Memorial Service for Viv Forbes NEXT Friday at 9am EST time.
(Apologies for getting the Fridays mixed up!)
Address: at Centenary Memorial Gardens, 353 Wacol Station Road, Sumner, Qld 4074. There will be a live stream of this event at that time. PIN for access is 5918. Live steam link in case it does not come through: https://cmgcc.com.au/live-streaming/client?nid=08556218-2e27-45e2-9f85-6b8a128def77
Behind the scenes in the world of skeptics and libertarians, Viv was a source of wisdom, and tenaciously productive. He will be missed. — Thank you Viv!
From his family: Viv lived a remarkable life — born in Warwick in 1939, he became a geologist, economist, farmer, writer, and above all, a man of principle. He was devoted to his family, passionate about learning, and unwavering in his commitment to libertarian ideals. He also dedicated much of his later life to climate science, challenging conventional wisdom with rigorous study and advocating for honest debate grounded in evidence.
Trying to cut down on cow emissions to save the world is as pointless as it sounds
https://dailysceptic.org/2025/11/26/bovaer-bovine-stupidity/
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Thursday in the USA is Thanksgiving Day and many folks will have roasted Turkey. A recent favorite in preparation is cooking in a tub of peanut oil. All told, there is a lot of energy used to cook 30,000,000 birds. Many were frozen, so more energy. But I digress.
How much methane is attributed to the turkey flock? {It is much cheaper than beef.}
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Why must it be turkey?
Why not chicken , duck , lamb, or goat?
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Because they’re giving thanks that the native Americans saved the lives of the early settlers by showing them how to raise turkeys and grow maize.
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Maybe
More here
A look at the background story
https://open.substack.com/pub/coffeeandcovid/p/the-great-pilgrim-conspiracy-thursday?
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As a poster said a couple of days ago: So what!
First rule of the net: Nothing is universally accepted as true.
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Well, I am a regular Aussie, and up to now at 71 years I did not know that about US history and the beginning of Thanksgiving. Manipulation of peoples thoughts and actions goes way back.
As a side note Coffee and Covid (C&C) has become my fourth favourite blog after Jo, WUWT and Tony from OZ (Anton Lang).
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The thanksgiving fable is just that a fable, nowhere can be found an instance of such a gathering, only one diary entry from the early times mentions 90 Indians (starving) turned up in the camp with 3 deer and they shared the food. The modern version of Turkey and such came about in the early 1900’s along with the red coated Santa and other hallmark characters. Skeptics should research stuff they are taught in school.
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There are 70M families that eat something else.
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Because it’s a giant freaking bird that can feed a whole extended family and still have some leftover for turkey sandwiches the next day (and you can boil the carcass to make leftover turkey soup). And it’s cheap. Prices around Thanksgiving usually hover around $1 per lb and if you time it right there are always specials around this time of year that can get the price down to half of that. I got a 20 lb bird for $12 last week.
——————
It was also Ben Franklin’s choice for the national symbol over the bald eagle (not really, Ben was joking in a letter to his daughter).
https://fi.edu/en/science-and-education/benjamin-franklin/national-bird
I have an alternate theory though. In addition to being the oldest and the smartest of the founding fathers, Ben was also the fattest. I think Ben just liked turkeys because they were tasty, plentiful in the woods of New England, and easy to catch because they are big fat flightless targets.
——————
While on the subject of turkeys and flight, enjoy the greatest Thanksgiving sitcom moment of all time from the 1970s show WKRP in Cincinnati.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gKUKOGqpHQ
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In 1979, I spent Thanksgiving at a friend’s lodge in Lake Tahoe. So much food (yes turkey and all the trimmings on the day) with casinos and ski slopes nearby (plenty of snow that year.) Lives long in my memory.
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More air time on that here
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/11/27/bovaer-bovine-stupidity/
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I don’t know if there has been anything in the OZ press about the left wing frantically trying to whip up hatred of Nigel Farage?
The latest is a claim by politicised school mates that some 50 years ago a 13 year old Nigel might have called someone by a rude word.
https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/if-young-nigel-did-a-bit-of-name-calling-in-the-schoolyard-so-what/
We have similar muck raking with Trump of course, and there are loads of examples where modern people reinvent the past and claim outrage over the position of some historic figure, claiming they were racist or profited from the slave trade etc. As LP Hartley once wrote in his novel “The Go-Between,” “The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.”
Those looking back from a woke 2025 perspective can not rage against those in the past who did things differently, as no doubt the modern person transported back to those harsh times and living in that social structure would behave in exactly the same way as their ancestors.
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“no doubt the modern person transported back to those harsh times and living in that social structure would behave in exactly the same way as their ancestors.”… or not survived, like most modern people!
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Closer to the next UK general election, one may expect that old reliable standby to be chucked at Farage or one of Reform’s senior figures – an ancient, unevidenced claim of sexual peccadillo of some sort.
The accusation may come from either male or female individuals, or even both.
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I find myself saying this at least once a week …. THANK GOD camera phones weren’t around when I was a teenager in the ’80s.
As far as Nigel goes … who freaking cares? When did we start holding adults responsible for the crap they did as stupid teens and preteens a half-century earlier? This particular ‘scandal’ isn’t nearly as bad the smearing Brett Kavanaugh took a few years back, but it is equally ridiculous. I remember bits and pieces of my high school years, but it’s not even remotely comprehensive. I remember the big moments from my perspective, but have no memory of day-to-day conversations.
Nigel never should have tried to explain himself. He should just said “F— You, I’m not going to participate in your stupid, fabricated smear campaign. Write whatever lies you want. It’s not like anything I say will stop you.” and washed his hands of the whole thing.
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The EU seems to have taken a big step towards surveillance of private emails sent by their citizens under the guise of child protection.
https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news/brussels-revives-chat-control-plan-despite-warnings-of-mass-surveillance/
Over the last few years many countries have passed some sort of online harms bill and this seems the next logical step in he bureaucrats mind.
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The BBC,s 2025 Reith Lecture: “Moral Revolution” by Rutger Bregman, described by the lefties as the “Dutch wunderkind of new ideas”
After Tucker Carlson interviewed Bregman, Tucker called him a ‘moron’.
In the Reith Lecture, the moron said that it was very sad that the ‘left’ is now dominated by very rich old white men with dementia. This is why we are seeing the return of white supremacism and fascism in the form of MAGA and J D Vance. (I switch off the Radio)
J D Vance is a devout Catholic, married to a Hindu from India called Usha. He speaks up for the defence of individual liberty, democracy, freedom, free speech, christianity, hinduism, judaism, family, peace, patriotism, medical freedom and the first amendment. Vance presents MAGA as a reactionary movement against the totalitarian and corporatist ‘swamp’ of the corrupt immoral criminal billionaire class, who he says “must be overthrown.” Vance has accused the left-wing criminals of using “censorship” or “moral blackmail” instead of persuasion. Throughout history the lefties, rather than convince people through argument, they try to silence them. Vance said that in “Britain and across Europe, free speech is in retreat.” Vance says, free speech must be defended even when the speech is “terrible or untrue”, he said he will “vigorously defend your right to speak your mind, even if I disagree with it.” Censorship doesn’t just silence dissent, it gives the state, institutions, or dominant social groups too much power to decide which ideas are “acceptable” and which are “dangerous.” That power, once granted, can be abused. Suppressing speech (especially political or religious dissent) undermines democratic legitimacy, because it excludes segments of society from public debate and the democratic process. Attempting to police “truth” or “acceptable opinions” (through laws, tech‑platform moderation, social pressure, etc.) erodes the foundation of free debate and weakens the marketplace of ideas that democratic societies rely on.
Mussolini was a devout fascist who rejected individual liberty, freedom, free speech, christianity, hinduism, judaism, family and peace, calling democracy weak and inefficient. Mussolini described Fascism as a total state, where like today, the totalitarian and corporatist state is supreme, and individuals exist to serve it. He said “Fascism conceives of the State as an absolute, before which individuals and groups are relative.” Mussolini saw Fascism as action-oriented, valuing energy, decisiveness, and the will to power. Like Starmer, he glorified war, struggle, and conquest as means of asserting national greatness, saying that “Fascism is the complete opposite of pacifism, it exalts heroism and action.” Fascism, in Mussolini’s view, subordinates individual liberty, freedom and free speech to the state. Like the Europe of today, personal liberties and individual rights are secondary to national interests. He wrote: “The individual exists only insofar as he is part of the State; outside it he is nothing.”
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I believe that the state exists to serve the individuals in it, or it should; individuals do not exist to serve the state as state slaves.
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“ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country..”
…said every politician everywhere!
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Viv Forbes was a wonderful man, and a great intellectual and Libertarian. There are far too few like him in Australia and we now have one less.
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Fully agree. And founder of the Salt Bush Club. Passionate opponent of the CO2 fraud perpetrated by the UN. And all the damage being done to Australia at every level, damage which is enshrined in endless laws across Australia without any basis in science.
We communicated by email. His comment on the proof that there is only 2.0% fossil fuel CO2 in the atmosphere was that “Not one person in 1000 will understand that!!”
But he didn’t disagree and went on to create a strong Australian voice at the UN objecting to man made CO2 driven Global Warming aka Climate Change.
THERE IS NO CLIMATE EMERGENCY.
Viv Forbes is the sixth on the list and top of the Australian list with Prof Ian Plimer. And the list has kept growing. Vale Viv. Thank you for your absolute determination to declare the truth in science and engineering.
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Having admired TdeF and his comments over the years I asked Viv who TdeF was. Viv declined to let me know who the great TdeF was. Any Clues? Asking for a friend 🙂
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TdeF has a right to his privacy. My OH and I really like his comments.
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“TdeF has a right to his privacy. ”
In that case ask the Govt, they will know..
30
Tour de Force? 😁
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Thanks David and TdeF.
Viv Gorbes deserves all those tributes.
Founder of the Carbon Sense Coalition, ambassador for CLINTEL, founder of the Saltbush Club!
Viv Forbes had wonderful clear mind and clear explanation and a rather dry sense of humour. He thought something had to be done to combat Green global warming idiocy and he got in and did something.
I got onto his mailing list years ago, probably via this blog. I have really enjoyed reading his short pithy articles, illustrated with amusing pictures.
Those unfamiliar with his work might enjoy reading this one;
https://saltbushclub.com/2021/03/05/brick-generator/
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Any geologist who obtained his/her degree last century before the occupation was warped and subsumed into the schools of environmental science and the like is rightfully skeptical of the current climate madness and futile, nation-debilitating efforts to solve a non-problem.
50
Last night I heard Beverley McArthur speak at a CPAC Australia function. She is a member of the Legislative Council in Victoriastan and one of the few conservatives in the Liberal Party.
She is the Shadow Minister for Government Waste. I’m moderately impressed that the Liberals thought of such a position.
She said how the Victoriastan Government rebuilt Bendigo railway station but forgot to put in disabled access, mainly in the form of a lift (US = elevator).
The cost to retrofit this was an unbelievable $51 million dollars and cited this as an example of waste and corruption in Victoriastan. She obtained independent quotes for the job, one for $1 million, the other for $3 million. So who got the extra $48 to $50 million?
And who signed off on the plans and didn’t notice the ommission of disabled access?
Further, who signed off on the $51 million?
You don’t need to be a genius to work out that is an absurd amount for the work done.
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Amazing. A similar situation at the Ballarat railway station. ( so, I hope Bev Mc hasn’t mixed up Ballarat with Bendigo??) At Ballarat, the station needed a new pedestrian overpass in addition to the old stair type. The costing for the new overpass was extraordinary -$51m!!!!.
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$51 million must be the minimum price for any extras.
70
Video.
Dam Busters reinterpreted as Star Wars Death Star attack.
https://youtu.be/_NMfBKrdErY
20
I am surprised that this woke freak show ad for Jaguar from a year ago, which basically destroyed the company is still up on the Jaguar YouTube channel.
They must be proud of it.
https://youtu.be/rLtFIrqhfng
Too bad that the heterosexual males who like to buy Jaguar cars don’t connect with the circus freaks in the ad.
Get woke. Go broke.
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We were at the cinema when it came on as one of the overloud ads, to incredulous laughter.
The market jaguar seem to want to aim for and the one they currently enjoy are worlds apart and can’t be bridged.
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Only topped in stupidity by the decision to use a transvestite and Audrey Hepburn impersonator as the icon of Bud Light in America.
I have always had doubts about people in marketing, often a sheltered workshop for underachievers with no sales instincts or customer empathy at all. But what part of marketing dictates that your loyal customers need to be ridiculed and reeducated?
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I received many emails from Viv Forbes over the years and he helped to guide me through the left wing mess a number of times.
Vale Viv Forbes I’ll always remember his advice.
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Video.
Ten interesting facts about the Columbo TV Series (1968-1978).
https://youtube.com/shorts/_YE88FbB9FE
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There is currently a show called Elsbeth that runs on network TV in the states that is basically a gender-flipped homage to Columbo that’s not half bad.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26591110/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1_tt_1_nm_6_in_0_q_elsbeth
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I was watching that show and decided to play a little game — see if I could spot a ‘decent and capable white guy.’ Tried the same with “Vera,” but no luck so far!
20
FWIW
FWIW
“Evidence Of Climate Thermoregulation”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/11/27/evidence-of-thermoregulation/
Willis’s instructions for an AI run start at
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/11/27/evidence-of-thermoregulation/#comment-4135745
Followed by Part 2
And the answer below those
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In other words –
“If you just dump a question into an AI program you’ll get an answer –
BUT!”
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There are only 10 types of people, those who understand the binary system, and those who don’t.
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That doesn’t work in Octal.
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Make that eight types or sixteen in hexadecimal.
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101 (lol) 😁
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One from my son’s Flickr page:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dark_orange/3231818949/
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More mRA vaccine shenanigans.
A recent Pfizer phase 3 trial compared its new mRNA influenza vaccine to standard flu shots. The results published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) in 2024 only included adults aged 18–64 and showed virtually no clinical benefit for the mRNA vaccine in that group, along with higher rates of side effects.
The trial also enrolled ~27,000 participants aged 65+, the highest-risk group for severe influenza and the primary target population for flu vaccines. These over-65 results were never published in NEJM. Instead, Pfizer quietly posted them on ClinicalTrials.gov, where they received no publicity or peer-reviewed scrutiny.
The buried data reportedly show that in adults ≥65 years, Pfizer’s mRNA flu shot performed no better than existing traditional flu vaccines and caused slightly more local and systemic reactions (pain, fatigue, etc.).
MIT professor Retsef Levi, who discovered the omission, called it “unacceptable” and accused the NEJM of either gross negligence or scientific misconduct by allowing selective reporting that hid unfavourable results in the most relevant age group.
Additional criticism focuses on NEJM Editor-in-Chief Dr Eric Rubin:
– He approved publication of the incomplete paper.
– He sits on the FDA’s VRBPAC committee that could later review licensure of this same Pfizer mRNA flu vaccine.
– He has a prior record of publishing Covid-vaccine trials with omitted serious adverse events and of refusing to correct the record when participants contacted him directly.
Retsef Levi argues this is a clear case of selective reporting and possible regulatory capture, and that NEJM should at minimum issue a correction with the full dataset; some argue for retraction. It frames the incident as a test for incoming Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on whether he will demand accountability, including potentially removing Rubin from the FDA advisory committee, to restore transparency in medical publishing.
Again, we’ve got that shiny new mRNA facility at Monash Uni in Clayton Victoria. Just waiting to pump out all sorts of these types of vaccines. I think Jo already did an expose on the RSV vaccine and its lack of efficacy and safety.(14/12/24)
(summary from Maryanne Demasi substack article )
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The Government has passed new laws requiring streaming services to pay for Australian content to be produced.
This is effectively a hidden tax which obviously the consumer will have to pay for.
Good art should stand on its own merit and should not be subsidised. Subsidies just encourage sub-standard or no-standard woke work.
Art subsidies should not be a substitute for welfare payments.
And it’s hypocritical anyway when on the one hand they are trying to destroy national culture and flag waving but on the other hand pretending to encourage it via this subsidy.
Oh, and hang on, isn’t the government about to remove already free and unsubdidised “children’s, documentary, arts and educational programs” when they ban social media for under 16’s?
Presumably the new subsidised content will have to meet Government’s woke standards of climate catastrophism and promotion of sexual deviancy etc..
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Yippee, more Home and Away, Neighbours and NCIS Sydney, (although that last one may not actually be an Oz production).
How many here watch Oz content….. and enjoy it?
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Does the evening TV news count?
Though seldom enjoyable
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I think Mr Inbetween is one of the best TV series of its genre ever made.
Clark and Dawe, Utopia and quite a few movies over the years. There is some good stuff , but yes thin on the ground. That wont be helped by force subsidizibg dross.
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“Good art should stand on its own merit and should not be subsidised. Subsidies just encourage sub-standard or no-standard woke work.”
Absolutely! Govt interference in art just laads to statues of Stalin everywhere. Art is a pastime, a private occupation that expresses the artist’s feelings, not a commodity for Govt to censor.
“Presumably the new subsidised content will have to meet Government’s woke standards of climate catastrophism and promotion of sexual deviancy etc..”
Of course! Another way to ban any ideas of freedom and replace them with Govt propaganda. They want to destroy the thinking ability of the next generations.
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Or Daniel Andrews in Victoriastan’s case.
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Re the campaign to smear Tucker Carlson…
It’s getting pushed harder. Even the woman who runs TCW joined the ‘pile on’ last week.
Tucker is booked to be a guest on “Judging Freedom” next week, perhaps we’ll learn more.
I think people were triggered by the Fuentes interview. I wanted to know more about Fuentes’ seeming praise of Stalin — was it sincere, sarcastic, or half-joking? Tucker said he’d return to the point but I think he just forgot.
There’s an aspect of Fuentes that suggests he likes to amuse himself by tweaking peoples’ noses. It’s the verbal equivalent of lighting a firecracker under a park bench to make the old couple jump — say something outrageous and watch the reaction.
Back to TCW, they have an article asking for podcast recommendations. Some curmudgeons ‘below the line’ suggest they’re too long or they’d rather read a transcript. To which I say learn to use the controls!
Usually at the start they announce the topics to be covered. So if there are 3 subjects maybe the last one is really interesting so move the time control to the two thirds mark and listen from there (back up a little or fast-forward if you’re slightly misplaced). Not hard really, with some practice.
As for transcripts, “System Update” offers them if you sign up. “Democracy Now” make theirs available to all.
I can only see “alternative media” continuing to grow. There’s a sort of ‘cross pollination’ between the political shows: opinions expressed on one show are picked up and discussed on another show. Guests, even hosts, appear on different shows. A genuine environment of open debate and freedom of speech, not controlled by moguls.
Bye bye legacy media.
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Viv Forbes was an early member of the Damara Sheep Breeders Society of Australia. His stud name was Sherena and his flock number was 0014. Viv and his wife Judy kept extensive records and pedigrees of their sheep. They exhibited their sheep at the Royal Brisbane Show for many years. Usually called the Ekka.The Forbes, Viv and Judy were both made life members of the Damara Society for all their work over the years promoting the breed over all Australia. Len, Immediate Past President.
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An interesting breed.
https://damaras.com.au/
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To Moderator,
Did I break a rule in my “pending post” (28829077) about Tucker C.? … Was it too long? Too close to controversy?
02
Just checked the streaming service, Viv’s funeral is next week, that is Friday 5th December 2025 🙂
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They are going to paint this as a win for renewables.
‘The Albanese government says it is on track to meet its 2030 climate target after the latest quarterly figures showed Australia had recorded one of its biggest annual drops in gross carbon emissions since the COVID-19 pandemic.
‘The June quarter annual emissions reduction of 2.2 per cent, which comes after several mostly flat years, was driven by the electricity, industrial and agricultural sectors, according to the government’s National Greenhouse Gas Inventory.’ (AFR)
21
“Carbon” (sic) emissions are going down simply because the economy is collapsing and CO2 from former economic activity is transferred to China where it is emitted by them instead.
The fact that CO2 emissions are dropping is something to be ashamed of not proud of.
The only circumstance under which it would be OK is if nuclear electricity production replaced coal or gas.
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Google says : The concentration of carbon dioxide in the air over Australia is approximately 426.96 ppm as of November 23, 2025, which is an increase from the previous year.
It did not know the same parameter for China.
ChatGPT says : Over Peking, Guangzhou, Shanghai it is about 420 ppm, it all depends on…, etc,… etc,..
Can you believe it ?
I worked there !
Before you say anything, I know it was smog, not CO2.
CO2 emission as ” a physical parameter” is a product of bookkeepers’ imagination.
The actual numbers you report are less important, the critical parameter (for your boss career…) is dynamix – from year to year it must show the desired (by his/her bosses) trend.
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The Labor Green coalition are virtue signalling. ‘China, the United States, and India are the top three countries for total CO2 emissions, responsible for over 50% of the global total.’
32
Speaking of imminent catastrophic anthropogenic SLR …
I was just reading about POTUS JFK’s heroic leadership of his PT109 crew in WWII.
After being rammed by Japanese destroyer, the crew swam to tiny 3 acre (I think it was even smaller then) Plum Pudding island, now called Kennedy island.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennedy_Island
Funny … it’s still there.
It has not been drowned.
There’s a monument.
Of course, I will not fail to acknowledge Australian coastwatcher Arthur Reginald Evans, instrumental in rescuing Kennedy and his crew.
And no doubt more than few other Americans.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Reginald_Evans
And the brave Solomon islanders Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana working with him.
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Kennedy survived the Japanese but not the assassin.
Reagan survived his assassination attempt as did Trump.
It is quite spectacular how many US presidents have succumbed to assassination efforts, survived actual attempt or had close shaves with assassins.
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“It is quite spectacular how many US presidents have succumbed to assassination efforts, survived actual attempt or had close shaves with assassins.”
I have a lot of time for any country where they try to assassinate the Presidents, it shows a healthy democracy at work! Trump is obviously right on target over his enemies.
10
I’ve always thought this a little corny but make up your own mind:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiSpUMH8QII
10
Small addition to TdeFs quote of Viv Forbes above:
https://joannenova.com.au/2025/11/friday-136/#comment-2882883
Total atmospheric CO2 is about 400 ppm or 0.04% of the whole atmosphere.
Human origin CO2, ex fossil fuels, is about 2% of this.
So human origin CO2 in the atmosphere is about 0.0008% of the air above us.
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And then you get highly variable and invisible water vapour/humidity at 1% to 4%. Plus clouds of liquid water droplets. As Lord Christopher Monckton argued, even slight variations in either would explain warming, cooling and large weather variations. If only because water vapour is a far more significant greenhouse gas, clouds block the sun directly and water overall is directly responsible for all the weather and of course covers 72% of what is a water planet.
70
As I mentioned yesterday the Victoriastan Government has made it free for people to change genders on their birth certificate.
But only male and female options are possible.
However, the Left tell us there are a multitude of supposed genders, so which is true (according to Leftists)?
Also, they talk about “gender fluidity” so supposedly someone can wake up every morning and be of a different gender.
How does that fit in with only being able to change genders once per year?
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>free for people to change genders on their birth certificate.
What’s the fee if I want to change my date of birth?
00
I wrote this in 2015 on one of my trekking trips to Nepal.
Just some insight into incomes in Nepal. I hired a driver the other day and he told me (I didn’t ask) he earns 7000Rs a month (A$91, US$66) and he rents a small room for 5000Rs (A$65, US$47). Out of what he has left, 2000Rs (A$26, US$19), he has to pay electricity and for food etc.. I believe that income is better than most here. He told me that because the income is so bad here he will be soon br going to work in Qatar as many Nepalis do. I believe they can make US$20 per day there and are happy with it. Unfortunately in any of those Gulf states workers are treated as actual slaves, have their passports taken and are subject to horrific abuse.
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I never buy lotto tickets, I won the lottery when I was born an Aussie. In line with this attitude I am more content than most and had the great fortune to have had a wife for 62 years who was even more content than I. She was a pleasure to be around and, it appears, to work with.
RIP Mrs H.
I simply cannot understand the often murderous discontent of the “permanently downtrodden” whose freedom to stuff up their own lives is never enough. So many, such as the Nepalese, have difficulties far beyond their control.
150
That’s a lovely tribute to your wife Hanrahan.
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Joy’s boss of many years will fly in from Bris for her funeral even though she retired years ago, before her long illness showed. That’s high regard for a “account clerk” in a large office. There will be gathered a few of the most highly regarded accountants in the city.
This is what a senior partner in a large firm wrote me a few days ago: When I first started working, Joyce took me under her wing and trained me. She not only taught me the processes of being an accountant, but also how to be a good person, and that our clients are not just numbers on a page, but people to get to know and respect. I owe her so much.
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Sixty two years Hanrahan. That’s remarkable.
My heartfelt sympathies to you and your family.
Such riches, to have been together for so long.
What a great attitude you have.
60
I had a year in Bahrain in the early 2000’s, the workers there, from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka were paid US$10 a day and had to pay their sponsor $2 of that for accommodation and food, (plain rice and a vegie stock).
They were treated like slaves, do this, do that, etc. As a bonus, I managed to get them ice water at a drinking station for whenever they needed a top up. Prior to that intervention, they could drink as much warm brackish water as they liked but only during their meal breaks.
And yes, they were happy. In their own country they could also earn the same US$10 per day BUT they would only get a chance to work maybe one day in a fortnight. And that’s why they flocked to the middle east. When they went home after 2 years, they’d already earned a lifetime of cash and they were only two years older for the experience. And that’s why they do it.
I guess I did the same, it’s just that my asking price was a little bit higher.
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” When they went home after 2 years, they’d already earned a lifetime of cash and they were only two years older for the experience. And that’s why they do it.”
Same reason the Kiwis went to Port Hedland in the 70s. A couple of years of saving and buy a house for cash when you went home..
30
And with shearing
10
We’ve met some delightful Nepalis this year. Both times in Cyprus at our hotel and when we went to Asha’s in Dubai ( in Wafi City) in May. Also at The Mill in Kakopetria in Cyprus.
I’ve no idea as to the pay rate in either case but they were smart and showed leadership among the wait staff.
30
Avi Loeb reckons they will set up camp at a Lagrange Point not far from Jupiter.
‘The non-gravitational acceleration introduced a small course correction of exactly the magnitude needed to bring the minimum distance of 3I/ATLAS from Jupiter to the value of Jupiter’s Hill radius. 3I/ATLAS would have missed the edge of the Hill sphere otherwise.’
He also claims there are now 13 anomalies associated with this object.
21
FWIW
“Why Don’t People Return Their Shopping Carts? A (Somewhat) Scientific Investigation”
https://hotair.com/headlines/2025/11/27/why-dont-people-return-their-shopping-carts-a-somewhat-scientific-investigation-n3809302
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Even more interesting in there, an article on just how much of what we read in the mainstream is faked by AI. Editors can’t tell or don’t have the time to sort it out, but the stories are plausible and entertaining.
” Since 2022, the byline “Victoria Goldiee” has been attached to dozens of articles. There are a series of “as-told to” stories in Business Insider. .. There had been an interview with the comic actor Nico Santos in Vogue Philippines, a feature on Afrobeats in RollingStone Africa, a product recommendation for a DVD drive in New York Magazine’s The Strategist, and, in the past two years, a move away from culture writing to meatier features… A 2024 story about climate change memes from the non-profit Outrider
Goldiee—who told me she lives in Toronto, writes as an American in other work, enthuses about the daily jollof specials at a restaurant in Ghana in yet other writing, and lists herself as based in Nigeria elsewhere—vividly describes discovering underground music as she moves through life in 21st-century England.”
…all done by AI, complete with fake quotes from fake but real-sounding people in fake interviews.
https://hotair.com/david-strom/2025/11/25/what-percent-of-what-you-read-is-fake-n3809241
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FWIW
“The Truth About Thanksgiving”
The current view of many is that we should “de-colonize.” That, I argue, is because they don’t want to read the above linked point of truth, which cannot be argued with because it comes directly from Bradford himself as his diary survived to be read later on.
Further, its not just The Mayflower Compact that has proved that socialism (which is really just communism — community ownership of your capacity to labor without the gun being visible to you) never works. It is the unbroken lesson of each and every group of people who have tried it without an external and forcible means of support. All have failed, either immediately and catastrophically or more-slowly through time and erosion of their standard of living which, if not turned back, inevitably leads to the collapse and destruction of said society. It never works because while you can force people to show up you can’t force them to think, to innovate and to produce to their capacity.”
More at
https://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=254492
Don’t forget the Welsh and Oz attempts at utopia in Patagonia
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The illegal tobacco war has reached an awkward point, the authorities have put the heavies on landlords leasing to disorderly tenants. Its seems that shops are being closed down, forcing the masses to go cold turkey.
In other news, the growth of medicinal cannabis in Australia has been extraordinary, second only to the US, so the TGA is tightening prescribing rules. The new rules are explicit, if you have a chronic problem then see your local doctor, take big pharma for three months and then each case will be reviewed.
Gangsters will have a field day.
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Nobody will be going cold turkey LG, they are more creative than that
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The people have resilience and should overcome the tyranny.
If I was running for a Senate seat the best approach would be to take off the draconian tax on tobacco and allow local physicians to hand out cannabis prescriptions.
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FWIW
Now “boiled delegates” are a good thing?
“Claim: Climate Delegates Suffering in the Heat “gets people interested” ”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/11/27/cop-delegates-suffering-in-the-heat-of-belem-gets-people-interested/
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FWIW
“Socialism is for Morons: John Kennedy Explains the Socialist Resurgence as Only He Can”
“Too many young people have never been taught the objective truth that socialism is for morons.
That’s a big part of why the Bolshevik wing of the Democratic Party is gaining influence.”
https://x.com/SenJohnKennedy/status/1993427374361526587
https://twitchy.com/eric-v/2025/11/27/socialism-is-for-morons-john-kennedy-explains-the-communist-resurgence-n2422127
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“But remember that it has never been applied properly” (/s)
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In the avoidance of getting body-bags coming home while keeping Russia occupied in Ukraine, the Yanks are recruiting mercenaries in the Philippines. Pay is $5000/month, the good ol’ cheap third world, and they get American-trained & a free Euro visa.
“The American company RMS International, based in Florida, is recruiting candidates. Preference is given to former employees of the Philippine police and security agencies and retired military personnel,”
Another way to fill the depleted ranks in the Ukrainian Army.
https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/putin-lays-final-word-on-settlement
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Let her memory be forever a blessing for you Mr H.
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Apologies – that was was meant for 23.1
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Thank you Vlad, I found it.
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