Weekend Untheaded

I’m travelling today…

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116 comments to Weekend Untheaded

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      doubting dave

      Thanks Pointman , pretty much sums up the way i see it , it seems after the events in Paris last week the French have raised the Oriflamme ;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriflamme

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        TdeF

        Yes, exactly as the terrorists want France to do. It may seem perverse, but ISIS have been executing people horribly since the start and on video, challenging countries like Japan, Jordan, the US, UK, France and now China,.. to do something about it. That is because they are not only a cult which glorifies murder and suicide, they believe in a battle to end all battles, an Armageddon. Why else murder foreign Nationals so brutally and publicly on TV?

        The battle of Armageddon refers to the final war between human governments and God. These governments and their supporters oppose God even now by refusing to submit to his rulership. (Psalm 2:2) The battle of Armageddon will bring human rulership to an end.—Daniel 2:44.

        The battle is over oil and power and excused by religion. While the West agonize about fossil fuels, in the Middle East this is the stuff which pays for war. Bullets are very expensive. ISIS are selling cheap Syrian oil to Turkey and anyone else who will buy. Iran and Saudi oil are both funding armies. Obviously no one is considering the consequences of heating the planet.

        On the one hand you have the murderous insanity of ISIS and other the illogical activism of the Global Warmists who will punish and starve the poor of the world for not having oil. Both believe in disaster based religions which do not make sense. What ISIS needs is to be the centre of world attention and the Warmist activists are just so annoyed that they also chose Paris in November and made a mess of the arrangements. So inconsiderate.

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          doubting dave

          TdeF yes , the terrorist attacks have jolted peoples minds, forced us to confront and focus our minds on the real world, not the fake reality that the Parisites want to create for us , and they don’t like it at all do they. I hope Obama is choking on his words when he says that global warming is a greater threat than terrorism

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          Ross

          TdeF

          If Goldman Sachs are right then these guys will have less to spend on bullets soon. In the UK Telegraph yesterday there was piece saying GS think the oil price will drop to US$20/barrel.
          Now do you believe GS, that is the real question ?

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            TdeF

            My anger is that the $1Bn a day spent solving a non problem could so improve the lives of destitute people in the Middle East that there would be no problem. You have to go there to realise how little people have and that this is the fundamental problem. In essence, if people really want to build windmills, build them where they are needed where ordinary people have nothing, Syria, Libya, Nigeria, Mali, Sudan, Phillipines, Afghanistan, .. You know, the trouble spots.

            Or is Global Warming just an excuse to destroy Western civilization, a form of national self indulgent self harm and replace it with a Green/UN dictatorship. Amazingly it is led by some of the most privileged and self important people in our society, like Malcolm Turnbull and Kevin Rudd. When did they do something for someone else and give something to their community, like Tony Abbott? We need our statesman back. I winced when Malcolm was ticked off by Obama for failing to ask his permission to lease the Port of Darwin.

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              Ted O'Brien.

              “Or is Global Warming just an excuse to destroy Western civilization”…

              It is exactly that. It’s not even self indulgent self harm. It’s blind, destructive envy manifested by remarkably unintelligent people who have never known real need.

              By the way, Tony Abbott was ticked off by Barack Obama too, for not supporting the AGW scam. And The Great Orator was having trouble finding his words when doing it, too.

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          Rereke Whakaaro

          For the record, the abbreviation “ISIS”, is a beautiful example of one journalist getting it wrong, and whole tribes of scribes then repeating the mistake, because they desperately need to conform with the fashionable meme of the hour.

          The abbreviation used in the corridors of power is “ISIL”, which stands for “Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant”.

          “The Levant”, is defined as the a collection of countries at the eastern end of the Mediterranean, north of the Arabian Peninsula, and South of Turkey. In modern day terms, the Levant consists of Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria. But in it’s heyday, that whole area was a single caliphate, ruled over by the Ottoman Turkish sultans. It was the western hub of the spice trade and was extremely wealthy. Politically, it dominated not only the eastern Mediterranean, but also its near neighbours. For a parallel, think of the USSR’s influence in wider Eastern Europe.

          Why is this relevant? Well, the leader of ISIL, Abu Omar al Baghdadi, had declared the resurrection of the original Calphate, plus the inclusion of Iraq, with himself as Caliph.

          This has had the effect of uniting the ISIL fighters, who can now see something material to fight for, as well as the obvious religeous drivers. He is therefore not popular in the West.

          It is interesting, that there does not appear to be any photographs of al Baghadi, in existence, and there are at least two men, who are currently locked up, using that name, and claiming to be the Caliph. In the meantime, somebody in ISIL is still calling the shots – literally.

          In the meantime, the western press are still seeing the emergence of ISIL as solely the growth of a religeous movement, and totally miss the fact that it is a confict over geography and resources.

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            Gee Aye

            a fair and accurate analysis insofar as it describes a particular set off circumstances that matter little in their differentiation. The acronym is a western contruction of another language, one without even those letters as part of its written language, nor any convenient lingo for that culture’s language/culture. Then there is the prosaic conversion of sounds from one code to another (think the ascription of “wh” to describe a sound similar to “f” for polynesian dialects located near you). It is whucking hit and miss

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              Rereke Whakaaro

              Levant is the European name for a geographic area, as I described. The phonetic sounds, and the various scripts, used in the region, will still refer to that geographic area, the history associated with that geographic area, when it was ruled as a Caliphate, and the implications for the region if it does indeed become a Caliphate once more. Focussing on the acronym is a total read herring. The media, by using the acronym ISIS, totally misses the geopolitical, economic, and societal implications of what is happening.

              Focussing on language and pronunciation is bizarre. It is the underlying concepts that matter, and they are mainly language independent.

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                Gee Aye

                Well, that covers part of my point but in any case the media will use whatever vernacular that conveys a message. It is just I and S 90% of the time without any noticeable affect on the message.

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                Rereke Whakaaro

                … the media will use whatever vernacular that conveys a message.

                My point, entirely. The trouble is, the vernacular of the media is conveying the wrong message. ISIL is not about religeon, it is about revolution and civil war.

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        diogenese2

        Dave; it is fitting that the Oriflamme has been (metaphorically) raised at St. Denis de Paris as this was its was its birthplace in 1124. Its meaning is that no quarter will be given until it is lowered. However its success was mixed, certainly at Crecy, Poitiers and, for the last time, at Agincourt. Jean D’Arc preferred the Fleur-de-Lis which proved much more reliable (at least against the English).But the point is well made and brought focus to the real issues.
        One wonders though why this should be necessary. These attacks have occurred with almost monotonous regularity for half a century. I can recall the Munich Olympics of 1972. Surely by now people must know what they are confronted with and the only response possible – fight or die.

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          doubtingdave

          diogenes2 ( is your name a reference to your favorite rock bands, as in Ronnie James Dio/ Genesis )or ( a reference to a geological term for metaphysical changes to rocks ) just wondered 🙂 Anyway i first came across reference to the Oriflamme in Bernard Cornwell novels set in a period that became known as the ” hundred years war ” lets hope that the French don’t have to keep it raised for so long this time , or though i have my doubts

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            Ah doubtingdave, what a champion. Thank heavens this is Unthreaded, so I can mantion it.

            You mentioned Ronnie James Dio, now sadly passed.

            I saw him in a concert in Newcastle (N.S.W.) with Richie Blackmore’s Rainbow, and man what a concert that was. Great light show too with that rainbow effect. Roger Glover was not with the band on this tour, joining a couple of years later, so there was indeed a star studded band.

            While all of these musicians are from the infancy of heavy metal, perhaps their most incongruous of songs was one written by Roger Glover, and sung by Ronnie James Dio, for a Roger Glover concept album which later played as a hugely successful Rock Opera at The Albert Hall in London.

            That wonderful album was ‘The Butterfly Ball And The Grasshoppers Feast’, and Roger assembled a class of many big name musicians for both projects, released in 1975.

            The song lifted for radio airplay was that wonderful song Love Is All, and was sung by Ronnie James Dio.

            Below is the link to that cartoon style video clip at YouTube, and hey, turn up the volume. This is great.

            Love Is All

            When you think of the bands that these guys were associated with over the years, this song seems so out of place.

            There was Deep Purple, Rainbow, Dio, and then Black Sabbath.

            And while I mentioned Black Sabbath, isn’t it always amazing how you buy an album on the reputation of the band, or because you like a song which just happens to be on that album, and then you find another one (or even a couple of them) which you like even more. Such was the case with Black Sabbath, and as much as you recognise them as Metal, listen to this wonderful song, oddly, an Instrumental from the Vol 4 album.

            Laguna Sunrise

            Tony.

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              James Bradley

              Ah, Tony, Laguna Sunrise is one of the most beautiful ballads ever written.

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              doubting dave

              Nice one Tony and James for bringing back some great memories , being a Sabbath fan in my early days, i wasnt so happy when Dio took over from ozzy osbourne ,who was my rock idol at the time , but i warmed to Dio later and saw him play live fronting rainbow at Demontford hall Leicester, a great gig that was only spoilt slightly by Richie Blackmore playing 20 minute solos in every song . Rainbow Rising is still a favourite album of mine and volume 4 is my favourite Sabbath album despite the lousy production . I was working outside in the snow last night so pull on your old denims and leather jacket ( although i wouldnt be able to squeeze into mine nowdays ) and of course turn the volume up to number eleven :)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUfYNQsr3h8

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          TdeF

          It was no surprise that the terrorists were hiding out in the suburb of St. Denis planning another mass murder. Two months ago I visited the cathedral of St. Denis, the protypical gothic cathedral, a cathedral since 250 when St. Denis was decapitated on Montmarte and walked home the five kilometers North. All the kings of France are buried there, even if they were disinterred in the mass religious vandalism of the revolution where the churches were stripped. Fantastic place. It is the counterpoint to Reims Cathedral where they were all crowned. All are being repaired today. Even Notre Dame de Paris was a wreck until interest was rekindled by Victor Hugo.

          However St. Denis the suburb looks like an impoverished African ghetto within Paris and the church is just being restored as there is an obvious attempt to improve the streetscape and attract tourists. It is really surprising that the authorities could even locate these people and only five hundred meters from the cathedral. The police in Paris are hardly your local bobbies though and closer to a military force, as seems to be needed in a crowded city of 11 million.

          That ISIS tries to provoke the French people is itself amazing. I suppose it would be untimely to launch the same attack in Germany because without Germany’s extreme Green parties, the windmill pushers, no one could move so freely. It all seems to be tied together, Global Warming and mass migration disasters and terrosism, fuelled by the inner city wealthy media caring people who swing elections all over the world while both Labor and Liberal parties court their votes and ignore their own supporters. Even Liberal numbers men say they do not care if they lose traditional supporters as long as they pick up the Green voters. Labor the same.

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      more thoughts on terrorism:
      11-16-2015

      The India-Australia uranium deal, whereby Australia agrees to sell uranium to India in spite of India’s not being a signatory of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, and in spite of the fact that a vigorous nuclear arms race is in progress on the subcontinent, beggars belief for anyone who has been involved for decades as I have, in questions of nuclear nonproliferation, disarmament, and nuclear safety.

      A vigorous nuclear arms race is taking place right now on the Indian subcontinent between India and Pakistan, with Pakistan now having some 130 nuclear warheads, and India not far behind with between 110 and 120.

      Pakistan has deployed short-range, war-fighting ‘mini nukes’ to repel Indian tank attacks. India has said that their use will lead to full-scale nuclear war. http://www.globalresearch.ca/australia-supplies-uranium-in-support-of-india-pakistan-nuclear-arms-race/5490254
      see also http://balance10.blogspot.com/2015/11/the-increased-usage-of-depleted-uranium.html

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    My new book is available – it’s called

    EATEN: A novel

    It’s a polar bear attack thriller, JAWS for the 21st century.

    Details here: http://polarbearscience.com/2015/11/17/eaten-a-novel-now-available/

    Trailer here:

    https://youtu.be/3Zw9DCvPTD8

    Paperback & various ebook formats available.

    See what you think.

    Dr. Susan Crockford, zoologist

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      CC Reader

      How very beautiful the countries of OZ and NZ are. We just took a trip that included Melbourne, Alice Spring and Ularau, Cairns, Sidney, Queenstown, Rotorua and finally visited some JAFAs in Auckland. WOW…

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        aussiepete

        Sidney is a town in British Columbia. According to Google images it has views remarkably similar to Sydney Australia’s Opera House and harbour, not suprising that one would get the two places confused Nevertheless CC, I’m pleased you enjoyed it, wherever you were.

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        Just Thinkin'

        Ayres Rock is the centre pin of Australia.

        There is another place, very close, that is a tourist resort
        and well known by overseas travellers.

        I certainly hope you enjoyed your travels.

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      Glenn999

      good luck Susan

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      jorgekafkazar

      Congratulations, Susan!

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      Yonniestone

      Please tell me there’s the line “We’re gonna need a bigger truck” in there. 🙂

      Looks good Susan, may I suggest using Al Gore as bait in the movie.

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      Andrew McRae

      Susan, I’ve just found something probably in your area of expertise.

      In this old Beyond 2000 episode from 1989 at around the 22:04 mark [ https://youtu.be/eTGt3NWT3cY?t=22m01s ] you can hear David Attenborough say:

      If the ice melts the Polar Bear will be stranded, unable to reach its food.

      With the state of polar bear knowledge in 1989, did many experts consider that statement to be true?
      What facts are known about polar bear feeding and swimming capabilities today that can support or disprove Attenborough’s 1989 statement?

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    Carbon500

    I’ve finally started to browse ‘Climate Change: The Facts’ edited by Alan Moran.
    It’s a very enjoyable book indeed. I notice that there’s a glitch in the graph labelling on page 265. It’s Anthony Watts’ very nice graph of global temperatures from 1880 to 2013. The first two years on the horizontal axis are given as 1987 and 1996 – these should be 1887 and 1896.
    It’s the graph that every ‘warmist’ should see – actual temperatures as seen on a thermometer, with no fraction of a degree ‘anomalies’ given the shock-horror treatment with misleading hugely exagerrated vertical axes.
    I smiled when I read Ross McKitrick’s translation of what Micheal E. Mann said into plain English – see page 208.
    I can’t agree with Christopher Essex on p225 when he introduces the notion that journalists should know what the Navier Stokes equations are as a test of their fitness to discuss matters of climate. I confess that at the moment I don’t know either. Yes, I see of course that it takes considerable specialist knowledge to discuss how the physics of the world’s climate works.
    However, do you teally need to know this to make up your mind as to whether the globe is warming up dangerously?
    A motoring journalist for example doesn’t need to be an engineer to comment on a car’s performance – yet it was a journalist who overturned a new Mercedes-Benz on test a few years years ago, forcing the factory engineers to redesign the car as needed before it went on sale.

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    Alfred

    Jeremiah 51:1-2 1 Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind;
    2 And will send unto Babylon fanners , that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about.

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    Ian George

    Anyone from down around Kiama way? Just noticed that your temps yesterday (Friday, 20th Nov) went from 26.6C at 4:30pm to 40.3C at 5:09pm – and then back to 24.0C by 5:30pm. A veritable temperature rollercoaster!
    It appears that a NW/W sprung up around 4:30pm before a southerly hit around 5:10pm.
    Can someone confirm – or was it a thermometer problem?

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      el gordo

      Its real, the temperature spike and southerly buster are fairly typical.

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      ROM

      Ian George @ #5

      The temperature spike that you picked up on at Kiama on Fri 20th would have been a genuine spike in temperatures.

      If one looks at say, Google Earth or if you are a local you will know that to the west and SW of Kiama there is a range with a quite a steep and abrupt cliff face on the eastern and in a westerly wind, the lee side of the range facing Kiama.

      This is an excellent set up for the creation of Mountain lee waves in the strong westerlies a few hours before an approaching cold front reaches the area.

      The cold upper level fast flowing westerly air spills over the steep downwind lee slope right down to ground level with often consequent very strong ground winds in a limited band a few kilometres down wind and parrallel to the orientation of the generating range.
      And in this fast moving descending air mass spilling over the lee downwind slopes of a range, the air mass is heated often considerably, as it compresses in the higher atmospheric pressures at or near ground levels.

      [ Atmospheric pressure is about half that of the 1013 hPa ground pressure at around the 5000 meters [ 16,000 ft ] height]

      Similar warm to hot winds can be found world wide on the down wind lee side of many mountain systems .
      In most cases these are designated by the European term Foehn winds

      The classic examples of the heating effects of the lee and down slope mountain wave system winds is the Chinooks of western Canada and the northern Rocky Mountains of the USA

      Along the eastern slopes of the Rockies, the Chinook wind provides a welcome respite from the long winter chill. Few people spend very much time along the eastern slopes without experiencing these wonderful warm winds. The change can be dramatic. On Jan. 11, 1983, the temperature in Calgary rose 30°C (from –17°C to 13°C) in 4 hours, and on February 7, 1964, the temperature rose 28°C (51°F°), and the humidity dropped by 43 percent.

      So that very large spike in the Kiama temperatures was most likely a quite genuine rapid increase as the back and forward shifting ground winds of a short lived wave system’s lee and down slope strongly warming winds from the ranges to the west of Kiama reached the temp sensors on the Kiama station.

      The following rapid decline in temps would have been due to the passage of the cold front airmass which would have destroyed the conditions required for a wave system to operate and the cold air mass of the passing frontal system would have immediately replaced the warmed winds of the no longer existent wave system hence the subsequent rapid drop in temperatures.

      Australian glider pilots operating out of the Bunyan airfield near Cooma have reached 33,000 feet in the Lee Wave systems off the Alps and regularly fly the Alps wave systems out of the Bunyan airfield.
      In western Victoria they have now reached 30,000 feet in the mountain waves off the Grampians mountains flying out of the Ararat Airfield.

      I along with a few fellow gliding club members did the first Mountain wave flights, in fact the first mountain wave flights in Australia off the Grampians in 1966. I subsequently reached 23,600 feet in the Grampians wave system in 1968 to achieve my three diamond gliding badge.
      All 3 of my diamond award badge requirements was done in an entirely Australian designed and constructed, wood built “Boomerang” glider.

      The Perlan project is a glider designed to reach 90,000 feet in the wave systems generated by the winds of the Polar vortex over Patagonia in Southern Argentina.
      The Perlan glider is now being test flown before it attempts its first flights into a region and height of the global atmosphere about which very little is known.
      It is backed by the European Airbus Industries and has the informal backing of the world meteorological organisatioins for the data it will bring back.

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        Ian George

        Thanks ROM. Knowing the geography helps. It was two sudden wind changes that did it. It just looked unusual as Nowra was recording high temps to 40C during the day but only average temps during most of the day at Kiama.

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        RB

        Would need a 1.5km cliff, minimum to get a such big temperature difference. The nearby lookout is only 0.6km. I think that it was just a case of the wind went from a coastal breeze to a NW for a short period of time that brought hot inland air with it.

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          ROM

          RB; The air mass that reaches ground level in the wave system could have originated anywhere from a couple of thousand feet above the range to perhaps 25,000 feet high.
          And to clarify [ take a look at the diagrams on mountain wave systems ] , the air spills over the mountain crest into the lee of the range but then it immediately heads up again, “bounces” up again in very non technical terms, to a height which varies according to wind speeds at height , lapse rates at height , temperatures , water content and etc.

          From where it again sinks.
          That is the Primary Wave, the peak of which which is located 5 or ten or more kilometres down wind of the actual triggering range.
          And that is where all the action is, where the Lenticulars form, even spectacular stacks of lennnies that are lens shaped stationary clouds at anywhere up to the top of the wave system which the winds creating and flowing through those stationary clouds may exceed over 100 knots, some 180 kms hour which we have seen even here in our little system. .

          Sometimes it is called a Standing wave as it doesn’t move much if conditions remain constant and despite wind speeds of many tens of kilometres per hour at ground level.
          In fact under the Rotor [ see my other posts] it can be dead calm or even a reversed wind direction.

          And that wave formation can oscillate, can and sometimes does repeat with cloud marking each secondary wave for hundreds of kilometres down wind over the likes of oceans as satellite photos now show.

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          RB

          I should have added that at Moss Vale NW of Kiama and about 600m higher, there was a similar spike but only 35°C. The drop in temperature about 5°C from the 40°C heat coming from the centre as the air rises and then getting it back as it falls down to Kiama is consistent with the 9°C/km dry adiabatic lapse rate although, as you mention, it is a little bit more complex.

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            el gordo

            ‘Sydney receives an average of about five Southerly Busters a year, with the stronger busters usually reaching Sydney in the late afternoon or early evening after several days of hot weather. Temperature changes can be dramatic, with falls of 10-15°C often occurring in less than one hour.’

            BoM

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        ROM, you mentioned Mountain Waves.

        I first heard the term when it was associated with a famous Australian Air Accident, the Stinson crash at Lamington in 1937, when a young Bernard O’Reilly played a calculated hunch and found the wreck and the two remaining still alive survivors, while all the searching was being done off Sydney.

        It was not mentioned specifically as Mountain Waves back then in 1937, but that is what it is now known as. O’Reilly was a dairy farmer with the rest of that huge family on the Lamington Plateau, and knew of the phenomenon from living in that mountainous area for so long.

        I did a Series for my home site back in 2009 on O’Reilly’s and this Stinson crash.

        I mentioned it in this last Post of that series at the following link. It’s an amazing story, all of it.

        BERNARD O’REILLY AND THE STINSON RESCUE. (Part 3)

        Tony.

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          ROM

          Being fascinated with aviation since I was in about the second grade in a small Victorian country primary school and with a War on with regular beat ups from the Navigators school at Nhill plus a class award that was a propaganda booklet with aeroplanes like Spitfires and Messerschmitts and Hudsons and etc all illustrated I got hold of the book on the Green Mountains rescue and read that incredible story back in my teen years some 50 years ago now.

          Severe weather and turbulence across the rugged terrain of the southern Alps was possibly behind the loss of the Southern Cloud on the Sydney / Melbourne run in 1931.
          The wreck was only found in rugged terrain during the construction of the Snowy Mountains project in 1958.

          A well known story from WW2 is that of a training school for bomber pilots from an airfield located in the Owens Valley in California’s Sierra Nevada’s where the current world altitude record by a glider of over 51,000 feet was set by the same people involved with the Perlan Project.
          The mountain wave systems there are world renown for their strength and heights that can be reached.

          In the WW2 bomber pilot training exercises, one of the american instructors was an old glider pilot. He would take the cocky young soon to be bomber pilots out on a training flight and when the lee wave was working he would fly into the areas where extremely strong wave lift could be expected.
          Then he would suggest to the rookie pilot that he would like to demonstrate a couple of things.
          The engines would be throttled right back, the draggy undercarriage would be extended , all of course which brings an aircraft down like slow falling brick as the rookie pilot most definitely knew.
          And then he would indicate the “rate of climb” indicator which should have been near off scale going down but incredibly instead showed a steady rate of climb as did the altimeter.
          The eye balls popping rookie would then be handed back the controls and suddenly find himself having to apply full power and clean up fast as his sink rate, his losing of height went down through the cellar despite every thing he could do to hold his height.

          The old hand had of course taken over just as they were about to enter the lift area of the wave system and then handed over just when they were about to leave the lift areas and enter the sink areas of the wave system

          In our very gentle wave system off the Grampians here in west Vic I have seen at least 800 feet per minute rates of climb, not forgetting that the glider was itself sinking at about 300 to 400 FPM so the actual wave lift was closer to 1200 FPM.
          Conversely I have descended using glider airbrakes and the sink areas of the wave system from 22,000 feet to landing in less than 17 minutes.

          That was from necessity as I was over 20,000 feet in the wave when all the lights in the surrounding little townships far below began to switch on and it started to look bloody dark down there.
          No worries where I was as it was still nice and daylight !!
          It sure was black by the time I landed .

          Extreme turbulence occurs in some wave systems as the air under the lenticular cap cloud [s ] which mark the crest of the wave , if there is cloud and that is not a given , often traps air and due to the air velocities in the wave system , in some cases exceeding 100 plus knots at times to hold position while you climb in the lift areas, a long horizontal rotating mass of air that mixes soe very cold air with some very warm near ground air creates very severe turbulence.
          The Rotor as it is called has been responsible for the breaking up of many aircraft over the years when they have inadvertently entered the Rotor which obviously can’t be seen unless you get wisps of cloud seen to be rotating at high speed often only a few hundred feet above ground level.

          In one instance a glider pilot inadvertently entered a high altitude Rotor [ Mountain Wave systems come in all sorts of interesting configurations ] at about 25,000 feet, a Rotor at that height that should not have existed.

          The severe turbulence knocked him out completely. He cam to and felt something around his feet and kicked that off before he came fully to his senses.
          He opened his eyes and there was nothing around him, nothing at all except a set of rudder pedals falling away below him. He kept his head and only opened his chute when within a few thousand feet of the ground .

          It was later calculated that his glider broke up in the turbulence in something like less than three seconds so severe was the Rotor turbulence.

          Opening a parachute at 25,000 feet probably means you are dead as the very fast rate of fall in the low density air and the shock of the chute opening will literally dismember you.
          And unless you have one of those small safety bottles of O2 you will possibly die of lack of Oxygen by the time you drift down on the chute in any case.

          All in all there is one hell of a lot of things going on up there in our oh so benign global atmosphere that are never even dreampt of by the mere mortals far below.
          It is not a place for the cowboys and unprepared or the poorly trained as my 50 years of flying and gliding can testify too.

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          Geoff Sherrington

          Tony,
          About 1985 I was in the seat behind Sir John Proud in a light aircraft (about 7 seat piston high wing) that we hired from Mt Morgan to Eagle Farm then Mascot, during an airline strike.
          Bad weather forced us under the clouds as we passed pretty much over O’Rielly’s. All on board bar the pilot were well aware of the events.
          Sir John did not say anything. He more or less stared ahead.
          BTW, I was one of the people who had earlier written to Canberra with support for his knighthood less than a year before it was awarded. A very fine man, a born leader and as you would know, a Test cricket tragic.

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          Wayne Job

          In a previous life I was a flight engineer on boeing 727’s, on a flight out of darwin with lots of storms around we got to about 24,000 ft and the craft just fell out of the sky, we stopped falling around 5000ft, lots of fun. Climbing back up to 31000ft the sky was filled with thunderstorms so close together they could not be avoided, radar showed them to be up to 50000ft tall.

          We plunged into them and then the fun started, so bumpy you got eyeball bounce, lightning hitting the craft regularly taking out aerials thus loosing stuff, then a big strike taking out the three phase and leaving us in darkness, with minimum battery powered nav. I got two alternators back on line but separate not on the syncronus bus. The alternators tripped regularly when hit by lightening, so bumpy I could hard reach the switch gear. Then saint Elmos fire crept into the cockpit green and dancing all our hair stood on end, bumpy lightening, tripping gens, night flight Darwin to Sydney lots of fun. On the ground at least 60 lightening strikes and every aerial either blown off our the flush ones severely bitten. A flight from hell.

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    Robert O

    On the the ABC’s 7.30 programme last night; Summer’s are getting hotter and earlier, nothing to do with the weather systems of a high in the west and a low in the east and hot northerlies in between, and the dry soils due to El Nino. Global warming didn’t cause the Walker circulation did it?

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      AndyG55

      …. and look at the usual climate troll come out of the woodwork. Appell, Mosher etc

      trying to DENY the adjustments..

      so funny. 🙂

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    handjive

    Seriously. The Dodgy Brothers.

    1. Create a ‘dodgy’ scare:

    > The Lazy Persons Guide to saving the Planet – UN

    2. Create a ‘dodgy’ product as a response to ‘dodgy’ scare campaign, requiring purchase of said dodgy ‘life-saving’ product from dodgy creator of dodgy scare.

    > Offset your carbon emissions! You can calculate your carbon footprint and purchase climate credit from (the UN) Climate Neutral Now.

    73% of UN Joint Implementation credits deliver no climate benefit
    ~ ~ ~
    DEFINITION of ‘Ponzi Scheme’:

    A fr@udulent investing scam promising high rates of return with little risk to investors.
    The Ponzi scheme generates returns for older investors by acquiring new investors.
    This scam actually yields the promised returns to earlier investors, as long as there are more new investors.

    30

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    el gordo

    The Kidman Saga, a large slice of Oz.

    ‘But Mr Robb said Australia had “always depended on foreign investment for agriculture, because no bugger here will put money into the sector”.

    “You can’t get an Australian investor to put money into agriculture for love nor money,” he said. “Even sophisticated Australian investors won’t put money into it. Agriculture is too long term for them, even though it’s our great strength.”

    Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/kidman-cattle-stations-andrew-robb-criticises-scott-morrisons-political-decision-to-block-sale-20151120-gl3vkb.html#ixzz3s4P4VZdJ
    Follow us: @smh on Twitter | sydneymorningherald on Facebook

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      scaper...

      About five years ago I was talking to Gina, re the next boom. Food production. Since then she has invested a lazy couple hundreds of million in beef and dairy.

      That was around the time I was very active in ensuring the Traveston Dam would not be constructed due to the poor siting of a dam.

      Since then, Gina has invested in the area with a view to construct a milk powder processing plant, based on a cooperative of local dairy producers and her interests. Nothing in the news concerning this…yet.

      When I heard the Kidman venture was on the market I instantly thought of Gina. I doubt it as her investments are leaning to the higher quality produce.

      Could be wrong…but I doubt it.

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      scaper...

      I’ll add that Robb is on the ANDEV political list. I know who they all are and there is a battle going on within. Turnbull is tolerated.

      If Turnbull bows to the UN on climate he will pay dearly. So, there you have it.

      50

      • #
        el gordo

        ‘So, there you have it.’

        That’s comforting, Turnbull has little appetite to smash up the Coalition before the next election.

        20

    • #
      Ross

      The same Chinese company got the same hopeless political decision over a large station ( by NZ standards) in the central North Island.

      scaper –a few years ago I read an article in The Australian on a government report that outlined a HUGE plan to put irrigation infrastructure , roading etc. etc. into the Northern Territory to make it “food producing bowl” to sell to South East Asia. Is that proceeding ?

      30

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        scaper...

        In short…yes.

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        • #
          el gordo

          ‘Trade and Investment Minister Andrew Robb is a supporter of high-speed rail in Australia, although he believes it must be done with little or no input of taxpayers’ funds.’

          Jap Maglevs, Australian steel and Chinese construction, convince me a continental system is not on Robb’s agenda?

          10

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            scaper...

            It does not stack up, financially. That is why no government money.

            The Inland Rail Link will be funded (in part) by government money. No reason why a VFT could not operate on the route in the future.

            20

            • #
              el gordo

              ‘No reason why a VFT could not operate on the route in the future.’

              Compared to the coastal route which has been mooted for decades, Melbourne to Brisbane via the inland would be relatively cheap and a boon to decentralisation.

              ‘The rumoured sale price is about $350 million, with the most likely buyers having been Shanghai Pengxin, owned by Chinese billionaire, Jiang Zhaobai, and the Guangzhou-based Donlinks Grain and Oil Company. On Thursday, however, the government threw a spanner in the works by blocking the sale to foreign buyers on national security grounds.’

              Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/kidman-sale-halt-a-chance-to-reassess-20151119-gl3k8m.html#ixzz3sARg2lth
              Follow us: @smh on Twitter | sydneymorningherald on Facebook

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              el gordo

              ‘It does not stack up, financially. That is why no government money.’

              Imagine the Australian outback studded with new cities, connected by VFT, there would be work aplenty. The game is to win votes and there is nothing more appealing than material progress.

              As we are now part of the Chinese infrastructure bank, money is no object and our Super Funds could be added to the pot.

              If they sell Kidman to the Celestial Kingdom we must demand that no theme parks will be allowed.

              10

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    Manfred

    With the approach of COP21, the NZ eco-maniacs have elevated their dirge to Crescendissimo verte, with the recent NZ bureaucratic proclamation of,

    “Coastal hazards report warns sea-level rises a ‘slowly unfolding red-zone'”

    The incumbent National Government is unconvinced, uninterested and being fortunately not of a rabidly Green persuasion, dismissive of the hysterical claims.

    On the other hand, the Failed Fourth Estate of NZ, severely disabled by their intellectual low wattage obliged the Green histrionics. The aptly named Greenista Mayor, David CULL of The University city of Dunedin in the South Island announced the impending re-submergence of a once reclaimed coastal marsh that is presently the conurbation of South Dunedin, was due to climate change in general and sea level rise in particular.

    Dunedin Council, hijacked by the Greenista have by the by, proudly and loudly followed the UNEP Divestment recommendations by ditching their fossil fuel investments. (Purely as an aside, given the price of oil is suggested by Goldman Sachs in The Telegraph, to be headed toward US $20pB, this may have been a inadvertently prudent thing to do, at least in the short term!)

    Of course, the timing of the wider NZ ‘Coastal hazard’ announcement is deliberate, as it is mendacious and politically motivated, given the proximity of COP21. The empirical DATA suggests instead quite another perspective.

    “An updated analysis of long-term sea level change in New Zealand”
    Hannah, J. DOI: 10.1029/2003GL019166
    http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2003GL019166/abstract
    “These new results indicate that relative sea levels in New Zealand have been rising at an average rate of 1.6 mm/yr over the last 100 years.” “There continues to be no evidence of any acceleration in relative sea levels over the record period.”

    Moreover, according to the author John Hannah, the sea level data at Dunedin is of very poor quality with many small inconsistencies in the tide gauge zero. Subsidence is occurring in the whole wharf area. Subsidence at the gauge is now 1mm/yr. (!!!)

    Given this data then, by 2065 (50 years hence) the mean rise in sea level at Dunedin may be 8cm, with an additional 5cm of land subsidence, giving the possibility of a relative change of +13cm. This value lies remote from the hysterical values (30 – 70 cm) promoted by the Green City Council, who of course are well known to be operating from a quite remote ideological agenda.

    A cursory review of the subject may serve to highlight the very high level of uncertainty.
    This latest NOAA data shows unchanging linear trends in the rate of sea level rise worldwide with many of these records including 100 year and longer measurement duration periods.”

    http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/sltrends/sltrends.html
    http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/sltrends/sltrends_global.shtml

    The Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level (PSMSL) http://www.psmsl.org/data/obtaining/stations/136.php highlights the Dunedin tide station documentation comments that show the huge unreliability and uncertainty around the Dunedin mean sea level data.

    The NZ Government is absolutely correct to ignore the Green ideological nonsense. Cull will kill Dunedin, no pun intended, if he and his ilk are left unchecked. South Dunedin may well edge gradually toward becoming the Venice of New Zealand or reverting to the coastal marsh that it once was. It will however, contrary to the wishes of the Green NZ MSM, never become an Atlantis.

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    el gordo

    Saw a show on ABC the other day which illustrated how some insects don’t need males to reproduce. The feminista will be overjoyed to hear we are not far away.

    ‘In a major reproductive breakthrough, scientists in Shanghai have created mice by using two eggs and no sperm.

    ‘The team achieved this pioneering feat by modifying an egg and making it work as a sperm replacement that is injected in another egg to activate fertilization.

    ‘A paper on their discovery was published in China-based international scientific journal Cell Research on Nov 17.’

    China Daily

    20

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    handjive

    NOAA: What is the difference between weather and climate?

    Weather reflects short-term conditions of the atmosphere while climate is the average daily weather for an extended period of time at a certain location.
    ~ ~ ~
    Al Gore: “Gore says the old caveat about how no individual storm can be attributed to [Global Warming] is no longer true; warmer oceans and higher humidity are now permanent features of the environment, adding fuel to every storm.

    Said Will Steffen, the report’s lead author and director of the Australian National University’s Climate Change Institute;

    “Previously, ”weather is not climate” was the mantra, but now the additional boost from greenhouse gases was influencing every event.

    It might even be the case that the mantra chanted after every catastrophic weather event – that it can’t be said to be caused by [Global Warming], but it shows what [Global Warming] will do – has become a thing of the past.”
    . . .

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      el gordo

      ‘In summary, there is now an ongoing fundamental shift in the climate system,” the commission’s report said.

      They got that right.

      ‘It is highly likely that extreme hot weather will become even more frequent and severe in Australia and around the globe over the coming decades.’

      No way in the world can it materialize, but I’m on safe ground in thinking Australian winters will get cooler over the coming decades.

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    handjive

    So maybe allegedly CO2-induced drought in Syria wasn’t the root cause of the Paris attacks?

    Paris Attack 2015: Named Terrorists All European Nationals, Not Syrian Refugees

    So to be clear: None of the 5 Paris attackers identified so far is Syrian.

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      Rereke Whakaaro

      None of the 5 Paris attackers identified so far is Syrian. … Or bona fide refugees.

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      Matty

      The appetite for toppling North African dictators is what led to the Syrian conflict. How has that gone so far ?
      Meanwhile, Brussels has been saved from another Johnny Halliday concert as it’s Metro is closed

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    pat

    READ ALL:

    20 Nov: ReutersCarbonPulse: Stian Reklev: US senators demand Paris deal gets Senate vote regardless of legal form
    Two Republican and one Democrat senators on Thursday introduced a resolution demanding that any outcome from the UN climate summit in Paris, regardless of legal form, must be put to a Senate vote.
    The resolution was put forward by senators Joe Manchin (D-WV), Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and Roy Blunt (R-MO), and intended to block a new international climate deal if it put US industry to a disadvantage to that of developing countries.
    “The international community needs to be aware that U.S. Congress and the American people do not support President Obama’s international climate agenda,” said Inhofe, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, well known for his years of opposing climate change policies…READ ALL
    http://carbon-pulse.com/senators-demand-paris-deal-gets-senate-vote-regardless-of-legal-form/

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    pat

    20 Nov: ReutersCarbonPulse: Mike Szabo: UK company director banned for selling illiquid VERs at inflated prices
    The director of a London-based carbon credit company that was wound up by the government in 2014 has been disqualified for selling illiquid voluntary units (VERs) at inflated prices.
    Christopher James Thompson, a director of CT Carbon Limited (CTCL), was earlier this month barred from acting as a director in the UK for 14 years following an investigation by the Public Interest Unit, a unit of the government’s Insolvency Service.
    The body said that between 2011 and 2012, CTCL made sales totalling £1.1 million by cold-calling members of the public to sell them VERs, charging them 2.5-3.5 times the wholesale price it paid…
    The Insolvency Service has wound down dozens of UK-registered companies over the past few years after hundreds of investors claimed to have lost tens of millions of pounds of personal savings through these dubious schemes.
    Only a small fraction of those funds has been recovered, while very ***few, if any, of the individuals behind the companies involved have reportedly been charged with criminal offences or jailed.
    http://carbon-pulse.com/uk-company-director-banned-for-selling-illiquid-vers-at-inflated-prices/

    ***and few, if any, have been reported by the MSM.

    20 Nov: ReutersCarbonPulse: WEBINAR: Market Dynamics and Risks in Emissions Trading Systems
    Dear Colleagues,
    The Ecologic Institute is pleased to invite you to participate in the first of a 4-part guest-speaker webinar series devoted to discussing key topics on Emission Trading Systems (ETS).
    These webinars will also mark the launch of a new online course providing in-depth instruction on ETS theory and design, freely available on 25 November 2015…
    In the first 45-minute webinar, Market Dynamics and Risks, guest speaker Marcus Ferdinand (***Thomson Reuters) will discuss how ETS participants manage risks and give specific examples of how design and influence of politics has affected emission trading in the past… ETC
    Register now (LINK)
    http://carbon-pulse.com/webinar-market-dynamics-and-risks-in-emissions-trading-systems/

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    pat

    20 Nov: ClimateChangeNews: Alex Pashley: Republicans ransom US Green Fund pledge ahead of Paris climate summit
    GOP demands vote on White House $3bn pledge in gambit to weaken US authority at COP21
    Power of the purse
    On Thursday, 34 senators including leading climate sceptic Jim Inhofe signed an open letter vowing not to award funds without the Senate’s “constitutional advice and consent.”
    “While the Executive Branch and Congress both play an important role in the foreign policy of our nation, Congress ultimately holds the power of the purse,” it read…
    It is another bid to turn the screw on Obama’s climate leadership, following resolutions on Tuesday to repeal his centrepiece Clean Power Plan.
    The administration is confident the cash will be provided. Secretary of state John Kerry told the Financial Times last week the issue could be exchanged for other items in the US budget, while Obama may veto it through.
    A government shutdown is looming unless Congress agrees funding for federal agencies on December 11, the day a new pact is slated to be signed in Paris…
    http://www.climatechangenews.com/2015/11/20/republicans-take-us-green-fund-pledge-ransom-ahead-of-paris-climate-summit/

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    pat

    20 Nov: ReutersCarbonPulse: Mike Szabo: Germany at risk of missing 2020 emissions target -report
    Germany is at risk of missing its 2020 goal to cut GHG emissions by 40% below 1990 levels, German media reported this week, citing an annual government progress report on the country’s Energiewende transition to low-carbon energy sources. The report says that national GHG emissions would need to fall by 3% per year until 2020 for the target to be realised. In contrast, Germany last year cut by output by 1.7%…
    http://carbon-pulse.com/germany-at-risk-of-missing-2020-emissions-target-report/

    20 Nov: ClimateChangeNews: Alex Pashley: Super-rich Qatar delivers target-free UN climate pledge
    Qatari average earnings top US$140,000 a year but country wants free solar technology if it is make any carbon cuts at all
    That was the message of the country with the highest per capita income in the world and host of the 2012 UN climate summit as it submitted a non-committal pledge to a climate rescue pact on Friday.
    The leading natural gas exporter said national policies to prune carbon emissions “may negatively impact the strength of Qatar’s economy and potentially the quality of life of its residents.”…
    Its offer would leave the UN climate change secretariat “exasperated” after concerted efforts to convince oil-exporting states to curb greenhouse gases, he (Bill Hare, Berlin research institute Climate Analytics) added…
    http://www.climatechangenews.com/2015/11/20/super-rich-qatar-delivers-target-free-un-climate-pledge/

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    pat

    ***nutty and star-struck:

    19 Nov: Scientific American: Mark Fischetti: 139 Countries Could Get All of their Power from Renewable Sources
    Energy from wind, water and sun would eliminate nuclear and fossil fuels
    Mark Jacobson and Mark Delucchi have done it again. This time they’ve spelled out how 139 countries can each generate all the energy needed for homes, businesses, industry, transportation, agriculture—everything—from wind, solar and water power technologies, by 2050. Their national blueprints, released Nov. 18, follow similar plans they have published in the past few years to run each of the 50 U.S. states on renewables, as well as the entire world. (Have a look for yourself, at your country, using the interactive map below.).
    The plans, which list exact numbers of wind turbines, solar farms, hydroelectric dams and such, have been heralded as transformational, and criticized as starry eyed or even ***nutty…
    “The people there are just not aware of what’s possible,” says Jacobson, a civil and environmental engineering professor at Stanford University and director of the school’s Atmosphere and Energy Program. He is already scheduled to speak twice at the (Paris) meeting, and will spend the rest of his time trying to talk one on one with national leaders and their aids (sic)…
    Jacobson and Delucchi, a research scientist at the University of California at Davis, presented their “100 percent renewables” construct to the public for the first time in a 2009 feature article in Scientific American…
    …Jacobson and several high-profile businesspeople and entertainers started the Solutions Project to educate the public, business owners and policy makers about the roadmaps. Support comes from the Elon Musk Foundation, the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation and others…
    ***DiCaprio is planning to visit COP 21 while he is there.
    http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/139-countries-could-get-all-of-their-power-from-renewable-sources1/

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    pat

    20 Nov: InternationalBusinessTimes: Marianna Poberezhskaya: Paris climate talks: Russia will use its huge forests as a bargaining chip at COP21
    (Marianna Poberezhskaya, Lecturer in International Relations, Nottingham Trent University. This article was originally published on The Conversation)
    PHOTO CAPTION: Russian President Vladimir Putin riding a hose (sic) in a forest
    Russia has a reputation as one of the more difficult states involved in international climate negotiations – and don’t expect things to change at the latest UN conference in Paris. After all, this is a country with vast oil and gas reserves, brutal winters and a strong sense of its own economic self-interest…
    It will also want commitments from other countries before signing up to a deal – Russia is one of the strongest supporters of the “common but differentiated responsibility” principle in climate politics.
    Finally, the country is very unlikely to commit to a deal that will put any pressure on its economic development…
    ***In fact, to achieve its latest targets, Russia doesn’t even need to cut its emissions…
    http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/paris-climate-talks-russia-will-use-its-huge-forests-bargaining-chip-cop21-1529685

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    Peter C

    Atmospheric Emission Pipes and OLR

    The Evans climate model proposes that outgoing long wave radiation from the Earth will be rerouted to another pipe if one or more of the main emission pipes is blocked.

    Is there evidence for that?

    I found this yesterday because I was reading some older stuff which I had saved. It is a paper by Jack Barrett about atmospheric green house gases.
    http://www.warwickhughes.com/papers/barrett_ee05.pdf

    Go to page 9 and take a look at the emission spectra from the Nimbus 4 satellite. Three separate spectra are given;
    taken over the Sahara,
    the Mediterranean
    and Antarctica.

    The first and second spectra have been widely quoted. They show deep absorbtion bands at 500-800 (CO2) and at 1100.
    However take a look at spectrum 3, taken over Antarctice. It shows emission peaks at 500-800 and 1100.
    Over Antactica one would expect that surface radiation through the amospheric window (800-1100) would be very low and the air is also dry. But CO2 under those conditions is emitting more than the other sources. Somehow the energy is being rerouted and coming out via the CO2 pipe!

    The Nimbus 4 satellite apparently failed in 1974. Does anyone have any more up to date information?

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    pat

    WSJ writer below: Jeffrey Ball formerly The Wall Street Journal’s environment editor and a longtime energy reporter at the paper, is scholar-in-residence at Stanford University’s Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance, a joint initiative of Stanford’s law and business schools. He writes about energy and heads a project exploring the relationships among countries in the globalizing clean-energy industry.

    19 Nov: WSJ Blog: Why the Paris Climate Talks Won’t Amount to Much
    JEFFREY BALL: Social movements thrive on symbolism, but that is no substitute for substance. This month, green activists hailed President Obama’s decision to reject the Keystone XL pipeline as a signal victory for the atmosphere.
    This past summer, they lauded Pope Francis’ encyclical calling for tougher climate action as an indication of a sea change in popular opinion on the issue.
    Though both pronouncements mark a creeping shift in climate politics, neither will make a huge difference to the planet…
    To be sure, rich countries—chiefly the U.S., Australia, Canada, Japan and the nations of western Europe—are relevant because they’ll need to spout up money and technology to speed the developing world’s transition to a cleaner economy. But the rhetoric that rich countries are likely to serve up in Paris about the steps they’re taking to curb their own emissions will amount to politicking aimed mostly at constituencies back home. To use a theater analogy, the developing countries are the actors in the climate show—and the rich countries are merely the stage hands…
    Today, calls for Paris to produce another big global climate treaty amount to hot air…
    Two things about these commitments are worth keeping in mind: They would produce only limited climate progress, and they’re climate pledges only tangentially…
    The distinction underscores that Paris is likely to produce carbon cuts only to the extent that individual countries see cutting carbon as a way to make their domestic economies more competitive.
    http://blogs.wsj.com/experts/2015/11/19/why-the-paris-climate-talks-wont-amount-to-much/

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      Mark Fraser

      They’re spinning the tale for the green blob back home and abroad, lest said blob unleash a few billion to get them unelected. That’s the REAL story.

      10

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    pat

    plenty of spinning, but the exploited youth lost:

    20 Nov: AP: Phuong Le: Judge denies Washington kids’ petition on climate change
    SEATTLE (AP) ” A judge has denied an appeal by eight young activists who petitioned Washington state to adopt stricter science-based regulations to protect them against climate change…
    Climate activists, ages 10 to 15, in Seattle brought the lawsuit asking the court to force state officials to adopt new rules to limit carbon emissions based on the best available science. The case is part of a nationwide effort led by the Oregon-based nonprofit Our Children’s Trust to force states and the federal government to take action on climate change…
    Michael Gerrard, a professor and director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University, called the judge’s ruling “helpful but not revolutionary.”
    “This court decision has some nice language, but the court did not require anybody to do anything,” he said. “This helps build up a legal foundation, but we don’t yet have a structure with a roof on it…
    (Associated Press writer Gene Johnson contributed to this report.)
    http://www.sj-r.com/article/ZZ/20151120/NEWS/311209909/16946/NEWS

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    Egor TheOne

    The Paris ‘CON 21′ = Thieves’ Cartel

    30

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    AndyG55

    The fabrications from NOAA are getting more and more ABSURD !!!!!

    http://s19.postimg.org/bow5uxcfn/NOAA_October_fabrication.jpg

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      Graeme No.3

      Curious how they can tell there is warming where they don’t have any thermometers.

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      • #
        AndyG55

        Not only that, but notice how the blue in Europe and NE Canada changes nicely to red.. like Christmas lights of something.

        Bright Red seems to smear very easily, blue on the other hand…. 😉

        And see Australia.. here is UAH Australia for October ordered from warmest..

        2002 1.22
        2013 1.19
        1988 1.17
        2014 1.01
        2004 0.97
        2008 0.87
        2007 0.86
        1998 0.83
        2005 0.82
        2012 0.73
        2006 0.72
        2015 0.71

        43

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    toorightmate

    Jo,
    When you return from your travels, please bring the “r” back with you (you have packed it by mistake).

    20

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    Deutsche Welle (reluctantly) reports that Germany wants to avoid joining the Dark Side:

    On Thursday in the Hamburg suburb of Moorburg, Hamburg’s mayor Olaf Scholz, a leading figure in Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), stood alongside Magnus Hall, president of Swedish energy utility Vattenfall, and pushed a big button.

    The button-pushing symbolized Vattenfall’s ceremonial opening of a 1,600 Megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant that had been under construction for eight years …

    1600 MW is very chunky. (Two blocks of 827MW each) It’s about all that’s needed for Western Australia’s South West grid. And it’s big enough to power almost all of Hamburg’s needs.

    It’s estimated that 4 million tons of coal a year will travel to the Moorburg plant by barge. Nett thermal efficiency, averaged over the year of 55% producing 11 billion kWh of electrical power a year; as reported by Vattenfall on their web page, the title of which translates to Reliable Energy for Hamburg. Which may rile the more activists locals as Hamburg is painted red and green from the highest levels down. Vattenfall provides some PDF documentation on the Moorburg facility in English. Brochure and Facts Sheet.

    Be sure to scroll down to the image (“http://www.dw.com/image/0,,16968609_404,00.jpg”) captioned “This coal fired power station in Cottbus, Germany, makes the issue visible” by Deutsche Welle. If there’s one advertising standard that holds in Germany it’s that state-sanctioned propaganda can play more than just loose with the truth.

    The Moorburg plant’s cooling tower can operate in dry mode, which, combined with the heat exchangers in the Elbe River, leaves no “dark clouds” to photograph against a setting sun.

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    observa

    Get a load of this admission

    ‘In general, coastal regions will fare better than inland ones because of the proximity to sea breezes. While the phenomenon is evident even on Friday – with the CBD recently at 30 degrees while Penrith to the west was more than 40 degrees – the research indicates some interesting microclimates may develop around Sydney.
    As the city sprawls to the north-west and south-west to accommodate 1.5 million more people in the two decades to 2031, western Sydney and the Hawkesbury will experience five-10 more hot days by 2030, a related OEH report said.
    The replacement of vegetation such as forest and grasslands with concrete can raise morning summer surface temperatures by an average of 12.8 degrees – underscoring the importance for city planners to retain or introduce more green spaces in their designs.
    “The more green cover you have in urban environments, the cooler the conditions,” Mr Riley said, noting that funds are available to aid councils to reduce the so-called urban heat island.’

    Clever boffins aint they? Can distil out around 12.8 degrees Celsius of UHI (or 10C out at Penrith) and homogenize and pasteurize the Oz temperature record since 1788 and come up with a hockey stick. Is there no end to what tall buildings these climastrologists can leap in a single bound?

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  • #
    Yonniestone

    I’m at the reclaim Australia rally in Melton atm, more police than protesters so far

    10

    • #
      Andrew McRae

      Please keep liveblogging Yonnie. Tell us the gist of it.

      After the events in Paris, is the R.A. rally only about “The M Factor” today or are they an equal hate-opportunity employer? Because from twitter it certainly looks like “The M Factor” is the topic, and the R.A. mob is populated mainly by low-grade types who can’t spell and don’t even understand the meanings of the words they use. (Present company excepted of course, Yonnie)

      I’m interested to know how the mob rationalise their need to “reclaim” Australia from the clutches of… just 2% of the population. What is there to reclaim that the angry mob doesn’t already have?

      Also interested to know why the counter-protest are taking an anti-ras-cism line when race is not what the R.A. mob are protesting about. Just the usual touchly-feely lefty smearing tactics perhaps. You know how it goes, “Wellll to me perrrrsonally, they feeeeel to me like they’re [18C-self-snip], and whatever I feel is an authentic subjective experience, therefore it must be true, so I will claim they are [18C-self-snip] regardless of what they actually say.”

      The videos on twitter are not painting a nice picture of the counter-protestors. I think I just saw an “anti-fascist” try to steal a woman’s jacket.

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        Yonniestone

        Sorry for the delay, we just finished up and I’ll elaborate in about 1 hour, for the record RA people simply assembled peacefully and legally, the left anti racism lot antagonised swore and were arrested not us.

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          Yonniestone

          OK, I can’t speak or speculate on how educated or articulate the RA protesters are only to say the people I spoke to covered a very wide range of backgrounds that would be typical of a random demographic taken from the public on any given day.

          The ‘M factor’ was discussed as in how being only 2% there is already an inordinate % of crime/inmates, domestic violence etc that is statistically represented from said factor.

          The anti racism mob simply made no sense, they contradicted themselves on every statement made, this came as no surprise to everyone, to which I’d also add the so called RA low-grade types showed good general knowledge of politics and history to counter the false claims of the left, quite impressive actually.

          As usual the MSM have already skewed what happened with SKY News showing a skinhead looking guy clashing with anti-racism protesters, let me clarify that this skinhead individual was the ONLY dodgy person there including both sides, he was confronted by RA organisers after complaints and was told to leave and never attend another rally dressed like that, I say this from standing right next to them.

          The speakers were very good with the Aboriginal elder Aunty Marjorie giving a short but poignant emotional speech, earlier a minutes silence was held for the victims of the Paris attacks which was observed by RA side but met with noise and obscenities from the other, quite shameful.

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            Andrew McRae

            The anti racism mob simply made no sense, they contradicted themselves on every statement made

            Yep, and it can be hilarious too. I saw a tweet about Melton from a supporter of the A-R trendies. She was so furious about the RA mob that she… wanted someone else to do something about it. And her recommended action: “I hope those people get fired when they turn up to work on Monday!”
            I was dumbfounded for a few seconds as I began to process how many different levels of wrongheadedness had taken hold of her. Firstly, the RA mob are speaking their mind, they aren’t inciting war and murder, so it’s just free speech no matter how upset you are at what they are saying. The RA mob aren’t urging you to be fired for your speech, find some fairness.
            But that’s not even the best part.
            I was thinking: “But you’re a leftist Progressive! You believe in welfare. So according to your plan, they lose their job, they front up to CentreLink the next day, sign up for the NewStart allowance, and they start collecting the dole. So now instead of them and their customers paying for their rent, food, and beer, instead YOU are paying for their rent food and beer through TAXES. You hate these people so much you want to buy them their beer! Total Lefty Fail.”
            😀

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              Yonniestone

              That’s the great irony of the left, they believe so strongly in their beliefs they’re outraged that others would publically disagree and want the state to silence us, except we don’t live under totalitarian rule it’s democratic so no one can enact their desires out, poor luv’s must be maddening. 🙂

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          Andrew McRae

          Perhaps there is some gray area about how much contact sport qualifies as peaceful.

          “RA people simply assembled peacefully”
          https://twitter.com/lillebuen/status/668263620065628162

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            Yonniestone

            Andrew the road was not part of the RA protest area, behind from where this video was filmed were riot police, a row of police horses and 3 rows of uniformed police that kept the rally contained in the park outside the council building, there were people watching from over the road and some might have decided to have a go at the counter rally, but anyone outside the council grounds at that stage were not part of the RA rally, an element the anti-racism mob continuously tested the police lines to gain access to the RA rally, there were A-R people 3 arrested by police that were taken through our area for holding, they were met with laughter and applause, not exactly the bloodthirsty rednecks being depicted.

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    el gordo

    We should see a sharp dip after this modest El Nino, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

    http://www.woodfortrees.org/plot/rss/from:1998/plot/rss/from:1998/trend

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    Ezra Levant: Greens wrong again: Organic pesticides kill bees

    Now a new study shows that so-called organic pesticides, the stuff all these enviro-nuts told us to use instead, still kill bees.

    All the home remedies, the quackery — garlic eucalyptus oil, citronella oil — not only kill bees, but they don’t work as well as “evil” pesticides.

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    Andrew McRae

    Have to get this one off my chest.

    For a laugh, first watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKcWu0tsiZM

    Then find out who’s getting maximum “privilege points” today: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-22/book-shares-perspectives-aboriginal-lgbtiq-community/6961186

    😀

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    KinkyKeith

    An interesting article in Quadrant about world politics, politicians and those who feed off them

    and what politicians actually think of us, the stupid taxpayers who are to be enslaved for our own good.

    KK

    http://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2015/11/two-minds-singular-peril/

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    Bob Malloy

    Over recent weeks I have been going through my VHS tapes while I still have a functioning Player, then digitising my collection of purchased tapes as well as some programs I’ve recorded myself. This morning I came across a Beyond 2000 special, “Climate in Crises” that aired in 1989, 26 years ago. Below are a few notes I jotted down. I have uploaded the video to youtube here. If interested watch it now just in case somebody has it pulled because of copyright.

    “ At the eight minute mark our host states, as the greenhouse heats the planet, the oceans will warm and as they warm they will expand, it means that in maybe just 40 years time the see level will be (spreading her arms) about this much higher. That’s about a meter than it is today, now it might not seem like much but it will cause tens of millions of people in Bangladesh in Egypt and in other low lying countries to lose their homes and their farmland, it will mean that some countries will disappear entirely”. We are now twenty six years into that forty year time span, by now if her prediction had any legs we should already seen a rise of seventy five centimeters.

    She then goes on to state Han Island in Papua is already being inundated by rising seas, then contradicts herself by explaining that Han’s inundation is caused by changing currents and not climate change, hoping that the vision of affected shore line will carry more wait than her true statement of the cause.

    About seventeen and a half minutes or so in our old friend David Attenborough speaks of the possible loss of Kirtland’s Warbler due to the probable loss of the Jack Pine forest in Michigan, all this was supposed to happened already, “the models said so”. A quick google search finds that the warbler is making a comeback and the State Forestry runs guided Kirtland’s Warbler tours . So much for that doom and gloom story.

    At about the thirty minute mark they actually admit that CO2 acts as a plant fertiliser, but claim it is the major green house gas, did no one tell them of the greenhouse properties of water vapor. Later they admit renewable energy can’t compete, not because it is expensive but because fossil energy is unrealistically low.

    In closing remarks they say “The United Nations believes we have just ten years left to stop the planet from spiralling into a catastrophic green house effect, just ten years left to put the greenhouse solutions into action” We are now sixteen years past the U.N.’s deadline and all seems well to me.

    It’s interesting to watch now with the benefit of hindsight.

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      Andrew McRae

      That’s great stuff, Bob. And you didn’t mention the special episode is introduced by the Prime Minister of the time. Obviously a matter of great importance.
      The Redcliffe council are shown pontificating about this weighty matter of sea level rise, and of course they are convinced that something must be done. How important was this matter? Go to the Qld Gov tides info web site and look up Scarborough storm tide gauge. Date of installation: April 2015. !! It was so important they didn’t install a local tide gauge for 26 years?? Well that seems hard to believe, so perhaps that’s just the date of the latest equipment, not date of first commissioning of the site.

      At 13:13 the council decided that for planning purposes they are going to assume 80cm of sea level rise by 2030. That’s basically 80cm/40years or 200cm per century. What actually happened? Go to BoM web site, download tide gauge data for nearest long term site which is Mooloolaba.
      Since 1989 the tide has a trend of 18cm per century. Not 200, only 18.
      At the next nearest tide gauge, Brisbane Bar, the story is similar, only 38cm/century not 200.

      Yet the global warming boffins, by now drowning in climate research funding, were so sure of themselves in 1989 that they got the Prime Minister and his granddaughter to shoot a Beyond2000 special edition declaring us all to be environmental vandals.
      Or in the words of host Amanda Keller: “Money buys smugness.”

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    Oksanna

    James Corbett of the surprisingly informative, empirically oriented, and fearlessly unbiased Corbett Report has just re-posted a video onto his website which was originally put there in 2009. Probably re-posted (in HD format this time) due to coming Paris Climate Conference. Just as relevant as ever.

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    Brian H

    untheaded? Are there a ‘r’ missing? Or did you invent a new word?

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