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
Victoria petrol supplies
The oil tanker MV Yuan Ju Wan has departed Westerport but now there are 4 tankers unloading at Corio, Geelong including one from Houston, USA.
Supplies should be ok for another week.
230
As the Government has engineered Australia to be an energy poor nation (domestically) we should at least gear Australian liquid fuel policy toward importing refined petroleum products from the United States.
They have the oil resources and refinery capacity to do this and will be a reliable source.
420
That would upset Handsome Boy’s besties in Beijing though…….
460
The freight component from the States would be higher though and I think Singapore is competitive on price anyway.
31
Yes, but Singapore relies on imported oil, the US does not.
240
Not sure about that H……Oil refined and shipped direct from East Coast USA compared to Oil from ME shipped to Singapore….then refined….then reloaded…..then re shipped……fair bit of handling right there and someone clipping the ticket at each spot ???……and then the potential volatility……IMHO
00
Did you know that the USA imports around 70% of the oil it needs as its ageing refineries (most recent one built was in 1977) can’t process what’s drilled, so the oil goes overseas instead. Yes, they’re primarily an exporter as they have no choice.
“Drill baby, drill” is pointless domestically unless you build new refineries.
Ramping up Texas drilling simply isn’t viable unlesss there’s a supply price shock.
Plus US environmental laws heavily impact the oil industry now.
Sorry to burst bubbles, USA is #8 on the production list and guess where the top ones are.
44
US 2026
https://thesiliconreview.com/2025/08/eia-us-oil-production-demand-2025-2026-forecast
20
Brilliant Dennis.
10
Eer, I think you’re wrong. DYOR
60
Yep. As before, it’s worthwhile spending the full 48 mins to digest the very good YT oil discussion mentioned here.
10
14 September 2020
Prime Minister, Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction
The Morrison Government is taking action to secure Australia’s long-term fuel supply, keep prices low for consumers and create over 1000 new jobs with a $211 million investment in building new domestic fuel storage and backing local refineries to stay open wherever commercially possible.
As part of our 2020-21 Budget, the Government will enhance Australia’s fuel security and bolster local industry through a $211 million investment in new domestic diesel storage facilities, reforms to create a minimum onshore stockholding, and measures to support local refineries.
This will be delivered through a combined market and regulatory framework, with three key elements:
Investing $200 million in a competitive grants program to build an additional 780ML of onshore diesel storage
Creating a minimum stockholding obligation for key transport fuels; and
Backing the refining sector by entering into a detailed market design process for a refinery production payment.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia’s fuel security was essential for our national security and that we had been fortunate to not have experienced a significant fuel supply shock in over 40 years.
“Our positive changes to the fuel market will ensure Australian families and businesses can access the fuel they need, when they need it, for the lowest possible price,” the Prime Minister said.
“Fuel security underpins our entire economy. Not only does it keep Australia moving, the industry supports thousands of people across the country and this plan is also about helping keep them in work.
“Like all sectors of the economy, the COVID-19 pandemic is having an impact on Australia’s fuel industry. The events of 2020 have reminded us that we cannot be complacent. We need a sovereign fuel supply to shield us from potential shocks in the future.”
Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor said the Government recognised that Australian refineries are under significant financial pressure and is committed to working with the sector to ensure it has a long-term future.
“Almost all Australians are reliant on fuel and it is the lifeblood of so many sectors in our economy. Our farmers and miners rely heavily on diesel to do their jobs and provide services, while the transport sector sources 98 per cent of its energy from liquid fuels,” Minister Taylor said.
“That’s why it is critical that Australia has control over its fuel security arrangements and the Government is making sure of that.”
The construction of diesel storage will not only secure our diesel supplies but will support up to 950 jobs, along with 75 new ongoing jobs, many in regional areas.
A minimum stockholding obligation will act as a safety net for petrol and jet fuel stocks, and increasing diesel stockholdings by 40 per cent.
The Government will work with industry over the next six months on the legislative and regulatory design of the package.
Refineries play an important role in securing Australia’s fuel security and putting downward pressure on fuel prices for consumers. Modelling has shown that a domestic refinery capability is worth around $4.9 billion (over 10 years) in value to Australian consumers in the form of price suppression.
The Government is committed to a sovereign on-shore refinery capacity despite the threat to the viability of the industry. This is why we will design a market system for a production payment that recognises those fuel security benefits. It has been designed to protect Australian families and businesses from the around 1 cent per litre increase that modelling shows will hit fuel if all refineries close in Australia. For refineries to receive support, they will be required to commit to stay operating in Australia.
11
Of course often overlooked was that COVID-19 Pandemic arrived in Australia start of January 2020 and unforeseen budget expenses incurred supporting the States responsible for public health and hospitals, quarantine hotel detention arrangements, interstate border closures, emergency powers and police enforcement, etc.
And that Albanese Labor replaced the Morrison Government in May 2022.
10
” 1 cent per litre ”
So this extra tax on top would raise a million dollars a day, I think we use a million litres each day. That’s a subsidy for the owners of our two refineries of half a million dollars each, day in and day out…
I’d think it outright profiteering except I know the unions will just up their wage demands to suck it out of the company anyway.
What I DIDN’T read was their plans for new oil extraction and new refineries! That wanker will do nothing for Australia’s future!
30
” 1 cent per litre ”
So this extra tax on top would raise a million dollars a day, I think we use a million litres each day.
Perhaps mathematically challenged?
.01 x 1,000,000 = ?
20
Not many people today have heard of the European ethnic group that used to live in France and Spain, the Cagots which were highly discriminated against but are now mostly extinct.
No one even knew or knows what was different about them or why they were discriminated against.
It shows people have suffered from mass delusions for a long time.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cagot?wprov=sfla1
Video: https://youtu.be/b0tURf3UuVk
170
Many years ago I spent time in the Pyrenees- mostly the French side in beautiful towns like Oloron Sainte Marie, Limoux and further out east in bigger centres like Carcassonne where the name Cagot came up along with the sect? called the Cathars. The region is rather heterogenous with Basque and Gallic and a certain grouping of taller Blond and blue-eyed types that may indicate Visigothic settlement around the 5th century. More is known about the Cathars and their persecution by the church and the king of France.
70
Years ago l has to study the book Montaillou, a book that depicts life in a French medieval village made up of Cathars. The author used the Fournier Register, the contemporary records taken by the Inquisition, as the source for his narrative. Hence, it’s widely regarded as being an authentic insight into the social and religious life of these people.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montaillou_(book)
30
The Visigoths were a Gothic people who emerged in the Balkans during late antiquity. Likely descended from the Thervingi who entered the Roman Empire in 376 and defeated the Romans at the Battle of Adrianople, they were first united under Alaric I, whose forces alternately fought and allied with Rome before famously sacking the city in 410. In 418, the Visigoths were settled as foederati in southern Gaul, establishing a kingdom with its capital at Toulouse. From there they expanded into Hispania, displacing the Suebi and Vandals.
The Germanic Tribes of Scandinavia and in particular Gotland Island in the Baltic Sea and became part of Sweden many centuries ago, the capital city of Visby was the major trading centre of the Baltic Sea and many German business people had businesses in Visby – being from the area the Romans called Germania after being defeated there.
10
Swedish clerics Johannes Magnus (1488–1544) and Olaus Magnus (1490–1557) were inspired by German literature. It was to political ends that they exploited the idea that Gotland had once been inhabited by the Gothic people who also lived in Gothia (Sweden); by rights the island belonged to the Swedes, who were in fact synonymous with the ancient Goths, they argued. Visby’s decline and ruin were held up as proof of the Danes’ cruelty and misrule, but also as telling examples of the consequences of the Swedes’ own disunity. The Danish historians Hans Svaning (c.1500–1584) and Nicolaus Petrejus (c.1522–1579) put the opposing case: the Goths had migrated to Gotland from Denmark. Thus we find the beginnings of a historiographical debate over Gotland that has lasted for centuries.
10
It’s about karma
00
As in Australia, in the United States history is bring rewritten to “prove” unusually harsh treatment of natives but thr facts don’t agree with modern woke rewritten “history”. E.g. the “Trail of Tears” referring to the internal displacenent of American natives was not what was claimed in its modern rewritten form.
Matt Walsh discusses: https://youtu.be/mxapaXrHr1Y
As with climate lies where no scientists in a position of power have the guts to speak out, similarly is the case of historans.
330
To be fair, the Trail of Tears was pretty awful and unfair. Walsh’s version of events points out the various conflicts between the tribes on the trail and the settler population, but he fails to point out that those conflicts were well in the past at the time the Trail of Tears took place.
They weren’t called ‘the five civilized tribes’ for nothing. The Cherokee/Chickasaw/Chocktaw/Muscogee/Seminole had not only made their peace with the United States government, but they had made their peace with the fact that the settlers weren’t going anywhere and their old way of life was gone. They were the descendants of the pre-Columbian Mississipian culture and generally played well with others once they accepted their fate. They were well on the path to assimilation … adopting European clothes, following civic laws, intermarried with settlers, and many were adopting Christianity. They didn’t deserve what they got. It was a land grab, plain and simple.
I’ll be the first to say that the Sioux and the Comanche asked for all that smoke, and largely got what they asked for, but the five civilized tribes were trying to play within the rules and got screwed (especially the Cherokee).
230
The tribes of the SE seemed to be more sedentary and practised maize and vegetable cultivation; I don’t really know, but maybe that was a reason to not engage violently with the newcomers. Conflicts at the frontiers between civilisations are always bound to happen. One must not forget internecine conflicts either.
30
Yeah, the settlers had their issues with the tribes between the Appalachians and the Mississippi, but it was nowhere near as nasty and brutal as the issues with the tribes west of the Mississippi on the Great Plains. The five civilized tribes were all originally east of the Mississippi. East of the Mississippi it was mostly small-scale skirmishes between settlers and a specific tribe until sheer numbers overwhelmed the natives. But west of the Mississippi it turned into a full-blown war between large confederations of tribes and the United States military, state organizations like the Texas Rangers, and local mobs that answered atrocities with more atrocities.
60
Jeff Taylor discusses a possible replacement for Ser Stürmer, Angela Rayner, who, unbelievably may be even worse than he is.
https://youtu.be/dkWj3gECGFY
130
Have you noticed that AI never says “I don’t know”, at least I have never seen it say that.
It always gives an answer, even if it has to make something up which is absolute BS.
This is why you should never automatically believe AI unless you know enough about the subject to discern a plausible answer from nonsense.
The heavy reliance of young dumbed-down wokesters who believe everything AI says is sooner or lately going to end in disaster.
420
Forty years ago the same thing happened with calculators in schools – the kids would punch in what they thought were the numbers, and take the answer for gospel, without any sort of ‘gross error’ check or approximation.
151
I got my first calculator when attending tech school in the 70’s.
It cost a lot of money. After all this was new tech!
I remember in the 1st month or so, I always checked the answer the calculator gave by doing my own calculations. It was a godsend once it gained my trust.
However I still do most reasonably simple calculations in my head or on a bit of paper. It’s quicker than finding my phone and opening the calculator app.
I wonder how many students these days would be able to do much more than 2+2 without the aid of a calculator.
190
Lucky you – I had to use Log Tables at high school; and a Slide Rule, which is simply Log Tables again.
When, in 1964, I had a SHARP CS-10A desktop I thought all my Christmases had come at once.
30
Not trusting a calculator. Reminds me of exchanging money in Bali.
The guy in the very nice alley in a very nicely painted slapped together booth, would press the buttons on his calculator and tell you the conversion result. When it didn’t quite sound right (by a small margin) and I queried it, he would turn the calculator so it faced me and then I could see him key in the Aus dollar amount and his advertised exchange, and press the multiplication key. Actually it might have been the divide. Whatever. I don’t recall that part. But the result came out as he had said it would. He did it again at my insistence, and he definitely hit the right keys but got the same slightly wrong result, to his advantage.
When I disagreed he said he didn’t want to deal with me.
I left and later checked with my phone calculator. His answer was definitely wrong. I can only assume his calculator is programmed to make an adjustment to improve his margin. He probably does quite well out of it.
30
I see this regularly when instructing qualified experienced industrial electricians. Simple formula like Ohms Law yields obviously wrong results, but they often don’t realise that their calcs are way off the mark. I’m a bit surprised, as these folks are responsible for some heavy-duty expensive stuff in their industries.
100
The replacement of slide rules with calculators meant the requirement to consider significant digits and factors of ten was lost. And likely the question – “Does the answer make sense given the situation?”
30
A long long time ago I recall reading about an experiment with calculators and their result’s output. The calculators the test participants were required to use for some calculations had built in calculation errors, between 10 and 50%. Participants were asked to do some calculations using the calculators, simple ones that they would know the answer to without much thought. The participants trusted the output of the calculators which were wrong, and not what they thought was the right answer, they trusted the machines answer more than their own skills.
50
AI certainly can’t reason. Dogmatic and text book stuff.
90
And I cannot any way where AI can generate new ideas based on original thinking. And that’s what we need if we are to progress as a civilisation.
30
Yup, my son likes to use it a lot, it actually helps him, as he has learning difficulties. Yesterday we picked an apple off our apple tree, it was a bit deformed, it was a pink lady, red, with a tinge of green. He took a picture of it, and then asked Co-pilot what kind of fruit was it. It came back with a “Kensington mango” which is mostly yellow, and maybe with some red blush.
He argued with the AI, telling them that it was off an apple tree, and that mangos don’t grow in Victoria. The AI still insisted it was a mango. So he took some photos of the apple tree with the apples on it, CP came back saying well yes that was an apple tree, maybe the mango was grafted on the apple tree. Told CP that mangos don’t grow in Vic, yet it still argues that it was a mango. He tried CGPT, and it first said it was a pear, which it did look like, but then my son gave it more info and it did eventually agree it was an apple.
70
Would be interesting to repeat the same set of questions in another week, to see if AI had actually learned anything. Willing to bet that you would have the same results.
30
Together with the state of the education system , LLM AI does seem to signal the end of critical thinking in a generation or two. Hopefully the tide will turn.
90
The other day I was using claude.ai asking about some Microsoft Teams issues. And I said, “… that is why I often suggest using the vdo.ninja system.” Claude’s response: “Never heard of it…” So pretty much the same as saying, “I don’t know.” A bit later, after it looked the site up, it said, “Anyway, I stand corrected — I’ll know what it is next time! 😄” The smiley was in its response. So perhaps someone can ask Claude what it knows about the vdo.ninja conference system to see if it really does remember.
50
Actually, after getting uppity with my contempt for his appraisal of Ivermectin, Grok did ask me o provide information about the work of Emeritus Prof. Bob Clancy re the successful use of Ivermectin in Long Covid cases.
I told it I had better things to do with my time. Maybe I should not have been churlish given it conceded lack of knowledge.
60
As I posted yesterday Ai claimed Howard Governmemt closed many oil refineries and then listed only one closed 2003, the next was 2012 and others following, Howard Government left office November 2007
00
Al Gore is back. Spruiking his inconvenient truth. Why? It is all history now. He was wrong. But he knew that. And now that he is a billionaire with the CO2 footprint of a village, why does he care?
He says it is a very real ‘threat’ in another 25 year, when he is 103.
And where’s Tim Flannery (who will be 95) and his ridiculous Climate Council? There’s a drought coming. The BOM are spruiking a GIANT El Nino, an ocean cycle as if unpredictable ocean cycles really determine the climate. What a surprise!
Meanwhile Lake Eyre is filling again. And no one has built a big dam in 60 years. Because ‘dams don’t make water’ as former Victoria Premier Steve Bracks told us. The former primary school swimming teacher.
420
We did howver just finish a $1,000,000,000 pipeline specifically for Dr. Andrew Forrest and his Green hydrogen project in Gladstone. Just as he announced he was walking away. No one cares. And how’s that $1Bn for Albanese’s share of a Quantum Computer project in California? Or Malcolm Turnbull’s half billion cash to his wife to save the Great Barrier Reef?
There is a river flowing. Of our life savings through illegal massive climate taxation and random massive pointless spending. All the cash flowing to other countries and rich individuals for nothing at all while we have been deliberately put at the mercy of overseas suppliers of gas, oil, petrol, diesel. Although our Prime Minister Albo Akbah suggests it is just utter stupidity and ignorance rather than malice and greed. I would suggest both.
590
After the dismal failure of “green” hydrogen, which is a disastrous choice as a civilian transport fuel anyway, and even a nightmare for NASA to use in rockets, one wonders what’s next.
Why, it’s ammonia of course.
Yes, Australia is going to be a pioneer in this toxic substance as a transport fuel.
Now, just follow the money trail, from your pocket, to your tax, to whoever is making money out of taxpayer subsidies to profuce this “fuel”…which could be called “liquid taxes”. I am guessing the ammonia may be made from green hydrogen using the Haber-Bosch process. Except green hydrogen is a failure as Twiggy walked away, so who knows…? I’m sure there’s some new, bizarre, taxpayer-subsidised plan for some green billionaire…
261
Twiggy is off with the fairies again, planning a massive solar and battery system at Cloudbreak mine in the Pilbara. Recent article in The Australian.
40
First class journalism draws out the truth.
https://www.hancockenergy.com.au/dud-project-how-andrew-forrests-green-dreams-cost-taxpayers-80m/
60
“Reeve said the industry would remain dependent on public subsidies.
“Every new technology development that we have, regardless of what field we’re talking about, has had some level of taxpayer-funded research at the early stage, and probably taxpayer-funded early commercialisation as well,” she said. “Hydrogen is not going to be any different, and that’s because there are lots of risks at that stage that stuff won’t work, and the private sector is not going to take those risks by themselves.””
Just crooked grifters, all of them! The whole idea of private enterprise is to create something new and sell it to make a fortune…Musk with SpaceX.
What they are talking about is something mandated by Govt because no real person will pay for it, and hence they want Govt to pay for all the development while the private companies make the profit afterwards.
30
Unfortunately, under Australian Apartheid laws, since February 2025 most Australians are not allowed to visit it, only see it from the air.
Sadly, I never had a chance to visit it before the latest Apartheid laws were introduced. I had been planning to go.
As Australian places of interest are increasingly rendered inaccessible to the majority population under these Apartheid laws, I will no longer bother and will spend my travel dollar overseas instead, where you get better value in any case.
420
I flew over it the last time. Worthwhile. And the Goyper, canal country in the north. Just as big and emerald green with the water flowing ultimately to Lake Eyre. Most people have never seen either. And Australia is owned by aborigines not under any laws except those of Paul Keating by pretending aborigines and 3,000 Torres Strait islanders are the same people. Which is racist as the only connection is colour.
Keating and the progressives quoted the long established international law of ‘finders keepers’. A law which has never worked in any country at any time. You only own what you can defend, which under the current government raises very serious questions about who owns Australia. A bit like Venezuela under Maduro as the money and oil flowed in a river direct to China. And no one dares ask for reparations for all the deaths and costs from their bioweapon, the Wuhan Flu. Even mentioning it meant our coal, wine, lobsters were banned. And again the Australian government said nothing. It would have been impolite.
370
Since the 1800’s there have been proposals to build a relatively shallow canal from Spencer Gulf to Lake Eyre with the idea of permanently flooding it and the resulting evaporation from the lake would increase precipitation in the area.
I don’t know if it would work or not, but it’s a lot more plausible than just about any “green” energy project, and would at the very least create a permanent salt lake which could be used for recreational sailing or maybe fishing (if the water was not too salty), if we didn’t have Apartheid.
190
Lake Eyre is up to 15 metres under sea level. Comparable to Port Phillip Bay(80% of Port Phillip is under 12 metres).
Controls would be needed to stop salt deposition. We might learn from the Nederlands how we could manage such a resource. Their lowest land levels are 7 metres below sea level. (including Belgium)
Of course that would be against the dream time concept where aborigines dreamed of doing nothing at all and succeeded. We may need their advice as Australia has now acheived the highest public service population in the OECD. And growth in the public service is now 7% pa, against general growth of only 1%. Soon we will be taxing each other just to pay worthless wages as we will not be able to import anything or make anything and have to ask aborigines how to build humpties and for recipes for kangaroo.
271
I had a scheme of creating an updraft like a mountain range with 200km of rutile. Black band 2km wide. Real solar power over SA. The updraft would harvest the huge amounts of water which sail over the middle of Australia. But who needs science when we have aboriginal advice on Climate in the BOM web site? Australia used to have twice the total rainfall and that stopped about 50,000 years ago. Everyone knows why? And all the giant marsupials vanished at the same time. Fire and starvation. Custodians at work.
And with a lot of fresh water in SA filling and flushing Lake Eyre, it would be a dream for agriculture. Crops could harvest the sun and create real renewable exports as a food superpower. It’s called farming. No windmills or solar panels necessary. You could make all the fuel you need from carbohydrate to hydrocarbon. All living things and all our history runs on CO2. But that’s my dreamtime. The only rainbow serpents are in Canberra.
190
In 1982 Laurie Hogan wrote a book called Man-Made Mountain.
He proposed building in Australia an artificial mountain range 2000km long, oriented north-south and 4km high. It’s purpose was to influence weather patterns.
It is similarly plausible and probably cheaper than any current “green” projects to change the weather.
100
My thoughts also David. However I remember thinking when reading that book what unintended consequences might arise – what would it do to rainfall west of the Great Dividing Range?
Hogan also spoke about using prisoners and compulsory military “cadets” to build the wall in an “internal economy” seperate to the external economy. Not sure how that was going to work!
20
Can I suggest an update to the plan, perhaps add a gliding club at one end.
20
“Sadly, I never had a chance to visit it before the latest Apartheid laws were introduced”
Go anyway. if you are challenged you can always claim you are a “proud XXXXXX man” from Victoria, You don’t have to prove anything and I bet you look like 90% of aboriginal men in all the big cities.
A very white aboriginal man from Tasmania was upset that the welcome to country ceremony was cancelled somewhere in Tassie, and was apparently listened too. Different people to mainland aborigines, different cultures, different traditions, no sea faring technology, no knowledge that mainland Australia even existed but hey, the welcome to country was universal.
140
And his chat host simultaneously claims “that if Gore’s energy policies are not enacted, “we’re in an ice age in, like, 10 years.”
So which is it? Global Boiling or Global Cooling? It seems both are probable in the next ten years. That’s THE SCIENCE. Which says something about the state of Climate Science after 38 years.
100
And the latest popular scares are 1) GIANT El Nino (nothing to do with CO2) and 2) Gulf Stream will stop. (also nothing to do with CO2 as it is simply the mechanical result of a spinning earth and spinning Atlantic ocean)
90
I’m still punting on a Modoki El Nino.
https://classic.nullschool.net/#current/ocean/surface/currents/overlay=sea_surface_temp_anomaly/orthographic=-108.15,0.54,530/loc=-106.472,-3.084
00
Amazing animated visual of how much the military of each of the top-spending countries spends on equipment per service member, 1980-2025.
https://x.com/i/status/2048070281667756518
80
A lot of Western countries in the big spenders, you can see who is looking for war.
America gets a free ride once it made everyone use the Yankee dollar for oil.
35
I’d argue the big spenders are largely getting fleeced by their defense industries. Hence the stories of $500 hammers and $1000 toilet seats. Meanwhile, the countries who have to operate on a shoestring budget finds ways to blow stuff up significantly cheaper (and buy their home goods at retail price). Iran with it’s cheap drones and speedboats. ‘murica is starting to catch up on that stuff and discovering the same target they have previous used million-dollar missiles to blow up goes boom just the same when hit with a $1000 kamikaze drone. Or that a brute force method like an AI driven 50 cal minigun filling a part of the sky with tend/hundreds of thousands of rounds of flying lead is actually more effective against slow-moving drones than a SAM missile system that costs an order of magnitude more. Why shoot a $1MM ‘smart’ missile when a few thousand $1 ‘dumb’ 50 cal rounds can do the job better?
170
Phalanx System RAN
https://www.navy.gov.au/capabilities/weapons/phalanx
10
Even a jet engine stops whining eventually.
60
President Trump has realised that the American Military Industrial Complex is an amazingly powerful negotiating tool and he is prepared to use it.
Otherwise what is the point of spending all that money!
Generals and Admirals who prefer to sit back and enjoy their salaries are getting fired. Also applies to Navy Secretaries.
150
Actually they were fired because they wouldn’t adopt the regime’s hard line approach to this war.
15
“Trump told reporters in Florida that he decided to call off the planned visit by US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner because the talks in Islamabad involved too much travel and expense,”
Shudda made them travel cattle class instead of First if he really wanted to be the President of Peace! I could chip in $20 if America needs a Go-fund-me to end their war.
624
Trump is saying that Iran is not ready to negotiate yet. Therefore the trip would be a waste of time.
It seems that the Iranians, particularly the IRGC will not agree to those terms. Therefore the Blockade continues until they do.
The last two objectives might be achieved without Irans agreement. US military will open the Strait and Iran cannot fund terrorist proxies if it has no money.
340
FWIW
“So Much For Islamabad II: Taqiyya Boogaloo? UPDATE: Trump Cancels Witkoff, Kushner Trip”
https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2026/04/25/so-much-for-islamabad-ii-n3814292
A link in there
“Is Taqiyya (Lying for Faith) allowed in Islam?”
“Introduction
Taqiyya is an Arabic word which translates into “prudence”, “cautiousness” or “fear”. In religious terms it implies being careful in disclosing your beliefs and tenets in public, when such disclosure could endanger your life.
The word “Taqiyya” is not mentioned in the Holy Qur’an or in any tradition of the Prophet Muhammad(sa). It does not appear anywhere in Islamic Jurisprudence either. From the very outset therefore, the origins of this notion is suspect.
Shi’ism, the second largest group in Islam, introduced the concept of Taqiyya. Shi’i have, for many centuries, been regarded as outcast from the fold of Islam by radical Sunni Muslims, due to their belief that the first three successors of the Holy Prophet(sa), the wives of the Prophet(sa) and most of his companions, were hypocrites (God forbid). For this belief, they have been, at times, subjected to mistreatment and persecution. In order to avoid contention and conflict, “Taqiyya” was practised by Shi’ites, wishing to hide their faith rather than profess it openly, for fear of opposition and confrontation with Sunni Muslims.”
More at
https://trueislam.co.uk/articles/is-taqiyya-lying-for-faith-allowed-in-islam/
51
The website discussing taqiyya is a muslim website practicing taqiyya.
81
‘Trump is saying that Iran is not ready to negotiate yet.’
A holy war is a zero sum game with widespread collateral damage.
According to the astrologers Uranus has just moved into Gemini and the last time this happened was Pearl Harbour 1941.
15
“the last time this happened was Pearl Harbour 1941.”
Ah, yes, there’s a lot they haven’t recognised from astrology yet. Cycles within cycles, just like long-rang weather forecasting.
00
Are you talking about astrology or astronomy?
10
Are they working for the United States or a foreign country?
010
I think Iran will see this one out. As much as I despise Islamic theocracies, I think that attacking that country has solidified support within. So much confusion with the media and State Department spinning its fog of war trip.
612
Its a disastrous war, unnecessary and doomed to failure.
The impact on the wider world will be extraordinary in terms of geopolitics, super power rivalry is becoming irrelevant.
214
Iran declared war on America in 1979. And it seems on every other country. As in Bondi, Nice, Buenos Aires, New York, Manchester, Bataclan, Christmas markets in Germany and of course rockets at every country within reach including Turkey and Qatar. With two stage rockets ready for London, Paris, Berlin, Rome. And ten weeks away Iran said they were three weeks from having a nuclear weapon. Keep your $2. The damage done by one nuclear tipped two stage rocket is beyond arithmetic.
275
An effect I’d not considered…
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-26/australia-bitumen-supply-crisis-strait-of-hormuz-disruptions/106566896
40
It won’t make much difference in Victoriastan, they’re not repairing the roads much anyway. Plenty of potholes.
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Yeah, David of Cooyal, Apparently those damn fossil fuels that only destroy the planet have , well, no other uses. Except thousands.
Bumped from late yesterday
Sambar
April 25, 2026 at 8:05 pm · Reply
Oh Dear, who wouda thunk that just stopping oil would be anything but benificial. Apparently the media has just woken up to the fact that the modern world simply cannot exist without petrochemicals. Even the good old English Riding coat is under threat from the shortage of plastics. Oh well just stop oil can send the French a Letter, about the Strait of Hormuz or something, don’t worry about the lack of day wear, its the shortage of night wear that might spark a baby boom.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/manufacturing/global-plastics-supply-chain-crisis-threatens-thousands-of-everyday-products/news-story/3a6242df06e4848d14d968e1576ef078
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What has changed? Imported refined product has zero heavy fractions anyway.
If we are short of bitumen then we must get off our collective bums and mine our own.
Asked what % Yallourn coal contains the same AI answered:
Make of it what you will.
50
Australian anthracite has high bitumenous content, which is why it wasn’t highly regarded as steaming coal back in the day.
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It is beginning to look like Wikipedia misinformation sources
20
The Office of Prime Minister & Cabinet has a section for Media Management, staffer spin doctors of various qualifications and chosen for their usefulness in propaganda spreading, misinformation distribution, focus groups sessions to gauge public opinion, psephology and other means of political manoeuvring.
I understand that they also infest social media with supporters and even websites on how to reply to comments that are potentially damaging for Labor Greens. Consider the AWU established (Senior Executive at the time Bill Shorten who became a Board Director) GetUp activist organisation. GetUp works for the alliance, Labor, Greens, Teals.
That book, The Electronic Whorehouse by Paul Sheehan, and the comment to him by John le Carre; “I think we are dealing with an octopus … Advertising as news. It’s very skilfully done. The methods of seducing the media, the ingenuity of the spin has reached the point where we, as a general public, have never been lied to by such sophisticated means as now.”
Paul Sheehan replied, “Lies, fabrications, character assassinations, reputational rapes, point scoring, axe grinding, sneering, smearing and generalised weaselling have become standard fare in the media …… this is the terrain of The Electronic Whorehouse.”
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“The nation’s leading transport research body says the new bitumen will take years off the life span of Australia’s roads.”
Then the roads will only last days!
30
We have had packed aggregate with a tar and chip topping for most of our regional roads.
Almost without exception, somewhere in each kilometer water will seep in on the edges and the heavy trucks will ripple the surface. Repairs are tedious for the driving public as road diversions/closures/ go slow areas are in place while a type of soil cement aggregate is used to stabilize the deformed shoulder.
Has anyone done a cost estimate on what it would cost to use a meter wide soil cement stabilization edge so that the majority of the “repairs” would not be necessary.
University summer job involved having our post WW2 single lane road widened and banked may have gotten “carried away” with the cement content, but then the area was subject to hard frosts and prevailing dampness.
00
Channel 9 didn’t seem to like that falsely accused Aussie war hero Ben Roberts-Smith attended an ANZAC Day service.
And he earned all those medals on his chest, not DEI partication awards.
https://youtu.be/3au63ptyRws
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FWIW
“How Bronze Age Artisans Crafted the Impossible Mycenaean Agate Sword”
https://hotair.com/headlines/2026/04/25/how-bronze-age-artisans-crafted-the-impossible-mycenaean-agate-sword-n3814237
30
FWIW
News for punters –
“Pope Backfire: Trump’s Support Among Catholics Went Up After Trump Fired Back at Pope Leo”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/04/pope-backfire-trumps-support-among-catholics-went-trump/
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Did they just poll elderly Catholics?
You know, the boomer generation – the ones watching Fox News propaganda all day…
120
Is there another variety?
My youngest son has been inside a church twice. Once for his wedding and once for the Christening of his two kids. But he remains an atheist.
His wife wanted a church wedding because it was an advertisement for her then business. He wanted the two kids baptised in a Catholic church so they could attend the attached Catholic school because it is within walking distance of his house. He does recognise the virtues of Christian beliefs though and has no issue with his kids being exposed to that faith.
Other two older sons attended the wedding so they have been inside a Church once for an event that I am aware of.
Somehow I doubt any of the grandkids will have deep faith in any religion. They are raised to be skeptical.
I know USA is different but are there enough non elderly catholics to form a recognised group?
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Probably just polled the ones getting closer to the big question being answered
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Often bemused by what people think boomers do and think. Always get the sense of a cluelessness. I guess generalising is easier than thinking.
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“President Trump ended the weaponization of the federal government against Christians, proudly defended and expanded our religious rights, pardoned pro-life activists, stopped the chemical mutilation of our nation’s children, and protected parents’ rights. The president will never waver in his support for Catholic Americans and will continue delivering unprecedented victories,” she added.
I didn’t know that, they are pretty much rusted on.
26
FWIW – upping the ante?
“Sophisticated Theft of 15 Cop-Drones in New Jersey Sparks Bioterrorism Fears”
Note spelling mistake in that headline
“The theft of 15 crop-drones in New Jersey has sparked concerns among the FBI.
National security news outlet High Side reported that 15 agricultural Ceres Air C31 drones were stolen from a New Jersey warehouse last month.”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/04/sophisticated-theft-15-cop-drones-new-jersey-sparks/
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FWIW
“THE NEW SPACE RACE: Well, this is embarrassing: The Lunar Gateway’s primary modules are corroded.”
“By referring to a “manufacturing irregularity,” Northrop answered the central mystery here: how corrosion could appear in both modules. This is because a French-Italian space and defense company, Thales Alenia Space, built the primary structure of HALO for Northrop Grumman. The module was delivered from Italy to the United States about a year ago.
Not a good look, Thales.”
Via https://instapundit.com/792499/#disqus_thread
“Elbow” might need to ckeck the APCs?
30
I sense DEI at work.
The pressure vessel of the Lunar Gateway module is made of an aluminium-lithium alloy, AA2195. Unlike standard aluminium it does not form a continuous protective oxide film and is therefore much more prone to corrosion.
One would have thought it should have been stored in a controlled low humidity environment and/or had protective coatings to prevent this.
20
But wait, there’s more!
Here’s another “green” hydrogen project, taxpayer subsidised of course.
The hydrogen will be blended into natural gas.
Let’s just ignore the risk of hydrogen embrittlement of steel pipelines and reduced energy density meaning more gas has to be consumed to do the same job, and no doubt higher cost than natural gas so there will be an ongoing demand for taxpayer subsidies. And who picks up the higher gas cost due to reduced energy density?
https://www.agig.com.au/hydrogen-park-south-australia
The disconnect from science, engineering and economic realities of Australian “leadership” and the Sheeple who keep voting for this nonsense is profound and highly disturbing.
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The project is quite small and only supplies a small suburb.
Malinauskas believes hydrogen will “save the planet” and taxpayer blew about $500 million on Green Steel in Whyalla, now apparently overtaken by the mess of the steel business there.
The problem with hydrogen is that its theoretical yield is 62%,
The drawbacks are the cost to make it
The losses if stored
And burning it causes more “greenhouse gases” directly with combustion, and those from the diesel fuel used up to generate the necessary electricity.
110
If Union Labor cared about manufacturing industry they would not have created their renewable energy transition and transition away from fossil fuels.
Ever since UN Lima Protocol Whitlam Labor signed for Australia 1975 and the UN Agenda 21 Sustainability signed by Keating Labor 1992 the demise of manufacturing industry has been underway, and including developing countries being favoured as the new manufacturing and emissions sources and with free trade assistance that businessman Donald Trump has opposed right from the start, and later as POTUS has used the MAGA campaign to highlight the situation prevailing.
Look carefully at the taxpayer subsidies to large manufacturing businesses over the past few decades, motor vehicle manufacturing for example, several closed down leaving three, GM Holden, Ford and Toyota by 2013/14. Labor’s Button Plan subsidies kept them operating. Note all three were union dominated workforces. Abbott Government asked all three companies what their owners intended for the future and all admitted closure plans were underway, so the subsidies were cancelled from 2014/15 Budget.
Now the Whyalla Steel subsidies, the aluminium smelters being subsidised, and even ventures not yet commercially viable subsidised like green hydrogen and solar panel manufacturing, manufacturing is all about the politics of Lima 1975 and since, now net zero emissions excuse for subsidising ventures no private sector investors would consider without taxpayer funded by government incentives.
Of course there are areas of national security and economic prosperity that warrant government support, even underwriting funding applications. As Morrison Government offered for construction by private sector of a new HELE coal fired power station for QLD, and gas turbine generator plants for QLD, NSW and VIC. Snowy 2.0 taxpayer funded (I am not supportive) and noting Snowy Hydro is wholly government owned.
40
There are clashes occurring in the streets of Tehran and other Iranian cities again:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CtYUY1fTZY
I cannot find any reports from other sources on this development.
The ceasefire persists at Trump’s discretion.
Still not much traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
This gives some insight into the blockade strategy and the infighting in Iran:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4-_dkhVOjc
The guest, Kiron Skinner, has an insightful outlook on the present circumstances.
70
The ceasefire persists at Trump’s discretion.
Still not much traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
It would certainly seem so. But you will not read that interpretation in the MSM.
30
FWIW
“Older than the Incas
Older than the Aztecs
Older than the Maori in NZ
Older than the Zulu in SA
Older than the Lakota
Older than Islam in India
But the English are not officially considered “native” to England.”
https://x.com/QuetzalPhoenix/status/2048160495094411295
Via https://instapundit.com/792613/#disqus_thread
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My “Viking” ancestors put the fight into them.
sarc
00
The Iceni did o.k.
10
FWIW – another go
“WHCD Shooter Identified as Cole Allen, a 30-Year-Old Former ‘Teacher of the Month’ from California”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/04/whcd-shooter-identified-as-cole-allen-30-year/
40
It appears that there may have been another attempt to assassinate Donald Trump. A heavily-armed guy just managed to sprint through security at the White House Correspondents Dinner, where Trump was about to give a speech. Fortunately, he didn’t manage to get into the ballroom and nobody was shot. He was caught.
He is reported to be a teacher from California, so almost certainly a deranged leftist or, as the press will no doubt label him. a ‘mentally ill lone wolf with unknown motives’.
110
Deranged lefty, transy, sleeper cell assassin, false flag to boost MAGA fanbase…who knows.
Wording is the best though:
https://x.com/MAGAVoice/status/2048180791356821988/
011
Heard a rumour that MAGA people are saying its a stunt.
010
Not ‘MAGA people’.
The loony end of the right is saying stuff like that, as is the loony end of the left. It’s horseshoe theory, where they most deranged folks on both ends of the political spectrum end up overlapping in some of their beliefs.
No sane person can believe that this Cole Allen guy would throw his life away (he’s going to spend decades in jail, and he’s lucky he didn’t get killed) just to give Trump a boost in the polling.
20
Of course it’s a stunt. Some schmuck just put his hand up to tackle armed guards. If he’s lucky he gets deaded, if not he spends his life in prison.
How much would you need to be paid to do that?
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No one was shot? Five shots were fired. A security officer was shot in the chest at point blank range. Possibly by a shotgun. His bullet proof vest saved his life, which is amazing. The officer was working without pay because of the DHS pay shutdown by the Democrats and the shooter was a Democrat supporter.
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Cod almighty!
https://youtu.be/GHlGppmO9aY?si=RtiEIclFxdo_jqgY
The top 3 coal-fired fish and chip shops in north England.
Now, that’s a queue of people down the road!
Ecky thump! 😁
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The best fish and chips were in our Yorkshire village. They were cooked in beef dripping (yum) but the shop probably wasn’t coal-fired by then.
The next best were on the sea front in Oban back in 1979!
Ecky thump indeed!
50
It was never about the science.
https://notrickszone.com/2026/04/24/european-institute-for-climate-and-energy-climate-debate-is-seldom-about-science/
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FWIW – things that arrive
Re BRS
https://www.facebook.com/61579658477588/videos/ben-robert-smith/971485008863090/?mibextid=wwXIfr&rdid=vH05LdkEkZVXksFX
And a prayer
https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=3832412253557983&id=100003677395081&mibextid=wwXIfr&rdid=J8S9nKCteId13cta#
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And the “barstools” didn’t learn much since Kipling wrote “Tommy” did they?
20
FWIW – an attention getting threat –
https://accordingtohoyt.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/64b7565ce1a22d2940f9efafb784041bcb583baeedb7e0ae35266cf88c5e4df1.png
10
And a believable response
https://accordingtohoyt.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/adfdsfffffff.png?w=819
10
Perhaps for tomorrow?
“Snowy Hydro 2.0 cost spirals to $42bn sparking calls for Royal Commission.” (article, Australian)
That’s $42,000,000,000.
That’s more than the Chunnel which was finished in half the time. About four times as much as the Panama Canal.
And enough to build a full size nuclear power station or two. Or maybe 10 traditional coal power stations.
Or even to built a couple of pipelines to avoid the straits of Hormuz. Or a gas pipeline from the NW shelf to the East Coast so that we did not have to buy our own gas from Singapore.
And what benefit will this have? Possibly never used as you lose 40% of the energy storing it.
Thanks Malcolm Turbull. Only 20x more expensive than you promised. And still not finished.
Don’t wait for your bronze statue.
It shows what happens when Prime Ministers act like it’s all their money. The list of recent Prime Minister’s massively expensive playthings is very long. Not one of them costed or economically justified.
Hundreds of thousands of great engineers in Australia and a dud Lawyer calls the shots solo on what is now the biggest failed project in Australia’s history.
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You have to love this quote..
“authorities are increasingly alarmed about what will power the country when the sun is not shining or the wind is not blowing.”
Really? Shouldn’t that question have been asked before this started?
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“And enough to build a full size nuclear power station or two. Or maybe 10 traditional coal power stations. ”
Yep, says it all really… another vanity project for inflate egos!
“It shows what happens when Prime Ministers act like it’s all their money. The list of recent Prime Minister’s massively expensive playthings is very long. Not one of them costed or economically justified.”
AI better start replacing them quickly or we’ll be too broke to recover!
40
“Ruler of Dubai, announced that in two years, 50% of UAE’s government sectors, services, and operations will run on Agentic AI, ”
Well!! Just think of not having to put up with a Prime Minister in the news all the time! Solve the lack of workers in the private sector immediately, no more immigration needed!
Lets see how fast we can adopt these new ideas….
“Back in the US, a recent attempt through Elon Musk’s DOGE to cut back on government inefficiency and corruption came to an abrupt halt last summer when it became obvious that the deep state would fight to the death (or at least hire assassins to effect the death of others) to prevent any change in the well-paid status quo. Perhaps AI will succeed where everyone else has failed. ”
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/uae-move-50-government-services-ai-2028
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“drill baby drill” is all well and good, and I have no problems with the sentiment.
The reality though, lies with people, and equipment. The contraction of the Aussie upstream oil & gas industry (i.e. exploration, drilling, etc) is ongoing.
– Fewer people asked to do more.
– Expertise retiring / leaving
– Mass redundancies at major companies (Santos and Beach Energy to name 2).
– Little to no interest by students to pursue geoscience careers in “dirty” oil & gas. Masters degrees are the minimum expected to even get a CV on the table, which is utterly ridiculous. Engineering is little better.
– Remuneration / benefits for jobs based on rigs etc, is still good, but far below what it was. A graduate can now get a nice office job for almost the same money as working in the middle of nowhere. There is noticeably less interest in work in remote locations too.
– Capable onshore and offshore drilling rigs are not sitting idle in Australia. it takes time, money, and a multi-year contract to bring them in to the country.
– Associated service companies need to mobilise hardware and likely hire and train personnel – none of which is sitting idle either.
– Drilling targets take a lot of work to define and get approved, as does the associated expenditure to drill/complete. It’s not just some Stetson-wearing cowboy saying “let’s drill here” as they spit their dip into a spittoon…
– More logistical factors that are probably too boring to note.
Tangible results from a “Drill baby drill” decision are a few years away, no matter what. It won’t help Australia right now, but it would be good to start right now.
40
Shipping News
A lot of ships, described as tugs and landing craft are gathering off the Oman peninsula just inside the Strait of Hormuz.
I wonder what they are for?
20
C.I.A. ex /analysts…now agree.. we are at ww3…..sad but true…those recents immigrants will be very handy now !!!!!
10