by plastic cable ties? Compliance would be assured if the cable remains in place, (with a little sagging), even if all plastic cable ties were removed. Stainless steel cable ties can be used as primary supports, it’s all about the UV stability and softening when heated.
60
What about flammability of used materials generally?
I guess cable insulation (PVC) producers more smoke than heat when on fire,
But solar cells by themselves?
20
A solar cell, being silicon, does not readily burn. Similar for the silvered conductors between panel elements. The older panels have/had a plastic sheet on the back, (the lowest layer), this burns. The more recent, bifacial and twin glass panels, have glass on both sides and would/should be unlikely to contribute to a fire.
Time will tell if this proves to be correct.
60
The latest standard AS/NZS 5033:2021 says that all solar installation cables must comply with IEC62930, which specifies a level of flame retardency.
20
“I’m not advocating for annual inspections “… because every time someone walks on that roof it increases the chances of damage and leaks. Tiles and late cracking and breaking corners off, steel profiles getting crushed and the sheet getting a bow, especially as the iron get thinner and thinner.
110
Very good points. Even checking a panel by pulling on the connecting cables can cause breaks or flexing of the cable connectors. But there is no reason not to do a visual inspection, at least get the leaves and twigs out from under the panels if it builds up and ensure that water is not getting into the isolators if they are weather exposed.
These checks are quite simple and well worth the time.
As a side note, if your roof is not suitable for walking on….. How did they build it? If the cladding is that weak, then walk over the purlins.
Better to check…
https://sharpeservices.com.au/solar-electricians-in-adelaide/solar-isolator-covers/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Ecoflow_community/comments/1dafi9a/please_help_melted_solar_connector/
These are NOT from my business. Note, not only must the connectors, male and female be the same brand but the crimping tool must be the same too.
40
Our neighbour had his solar inspected when he moved in and they found your 2nd issue with water in the isolation switches. One way to avoid all this is to take the less travelled (as its more expensive) path and use micro invertors where cabling transition to AC close to the panels with all the ling established protections. I worked with DC high current systems in my younger years , I dont like the idea of one draped over my house. Just my problem I accept , they are the norm.
90
The problem with micro inverters is that they are cheap and nasty inverters that make square waves instead of sine waves. If you are connected to the grid, then all is fine, let the grid smooth out your hash but for your domestic appliances that may be near to these wave forms…. well best of luck.
If it is a roof top inverter and doesn’t have a decent transformer inside of it, (think how heavy the old amplifiers used to be for just 100W), then it is not making a smooth sine wave.
I’d never use micro inverters, they are just too cheap to be any good.
20
I believe that the latest inverters that use micros to synthesise a sine wave do a good job of accurately reproducing 50 Hz AC, but have not had the chance to look closely at their output into a resistive load. However, I use micro-synthesised 1000 Hz generators, and they generate a good sine wave with reasonably low distortion.
00
Most modern solar system inverters have separate isolated inputs for each solar panel string.
10
A lot do not too. But you are on the correct path. If you can afford it, get each string into its own controller.
A lot of the modern units also have Earth leakage detection and isolation but not all. And worst of all, if an Earth leak is detected, some installers just bridge it out, possibly without understanding the risk. And that unfortunately is not that rare.
But they all took the course and all passed.
40
Most of the fires have been traced to DC arcing. Very hard to extinguish a DC arc.
One great feature of AC is that the current value passes through zero 50 times per second in Australia and UK. Sixty time per second in the USA. Makes it relatively easy to break an arc because it does it by itself.
A DC arc will be sustained long enough to cause a fire if it has something it can burn.
Panels can get very hot if they cannot cool by moving air on both sides. I have had blisters from panels on my boat and often measured more than 60C before I placed them on ducted roof panel.
One of my roof arrays had a cracked switch box that allowed water into the switch – water and electricity are not a good mix.
The other observation is trapping of leaf litter. Dry leaf litter under a panel at 60+C is not a good combination.
120
Through zero 100 times a second, (but I’m getting picky).
DC arcing is a real and SUSTAINED problem for solar panels. The arc theoretically can be sustained until the sun sets. Most people have no understanding of the risks that solar presents. It is a long duration, near 100% current rated supply that will only stop when the load is removed or the sun sets. Cable sizing is more critical for solar than for fixed house wiring because the cables and ALL connectors are exposed to the FULL design current ALL day. Most household loads, think kettle, draw a maximum load for only 5 minutes then shut off for extended periods. Solar just doesn’t shut off.
DC arcing in connectors is the latest effort trying to be addressed. You have to use brand and model matched plugs and sockets AND the crimping tool must even be the same brand. Seems the electrical inspectors may have been burned, (pun intended), by this one more than once.
With regard to the temperature of a solar panel in the sun. I’d never touch one. I wonder what they are doing for the local temperature near a solar factory? How long before the thermals generated start affecting local weather?
70
One of the questions that comes to mind with panels in a high lightning environment is the merit or otherwise in earthing the panels and mounting frame.
The DC side of inverters are required to be galvanically separated from the grid. So the question of earthing comes up if the roofing is non-metallic.
My thought is that earthing the mounting frame with sharp corners is inviting a lightning strike. The only lightning strike I know of in our vicinity was on a metal evaporative cooler on a neighbours roof. It took out some of his electrics including wifi and another neighbours wifi. The cooler was definitely earthed.
My panels are all considerably higher than his cooler (now gone) and within 20m but did not attract the strike.
20
The economical rather than safety considerations must’ve prevailed when PV standards were defined, so cells were collected in serial not in parallel fashion.
00
The solar panel standards require that solar panel installations are earthed.
20
Absolutely correct. As Rick pointed out, this could induce lightning strikes.
The European codes actually have a higher lightning protection requirement for Earthed panels where they are the only Earthed item on the roof. I don’t think that Oz has leaped down that path yet.
Good luck making this a safety feature for every house in Oz. It might work for a metal clad roof but a lot harder to implement on concrete tiles. Some nice schematic/pics to ponder.
https://lpigroup.com/how-to-protect-your-solar-panel-system-from-lightning/
10
Lightning protection is required for solar installations, as per AS/NZS 5033:2021 and AS 1768, which is the lightning protection standard. Additionally, surge protection devices must be fitted to minimise the damage by lightning and other surges. Typically, the protection devices are installed on both the AC and DC sides of the inverter.
Your link shows an interesting lightning protection system, but have these ever been installed on residences?
00
Co2 levels . Do they mean anything?
https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/why-the-co2-hysteria-because-thats-where-the-money-is/
If you have a co2 monitor it will register around 500ppm outdoors and perhaps a lot more if it is spring or you live in a verdant area. There is an extraordinarily convoluted process to thoroughly dry official CO2 samples in order to get the current 425ppm readings, but in the real world there is considerable humidity and the real readings already far exceed the Paris agreement
212
And one day people will accept that humans cannot change world CO2 levels. It’s the universal presumption that we can which is the problem.
That CO2 slowly changes is obvious enough. But fossil fuel CO2 production now is double the increase in atmospheric CO2 which is very odd for proponents of man made CO2. And still no one seems to understand it is irrelevant.
CO2 is set by the oceans which cover 3/4 of the planet to a depth of 3.5km or 2 miles and contain 98% of incredibly soluble CO2. The only reason there is any CO2 in the air is that some escapes. H2O also evaporates. Which explains all life on what was originally lifeless dry rock.
181
And C14 proves absolutely that only 2% of atmospheric CO2 is from ancient non radioactive fossil fuels. However even that 2% is simply a reflection of the historic fossil fuel CO2 already in the ocean. It seems that the lifespan of CO2 from motor cars and power stations disappears in a few months. The idea that half of it sticks around in the atmosphere forever is irrational. This is simply a fudge factor to explain the total fossil fuel CO2 is more than double the increase.
180
I would like to present an arithmetic observation on atmospheric C14.
CO2 in the biosphere is very slightly radioactive. This comes from constant cosmic rays which turn N14 into C14. Ancient fossil fuels have been out of the biosphere for millions of years and are not radioactive. So CO2 from fossil fuels is not radioactive.
So this radioactivity has been a tool called radio(active) carbon dating.
Prior to 1965 this was depressed 2.03% by the accumulation of fossil fuel CO2 in the biosphere. This is the depression below the average level(shown as 0). It was good science and disproved man made CO2 70 years ago.
Then atmospheric Hydrogen bomb testing doubled C14 suddenly, the perfect experiment. And you can see the e-kt decay as it all went in the ocean.
–
–
But there is something else. 98% of CO2 gas is in the ocean and only the atmospheric CO2 doubled. So atmospheric C14O2 went up 100%. But total C14O2 only went up 1/50 or 2%
And you can see the e-kt has an horizontal asymptote of 0.0%. C14 is now at the same level as it has been for millions of years! This confirms the arithmetic and our understanding perfectly.
There is additional fossil fuel CO2 in the air but also an exactly matching extra C14 from the hydrogen bombs.
Most importantly, if the 50% more CO2 in the air since 1750 was from fossil fuel, the depletion would be 33%.
I cannot understand how any scientist can support man made CO2. This is all absolute direct evidence.
130
Rate of CO2 increase in
1970 1.13ppm/year
2020 2.60ppm/year
09
That’s because there are billions more people on the Planet talking rubbish and breathinng out more CO2.
And the CO2 makes the plants grow bigger and we get more food.
A WIN WIN for Mother Nature once again.
Nice.
80
And mostly China doing the heavy lifting. India has greater population but contribute far less than China. India really needs to lift its game. They now have a Minstry for Coal so at least recognise that they need to lift their game.
Australia does not even contribute to atmospheric CO2. We keep growing plants that suck it out of the atmosphere faster than our power generation and industry can return it.
If not for Australia extracting and giving away our coal and gas for other countries to burn, Australia would be doing absolutely nothing toward greening the planet.
Australia is one of the most visible beneficiaries of the greening. So much moisture retained in the biomass now that the country can sustain low pressure zones over much of the interior:
https://earth.nullschool.net/#2025/11/02/1000Z/wind/surface/level/overlay=mean_sea_level_pressure/orthographic=126.80,-34.18,528/loc=141.797,-25.899
Gets more like the Amazon every year. It is an amazing ride to see how humans are able to restore the natural balance on Earth.
50
Hold on. You are disagreeing with TdeF???
20
A lot of people think CO2 is man controlled, which is my point. Even Prof Will Happer and his CO2 coalition. His argument is that increased CO2 is a very good thing and the heating involved is minor and largely beneficial. He said to me it was personal opinion, whatever he meant by that. His real lifelong and high level expertise is in atmospheric physics. I have found many scientists who call it out as a hoax, from their own expertise. All are correct.
20
“Rate of CO2 increase in 1970 1.13ppm/year 2020 2.60ppm/year”
Really, where did you get these figures? The slope in 1975 is identical to 2025 320ppm to 420ppm in a straight line over 50 years, 100/50 = 2ppm/year. How do you get 4ppm/year?
No indication in CO2 of a world wide lockdown, the explosive growth of China to 40% of all CO2, volcanoes, bush fires anything human, not even 310,000 windmills.
But you claim the rate of change of CO2 has more than doubled? Not my memory of straight lines and their slope.
And fossil fuel output from 1900 to 2025 has gone up 16x. In as much as two things are going up, there is no obvious connection between a straight line and an exponential if the exponential is supposed to be driving the straight line.
30
It is not straight. That is false. Someone has joined 2 dots and created a slope.
try here
https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-atmospheric-carbon-dioxide
“The rate of CO2 accumulation in the atmosphere has increased every decade since atmospheric measurements began. Global average annual mean CO2 concentration reached 419.2 parts per million (ppm) in 2023. Adding all greenhouse gases together, concentrations reached 524 ppm of CO2-equivalent.”
https://www.csiro.au/en/research/environmental-impacts/climate-change/State-of-the-Climate/Greenhouse-gases
these sites contain links to the data and publications. None of them are a new zealand news web page though.
14
Sadly the usual rubbish rocket ship scam. Not wrong but zoomed and scaled to turn a near horizontal slightly bent line into a rocket ship.
Draw it again with the X axis in place and height and width the same. You will find you have been fooled.
30
“Someone has joined 2 dots and created a slope.” Of course not, but your point is a very good one.
I believe the two graphs are identical.
So which is correct? The one which includes the X axis so that you see the change in absolute values, not an incremental change.
As I said, the value of CO2 in 1750 is only 33% below the value today. It’s all about exaggeration, visually and mathematically.
That’s how you can deceive people. It’s not accidental.
10
Graphs are a visual representation of data. The data itself is what is used to calculate slope, not eyeballing a drawing. It is not a straight line. There is no debate on that, it just isn’t.
00
I would also point out that in 1750 CO2 levels were not much lower at 280ppm. It’s all incredibly exaggerated. 50% in 250 years is not rapid. You would not invest money at this return of 50%/250 or 0.2%
fixed! And put another way less dramatically, CO2 levels in 1750 were only 33% lower than today. This is a tiny variation.
50
And the Mauna Loa graph is also in very warm tropical waters of Hawaii. It shows the seasonal CO2 variations of Henry’s Law very dramatically.
The NZ graph is at 42South and shows no such oscillations.
10
NO ! The “Paris” agreement is based on the official “dry” readings not on any random figure from a amature CO2 monitor in someones back yard.
But i am surprised that those figures have not (apparently) been manipulated to make the scam more scary !
30
Yes great for all living things on Earth. But be aware of trees taking over.
Trees can become really big really fast in these days of atmospheric enrichment. We have a 20 tonne monster that threatens our house. It is on a neighbours property and requires heritage approval to trim it. It will eventually fall over and I hope after I have departed.
Animal and plant life on Earth needs to maintain a balance. CO2 enrichment of the atmosphere favours plant life. Animals need to maintain the balance so the plant life does not take over. What chance has a wee human got against a 40 tonne monster?
Trees in the Amazon are gaining average size increase of 3% per decade. If humans keep enriching the atmosphere, the trees will be twice as big in 300 years. Before you know it, trees will take over. Plants already outweigh animals 9 to 1.
130
And trees grow very well in the Arctic and Antarctica.
Just ask the penguins.
20
The kapok (sabra) tree in the Amazon jungle can grow at a rate of 4m/year, reaching heights of 50-60 metres in a very short time. Even our own eucalypt trees grow quite fast – a lot of the WA SW forests that were logged a century ago have completely regrown with magnificent tall trees.
70
Same with Dandenong Ranges forests near Melbournistan.
Most wokesters have no clue they were clear felled 100 years ago or less. They think it’s virgin forest.
When I walk there I often come across old giant stumps from that era, complete with cut outs where loggers would insert their platforms (logging springboards).
110
The absence of adequate forest clearing in Victoria is discussed today in an article in The Australian. I believe Victoria only clears around 2% of its forest undergrowth annually, and this isn’t sufficient to prevent disastrous forest fires. Eucalypts generate litter at a rate of around 8 tonnes per hectare annually, but only 29% of this decomposes each year. So it doesn’t take too many years for the litter to build up to levels where a fire will be uncontrollable.
60
US editor sacked for allowing a sceptical article on climate change to be published in his journal
https://dailysceptic.org/2025/11/02/orwellian-sacking-of-editor-for-allowing-debate-over-climate-change/
280
Once again proving that belief in anthropogenic climate change is a cult, not science.
If it can’t be questioned, it’s not science.
370
“A huge Grok beatdown of climate hysteria”
“No, climate is not worse than it’s ever been — neither in absolute terms nor relative to human vulnerability. In fact, despite ~0.6°C of warming over the past 30 years (1995–2025), the human condition is vastly better than at any prior point in history, and climate-related harms are declining in both absolute and per-capita terms.”
https://www.cfact.org/2025/11/02/a-huge-grok-beatdown-of-climate-hysteria
80
There’s a major horse race called the Melbourne Cup in Melbournistan tomorrow.
It’s a public holiday in Melbourne but the race is closely followed by the rest of the country, or used to be when there was a universal Australian culture which most people followed.
Anyway, back in the day, utility companies would often publish graphs showing how power consumption of the nation visibly dropped as industrial machines were turned off for the several minutes of the race due to people watching it on TV or listening on the radio, there being no “smart” devices back then of course.
Of course these days, Australia has no significant industry, and no universal culture.
Here is some data for 13 years prior to 2014 showing no significant drop in electricity demand in Australia.
https://wattclarity.com.au/articles/2014/11/electricity-demand-largely-chugs-along-whilst-the-race-stops-the-nation/
However, as a child I definitely remember seeing such graphs displayed by electricity utilities such as the The Electricity Commission of New South Wales at the Royal Easter Show where they would have stands actually promoting the use of MORE electricity and a cool Jacob’s Ladder (high voltage travelling arc) display. Those graphs showed a noticeable drop in electricity consumption throughout Australia during the race.
181
You can still watch the sewer peak flows during the FA cup and NFl finals.
Some tech will never change. Unless they invent a smart toilet. There’s an opening for Bowen. He has crappy thoughts.
70
Here is an interesting video of the USA 500kW WLW AM commercial broadcasting station of the 1930’s. It could be heard over much of the US and at night, much of the world when they experimentally cranked up the power.
https://youtu.be/y1u0bHx83Vw
130
DM – This goes around about that –
“Aspidistra: The wartime breakthrough you’ve never heard of”
https://history.blog.gov.uk/2019/08/08/aspidistra-the-wartime-breakthrough-youve-never-heard-of/
100
Very interesting. Thanks Ian.
40
Fascinating, especially the technology. Thanks.
10
Video.
Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson calls for Australia’s Governor-General to step down over patronage of an extreme Left organisation.
332
Sadly it’s a long ( 4 days for most Victorians ) week end. By Wednesday all will be forgotten, just like a “treaty” with a tiny group of mixed race people appeared way down the news list and hasn’t been mentioned since.
Its politics, hang on till tomorrow and apparently the electorate will have forgotten, like the population of an entire state has dementia.
100
That reminds me of that old joke about Sictoria in the early 1990s, when Joan Kerner (Ex Trade Union Hack) was the’ Wrecker In Chief’.
What is the Capital of Sictoria?
Answer – One dollar…LOL
80
Mostyn was appointed precisely because she was a far left extremist, it’s all right there in her bio.
110
Video.
Italian study. Covid vaccinated vs unvaccinated study.
131
This past weekend was the Lake Goldsmith Steam Rally.
As I have mentioned before, the Lake Goldsmith Steam Rally site was once in a pristine rural landscape.
It is now polluted by huge numbers of subsidy-harvesting windmills surrounding it.
A site dedicated to the celebration of the steam engine, made practical by Thomas Newcomen in 1712, surrounded by machines the product of the clueless woke (a tautology I know) representing a regression to the random power source common BEFORE the steam engine and rendered largely obsolete by it.
It was a disturbing juxtaposition and assault upon the senses.
260
Do you have any video clips of the rally this year David?
What was the featured theme?
40
I didn’t take pictures or video this year Peter.
The special theme was “100 years of Caterpillar in Australia”.
When Australia used to have an advanced industrial economy, some Caterpillar equipment was even made here, including the graders and other machines to make airstrips on Pacific islands during WW2.
From Gulag AI:
151
Caterpillar had been very active in Tasmamia for decades in Burnie. Mainly long wall mining machines. And subcontractors in Victoria. https://elphinstone.com/elphinstone-story/. 1,000 machines produced by 2001. Exports as well
100
The design and manufacture of longwall machines has a very interesting history over the last 50 years.
Chocks, shearer, face conveyor etc were initially best manufactured in the USA. German engineering abilities gradually overtook that market to the point that American operations preferred German machinery to that produced in the US.
The German Govt (led by Merkel) decided to go green and deindustrialise, so German design and manufacturing slowly dwindled as the cost of production rose and rose.
What has filled this gap ? The Chinese have absorbed the design and manufacturing histories of this machinery and now produce high quality longwall machines. They have become the “go to” for this market.
I find it astonishing that within about 30 years, the Chinese have outmanouvered and outgunned the Germans in this highly specialised design and manufacture market for heavy machinery.
90
I am not all surprised. In 2007 I spent a few days in Beijing looking over as power station design. Our 7;30am departure from the motel coincided with the kids entering school grounds. Our return after 5pm was the same time as the kids were on their way out of school. These were primary school aged children.
The Chinese education system was highly demanding and I doubt it has changed.
China has a PhD level engineer working on every aspect of improving technology.
German engineering was polluted when the wall came down. Poorly trained engineers and craftsmen from east Germany being paid the same as those from west Germany. It made the better engineers bitter.
I am yet to find a German vehicle I want to own. Overpriced junk comes to mind.
40
On the Western Freeway from Melbourne to Beaufort I noticed huge numbers of potholes, all poorly filled, if filled at all. Often the potholes were in clusters.
To repair them properly they used to replace sections of road but now it’s just a patch of the hole itself which will soon deteriorate and become a pothole again.
150
Reducing all speed limits to 70km/hr will make the roads last longer! (Sarcasm)
100
Actually it will make them last longer. The impact load from a vehicle rises as the velocity increases. This is one way to make a bridge safer for heavy loads, cross at walking speed.
Please don’t give the government any more ideas. Red flags out front will be established next week.
90
Welcome to my world David. That section breaks up every year, without fail. It’s patched up with big sections replaced. Makes no difference. Something happened to road construction in Victoria a few decades ago. Any new sections of highway built in that time are substandard. The specs of the road foundation changed or they try to complete roads before they have bedded down properly.
90
They got rid of the Department of Main Roads, about the same time they got rid of the Department of Housing and Construction.
The rot goes back to Labor getting back in power in Victoria in the early ’80s, since then they’ve been in for 33 of 42 years, and the last Coalition Govt was unable to do anything because of numbers in the Legislative Council.
We used to have the best roads, education, health, and power in the country, and they were right up there in the top 10 or better in the world.
Now, everything has turned to shit.
90
In the 90’s they renamed Agriculture to Dept Primary Industries and Forestry, Parks etc to Sustainability & Environment. Which shortened to DPI and DSE. Some wag renamed them “dopey and dozey”, which described both beautifully. 😀
30
Back in the ’70’s there was a scandal about a new highway running north from Melbourne.
The Labor opposition tried to claim that the contractor had used inferior stones, and that he was well connected with Government (then Liberal) so it was a scandal by using cheaper grade stones.
When a copy of the letter to the Roads Dept**. by the contractor some time before construction started saying that the stones were unsuitable and would fail in service. Along with that copy was a letter from the Roads Dept. saying that they knew this would work, and only that grade could be used.
Under threats of libel the media suddenly lost interest, but the real scandal was why did the bureaucrats choose an inferior grade?
**Name of Dept. changed.
100
I heard that section of road did not have the proper seal during construction, water got in , end of road.
VicRoads super wasn’t there for the final seal supposedly.
10
Aa Australian society continues to degenerate and become more lawless and with crime unpunished, by design under Labor Governments, especially Victoriastan, the following was sadly inevitable.
140
They never describe how these gates improve safety.
Like many announcements, blah, blah, blah without the because…… or by…….. statements on the end.
10
Like security guards at these places without any ability to do anything about violent behaviour or theft. Don’t touch a crim, they have rights don’tcha know.
Wait for plod to arrive in droves, sometime in the future.
And plod only comes if there’s violence if its just ordinary theft, well that’s just the cost of doing business.
90
More security concerns from Chinese EVs, apart from Chinese electronics in general. This particular story relates to Israel, UK and Australia.
111
I saw a video from the UK where it was stated that with a house battery you can buy cheaper electricity at night and use it during expensive daytime hours.
Is that really worthwhile in the UK?
And what about Australia or elsewhere?
10
Could be as that arbitrage is how a lot of big battery facilities make a lot of their money. Of course they are in the wholesale market. If you have retail rates that vary a lot by time of day it might pay.
61
There are still retailers offering zero 11am to 2pm tariffs. That is enough time to charge a battery and heat an electric water heater.
Payback on a subsidised battery under these circumstances will be 3 to 4 years. Say battery AUD300/kWh. Peak electricity 40c/kWh. Payback 750 cycles. You should get a battery that is bigger than you daily usage so you are not using all its capacity daily. Not all the output from the battery will be at peak times so the actual saving will be less than 40c/kWh.
Most batteries are designed for solar charging so do not take power from the grid. Hence you would need a modified control arrangement.
So check if you can get a zero lunchtime energy tariff. Also talk to a battery subsidy harvester if you can set the battery to charge from the grid rather than solar panels.
From a grid perspective, the grid needs storage to get best value from existing solar. There is currently a surplus of lunchtime solar. Hence soaking up the energy locally for later use is better for the grid. It will reduce the peak demand.
Grid generator scheduling has to change before the grid gets any better.
In Melbourne, vertically mounted solar panels facing north would be more effective than those mounted on a shallow pitched roof in winter.
Over the past year, batteries in the NEM bought power at average cost of $34/MWh and sold is for $244/MWh. So big money in price arbitrage in Australia. Batteries often get paid to to charge. Last week, batteries in SA were paid $17/MWh to charge.
40
I have enquired extensively for that very possibility, but have yet to find any retailer in my regeon ( south coast NSW) that will offer a worthwhile rate “differential” let alone a “free” period.
The nearest i have been able to obtain was a “Off peak” rate just 10c less than the peak rate.
If anyone has firm information as to better offers i am all ears !
“ There are still retailers offering zero 11am to 2pm tariffs. “
Rick, could you identify that retailer please.
30
This is a link to a firm advertising zero lunchtime:
https://pages.ovoenergy.com.au/the-free-3-plan
My son was using a retailer in Victoria offering similar deal but they stopped offering it.
The grid rule makers are trying to encourage distributed storage because it is now lower cost to have households install this stuff than do it at grid level. There are proposed rule changes for next year to recognise virtual power plants. Basically distributed PV and batteries to get benefits from price volatility.
There are lots of slow learners running the grid and they will need to see the economic collapse of the grid and de-industrialisation before they believe it is possible. Having your own battery and soaking up neighbours’ solar is good for households and local grid. Not so much for Australia. The only way back is to change the NEM bidding system to dispatchable generation – suspect a long way in the future.
40
OVO advise that the “3 for free” offer is not available in my area !
As do all the other retailers with free or low off peak rates.
Otherwise i could charge a 30+kWh battery ffor free at lunch time , and run the rest ofthe day+ night from battery supply…..
…..zero power bills, zero investment in solar, and no concerns over cloudy winter days !
Too good to be true ?
10
No – your battery adds value to the grid by sucking up excessive solar. You will be making better use of installed solar capacity near you most days. Everyone who is grid connected leans on the grid. The current system is highly regressive that punished those without assets. The battery is a high value asset that gets you into the game. If you do not do it then Blackout will be paying others to do it.
I only have modest on-grid solar and storage but I am still a net exporter this time of year. There will be about 4 months of the year when I am not exporting.
If there was enough batteries to soak up all the solar and the wind plants were gone,, then the coal plants could churn away near their rated capacity and off lower cost generation. There is a lack of storage for the amount of residential solar installed.
Origin are the most active in the virtual power plant arrangement. You could talk to them about what they are offering. You should be aiming for a 4 year payback on a battery these days.
20
Without a significant reduction for off peak power cost, there is little return on investment in a battery for me. The lowest OP rate i can get is 8c below the peak or any time rate. And also those rates come with an even higher “Service Charge”
To make it worthwhile , in addition to a battery, i would have to increase my solar capacity significantly..(adding to the existing surplus solar capacity)..!
I suspect those “Free power periods” are only available in areas that have a high density of RT solar (SA, , West Sydney, Brisbane , etc ?) which cannot be exported beyond regeonal networks/ substations.
10
Just another ordinary day in the UK.
(Mass stabbing on a train.)
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15250917/Moment-Huntingdon-knifeman-swaggers-train-platform-blade.html
90
Or the illegals trying to molest kids.
https://x.com/EnglandThisIs/status/1985004146844406227
Mandatory castration and deportation back home where “it’s their way” 😎.
50
October 31st 2025: Ricky Gervais advert rejected.
November 1st 2025: Multiple people stabbed on train in Huntingdon
Welcome to the UK
Two* Fellows Went All Stabby on a British Train Yesterday
00
Here is some News for President Trump and all freedom loving people.
It’s actually, some good news and bad news.
Here is the Bad News. The Chinese Communist Party has landed on the Moon.
Here is the Good News. ALL of the members.
Not much oxygen up there for them all at all.
70
FWIW
“Daily Mail: Charlie Kirk Killed With ‘Sniper Rifle'”
“Except he wasn’t. He was shot by an antique milsurp bolt-action rifle that’s used by hunters all across the nation and has been for decades. It’s not a sniper rifle at all.”
https://bearingarms.com/tomknighton/2025/10/30/daily-mail-charlie-kirk-killed-with-sniper-rifle-n1230438
Via Hot Air
50
Just usual beat up and use of catchy terms by the media when it comes to firearms. Sniper rifle when it isnt, assault weapon ( very flexible namee), high powered weapon (nobody gets shot with low powered weapons apparently), high calibre ? an arsenal when somone has more than one firearm and one box of ammo.
40
And Biden’s old nonsense claim that a .223 will blow the lungs out of your body, a silencer (moderator/suppressor) makes a centrefire rifle go “phut phut” like in Hollywood films, don’t know the difference between a clip and a magazine etc etc.
30
He was shot with a palm pistol from close range by his own security team! It is caught on video. It was greenlighted by the Feds hence NO investigation of the crime- we are given a preposterous narrative and told “Move on- nothing to see here”. Et tu Brute?
19
Sorry, but what have you been drinking/smoking?
That’s one of the most stunningly shatbit nuckingfutz comments I’ve ever seen.
80
Mainstream Continues Turning On Zelensky, As Politico Documents ‘Dark Side’ Of His Rule
For many months, the Western mainstream media continues the trend of turning on Ukraine, and on President Zelensky in particular, now that it’s clear that ‘victory’ against Russia will not be a reality.
It seems that every time Ukraine’s military suffers major setback and defeat at a strategic location in the east – as is again unfolding currently – the unusually ‘negative’ MSM articles suddenly appear.
It wasn’t very long ago, and especially during the opening couple years of war, the MSM treated any criticisms of Zelensky or the Ukrainian Army as totally off-limits. This was the comically absurd era of concert halls in Europe canceling famous classical Russian ballads, or op-eds calling for reading courses to ban Dostoevsky. But fast-forward to late 2025 and Politico is out with a story entitled The dark side of Zelenskyy’s rule.
The story documents how Ukrainian society, and especially what’s left of the ‘accepted opposition’ (after long ago Zelensky banned all opposition political parties deemed too ‘pro-Russian’ in a country where some one-third of the population has Russian as their first language) is slowly turning on the US/EU-backed leader.
Discontent has boiled to the public surface on a variety of issues of late including harsh recruitment policies which has seen officers throw unsuspecting men on the street into vans, and then there’s Zelensky’s personal efforts which sought to ban top corruption investigative institutions (later reversed after severe censure from the public and Western countries), and most recently there’s the political persecution of Zelensky’s enemies.
51
Zero Hedge is on the FSB payroll.
‘… victory against Russia will not be a reality.’
This is the fourth year of the war and when the petrol runs out and St Petersburg is plunged into permanent darkness, then the game is up.
08
Desperate Special Forces Bid to Save Pokrovsk Fails as AFU Faces Unprecedented Collapse on Every Front
The situation continues getting worse and worse for Ukraine.
Major publications are increasingly reporting the cold hard facts, whether it’s the manpower crisis or the power grid collapse:
40
Yep, they may lose it.
‘Ukraine’s top military commander has admitted his soldiers are facing “difficult conditions” defending Pokrovsk – a key eastern front-line town – against massed Russian forces.
‘Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi said Ukrainian troops were fending off a “multi-thousand enemy” force – but denied Russian claims that they were surrounded or blocked.’ (BBC)
06
Z, the corrupt UKR alleged leader is running out of cannon fodder.
Why doesn’t he go on the front line?
Because he has his stolen billions and billions stashed away in Florida and London.
What a crook.
71
‘Why doesn’t he go on the front line?’
That would be very Churchillian. No, there is too much at stake, the Russian Federation is already being carved up in the Far East.
https://kyivinsider.com/china-and-north-korea-slowly-seizing-control-of-russias-far-east/
04
Keep that alternate universe coming EG, its great!
100
Made it into RT
Zelensky silencing critics with lawfare – Politico
The Ukrainian leader has been clearing the field of potential rivals in the event of a presidential election, lawmakers claim
00
‘ … using the conflict with Russia to monopolize power to a degree that threatens the country’s democracy, Politico wrote.’
That is vulgar propaganda and totally untrue, Zelensky has been offered a job in Brussels after hostilities.
05
O.K. That one is seriously funny but not if you’re a Ukie conscript.
But for what it is worth, I seriously doubt that he will be taking up the offer.
20
I always go to RT for unbiased news.
10
I always go to “Hanrahan” when I need a good laugh.
20
You could measure Russian gains in the last three years with a dress maker’s tape yet they are still WINNING!! Winning, I tell you.
And Pokrovsk has not been subdued yet in spite of the year+ it has been under attack.
Ukrainian C-in-C Oleksandr Syrski claimed that Russian forces suffered 15,000 casualties, including 7,000 killed in action, in the Pokrovsk direction during January 2025 alone.
Ukrainian intelligence estimates suggest Russian forces were suffering 14,000 to 15,000 casualties per month in the Pokrovsk direction, implying approximately 45,000 casualties in the first three months of 2025.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported that Russian forces lost nearly 3,000 personnel in the Pokrovsk direction over a two-week period in December 2024.
British defence analyst Michael Clarke estimated that Russians were losing 1,000 men killed or wounded per day on average during the Pokrovsk offensive.
A report from Trench Art estimated that nearly 87,000 Russian troops died between January and September 2025, with the Center Grouping of Forces—responsible for the Pokrovsk offensive—losing around 104,000 men, of whom at least 47,000 were killed.
These figures indicate extremely high casualties, but no specific number is available for deaths directly attributed to the capture of Pokrovsk.
AI-generated answer. Please verify critical facts.
By comparison US Marines lost 93,000 men in the Pacific in WWII doing their many landings.
But the learned folk here must be right: Russia is winning.
10
Palantir Thinks College Might Be a Waste.
So It’s Hiring High-School Grads.
Tech company offers 22 teens a chance to skip college for its fellowship, which includes a four-week seminar on Western civilization
At first, the idea of skipping college to take a fellowship for Palantir Technologies seemed preposterous to Matteo Zanini.
“College is broken,” one Palantir post said. “Admissions are based on flawed criteria. Meritocracy and excellence are no longer the pursuits of educational institutions,” it said.
“All of my friends, my teachers, my college counselor, it was a unanimous no.” His parents left the decision to him, and he decided to go with Palantir.
Zanini is one of more than 500 high-school graduates who applied for Palantir’s “Meritocracy Fellowship”—an experiment launched under Palantir CEO Alex Karp’s thesis that existing American universities are no longer reliable or necessary for training good workers.
The inaugural class of 22 Palantir fellows wraps up in November. If they’ve done well in the four-month program, they’ll have the chance to work full time at Palantir, sans college degree.
The fellowship kicked off with a four-week seminar with more than two dozen speakers. Each week had a theme: the foundations of the West, U.S. history and its unique culture, movements within America, and case studies of leaders including Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill.
81
EDITORIAL – Back to basics to tackle classroom disadvantage
Resort Back to Technical Trades/High Schools of the 1950s and Finish at Intermediate Certificate Level
All Technical Trade School Leavers could Read/Write/Spell/Add
Australia has regressed in Education
20
This is how we used to be journalists, engineers, chemists etc, before the gatekeepers funnelled everything through universities and degrees.
30
I found it fascinating that when the Trump administration removed the funding for communist subversion there is no longer “Rap” music in the top 40 charts for the first time in decades!
111
Interesting.
I have always thought that one of the objectives of that “music” was to promote degeneracy for the benefit of Leftist subversion.
70
Rap fatigue, it hasn’t changed in decades.
04
It isn’t Rap. It’s (C)Rap……………..
50
Also, there has been an increase in listeners discovering new music through algorithms on social media.
04
The flame resistant Durian fruit
https://va.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_t53rpkC1pH1z23obp.mp4
Hello, NASA?
Who needs Maurice Ward and Starlite.😉
20
Interesting but not magical.
The outer layer of woody biopolymers chars creating a thermally insulating layer to protect deeper layers.
Not suitable for atmospheric re-entry as the char must also maintain structural integrity which a woody char is unlikely to do.
20
Could Substitute Australia Labor/Greens/TEALs/Labor Lite Liberals – LINOs in the following
But the real problem is that Democrats don’t run a political party anymore; they run a secular religion.
Its sacraments are abortion, gender ideology, and climate hysteria. Its priests are tenured academics and unfunny late-night comedians.
Its heretics are anyone who still believes in God, biology, and common sense.
Instead of offering working people hope, they offer lectures. Instead of fighting for cheaper, abundant energy, they promise “environmental equity.” Instead of protecting kids, they pump them full of puberty blockers.
That’s why a party that once claimed to represent the little guy now represents a small and shrinking circle of elite, over-educated, self-righteous scolds who think everyone else is a racist.
The authors plead for Democrats to stop alienating normal voters with sermons about white privilege and microaggressions.
But good luck with that.
These are the same geniuses who open every public event by apologizing for meeting on the “stolen” land of indigenous peoples.
That’s why a party that once claimed to represent the little guy now represents a small and shrinking circle of elite, over-educated, self-righteous scolds who think everyone else is a racist.
140
FWIW
Paywalled but you get the gist
“And They’re Off! Canadian First Nations’ Land Grab Is On”
https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2025/10/31/and-theyre-off-canadian-first-nations-land-grab-is-on-n3808434
20
Think of all that wonderful rain falling on Australia right now and not enough dams to capture it because someone told the government the dams would never fill again.
Those dams could have been used to drought proof and flood proof Australia had all our money not been thrown away on wind, solar, battery, SH2 and desalination schemes…
Tragic.
250
Over a decade ago Inigo Jones predicted this month to be a major one for flooding, based on planetary alignment. Then minor flooding in Jan 2027, but no droughts from now until a major one in 2032. He did get the major drought right that ended in 2019/2020. Let us see…
70
Yes but a ‘Flannery’ is now known as a ‘Porkie’.
What a Plonker.
30
The best time to build a Dam is in a Drought.
Now, for those words of wisdom, I only ask for a Consulting fee of 2 Billion Dollars.
And to save Australia a lot of money, just stop building Snowy 2.0. It won’t work.
50
Vintage tech: the Mutoscope
https://va.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_t49scwvkAg1a8kiik.mp4
The mutoscope was an early motion picture device, invented by W. K. L. Dickson and Herman Casler and granted U.S. patent 549309A to Herman Casler on November 5, 1895.
30
You could not get further from vintage tech than this. Samsung building their 2nmtr chip factory in Texas. It makes getting to the moon look microscopic. For a start they had to stabilise acres and acres of ground by making 100m deep (might have been feet?) cores, that took every Texas cement factories out put for months, to fill, so there can never be the slightest vibration from anything. That is just the start. 36 mind blowing mins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36W0dMwQJxU&t=253s
50
Hopefully they’ll do better than the Hubble optics fiasco despite the best minds, best equipment and precautions..
00
In the fully woke city of Chicago, ICE found an illegal alien working as a police officer. And he was on a tourist visa!
Unbelievable!
I bet he was enrolled to vote for the Democrats as well.
70
FWIW
“The Reborn Hemi V-8 Makes Zero Sense. Here’s Why It’s Selling Out.
Ram’s decision to resurrect the Hemi isn’t logical. It’s based on emotion, identity, and the unmistakable sound that built a loyal following.”
https://www.motortrend.com/features/why-ram-brought-back-hemi-v8-engine-2026-ram-1500
Something Jaguar missed?
60
Toyota have recently announced that they are going to introduce a V8 engine into some of their new vehicles, perhaps later into a Landcruiser. Article in The Australian today.
20
Good news but wasn’t the so-called “ute tax” meant to stop people enjoying V8’s?
10
It might have had that intent but the way it is written seems you are better off with a “Ram” than a “Hilux”
20
At the Tokyo Motor Show many manufacturers have revived their internal combustion engine models and some are investing in development of lower emissions fuel to replace petrol and diesel, based on saltwater and algae.
20
FWIW
“The White House Just Pulled Off an Epic Trolling Masterpiece on the Democrats”
https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2025/11/02/the-white-house-just-pulled-off-an-epic-trolling-masterpiece-on-democrats-n4945526
As Kate’s thread hearing at Small Dead Animals has it –
“Mischief is Important”
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For “hearing” read “heading”
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Just wondering if anyone has heard anything about a potential meteorite landing in East Gippsland?
I was in Bairnsdale yesterday, unfortunately l was exiting a pub as the explosive sound was heard (the noise of the door cancelled out the boom). Everybody outside heard it, my mate’s wife said the windows of their house were rattling about 5km away. She also saw on social media that the sound was heard in Pakenham.
We are talking about some serious impact, hasn’t been much about it in the media.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/atmospheric-disturbance-major-bang-heard-in-skies-over-bairnsdale-victoria/9c749c2e-2c6b-4dcd-bbdf-e1cacbc32861
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Have the parliamentary oversight indigenous members given approval?
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I think they’ve just completed the Welcome to Country ceremony. Interstellar objects still need to defer to Indigenous rights.
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Only the Port Germein/Tesla incident…
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Hello Jon Rattin. Well, I have now! I sent your link to our son in East Gippsland and he says the family heard the boom. It was like extra loud thunder, shook buildings and a few friends saw it burning up. It was definitely loud.
There you go.
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“Take me to your leader..! What! Albanese..no don’t worry, I’ll go somewhere else..”
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China watchers are saying Xi’s double greeted world leaders at APEC, he was noticeably shorter and walked with a limp.
The clip of Trump sitting opposite the doppelgänger is pure theatre, POTUS leans forward staring intently at China’s supreme leader who is reading a prepared script and not looking up. Donnie knew instantly, its Shao Jianhua, a pie seller from Changsha City.
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Sir Winston Churchill had many doubles in WW2. So did Field Marshall Montgomery.
But there was only one Hitler. Who would have liked to have doubled him?
Spike Milligan maybe? LOL
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Charlie Chaplin?
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He would only do it as The Great Dictator. A Brilliant Film.
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I read ‘I was Monty’s Double’ years ago.
As a four-year old living in Egypt, I saw Monty walking down the road by our quarters. The families all turned out to cheer him.
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I tried to give you an up thumb but it didn’t work. So here is a load more.
Up Thumb, Up Thumb, Up Thumb, Up Thumb and to Infinity and beyond……………
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Thank you 🙂
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That’s a new twist on meat and greet.
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“he was noticeably shorter and walked with a limp.”
Lol!! Look at 4sec into this report, they stand side by side and Trump is not a small man!
https://www.tiktok.com/@skynews/video/7566935269115464983
How do you know it was the RealDonaldTrump (TM)? Maybe he was the fake…
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https://www.facebook.com/leisrealtalk/videos/did-the-chinese-leader-grow-taller-watch-leis-live-stream-here-httpswwwyoutubeco/927755115701075/
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And with Trump:
https://youtu.be/Yi_hYRgERzM?t=116
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FWIW
“Michael Mann: “I’m Not Owned! I’m Not Owned!!” – As He Shrinks into a Corn Cob”
“If you’ve been following the climate circus for as long as we have here at WUWT, you know that Michael Mann – the self-proclaimed guardian of the infamous “hockey stick” graph – has been skating on thin ice for years. Well, it looks like that ice just cracked wide open. According to a gleeful piece in the National Review titled “Michael Mann Finally Goes Away,” Mann has dropped his long-running defamation lawsuit against them after a whopping 12 years of legal clownery.”
More at
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/11/02/michael-mann-im-not-owned-im-not-owned-as-he-shrinks-into-a-corn-cob/
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Michael Mann is a UN stooge.
He has been disproved and he should get on his hockey stick and ride off into the sunset to get burnt from the backside upwards. Maybe get a rocket up the back passage.
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FWIW – more “retreats to rationality”
“Bill Gates, 893 Companies Ditch Climate Initiative…Call For “Return to Economic Rationality” ”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/11/02/bill-gates-893-companies-ditch-climate-initiativecall-for-return-to-economic-rationality/
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Bill Gates is a ……………words fail me.
Along with that ‘Inconvenient Truth’ idiot…………………….
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So I guess this is how it ends.
Slow fade, with “never mind(s)” and “we meant well(s)”.
The loot pocketed.
The open faced organized lying memory holed.
Just like Pandemic.
I wonder what the new taxes will be labeled?
“A new tax to pay to fix the mess we made with the last tax grift” … which “you must pay or otherwise poor persons of color will all die in five years you racists”.
Although I fear that future productivity has already been thoroughly drained by the Time Bandit wealth machine that Gates and his elite Rock of Black friends constructed.
The best thieves of multiple centuries.
Curiously accurate names.
‘Net Zero’ and ‘Rocks (that are) Black’, plus all the other Davos humanitarians.
Bono and Bruce Springsteen should sing us another song about the glory of the oppressed poor.
Where the streets have no name because your not allowed to drive or leave your home without permission.
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FWIW
“Humans Used to Sleep Twice Every Night. Here’s Why It Vanished.”
https://www.sciencealert.com/humans-used-to-sleep-twice-every-night-heres-why-it-vanished
Via Istapundit
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Aka Biphasic sleep, which I covered months back.
Wake up at 3am, do the dishes and vacuuming, go back to bed.
Will it take off? 😁
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With smart meters it may be the only time you can afford to do such things.
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Well, that just about says it for me.
I thought it was a sleep disorder.
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New artificial neurons physically replicate the brain
Researchers from the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and the School of Advanced Computing have created artificial neurons that closely mimic the complex electrochemical behavior of real brain cells. Their breakthrough, described in Nature Electronics, represents a major step forward in neuromorphic computing. This new approach could dramatically shrink chip size, cut energy use by several orders of magnitude, and bring us closer to achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI).
“Instead [with this innovation], we just use a footprint of one transistor for each neuron. We are designing the building blocks that eventually led us to reduce the chip size by orders of magnitude, reduce the energy consumption by orders of magnitude, so it can be sustainable to perform AI in the future, with similar level of intelligence without burning energy that we cannot sustain,” says Yang.
Now that we have demonstrated capable and compact building blocks, artificial synapses and neurons, the next step is to integrate large numbers of them and test how closely we can replicate the brain’s efficiency and capabilities.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41928-025-01488-x
Probably decades away, maybe centuries. Who knows. 😁
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JCII
“Probably decades away, maybe centuries. Who knows”
Is that a reflection on “Nature’s” current status?
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CO2 is good for you
https://va.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_t4x39c9Jjy1zlxqpx.mp4
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FWIW
“Energy Department Announces $100 Million In Funding To Refurbish US Coal Plants”
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/energy-department-announces-100-million-funding-refurbish-us-coal-plants
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Just build the HELE Coal Fired Power Stations. China, India, Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, and, and, and, and……..BUT NOT Australia.
Horse Trailer (Sometimes called Australia) – The Dumb Continent.
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Can anyone recommend an electricity and gas provider that’s not too stupid and reasonably priced? Just got an email from my provider – Momentum,
“Ever thought about ditching gas for good?
Gas isn’t that great for your wallet or the planet.
Especially when you’ve got solar. By converting your gas appliances to electric, you’ll be able to run them off the power generated from your
solar panels during the day (and overnight if you’ve got a battery). It’ll help reduce your energy bills, and your impact on the planet. Now that’s a win-win if we’ve ever heard one.” (Only 250 to turn off gas, then whatever it will cost be few new cooking and heating appliances, which I’m sure are all subsidised by me fellow tax payers.
I told them in no uncertain terms I’m not ditching gas, I don’t use it much for room heating, just hot water and cooking. But I like that it’s there for when the electricity system fails. I cannot afford to go all electric, I’ve recently been forcibly retired, (made redundant) 4 years before a pension kicks and no one seems to want to employ older people with years of experience) A change over to all electric is well out of my budget. I have to save every penny until I can get the pension.
I have a 5KW solar system, so just a baby, it’s probably 8-10 years old now, I can’t remember when I had it installed. I certainly didn’t install it because I’m green, I just got sick of $1000 quarterly power bills,(I have a pool so running the filter pump in summer gets expensive) so it’s about saving money, not the environment.
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Electric /Gas providers are very area specific ( state and post code) so it will be best for you to uae one of the “ Compare the Market” type web sites for your specific location and requirements.
But for my area ..NSW , south coast.. it always comes back with RED Energy as the best option
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