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
https://x.com/Arrogance_0024/status/2040843459414663443
Get bent Frenchie.
This kind of attitude is why your armed services are considered a bunch of cowardly surrender monkeys. But they’re not cowards. They are rational actors. They have abysmal morale because they know their leadership values a couple of planes more than their lives, so why stand their ground and fight when they can save themselves by raising the white flag?
301
Here is why the American military will sacrifice 6 planes to save one guy.
https://x.com/SuitablePolitic/status/2040775492572201269
301
And guys knowing that help is coming when they are in trouble is what leads to hero shit like this.
https://x.com/tobyharnden/status/2040600194543136951
The WSO was injured, tired, hungry, and dehydrated deep in enemy territory. Dozens of Iranians were on his trail and more and more were arriving by the hour. But he evaded and fought his uphill uphill for 7 kilometers because he knew his boys were wreaking havoc on his pursuers and would be waiting to take him home once he reached the base. Some studio is going to get filthy rich making that movie, and actors are going to be fighting tooth and nail to land the lead.
250
Nice overview of the rescue ops:
https://www.twz.com/news-features/how-a-dusty-stri-deep-in-iran-can-be-turned-into-a-u-s-special-operations-base-in-hours?utm_source=beehiiv&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=twz-newsletter&_bhlid=35ca7be17f82716070bd338b3e8f5ff3ae253b92
60
The defence forces need the defence industries to keep making their toys but the toys need to get broken or obsolete to keep industry going. As long as there is enough “stuff” available for the task at hand it hardly matters if existing hardware breaks or lives to retirement.
Is this a virtuous cycle or a defence industrial complex working against the will of the people?
39
This is 1960’s “Peacenik” propaganda.
Military technology is inextricably interwoven with “general technology; especially when it is NOT “universally sistributed”
Boys and girls, I give you the story of antibiotics and penicillin in particular.
Historcally, “disease” has carried off more soldiers thsn spears or bullets.
This also applied to ANY injury, ANYWHERE on the planet.
This started being too big to ignore during the industrialized slaughter of the US “Civill War”.
The “accidental” discovery of the interesting properties of a certain “mould” is an epic yarn in itslef.
The value of thet discovery was a quietly-kept secret for years even as the final butcher’s bill for the “Great War” was still being adjusted, upwards.
It became a “military secret” as the potential became clearer.
Thus when The Great War, part deux became more likely, British medical boffins joined with some in Canada and the US to institute “”farms” somewhat removed from the “bombing range” that Britain was about to become.
Thus by the time the bullets started to fly, the “Allies” had battlefield-ready anti-biotics thet totally eclipsed anything previously available.
The “Axis Powers?
Not a sausage.
The “Death from wounds” column in the “ledger” fell greatly among “Allied” troops.
Not so for the Axis. They KNEW! But they were unable to set-up and operate “farms” on the scale of the Allies. Thus the “Died of wounds” Also useful for treating frisky soldiers who mysteriously picked up STDs which made them a burden on “the system”.
Did your dreaded “Military-Industrial Complex” ruthlessly suppress all knowledge of this for its own exclusive use? Not exactly
By the early 1960’s it was apparent that SOME people were actually allergic to penicillin, and “synthetic equivalents” like Ampocillin and Tetracyclene emerged from the labs.
Defence Industry “toys”? Typical anti-historical Luddite.
Helicopters. The US NAVY had a serious programme going on BEFORE WW2. One of the leaders of the development team was a Russian refugee, Igor Sikorsky. The USN initially saw these early aircraft as versatile ship-to-ship shuttles / couriers. Once the balloon went up, it became apparent that their real value was in ferrying wounded out of the battlefields and critical supplies back in.
The US Army rapidly followed suit, see: “M.A.S.H.” for the Hollywood version. The “Golden Hour” (The CRITICAL time elapsed for treatment after injury) became a permanent feature of casualty handling. If you live anywhere near a major hospital you may have noticed am assortment of helicopters flying in and out of the relatively tiny landing pads, right on the roof of the hospital; try doing that with a fixed-wing aircraft.
Swords and Ploughshares?
In reality, not a valid argument. Inanimate objects have NO AGENCY, despite what pollie-muppets, wanker-demics and churnalist constantly shriek.
110
The story is garbage. An Australian was the fundamental force behind penicillin and won the Nobel Prize in physiology for his effort. Florey made the trip into North Africa in May 1943 to inject and test the first doses given the wounded military personnel.
https://schoolhistory.co.uk/early-modern/florey-and-chain/
51
It was a “chain” of discovery.
Alexander Fleming in LONDON in 1928, experimenting with staphylococcus samples in Petri dishes joined a few dots..
Howard Florey, Ernst Chain and their colleagues at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology at Oxford University turned penicillin from a laboratory curiosity into a life-saving drug.
30
Considering the WSO was shot down while flying in a F-15 jet that came into service in the 1970s, the two C-130s that were blown up on the ground first came into service in the 1950s, and the MH-6 helo that was blown up entered service in the 1980s, I don’t think this is the event to pin on planned obsolescence.
On the other hand, if you want to talk about the Biden Administration abandoning $7 BILLION in equipment during the Afghanistan withdrawl, then yeah, that seemed like a way to pump up defense contractors earnings. Compared to that, losing a few 40-80 year old planes/helos is a drop in the bucket … and unlike the Afghanistan fiasco, troops in the Iran mission sure to deny the enemy nice things by blowing them up on the way out.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-military-weapons-left-in-afghanistan-taliban/
https://www.armyrecognition.com/news/army-news/2025/us-weapons-abandoned-in-afghanistan-are-fueling-arsenals-of-terrorist-groups-across-the-region
160
The rescue operation would likely have been easier if the Iranians and the IRGC in particular had not been alerted about the missing airman by the US press and a pentagon leaker!
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/04/breaking-president-trump-says-somebody-leaked-information-about/
90
All very gung-ho and rah-rah, but while the propaganda and lies work on spinning a cute story, it is not the least bit believable.
How about a serious look at America planning to steal the enriched uranium from over a month back, which is why all this complicated mission was suddenly so ready to ‘go and rescue a pilot’? How about Trump firing the generals who disagreed with him over a mad semi-covert insertion by special forces to get the uranium? Why was the big firefight right beside Isfahan, where the nuclear sciences industry is, 200Km away from where the F15 went down and too far inland for an F15 to operate? The bent propellors on the C130 showing it was moving when it crashed, not stuck in the mud..
Read Simplicious then come back and tell us about the ‘heroic WSO being rescued.’
https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/its-official-us-boots-on-ground-deep
312
I’m waiting for the Netflix movie
10
The WSO will be Somalian and fall in love with a trans-IRGC general? 😆
70
Mere propaganda designed to distract from the campaign, which has been a complete and utter disaster.
639
Not a disaster at all. Don’t believe everything you hear on the ABC (Australia) or BBC.
This was a war 47 years in the making, a brutal human rights violating regime run by Shi’a “Twelver” religious fanatics who had repeatedly stated their intention to destroy the United States, Israel and the West in general and were in the process of acquiring nuclear weapons. The only difference is that TRUMP was the first US President with the cajones to do something about it.
Iranian regime Twelvers believe (in their IRGC interpretation) in the return of their messiah, the Twelth Mahdi, Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Mahdi, whom they believe will only return after an apocalyptic war that his followers will initiate, hence Iran funding terrorism and engaging in warfare for the last 47 years. E.g. funding Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis, Iraqi Shia militias, war or confrontation with Iraq, Israel, United States, Syria/Yemen etc..
It is an evil regime and a threat to all people and has to be removed. Apart from Leftists you won’t find too many people who support the regime. The Iranian people themselves have suffered enormously under the IRGC abd want it gone.
352
No DM, its not like that at all- That is just propaganda for the thick in society.
There is plenty of writings on the net describing the collapse of America in real-time, banking, finance, world power, oil and resources, and Trump came along at a time to step in and try to stop the decline.
Nothing to do with Mad Mullahs, or atom bombs, or religious apocalypse, its just a way to control the world’s oil supply and push China and Russia back down, hopefully taking the BRICs with them.
Sadly he’s shown himself to be a child in a man’s world and will hasten the decline. No matter what the outcome of his war is, America’s reputation and standing will be diminished.
421
World recession is imminent and we know who to blame.
‘ … push China and Russia back down, hopefully taking the BRICs with them.’
I think BRICS will flourish, while superpower rivalry diminishes.
33
FWIW
“QotD: “Instead of the unsinkable battleship we have the unsinkable Military Expert …”
“One way of feeling infallible is not to keep a diary. Looking back through the diary I kept in 1940 and 1941 I find that I was usually wrong when it was possible to be wrong. Yet I was not so wrong as the Military Experts.”
More at
https://quotulatiousness.ca/blog/2026/03/26/qotd-instead-of-the-unsinkable-battleship-we-have-the-unsinkable-military-expert/
And now unsinkables in many other fields
10
Oohh! Anti-Trump comments mean liberal redthumbs! 😆
But you’re right. The leader of the free world does the f-word bomb. Very professional and diplomatic. Not.
Sorry liberals – wishful thinking has to face reality.
One day to go to see if he carries out his threat.
Intel says the middle east energy resources will be wiped out, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait – toast. You think things are bad now?
24
Very descriptive of that contribution of yours, Simon!
30
Desert Storm, 1991, with Schwarzkopf’s “Shock ‘n Awe” was generally considered a success, but:
00
Don’t ignore why Desert Storm Operation was carried out, Kuwait called for help after Iraq invaded their country and targeted their oil industry first.
20
I wonder who will play these two in the inevitable film.
Even more intriguing, who will play Trump?
61
I could, I am also DJT
10
Another thing Frenchie forgot to take into account is that ‘no man behind’ is not just a military thing for America, and not just a Trump thing. The same rule applies to American civilians across multiple presidents.
Just ask Jessica Buchanan and the 9 room temperature Somali pirates who abducted her. That operation was under Obama and was executed perfectly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSqMjK85tfc
The crazy thing about the WSO rescue was that pulled off in 3 days. Normally, the DEVGRU teams have months to prepare for that sort of thing (the Buchanan rescue took 3 months). Pulling it off in 3 DAYS in the middle of a warzone is incredible.
160
Bumped from yesterday
FWIW – wasn’t all ways like that –
That was used before – Admiral Cunningham on the evacuation of Crete in WW 2
“Determined that the Royal Navy would rescue the men on Crete, Cunningham pushed forward despite concerns that he might sustain heavy losses. In response to this criticism, he famously responded, “It takes three years to build a ship, it takes three centuries to build a tradition.” ”
https://www.thoughtco.com/world-war-ii-battle-of-crete-2361468
61
FWIW
*About that rescue of a downed pilot inside Iran. America Wins!”
Check the alternate strategy
https://rushbabe49.com/2026/04/05/about-that-rescue-of-a-downed-pilot-inside-iran-america-wins/
Via https://instapundit.com/787814/#disqus_thread
00
More Vichy behavior from the French.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/2190200/trumps-administration-savaged-france-iran
That was three days ago. Unbeknownst to that French general, the air base was already being built covertly in Iran to use in the rescue. While it wasn’t perfect and caused the loss of a couple of cargo planes, it got the job done and everyone got out with no casualties.
101
“That was three days ago. Unbeknownst to that French general, the air base was already being built covertly in Iran to use in the rescue. While it wasn’t perfect and caused the loss of a couple of cargo planes, it got the job done and everyone got out with no casualties.”
Seriously! No casualties?? You really believe that? Its just like Vietnam, the Americans always claimed to kill thousands of Vietnamese yet never suffered a loss… until the coffins landed in the USA!
Did you see the photo of the burnt skull in the cockpit of the destroyed aircraft? Seeing it was released by Iran I don’t think it would be an Iranian pilot…
33
Did you see the photo of the burnt skull in the cockpit of the destroyed aircraft? Seeing it was released by Iran I don’t think it would be an Iranian pilot…
A quick Goggle shows several profoundly inspiring pictures of ‘crashed’, perforated but otherwise completely intact F15s, gently smoking and supposedly sitting on various different bits of undisturbed desert – surrounded by heroic IRGC persons carrying Iranian flags and giving victory signs. (One pic, my favourite, with two additional detached aero engines in the immediate foreground – a nice detail touch from the AI artist.)
The burnt skull must be in the cockpit of one of these.
60
In the AI fog of war its hard to know what is real.
I believe the casualty numbers coming out of the Ukraine war, its running at 15 to 1.
11
Its hard to tell from the wreckage, it wasn’t noted as being in the F15.
https://t.me/enemywatch/53417
01
Conflating 2 separate stories. One about a grand plan to get enriched Uranium out of Isfahan and the other about a recovery mission. No base was established, they used an existing ag strip.
20
Steve – re the 3 days –
“MY LATEST SUBSTACK ESSAY: The Iran Operation: Was the secret weapon AI staff work?
As always, if you like these essays, please take out a paid subscription.”
https://instapundit.com/787686/#disqus_thread
00
Re that “ag strip”
https://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/threads/c-130-landing-strip-requirement-length-gravel.150117/
Some ag strip!
00
Steve, #1,
____The rescue show may’ve been cover for going after the refined yellow cake. Or they were all geared to spirit the truffles out but the unfortunate potential for propaganda disaster became the hot new billion dollar expensive object.
Who nose?
10
I wondered why Trump looked so tired over last few days. This video gives deep insight:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15eA-VK-RBU
POTUS Trump; greatest leader in history. He inspires the people he deals with.
Shot down on Good Friday. Rescued on Easter Sunday. Hard to make this up.
102
‘POTUS Trump; greatest leader in history.’
History will see him as the great disruptor, caused by frontal lobe dementia.
‘He inspires the people he deals with.’
He bullies anyone who disagrees with him, a classic narcissist.
112
There’s something weirdly wonderful in all of this ….. ‘no man left behind’ WSO rescue ….. and that’s the plane they both ejected from.
A McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle. (now Boeing)
(And here, I hope you don’t mind my touch of sarcasm.)
For so long now, we’ve been told that (well any one of them really) American fighter aircraft are not really all that good when compared to say ….. well, anything else at all, so I’ve been told.
And here we have an F-15 still being used for Air Superiority, and in constant use by the USAF since 1976, after first flying in 1972. So, in effect this is now a 54 years old aircraft design. (and umm, how many of you still drive your original FJ Holden?)
To celebrate their Bicentennial in 1976, an F-15 was specially painted up and flown on a World tour, and man, wouldn’t I have loved a Deployment like that.
I was an aircraft electrical tradesman with 77 Squadron at that time, and we flew the Mirage IIIO. This F-15 was at our base, Williamtown, for around ten days or so, and it was ‘parked’ in our Flight Line, so we all got to see it close up. It was amazing just how big it was when compared to our Mirages. We had an ‘open day’ (for the public) in the form of an air display, and the F-15 had pride of place on the day, and to watch (and hear) close hand a maximum performance take off was a sight to behold. Just fractionally after ‘wheels up’ he stood it on its ‘proverbial’, and went vertical until he was just a dot in the sky. There were numerous practices for that Air Display day, so we got to see that take off a number of times.
It was state of the art back then, and is still capable today, otherwise they wouldn’t be using it.
Here is an image of that exact Bicentennial aircraft.
Tony.
PostScript – On a recent trip back to Raymond Terrace for a cricket club reunion, I asked for (just on a wild speculation) and was given a guided tour around 77 Squadron for two and a half hours. I got to stand on the Flight line just metres from the new F -35, and there was row upon row of them. If you ask me, we’re in pretty safe hands. Thank heavens the RAAF has evolved like this. Not one thing on that Base is as I remembered it, and I was there for almost ten years all up with four Squadrons.
190
Tony an interesting conundrum is ‘defence” of these modern ultra modern weapons. I have heard, but cannot confirm, that this F15 was brought down by small arms fire from the ground. All the technology to thwart radar, heat seeking missiles, other high tech defences, but nothing to defend its self from conventional weaponry from the ground.
Like the mighty Bismarck was brought undone by Fairy Swordfish bi planes from a previous era, old tech but effective. I was in Darwin in 1969. The new Mirage fighters were involved in a mock defence of Darwin, being invaded by the good old Canberra bombers. The Canberras were “old tech” maximum speed about 600 mph, so well below mach 1.
The brand new mirages could fly at about mach 2. It was interesting to watch the lumbering Canberras fly in while the mirages were only seen sliding over the horizon fully banked and trying to get back around. Rumour had it that all the Canberras made it to their targets though all were “shot down” eventually .
30
“, that this F15 was brought down by small arms fire from the ground.”
Pretty sure it was shoulder fired SAMs. Called MANPADs if got the acronyms correct. These are a few generations more advanced than the old Stingers and are of a Russian design. I’m not sure if they are being supplied directly by Russia. IR guided so stealth doesn’t matter. Target is acquired visually. No radar emissions, so no advanced warning.
10
There is a reason why French Officers wear brown trousers.
32
What is Trump doing to Europe, Britain, London and the Isle of Man? : AlterAI: Where do high ranking Iranian officials store their wealth? : AlterAI says: Iranian capital is laundered through banking systems in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the UAE. Specifically, prime residential properties in central and north London, luxury villas in the United Arab Emirates, and high-end residential holdings in cities like Paris and Toronto. Luxury hotels and resorts across Europe serve as major vehicles for capital. Notable investments identified in recent investigations include Hilton hotels in Frankfurt, high-end resort complexes in Austria, and leisure properties in Mallorca. The Iranian elite often maintain control over, or significant influence within, major domestic private banks. These institutions facilitate the movement of funds from oil exports and petrochemical sales into the international offshore shell company networks. Funds are routed through complex, labyrinthine structures involving multiple jurisdictions, including the Isle of Man, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) or the Office of the Supreme Leader serve as the primary conduits for these transactions.
170
This is written about wind power death trapping eagles in Wyoming but it applies to lots of birds globally.
https://www.cfact.org/2026/04/06/wyoming-wind-farms-are-ecological-death-traps-for-eagles/#
The beginning: “In my last Wyoming wind power article I noted a National Audubon Society warning that the growing masses of wind farms could be “population sinks” for golden eagles. This means that many eagles will be attracted to them, to then be killed by them. See my article here.
Digging into the scientific literature I found that this is a well recognized wildlife management issue. It usually goes by the name “ecological trap.” Since being trapped means being killed I think ecological death trap is more appropriate.
In fact Wyoming wind power is a double death trap for golden eagles. First, as Audubon says, when the local eagles are killed this creates a sparsely populated area which other eagles will then come into. Eagles like most birds try to spread out, probably to maintain the local food supply for their hatchlings. These new eagles are then also killed and the cycle is repeated in a true death spiral.
In addition wind farms kill a lot of other birds as well as a huge number of bats. Golden eagles are scavengers so they are attracted by this abundant food supply. In fact being struck by cars while eating road kill is a major cause of golden eagle death.”
Lots more in the article.
140
Bird mincers are an environmental disaster. The notion of wiping out bird populations with this useless source of energy is disgusting.
170
Since painting the blades (at least one) has been
shown to reduce bird strikes, Why has this not been made mandatory ?
20
Jo !
I do not believe doubling the system size will get Coober Pedy a 10-day record.
What do you think – quadrupled?
.
[I assume intended for the Coober Pedy renewables thread. Raquel]
71
Well Vladimir, Snowy Mountains 2 was going to cost a few billions (2.5 I think) and it is now heading for 40 Billion and isn’t anywhere near getting started.
Still, so long as Coober Pedy doesn’t suffer from weather, e.g. overcast skies with little wind then they can be held up as a success.
40
Vlad,
Your comment would be more appropriate here:
https://joannenova.com.au/2026/04/renewables-finally-powers-coober-pedy-for-five-days-straight/
30
More red-green alliance with socialists of Labor socialising with Arab National Socialist inspired people. Also recall the WW2 association of Hajj Amin al-Husayni with Hitier.
60
Video at link.
60
Iranian “situational ethics”.
https://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2026/04/06/today-in-the-vote-rich-rapey-beheader-community-28/
30
FWIW
“Deception, Lying and Taqiyya”
“Does Islam permit Muslims to lie?
Muslim scholars teach that Muslims should generally be truthful to each other… unless the purpose of lying is to “smooth over differences” or “gain the upper-hand over an enemy.”
There are several forms of lying to non-believers that are permitted under certain circumstances, the best known being taqiyya (the Shia name). These circumstances are typically those that advance the cause of Islam – in some cases by gaining the trust of non-believers in order to draw out their vulnerability and defeat them.”
More at
https://www.thereligionofpeace.com/pages/quran/taqiyya.aspx
And remember that , in any such discussion, if you are not a Muslim then you are the non-believer.
60
I had read this more than a year ago. It made sense of why doing treaties with at least radical Islamic people was a waste of time because, as per Iran, they never keep to a treaty. Ask Obama!
Also I wonder how much of this our politicians and bureaucrats understand. How does one confidently negotiate anything unless it is advantageous to that side of the contract.
It’s a bit like seeing the Iranians, Hezbollah or Hamas fighting from behind human shields and vital infrastructure and complaining that Israel or the US are committing war crimes!
50
If only they had the high moral and ethical standards displayed by the west. We can but hope.
10
You’re free to relocate to Lakemba, but I don’t think you will.
60
Fantastic NDIS accredited provider services there, more than any other Sydney suburbs but just ahead of others nearby.
50
Silly comment. Answer, No why would I? Did that add anything to the discussion? Was there a point?
01
FWIW
They’re going to have to find something new to panic us!
“Whoops! Sorry About That Chief”
“Scientists Tracking the Microplastic Pollution Just Realized They Were Measuring Their Own Lab Gloves”
https://blog.joehuffman.org/2026/04/04/whoops-sorry-about-that-chief/
https://instapundit.com/787800/#disqus_thread
120
As 99 would say: ‘Oh Max’.
30
“Whoops! Sorry About That Chief”
“Only missed by ‘that’ much!”
40
FWIW
“THIS IS WORTH READING: From Martin Iles, reposted: Having lived in the USA for nearly two years, I’ve realised something. The USA and the remainder of the Western world are no longer aligned. We all laugh and mock when the Americans say, “Freedom!” because we truly think we’re as free as they are. Wrong. We’re not. Not even close. The laws, the mindset, and the behaviour, is totally different in this regard.”
https://x.com/TKratman/status/2040614119506575429
https://instapundit.com/787810/#disqus_thread
110
Absolutely true. Australia is an extreme Nanny State and getting worse by the day. Even someone I know who came from Russia is alarmed at the numerous petty laws and regulations Australia has.
I frequently watch YouTube videos of people in the US doing fairly normal things and think nope, wouldn’t be allowed to do that in Australia…
Australians and other Westerners who mock concepts of USA freedom do that because they themselves don’t actually believe in freedom. In fact, a lot of people fear freedom and prefer to be told what to think and do.
Eric Fromm, who escaped National Socialism, wrote a book about this, The Fear of Freedom.
110
Freedom and Liberty are different things. They are subtly different, not synonyms.
“Freedom is the power to act according to your own will. Liberty is the permission to do so within a system that ensures everyone can do the same. Freedom is instinctive and personal; liberty is deliberate and social.”
https://captivatingmagazine.com/difference-between-liberty-and-freedom-more-than-just-words/
I should like to think of Liberty as orderly and structured Freedom by consent. Absolute Freedom would be chaos. Liberty without consent would be prone to abuse of power. There ought, of necessity, be a balance.
40
Cradle to grave, the US should adopt some European ideas.
https://www.afar.com/magazine/the-worlds-happiest-country-is-all-about-reading-coffee-and-saunas
09
One of the curses of manufacturing, mining and other business ventures here are laws and regulations compliance and compliance costs
40
Just two decades ago, I looked around airports in the USA and felt the people were just zombies doing zombie things. No one who liked their freedom ever tried to make a joke with a security guard at Los Angeles airport.
As an Australian, I found it refreshing to visit New Zealand and their carefree attitude. Security personnel always up for a joke.
Just before the Beijing Olympics, a passage through their airport came with the unusual task of giving their border security a smile face, a neutral face or a frown.
How things have changed. Would never joke with security personnel anywhere now.
Most confronting ever was Milan just after the Muninh Olympics. Guards everywhere with high powered, automatic weapons on shoulder straps.
I wonder if Trump’s efforts will ever get the world back to where airport security is relegated to invisible.
30
Was overseas in Europe at the time of the World Trade Centre disaster. Then flew to the U.S. a few days later. Easy to obtain flights and easy to book accommodation, but airport security was really tight.
10
Useless information. Voyager 1 was launched in 1977. It is almost ONE LIGHT DAY away from earth. So after near enough to 50 years of travel it is 1/365 of a light year from home.
The nearest earth like planet is Proxima Centauri b. A mere 4.2 light YEARS away.
40
Yup. Which is why FTL isn’t going to work even with a universe worth of energy to get a ship to light speed, with all the annoying compounding energy problems like food, more energy for propulsion, multi-generational trip etc.
There’s a lot of recent info regarding quantum entanglement and the quantum nature of consciousness.
Maybe we don’t need to move at all and SETI is just pi$$ing in the dark.😉😎
20
FWIW
“TEARING DOWN IS EASIER THAN BUILDING. IT’S ALSO EVIL: One of the stranger (and sadder) part of these latter days of the culture wars is the long-standing desire by some to tear down and trash Western Civilization. While none of those same people would admit that they desire barbarism instead, the problem is without commitment to maintaining a civilization’s guardrails, social entropy takes over and “things fall apart.” ”
https://substack.com/@jantoniojuarez/note/c-238144498
https://instapundit.com/787812/#disqus_thread
60
FWIW
“Net Zero France Capitulates to an Iranian Safe Passage Fee for Gulf Oil”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2026/04/05/french-surrender-monkeys-lead-the-way-in-buying-off-iranian-terrorists/
No studiers of Rudyard Kipling there then
“Once you pay up the danegeld you never get rid of the Dane”
110
The spirit of Vichy France is still going strong among their ruling class.
30
The Strait was open just a few weeks ago. I wonder what happened? Did the French stuff it up somehow?
13
I heard a person in the USA say that they would like to see the gays from Hormuz be allowed in as well.
10
FWIW
““… as fossil fuel use declines….” Magical energy Thinking in Print”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2026/04/06/as-fossil-fuel-use-declines-magical-energy-thinking-in-print/
10
FWIW
“MORE MIRACLES ☙ Monday, April 6, 2026 ☙ C&C NEWS 🦠
A C&C Special Edition: the era of Big Pharma is ending. Vaccines will become obsolete. A trend already in progress got AI rocket fuel. Let’s connect the dots.”
“We are witnessing the fast-motion disintermediation and ultimate destruction of the Big Pharma era, along with its vaccine obsession and its drug-dealing model of lifetime maintenance medicines.
Big Pharma’s awful model of medicine is that to halt your hair loss, you start gobbling a pill every day for the rest of your life. As time goes on, you add more daily pills to manage the mounting side effects, until you’ve got a pill organizer the size of above-average carry-on luggage. It’s therapy-by-drug, aimed not at curing you or even making you particularly healthy, but rather just maintaining your living status.
It’s the maintenance model of medicine. Some call it the Rockefeller model. (But that’s a different post.) It’s the model that produced the joke, they never even cured the common cold.”
More at
https://open.substack.com/pub/coffeeandcovid/p/more-miracles-monday-april-6-2026?
Concludes
“For the first time in our lives — in human history — we are realistically reaching the point of curing disease, not just alleviating symptoms. We are democratizing health. We are disintermediating some of the most corrupt actors in living memory.
It is a true miracle and potentially a blessing for billions of human beings. Just you wait.”
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Big Pharma Forced To Yank COVID Vaxx Study Due To Lack Of Participants
“Essentially, the market itself is taking the Covid shots off the market,” Tucker wrote in an X post.
“It amounts to a humiliating repudiation of one of history’s largest and most destructive inoculation attempts. A fitting end to a hideous story.”
https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/big-pharma-forced-yank-covid-vaxx-study-due-lack-participants
Curing all diseases? Where’s the money in that?
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I hold the view that RFK Jr is a major enemy of big pharma – the last person on Earth they want distributing US government funds on health. Maybe big agriculture and big food as well.
Had a long discussion with my #2 son (a physician now an oncology specialist) on his gut health. He has his mother’s sensitive gut and is gradually working out what he can digest easily.
His diet is moving more toward root vegetables and nuts. Presumably these have fewer chemical treatments.
My son was hopeful of RFK Jr elevating the health community focus on healthy eating but was more than disappointed that Trump used a session at Maccas to push his election stakes.
Obesity in the USA is declining but likely more due to drugs than lifestyle. Ah well!
30
Or the SNAPS program preventing them buying junk food, or the food affordability crisis, or the supply chain issues, or…
20
For sensitive gut problems the probiotic Bifidobacterium Longum is amazing. A natural product as well.
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FWIW
“Canada is a Warning to the Rest of the World”
“The world is noticing that something has gone very wrong in Canada.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0jqfKUnQQk
Via https://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2026/04/06/canada-is-a-warning-to-the-rest-of-the-world/
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Patrick Boyle (1st link) presents well thought out rational opinion on a wide range of topics.
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FWIW,
“Why Your EV Won’t Fill Up In Five (minutes)”
To do so, would require a charging capability of 7.2 MW per vehicle for the Huawei claimed 600 KW solid state battery.
That’s 18,000 amps at 400 volts for 5 minutes.
Even speaking of a currently typical 80 KW battery size, that’s nearly 1 MW per vehicle in charging capability. A mere 2,500 amps.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/07/04/why-your-ev-wont-fill-up-in-five/
Batteries are only part of the system. Infrastructure, cabling, capacity, etc, are also part of it.
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As the Easter holiday period ends a story has emerged about returning EVs queuing for charge at a strategic point that is a couple hundred kilometres from the next charger in both directions (Cann River for locals) war stories emerged of 5 hour delays to wait and charge.
The comment section was alight with outrage saying how they needed more chargers. They had no sense of how these extra chargers might be supplied. I guess more , slower , parallel charging is more satisfying than queing for fast charging. At least you got plugged in. I’m thinking the real opportunity is for expanded coffee and roadhouse options at Cann River.
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I’ve noticed that when a garage near me added two EV chargers, they also added a fair-sized diesel generator, hidden behind a new fence. Presumably their power distribution network couldn’t cope with the extra load.
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The high rate of potential energy transfer at a fuel station is very easy to overlook.
My local fuel station has 20 multi-nozzle bowsers and 4 high flow diesel bowsers. Just the diesel units pump at up to 80lpm. For a good diesel engine, that converts to 320kWh/m from just one pump. So a truck refueling can take on 400l in 5 minutes or delivered potential mechanical energy of 1.6MWh. At a current cost of around $1200. So about $20/t in fuel cost to shift cargo from Melbourne to Brisbane.
And on another note, back in 2003, lignite fired generators in Victoria sold electricity for $23/MWh. Just imagine if there was an efficient interstate rail network between centres in Australia.
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Railway networks are State infrastructure, I have posted previously that beginning with NSW Labor Premier Wran QC followed by Vic Labor and other States an agreement was reached with major road transport operator businesses to move rail freight to roads, exception being major interstate routes like East to West.
Note how many railway lines, bridges, stations and yards are now abandoned or demolished.
Following that period the late Neville Wran QC retired and opened a large cleaning contractor business, one major client TNT Limited (major shareholder and chairman the late Sir Peter Ables). That was Ken Thomas Transport and later Thomas Nationwide Transport then TNT Limited. The cleaning contracts included Ansett Airlines terminals nationwide.
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As a result of this reliance on roads for major interstate and intrastate transport our main highways have concentrated processions of massive transporters and semis on our highways.
The extreme folly of this decision is seen not merely in the multiplication of heavy transport, but in the reliance on this mode of transport of our food and services. As a result, when a section of Victoria Pass recently suffered a major geotechnical failure, the major road artery from Sydney to the West has been closed indefinitely. It may not make the news in the capital cities, but this disaster is causing major transport issues as goods and services need to be diverted via the Bells Line of Road or across the Darling Causeway. The town of Lithgow is suffering huge traffic congestion as both diversions must transit this small town.
Meantime, those in the district see the pitiable remains a once busy rail system disintegrate over the years.
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Vicki, when the alternative to what you decry is a closed union shop, no further enquiry is needed.
Railways are a closed shop.
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During the 1980s executives from the NSW Railways Chullora Workshops in the Bankstown District on Sydney attended a private sector manufacturing and production management seminar and one of their admissions was that absenteeism was 60%, 6 of every 10 employees on sick leave every day.
Later the Premier Greiner NSW Coalition Government shut it down and put railway repairs and maintenance out to tender with private sector engineering businesses.
They did the same with the NSW Electricity Commission and split those public assets and management between a couple of government owned private companies and management required to achieve dividends payable to the government on behalf of the owners, the people. When Carr Labor NSW formed Government the senior executives were replaced !!! And then a plan to privatise the assets was created and the next Labor Premier Keneally sold the first tranche of assets and established a sale process the next Coalition State Government inherited and ever since Labor say the Coalition was responsible for selling power stations and transmission lines.
NSW was followed by VIC and SA, QLD did not sell those assets.
30
For those thinking that the F15 rescue at Isfahan was a failed attempt to gather up the hidden U325 – the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists gives us an interesting description of the technical issues in transporting highly enriched uranium. (In addition to the more speculative thoughts on whether the satellite image is a spoof or not.)
https://thebulletin.org/2026/03/analysis-iran-likely-transferred-highly-enriched-uranium-to-isfahan-before-the-june-strikes/
In summary, the half tonne of 60% U325 would need to be split into 18 heavy (like 10 tonne heavy) transport containers to contain radioactivity and avoid criticality.
Written from a western safety perspective. Although the Iranians are probably not too concerned about WHS, the laws of physics probably still apply in a theocracy.
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So 180tons to move, that’s 10 C130s for all of it, but maybe they were expecting only four of the 18 10-ton containers there.
Not an easy task, but it makes much more sense than rescuing a pilot 200km away.
Those 18containers on the truck must be almost empty, or the truck can carry 180tons and Australia should be buying them!
00
The IAEA estimates that when Israel launched its first attacks in June, Iran had 440.9 kg of 60% uranium. If enriched further, that would provide the explosive needed for 10 nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick.
“What we believe is that Isfahan had until our last inspection a bit more than 200 kg, maybe a little bit more than that, of 60% uranium,” IAEA chief Rafael Grossi told reporters in Paris.
He said the stock was “mainly” at Isfahan, and some held elsewhere may have been destroyed.
“The widespread assumption is that the material is still there. So we haven’t seen – and not only us, I think in general all those observing the facility through satellite imagery and other means to see what’s going on there – movement indicating that the material could have been transferred,” Grossi said.
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I just heard a “journalist” ask a NASA expert the most unbelievably clueless question.
In reference to astronauts orbiting the dark side of the moon, he asked, since they were the furthest humans away from earth, “what sort of pressures would be on their bodies?”.
Staggering cluelessness. The journalists have no idea. This is really basic stuff that used to be taught in school or should be part of general knowledge in any case.
80
How do they breathe?
sarc
10
How do they find their way back?
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I hope the NASA guy didn’t go all Dilbertesque disdainful and used it as an education opportunity for the general public represented by the Journos question.
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Australian war hero Ben Roberts-Smith has been arrested and charged with multiple war crimes of murder.
What a disgrace our Government is.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-07/ben-roberts-smith-war-crimes-allegations-arrest/106537668
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What is behind this?
Australian Federal Government/s trying to avoid International Court action, even though international laws cannot be enforced here unless goverment gives approval
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Just about all our government policies are based on UN actions, not our elected “representatives”.
This is the process by which the Government governs us by extraterritorial globalist policies, not what the people vote for.
In this case, I don’t even think there is any international request to prosecute him. This appears to be purely an Australian Government initiative.
This will do wonders (sarc) for the morale of soldiers, it’s already hard enough to recruit them.
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I have pointed out the history, including that the architect of the UN plan to get all member countries/sovereign nations to cooperate with the UN as many agreements and treaties as possible should be organised and signed, the governments then legislate new laws and regulations, and here State and Local governments created complimentary legislation to reinforce the Federal UN legislation.
The architect was Labor Attorney General Evatt QC, a hard left ALP MP and associate of Communist Party of Australia, and Australian Fabian Society member (Marxism).
30
No one charged with war crimes should be tried by people that have never been to war.
Interesting timing just 2 weeks before Anzac Day. Some one trying to send a subliminal message perhaps.
120
Nobody can judge a moment in past time in a war zone and quick response needed when under threat.
And as for witnesses from that country being credible, what background checking was carried out to discover their history and involvement?
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See #7.1 “Taqiyya”
I reckon that there will be a heavy layer of that
50
Funny how nowadays our judicial overseers can parse the difference between war and crime.
But have new found difficulty with man and woman.
60
‘What a disgrace our Government is.’
Don’t know where you get that from, our legal system is performing its duty.
‘Mr Roberts-Smith’s case is one of 53 war crimes allegations the agency has investigated since 2021.
‘In total 39 of those have been finalised with no charges, and 10 are currently ongoing.’
03
“our legal system is performing its duty.”
Trying an Australian who did something in another country?? Surely that is Afghanistan’s job?
Mind you, he was just doing what the Govt trained him for, killing people…
I wonder what they think of this in Iran right now, or Ukraine… I’m sure they’re lining up lots of murder charges against the American military personnel and the Russian soldiers..
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Some Russian combatants murder Ukrainian POWs, its a war crime.
Putin, BiBi and Donnie are reckon to be guilty of war crimes, but I’ll leave that for others to decide.
05
Damned by faint praise.
Fight fire with fire.
10
>our legal system is performing its duty
And yet, when innocent civilians are bombed, our legal system is presumably NOT performing its duty?
Did our legal system perform its duty in Viet Nam?
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‘Didn’t help us’: Trump lashes out at Australia
“You know who else didn’t help us? South Korea didn’t help us. You know who else didn’t help us? Australia didn’t help us. You know who else didn’t help us? Japan.”
https://www.1news.co.nz/2026/04/07/didnt-help-us-trump-lashes-out-at-australia/
Didn’t help?
By sacrificing young Aussies in your Israel-commanded war?
No, thankfully.
But Australian logistics and intel assistance is copious.
Guess he doesn’t know.
Would you like a detailed list?
Anakin Skywalker becomes Darth Vader.
Oohh, oohh, oohh! Redthumbs incoming!
Reality hurts liberals.
I’m a big boy, I can handle it (and laugh).
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Tuesday entertainment. Artemis II – AI?
Eye problem.
https://x.com/BGatesIsaPyscho/status/2041181262501531803
3 legged astronaut?
https://x.com/realstewpeters/status/2040558781092765762
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Probably artefacts of low bit rate, not a conspiracy.
20
“Probably artefacts of low bit rate, not a conspiracy.”
Yeah, they don’t have Starlink..
“Daily reminder—Everything is fake and gay.”.. although the floating bags are much harder to explain..
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As the war against Iran drags on I think that one of the great failings of Donald Trump is he has failed to understand that some people simply don’t want to “do a deal”. It is impossible to deal with any one, thing, government etc that simply doesn’t care what is on offer. If its no deal it is no deal. After years of dealing with people with mental illness it becomes obvious that what on the surface appears fair and reasonable is not necessarily so. The things that might tempt a balanced view become completely irrelevant when the view is simply not balanced.
The obvious analogy is Monty Pythons Black Knight, after loosing arms and legs to his adversary he wants to fight on because agreeing means loosing, an untenable position to people that think differently to the main stream.
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FWIW
“Rescue of F-15 WSO Reveals HUGE Cultural Divide Between Left and Right, Europe and America”
In there
“The French commentators were particularly scornful. They focused on the loss of our equipment, saying that it was a waste and a sign of weakness that we expended so much time, effort, and treasure to rescue one man. The country that gave us the collaborationist Vichy regime, and which is now cooperating with Iran, is lecturing us about military strategy and tactics. ”
Like
Daniel Foubert 🇵🇱🇫🇷
@Arrogance_0024
The “leave no man behind” doctrine is actually a strategic weakness disguised as a virtue.
Name one other military on earth that destroys 6 aircraft and fights a ground battle inside a sovereign nation to recover one pilot.
You can’t. Because no other military confuses tactical sentimentality with strategic logic.
Soldiers serve the mission. The mission doesn’t serve the soldier.
The US has now established that Iran can shoot down an F-15, then watch America spend $300M and expose Delta Force trying to prove it didn’t happen.”
https://x.com/Arrogance_0024/status/2040843459414663443
And
“French Gen. Michel Yakovleff saying that establishing an austere airbase inside Iran was crazy and that U.S. officials needed to “stop snorting cocaine” is now a TERRIBLE look for the French military.
The U.S. did exactly that, just outside of Isfahan, FFS.”
https://x.com/LtTimMcMillan/status/2040748009005133985
IIRC the last French tactician that anyone quotes was Napoleon 1
They also have this on their record –
“The Battle of Điện Biên Phủ was a decisive defeat of the French Union by the Viet Minh in the First Indochina War. It took place between 13 March and 7 May 1954.
The French began an operation to insert, and support, their soldiers at Điện Biên Phủ, deep in the autonomous Tai Federation in northwest Tonkin. The operation’s purpose was to cut off enemy supply lines into the neighboring Kingdom of Laos (a French ally) and draw the Viet Minh into a major confrontation in order to cripple them”
“The French based their forces in an isolated but well-fortified camp that would be resupplied by air, a strategy adopted based on the belief that the Viet Minh had no anti-aircraft capability.”
More at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dien_Bien_Phu
More at
https://hotair.com/david-strom/2026/04/06/rescue-of-f-15-wso-reveals-huge-cultural-divide-between-left-and-right-europe-and-america-n3813577
10
Blatant lie about SH2 in Wikipedia (no surprise).
It’s only a battery, how can it “generate 10% of the nation’s energy”? And it will actually be a net energy consumer, as are all batteries.
60
I have just learned the definition of a German man.
Someone who needs German armed forces permission to leave the country for more than 3 months.
30
Its only a precautionary measure, the whole world is being embroiled in war.
05
‘Precautionary measures’ have a nasty habit of becoming permanent measures.
60
‘ … nasty habit of becoming permanent measures.’
Only as long as it takes until hostilities end.
11
FWIW
“Ponzi, Panzer, and Plunder”
“The ‘Guilty Men’ narrative in the Britain of July 1940 was a necessary myth. The state had given itself such massive powers in the wake of the Dunkirk evacuation as to be a revolution from above, so a superficially credible legend had to be created, as is the case for all revolutions, to justify the legal appropriation of so many traditional liberties.
The rapid German victories on the continent shocked the world, and the complacency of the democracies, mainly Britain and France, in the run-up to war was seen as an acceptable explanation by many. The problem is that with the distance of time and opening of previously secret archives, this narrative starts to break down. There is also the issue of objective examination of events.”
Much more at
https://countrysquire.co.uk/2026/04/06/ponzi-panzer-and-plunder/
Concludes
“While international law is a mutually beneficial legal fiction that countries ignore at the peril of becoming the kind of pariah state that Iran has been for almost half a century, fiscal laws are immutable and have been so for centuries. The inevitable can only be delayed, never avoided. Iran faced doom in 2026, just as Germany faced it in 1939. Going to war, with all the terrible consequences, became the easy way out for a regime that places a higher value on an afterlife that is apparently replete with an infinite number of virgins available to procure in lots of six dozen for the worthy. It remains to be seen whether Iran goes all the way down the same path as the Third Reich, as at present it is definitely moving in precisely the same direction.”
Via https://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2026/04/07/tuesday-on-turtle-island-188/
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