Recent Posts


Thursday

8 out of 10 based on 17 ratings

84 comments to Thursday

  • #
    Tonyb

    I was reminded of this excellent chronology of extreme weather events back to the first century.

    Evidently the Roman and Byzantine empires had good records-often used for crops-but these were lost when Constantinople was sacked in the 15th Century.

    http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/A_Chronological_Listing_of_Early_Weather_Events.pdf

    110

    • #
      el+gordo

      ‘ … the global drought of 1876-1879 …’

      I see the fingerprint of El Nino, but to be worldwide there must have been teleconnections.

      01

    • #
      RickWill

      Looking at the detail in that data highlights the importance of adaption. It is clear that more advanced regions were able to reduce the consequence earlier than less advanced regions

      One of the climate factors that has high impact over short periods is the Z-axis movement of the Sun relative to Earth’s elliptic. This changes the declination of the sunlight over short periods. It has a 5 year period impressed on longer cycles so can cause short term variations. It could be a factor in driving El Nino but I have not yet got that far. It was certainly responsible for the 1998 and 2023 spikes in the NH. Then there is solar activity that has different impacts.

      Failure of India’s monsoon is becoming rarer as the NH solar intensity increases. The next southern excursion of the Sun is in 2039 but I doubt that will reduce the solar intensity enough to impact the Indian monsoon. The last monsoon failure in 1980 coincided with a large southern excursion of the Sun. The excursion in 2039 is not as far south as 1980.

      40

  • #
    Tonyb

    I don’t suppose that many of us will be surprised that the ruling elite are heavily left wing and produce policies accordingly and often remain in positions of power even when the party that represents them is sent packing by the electorate

    https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/hello-to-the-almighty-blob/

    Unfortunately as we get older and wiser we realise that those who rule over us are nowhere near as clever as they think they are and ideology replaces common sense.

    251

    • #
      David Maddison

      Intellectuals are naturally attracted by the idea of a planned society, in the belief that they will be in charge of it.

      Roger Scruton, Fools, Fr-uds and Firebrands: Thinkers of the New Left

      The word “intellectuals” in that quote should be in quote marks.

      250

      • #
        Johnny Rotten

        The academics have it all wrong (again).

        For ‘Intellectuals’, just replace that word with ‘Ineffectuals’ and everything makes more sense.

        260

  • #
    David Maddison

    Most Australians don’t know the country within a country described in the video below exists in Australia and it’s illegal for regular Australians to visit. It’s an area bigger than half the countries in the world. It is so badly mismanaged it’s just like a Third World country.

    https://youtu.be/IB3-edWDNYQ

    170

    • #

      Yes. A crazy situation. I’ve been lucky enough to visit many of these in chartered planes and in cars. We brought hands on science programs to remote communities. It Was chaos, fun and depressing all at once. The permits seemed more likely to help the Government than the people in these remote locations.

      In Warburton the petrol was Opal to deter petrol sniffing. The petrol bowsers were covered in locked industrial strength wire security mesh cages with signs that said “No photos”.

      240

      • #
        Broadie

        This is a simple well known flaw in welfare and race is not a contributing factor.

        As a Brave search compiles:

        The concern is that when government provides aid without requiring work or personal responsibility, it can create a system where individuals become reliant on state support rather than their own industry, potentially leading to a form of “enslavement” to the state, as Jefferson warned against.
        This view is echoed by Benjamin Franklin, who observed that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, ultimately making them poorer.
        However, this perspective is not universally accepted. Adam Smith, a foundational figure in free-market thought, did not condemn welfare outright. He acknowledged that the Poor Laws in England were a response to the destruction of monasteries, which had previously provided charity, and recognized that state intervention was sometimes necessary when private charity was insufficient.
        Similarly, the development of the modern welfare state in the 20th century,

        In effect welfare is the weapon to destroy a free society and centralise power. Adam Smith identifies the need when what was effectively community based welfare (Religious in this case) is removed. There may be a need for intervention in such a case. The problem is in Australia these service organisations are being regulated out of existence by compliance costs from irrational over-regulation (same for community sporting clubs). The NDIS is the knock-out punch in Australia completely destroying what remained of community ability to work together to care for its needy. The horror that is occurring in these welfare traps should have the proponents and the carpet-baggers who have capitalised exposed by our Fake News. The whole horrific story is in plain sight, yet these rivers of ‘puss stained’ riches that flow from control of communities where the children are devoid of ear drums and their noses and ears run green with infection are unlikely to brought into the light.

        130

      • #
        Vladimir

        Jo, is Opal program still on ?
        If so, I wonder how it is done nowadays, since “demise” of Australian petroleum industry?

        60

        • #
          Graeme4

          Just looked it up as I didn’t know what it was. Seems to be manufactured by BP and dyed purple. 91 RON.

          10

          • #
            Vladimir

            Hard to find out – BP is no more, no more, no more…
            If I recall correctly, it was AvGas.

            00

            • #
              Graeme4

              AI says that it’s still manufactured by BP and others. It’s not Avgas, it’s a fuel with the aromatics removed. WA still has BP petrol stations – one just down the road from me. And they are part of the Qantas Frequent Flyer scheme.

              20

              • #
                David Maddison

                Opal is intrinsically more expensive to produce than normal gasoline and so it’s production is taxpayer subsidised for remote communities where the inhabitants are prone to sniffing normal gasoline to get high.

                I think Australia is probably the only country in the world to make a special grade of gasoline for a certain racial segment of the population.

                70

              • #
                Vladimir

                Does anyone knows what is the base product for Opal today? Was made out UL91 a generation ago?
                I heard that BP Kwinana makes (or is trying to make) sustainable AvGas, so maybe that is where Opal come from.
                I can be very mistaken.

                00

              • #
                ozfred

                Apparently BP still makes Opal.
                https://www.bp.com/en_au/australia/home/products-services/fuels/opal-fuel.html#accordion_FAQs

                Whether that link and its subsidiaries answer any questions, I cannot say. YMMV

                20

    • #
      John Connor II

      Why can’t they all move there and go back to their traditional ways? It’s big enough.
      All theirs, do what they want, no white-fella stuff. We’ll have the rest of Oz.
      End of problems.
      We’ll allocate vistitor permits to them so they can visit the big rock.

      /wakes up. What a dream!

      90

  • #
    David Maddison

    As South Africa seeks to return to its pre-European roots, it is now burning universities. They have burned the university where many black African presidents were educated.

    I’m glad a majority of South Africans are returning to their traditional ideas. Alien ideas like universities shouldn’t be imposed upon them.

    Willem Petzer discusses (under ten mins):

    https://youtu.be/A9ZSejZhf3Y

    109 years ago, Scottish Missionaries built the University of Fort Hare in the Southern tip of Africa.

    Since then, it educated 7 African Presidents, from South Africa to Uganda.

    Now, post-revolutionary Afro-Marixts burn it to the ground.

    180

    • #
      Graham Richards

      Just wondering which university will be next! My money is on UCT….
      University of Cape Town, established by Cecil John Rhodes. They’ve already declared that Rhodes must “fall “. So with Fort Hare a now a pile of steaming rubble, the “ intellectual “ rabble will be competing for their place in the firelight.

      Alan Paton, a very liberal activist & author , penned a book “ Cry The Beloved Country “ which of course decried the STH African government.

      Indeed, now, that title has a meaning all can attest to! Today, South Africa, for obvious reasons is referred to as South Zimbabwe. A sad tale of 90% of the dark continent!

      130

    • #
      Graham Richards

      Just wondering which university will be next! My money is on UCT….
      University of Cape Town, established by Cecil John Rhodes. They’ve already declared that Rhodes must “fall “. So with Fort Hare a now a pile of steaming rubble, the “ intellectual “ rabble will be competing for their place in the firelight.

      Alan Paton, a very liberal activist & author , penned a book “ Cry The Beloved Country “ which of course decried the STH African government.

      Indeed, now, that title has a meaning all can attest to! Today, South Africa, for obvious reasons is referred to as South Zimbabwe. A sad tale of 90% of the dark continent!

      31

  • #
    David Maddison

    Senator Claire Chandler, Liberal, Tasmania, does an outstanding job in a Senate Committee quizzing public serpents from the Attorney General’s Department and an MP about their recognition of “Palestine”. Their cluelessness is staggering!

    I wish their were more brave Liberals like Claire Chandler. They would be able to win an election for once.

    Video, under 17 mins.

    https://youtu.be/dIajTFov_3c

    During Estimates, Senator Chandler raised concerns about whether recognition of Palestinian statehood aligns with international legal standards, particularly in the absence of clear governance or renunciation of terrorism. Tuesday 7 October 2025

    And this comment was sent to me by email:

    The Australian Labor Party has unilaterally recognized a state which fails the test of statehood, fails the conditions apparently required as pre-requisite, with no recourse to withdrawal, and as a reward to the terrorists who still both officially govern it, or de facto govern it, along with alternatives which are exclusively similarly abolitionist-eradicationist militias, many of which are long-standing internationally proscribed terror groups. So thorough is the illegitimacy of this recognised state that it would be barely possible to imagine when, if at all, Australia might withdraw recognition, given we are already speaking of terror financiers, pay-for-slay incentivisers, holocaust deniers, suicide-bombers, depraved torturers, and no less than the self-recording genocidal-eliminationists of October 7. Australian Labor has no standards, or worse: it disregards and overlooks its own.

    230

  • #
    David Maddison

    For those that like videos of factories making things, here is a video of a one man factory in Japan where 400,000 screws are made daily.

    https://youtu.be/yEOQb8W8A2g

    100

  • #
    David Maddison

    Here is a video about some of Africa’s finest automobiles.

    https://youtu.be/dnyBxykQ0kw

    30

    • #
      farmerbraun

      All the 1950s Bedford trucks in various states of disrepair that lay on this farm have now gone to Afrik(see Doris Lessing’s “Mara and Dan”).

      They don’t want the dashboards though, and they don’t need any more wheel rims.

      50

      • #
        farmerbraun

        Currently the export demand is for extremely used Landcruisers and Terranos. In the $1000- 2000 range.

        It is interesting that they in Afrik have no use for the modern short shelf-life vehicles.

        There is a similar thing with the tractors from the fifties and sixties in NZ.

        No electronics; minimal electrics, say a key and a starter solenoid (they are diesels);no lights; just an oil pressure and temp. sensor if you want to be flash.

        And if things got dicey , one could easily fit an electric motor and a saddle pack of batteries out of a wrecked Nissan Leaf.

        🙂

        30

      • #
        Ronin

        “They don’t want the dashboards though, and they don’t need any more wheel rims.”

        The3y don’t want any more rims because they have millions that the tyres were removed from for ‘necklacing’.

        40

    • #
      Chad

      You dont have to look to africa to see extreem “vehicle recycling”..
      …just go to the NT !

      40

      • #
        Ronin

        We had a TV show in OZ for a while called ‘Bush Mechanics’ showing the exact same things as on that video of SA.

        60

  • #
  • #
  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    Caught in slips!

    https://youtu.be/gsa09TbuTmA

    00

  • #
    Honk R Smith

    Bit of an odd theme developing here in the US.

    Antifa does not ‘exist’.

    Oft repeated by the mainstream media.
    And a couple of progressive personal acquaintances.
    I guess this means they don’t have membership cards and a clubhouse.
    Just random like minded people for whom black is a flattering color, that accidently run into each other near a Federal facility and spontaneously decide to ‘protest’ via improvised combustion.

    Then again, what does ‘exist’ mean?
    Burning stuff down is only a riot in the eye of some beholders.
    What is a woman?
    What is the current definition of vaccine?
    At least we can stop climate change.
    Yes I Honk, may physically resemble to some (haters) something that lives under a bridge in an enchanted forest, but I am a professional bikini model.

    100

    • #
      Forrest Gardener

      Even allowing for the clueless idiots sucked in by the spectacle the participants in violence are almost certain to be paid participants. The organizers of the violence are undoubtedly recompensed for their efforts either in money or in kind. Exhibit 1 is the identical professionally printed signs held up by protestors supporting the violence. Exhibit 2 is the ever increasing sophistication of the equipment used to support violence. Exhibit 3 is the ever increasing sophistication of the violence itself.

      There should be a fairly easily traced flow of money. I find it surprising that such tracing is only just beginning. And with the increasing number of arrests I am surprised that nobody has yet turned witness against the organizers of the violence.

      Sadly I strongly suspect that those responsible for law and order are reluctant to look too closely because the authorities are in fact themselves responsible for organizing and funding the violence and then looking the other way.

      110

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    “Critics Fear Financial Titans Have Found Trojan Horse For ‘Climate Mandates’ ”

    “Major global asset managers including BlackRock and Blackstone have been looking to buy power utilities across America in a move that some industry insiders warn could harm consumers, raise electricity costs and advance a climate-driven energy agenda.

    In recent months, Blackstone reportedly sought regulatory approval to buy utilities in New Mexico and Texas all while a BlackRock-led group won approval Friday to purchase a major utility in Minnesota. While BlackRock and other huge asset managers have distanced themselves from environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment practices in recent years, some energy experts and consumer advocates that spoke to the Daily Caller News Foundation are concerned that buying up utilities may represent a new frontier of financial giants orchestrating “climate mandates.” ”

    More at

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/10/15/critics-fear-financial-titans-have-found-trojan-horse-for-climate-mandates/

    60

  • #
    John Connor II

    No more clueless kids at burger joints

    https://x.com/Tesla_Optimus/status/1964471580123443538

    The bots will need to be specially trained to ensure the food never matches the pictures, is way smaller than it should be, lukewarm, badly done & horribly overpriced.

    “Learn to code” school leavers.
    Oops! No longer an option either.
    Hhhmmmm…

    30

    • #
      Forrest Gardener

      On the fairly rare occasions I visit the burger joints I am always reminded of the scene in Falling Down where Michael Douglas’ character visits the fast food outlet and among other things insists on receiving a hamburger like the one in the menu photos.

      The dystopian future will of course increasingly involve computers which say no and their robotic friends.

      And digressing, in the end he finally realizes that he is the bad guy.

      30

      • #
        Ronin

        That movie was hilarious, he was most indignant that the piece of rubbish he was served didn’t in any way resemble the succulent burger on the menu screens.

        00

        • #
          Forrest Gardener

          Lots of things to enjoy in a horrifying sort of way. The bazooka down the sewer scene is a favourite with the juvenile instructing him on how to fire it.

          10

  • #
    John Connor II

    Thursday hilarity

    There’s retarded, there’s stupid, there’s lefty, there’s Darwin Award level, then there’s this lot.
    A new level!

    https://youtu.be/xK3vY3eKe_0?si=NcPMPi9xajSxPzYm

    Attenbrahhhh.
    Funniest thing you’ll see this year.
    Do not eat or drink while watching to avoid snorting it down your front.

    120

    • #
      RickWill

      That is almost a nightly event in Melbourne news reports. So not particularly funny – as in it was funny the first time. After a few times it is sort of expected.

      Australia has very high import duty on cigarettes. A pack of 20 now costs around $50. The result is that there is a lot of illegal imports and black market selling of cigarettes. Illegal cigarettes have been a honey pot for criminals and considerable marking of territory involved. Burning down black market competitors is almost a daily event.

      The mental giants attracted to this source of income quite often set themselves on fire. Often it is boys in their mid teens recruited to the easy money so not always the sharpest tool in the shed.

      The high duty on cigarettes is justified on the high cost of medical care associated with smoking but it has created unintended consequences. What is worse – an aged smoker on ventilation in a hospital or a teenage criminal getting skin grafts in a hospital.

      60

      • #
        Penguinite

        Not to mention an increase in tobacco shop fires and looting of cigarette dispensing machines

        40

      • #
        Ronin

        Whoever the morons are in govt who approved each of those tobacco tax increases, they obviously never heard of nor read about the USA Prohibition Era in the ’20s, and all the crime it kickstarted including the M*fia.

        60

        • #
          KP

          Prohibition…? Their “war on drugs” is coming up for its centenary and drugs are more freely available than ever. Billions of dollars have been wasted on it, a massive sink of society’s wealth going through criminals and the Police, if you can find the difference.

          40

          • #

            And generations who regard a little ‘relaxation; as normal, so are happy to flout that law … and maybe others, … and maybe a little more relaxed about others doing the same.

            Down the pan.

            Auto

            00

      • #
        Ronin

        My take is that the govt should reduce the tax on cigarettes and tobacco so those not smart enough to keep off the stuff won’t make it to retirement age, just park them up on oxygen until they fade out.

        The present situation isn’t working at all and isn’t helping anyone except the criminals.

        10

        • #

          It may be too late already. The stupidly high taxes have broken the sacred “break no law” mental state. They have shown thousands of people that they can save a fortune by buying illegal cigarettes. The Government can’t put this genie back in the bottle. They can’t reduce taxes by half now and destroy that illegal trade, because only some of the shoppers will come back to known brands, the others have got used to the cheaper junky ciggies.

          So the government has created ideal conditions for a mafia type organized crime to set up shop permanently. Unless they reduced taxes to almost nothing, they can’t win back the customers. Once people realize they can operate outside the law, they get used to it, and do things they never would have considered previously.

          The govt got too greedy and wrecked the high trust society that obeyed the law.

          50

          • #
            David Maddison

            Aa Topher Field always says, “good people break bad laws”.

            He even wrote a book by that title.

            https://goodpeoplebreakbadlaws.com/products/good-people-break-bad-laws-book

            20

            • #
              ozfred

              As Topher Field always says, “good people break bad laws”
              Just wait until “jury nullification” becomes more well known (and practiced?)

              10

          • #
            Honk R Smith

            Do not despair.
            Look at what Prohibition did for us in the US.
            We probably got Jazz and Rock n’ Roll, which we generously shared with the world.
            My people got Thunder Road and NASCAR, a revival of Appalachian Whiskey Tax culture.
            Bonnie and Clyde were probably the best promotors of V8 engines for Ford.

            Then there’s women’s liberation, because illicit Speak Easys became popular date night venues.
            Women generally didn’t imbibe prior to this and Prohibition itself was largely female driven.
            Plus Gangster movies.

            I think we should recognize the power of government to inspire a new culture of fun vices.
            And a rich resource for what not to believe, and things you didn’t know you wanted until government ‘prohibited’ it, thus driving an entire new market of illicit innovation.
            Historically proven to be the best and most productive kind. (Only exceeded by war.)

            Especially when government combines its’ Martinet and psycho Karen impulses with economic mismanagement you can get a Depression on top of your Prohibition.
            Good times.

            40

      • #
        el+gordo

        ‘The high duty on cigarettes is justified …’

        Perhaps, but its not economical. The term “Laffer Curve” is appropriate, governments can increase taxes on goods until a tipping point is reached, then gangsterism comes out to play.

        11

    • #
      Forrest Gardener

      And who hasn’t done something incredibly stupid and instantly regretted it.

      I’m sure that when fireworks were freely available it was only the missing accelerant around the bonfire which saved me and my friends from a similar fate on cracker night. And then of course there was the singular misadventure with a live power socket. Or my fellow science teacher who wasn’t sure that chlorine was being produced and rendered himself unconscious by putting the test tube under his own nose and inhaling. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger right?

      But as you say this demonstrates a whole new level. The lighting of the match inside the car was a tour de force.

      70

      • #
        RickWill

        I have done some really stupid things but lucky enough to survive.

        Amongst more than 10 but less than 20 high risk moments, the one that stands out is the nut and bolt “bomb’ that gouged and split the 3/4” thick hardwood floorboards of or childhood home. THe “bomb” was made from 3/4″ Whitworth thead bolts with more than a full matchbox of shaved explosive from match heads sandwiched between the two bolts into one nut. Then this nut hurled the “bomb” into a concrete floor under the house. If the bolt had hit me I would not be writing this because it took me a while to find its point of impact on the floor board about 3 metres from where I was standing.

        My nearest death experience was recovering from an electric shock that put me out for long enough that I did not know how long I was out for. I did not lose bladder control though.

        70

    • #
      Ronin

      That is hilarious, what these muppets sure don’t know is that the flash point of petrol is -43c.

      10

  • #
    Greg in NZ

    A phrase often used for CCC™️

    mumbo-jumbo

    has now been deemed 8-speech by NZ’s BSA after one (1) person made a complaint against Sean Plunket using it on his subscription online daily rant, The Platform, in relation to The Maori Party’s theatrics in the House.

    He poked the borax again by calling that one (1) complainer “a pollock”. Legal knives are being sharpened as we breathe…

    60

  • #
    RickWill

    Some data for my recent energy transition.

    I have looked at my household import and export as I have transitioned from 66c/kWh FIT to now 4c/kWh by making better use of rooftop solar in. the house rather than exporting.

    I am using the second week of of October 2023 to set the baseline when I was using gas for heating and cooking:
    Solar exports for the week of 55.2kWh. Grid import 17.7kWh.

    A heat pump hot water system was installed in September 2024 based on Strop’s recommendation.
    Solar exports for the corresponding week in 2024 dropped to 52.6kWh – less sunlight. Grid import increased to 31.1kWh. In that year the heat pump was set to operate from 11pm so it would not reduce export but would increase import. The increase in import is 13.4kWh so heat pump in October used less than 2kWh per day.

    In July 2025 a 5kWh battery was installed and the heat pump hot water changed to draw power from 11am and not draw power after 3pm.
    For the corresponding week in 2025, grid export dropped to 14.6kWh and grid import dropped to 6.7kWh. Compared with 2023, exports down by 40.6kWh and imports compared with 2024 down by 24.4kWh.

    The combination of the heat pump hot water and battery have both contributed to better internal utilisation of my rooftop solar by load shifting – albeit the heat pump saved gas and was one of three items upgraded to disconnect from gas.. The October demand now averaging 1kWh per day will reduce as the solar intensity increases but has already reduced from July so 1kWh will be somewhere near the daily average over the year. .

    The 3kW on-grid solar array is undersized for delivering best value based on current grid prices and solar array costs but in its first 14 years of high FIT it has saved just under $30,000 from its $9,000 capital.

    I also operate a 3kW off-grid system that supplies a daily demand averaging 3kWh. That system also has a 5kWh battery that has been in operation since 2012. Those are the dimensions for an off-grid system at 37S – 2 hours of full sunlight equivalent in 48 hours. The array could be reduced by orienting for winter sunlight.

    The best value for two people with modest demand would be the Aldi 6.6kW/20kWh system. That would supply annual demand averaging 4000kWh most days – $9,000 for 80,000kWh locks in an energy cost of 11.3c/kWh for the next 20 years. For a family home, it would make sense to go for two of the Aldi systems to give 13.2kW/40kWh on the basis of supplying 8000kWh per year.

    If electricity is being used for heating in winter then panels should be tilted to 60 degrees – few installations reflect that now but it will become more common in cooler regions as the grid degrades and rooftops play a larger role in powering the grid. Rooftops supplied 32% of South Australia’s demand for 24 hours ending midnight Wednesday. Rooftops supplied the entire State demand at 1830MW at midday Wednesday.

    10

  • #
    Penguinite

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/10/shut-up-pelosi-loses-it-screams-points-reporter/

    Poor Pelosi bites with spitting venom! The truth hurts big time

    40

    • #
      Forrest Gardener

      What interested me was the self-incriminating aspect.

      When asked why she didn’t call for the national guard her answer was that the president didn’t send them.

      Oopsie.

      41

  • #
    Penguinite

    Penny beating the two stroke solution but Hamas only dance the side step! She’ll get more from the bore if she cleans her spark plug

    40

  • #
    Vladimir

    Has anyone pressed on icon News on their phone?
    I inherited my phone form a grandson, it works mostly as a pager but yesterday I utilised that News function.
    For 1 minute exactly – it opened with a Top Story re: two Sydney families eagerly awaiting release of a beloved family member, with a photo – guess whom?
    Today’s Top Story – ” Prince believed sex with me was his birthright “.
    Having done 6 months of AI-assisted high school essay writing, I am certain who wrote that memoir.
    No more News for me.

    40

  • #
    John Connor II

    Workplace safety, 3rd world

    https://va.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_t45ociXIZg1z23obp.mp4

    They need a high birthrate to replace the cranial-capacitus limitus. 😁

    30

  • #
    John Connor II

    A Big Mac from USA vs one from Japan, 30 days later

    https://x.com/WallStreetApes/status/1977936837516857567

    No surprises there. After 10 years the same deal in the USA…
    I can’t even remember the last time I set foot inside a McDoomAllds.

    20

  • #
    John Connor II

    An American school exam from 1912

    https://www.bullittcountyhistory.com/bchistory/images/bcschoolexam1912sm.jpg

    2025 – a lefty screeches “exams are racist!” and graduates.

    /8th grade = 12 to 14 year olds.
    I have no doubt every Oz pollie would fail this test.

    31

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW –

    Another bloody “Grand Plan”!

    “UEA Publishes a Green Food Communism Road Map for Britain”

    “150 troughers and all, and all”

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/10/15/uea-publishes-a-green-food-communism-road-map-for-britain/

    20

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    “The Independent’s “Record CO₂ Surge” Story: Hype Without Context”

    “Conclusion: A Molehill in a Mountain Range

    The 2024 CO₂ increase is entirely within expected natural variation. There’s no sign of a “turbo-charged climate” or collapsing carbon sinks. What we do see, however, is the media’s unbroken commitment to amplifying every wiggle in the graph into a “record-breaking” emergency.

    CO₂’s rise continues steadily, yes — but with no evidence that the Earth’s system is responding in a way that justifies alarm. As always, context matters. And when that context is ignored, what’s left isn’t science — it’s storytelling. The Independent’s “record rate” is a statistical blip dressed up as climate catastrophe. A little skepticism — and a glance at the Mauna Loa dataset — reveals a very different picture: the planet’s carbon cycle behaving exactly as it has for decades.”

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/10/15/the-independents-record-co%e2%82%82-surge-story-hype-without-context/

    10

  • #
    John Connor II

    Thursday brainteaser

    What has 4 letters, sometimes 9 letters, but never has 5 letters.

    20

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    “Taking Action to Defend America from the UN’s First Global Carbon Tax – the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) “Net-Zero Framework” (NZF)”

    “The United States will be moving to levy these remedies against nations that sponsor this European-led neocolonial export of global climate regulations. We will fight hard to protect our economic interests by imposing costs on countries if they support the NZF. Our fellow IMO members should be on notice.”

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/10/15/taking-action-to-defend-america-from-the-uns-first-global-carbon-tax-the-international-maritime-organizations-imo-net-zero-framework-nzf/

    20

  • #
    el+gordo

    This is a turn up for the books.

    ‘That’s politics’: Nationals leader opens arms to any Liberal defectors.

    ‘David Littleproud has declared his party would embrace Liberal defectors, saying the junior Coalition partner has ‘more influence than ever’ in Australian politics.’ (Oz)

    30

  • #

    How bad is it getting? Pretty bad – I wonder if there is some international meeting coming up soon …
    Today – on the BBC –
    “Scottish data centres powering AI already using enough water to fill 27 million bottles a year”

    Bottles of water.
    Not swimming pools. Not ‘average-family-carfuls’.
    [Okay, not thimble-fuls ….]
    Bottles, and reading the piece, they are – wait for it – HALF-LITRE bottles.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c77zxx43x4vo

    Don’t try to read whilst ingesting coffee or anything … one calculation [it has decimal points, so it’s scientific] is –
    “Experts at the University of Glasgow said the figures, revealed by BBC News, suggested that the water consumed by data centres in Scotland was equivalent to every person in the country drinking an extra 2.48 litres a year.”

    Experts aren’t named, but obviously we’re in a frighteningly scary place if making an extra cup of coffee a month is a crisis. For information, Scotland’s biggest lake – Loch Ness, of ‘Monster’ fame – has about two Cubic Miles of fresh water …

    This substantial online screed – over a hundred lines by my ‘expert’ estimation – does include this –
    “In an interview with BBC Scotland News, Scottish Water described the increase in tap water used by data centres as “significant” – although it pointed out that it still only amounts to about 0.005% of the water supply.”

    So not one part in ten thousand.

    So no wonder the BBC needs more money – it’s using AI [not sentient humans, surely, for this horlicks] to spiel off scares as far as the eye can see.

    Have we seen the same attention to detail in the [yes, aborted] plans for giga-factories all across the land, making batteries?
    All the extra water and electricity they would have, could have, should have, used?

    Not a squeak from the BBC.

    I must seriously examine whether I need to keep paying my licence fee

    Auto

    30

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    A look at Mt Isa Mines

    “Socially Irresponsible”

    “We expect businesses to have a so called “social license”, which means to do the right thing by the community it operates within. Probably the toughest field in which to secure a social license must be mining and value-added refining, so thought it appropriate to look at the comments about a lack of “social license” related to a very prominent 100 year old mine, and will let you be the judge as to where the “social license” has fallen apart.”

    Much more at

    https://www.rdw.com.au/socially-irresponsible/

    10

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW – better than crickets

    “Yay pemmican!”

    https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2025/10/yay-pemmican.html

    20

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW – when you look around

    “The Ukraine war is increasingly equipping and empowering drug cartels”

    https://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-ukraine-war-is-increasingly.html

    00

  • #
    Penguinite

    I was fed to the lions’: Reynolds wants ‘mean girls’ held to account
    Linda Reynolds wants a parliamentary inquiry into whether two of Labor’s most senior figures, Penny Wong and Katy Gallagher, misled the parliament over the Brittany Higgins scandal.

    Of course lies were told! Lets have an fully inclusive Parliamentary introspection!

    40