Friday Open Thread

Too much to discuss still.

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232 comments to Friday Open Thread

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      Statistical data relating to Australia’s Covid-19 pandemic may be found on the Federal Government’s web sites at:
      https://www.health.gov.au/resources/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-at-a-glance-infographic-collection
      https://www.health.gov.au/resources/collections/covid-19-vaccination-daily-rollout-update
      and:
      https://apps.tga.gov.au/Prod/daen/daen-entry.aspx

      These show the Cases, Hospital Admissions, Intensive Care occupancy and Deaths attributed to the Covid-19 virus as from 05 April 2020, the Adverse Side Effects and Deaths resulting from the Covid-19 vaccination, which commenced on 21 February 2021, and the Vaccination rates from 08 April 2021 onwards.

      Prior to the vaccination program, there had been 909 deaths and 28,920 cases attributed to the Covid-19 virus by 20 February 2021. Within eight days of the start of the vaccination program, the first death attributed to the vaccine was recorded on 01 March 2021, along with 115 adverse reactions. Then followed a second death on 03 March 2021, two more deaths on 04 March and three more deaths on 05 March. By 06 April 2021, the adverse reactions reached a maximum of 1149 cases followed on 03 June 2021 by the maximum deaths per day of 15, part of a 9 day period 31 May to 08 June 2021 with 51 deaths. By comparison, there were 49 deaths from Covid-19 in the 176 day period 21 February to 15 August 2021 by which time the vax deaths had reached 474, a death rate from the vax of almost ten times the Covid-19 death rate for the same period.

      The Federal Health department is responsible for the National Immunisation Program throughout the Nation. It aims to increase national immunisation coverage to reduce the number of cases of diseases that are preventable by vaccination in Australia. They publish the
      Australian Immunisation Handbook and the, most recent, “Vaccine safety in Australia, AusVaxSafety summary report 2020″ amongst others. The 2020 Report states that “In 2021, AusVaxSafety plans to: ……start vaccine safety surveillance on all COVID-19 vaccines used in Australia …..”.They also run the ausvaxsafety.org.au web site which has a page: “COVID-19 vaccine safety data – All participants” that provides data in percentage form for various age groups and locations. There is no mention whatsoever of deaths from the vax, only a list of adverse reactions ending with the statement: “These symptoms are known to occur after vaccination. They are generally mild and short-lived.”, that is, a gross understatement of the situation.

      Normally drugs are withdrawn from use once they have been shown to cause somewhere between 25 and 50 deaths. By 12 April 2021, the total had reached 57 deaths with 8470 reported adverse reactions amongst those who survived the injection. As the Covid-19 vaccination was not a true vaccine but an experimental messenger RNA gene therapy, never before used successfully, the drug should have been withdrawn from use as a result of this data.

      Undeterred, the Federal and State Governments continued with a propaganda campaign to promote fear in the population and cause them to accept the large supply of the Covid-19 vaccines already on hand, claiming it would protect them from injury or death. This was in spite of the fact that deaths from the virus were rare events over the next six months with deaths from the injection exceeding the number of deaths from the virus.

      By 17 October 2021, the deaths from the virus eventually exceeded the 618 deaths from the injection, for the vaccination period. That is, the injection had been equally as lethal as the virus itself. Thereafter the infection numbers sky-rocketed to a maximum of 134 deaths in one day on 28 January 2022. This indicates that the vaccination program had been a complete failure as 49,398,801 doses had been administered by that date to 20,619,959 people, with 95% of the people over 16 years of age having had at least one doses, 93.2% being fully vaccinated.
      Further investigation in progress.

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        Thank you so much Bevan for referencing the official data. It is an indictment of the integrity of the mainstream media that they have not.

        It astonishes me that the professional medical class appear to be unaware and/or disinterested in the data. A retired GP ( &, I thought – a good one) was incredulous that I could believe that the vaccines would be released & advocated without safety data – yet he had made no personal attempt to find out.

        Another acquaintance recently confessed that he knew of 20 vaccine deaths in his own social circle. I must say I was staggered to hear that. He is vaccinated & was keen to know when I had determined not to be vaccinated – & what had persuaded me. It is so very sad.

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        Catherine

        as posted before and also posted by Brenda below:

        ‘5.3.6 CUMULATIVE ANALYSIS OF POST-AUTHORIZATION ADVERSE EVENT REPORTS OF PF-07302048 (BNT162B2) RECEIVED THROUGH 28-FEB-2021’

        Report Prepared by: Worldwide Safety Pfizer

        RESULTS
        3.1. Safety Database
        3.1.1. General Overview It is estimated that approximately…..(?) doses of BNT162b2 were shipped worldwide from the receipt of the first temporary authorisation for emergency supply on 01 December 2020 through 28 February 2021. Cumulatively, through 28 February 2021, there was a total of 42,086 case reports (25,379 medically confirmed and 16,707 non-medically confirmed) containing 158,893 events.
        —————-
        (some examples):

        – Cardiovascular AESIs Search criteria:
        PTs Acute myocardial infarction; Arrhythmia; Cardiac failure; Cardiac failure acute; Cardiogenic shock; Coronary artery disease; Myocardial infarction; Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome; Stress cardiomyopathy; Tachycardia
        • Number of cases: 1403 (3.3% of the total PM dataset), of which 241 are medically confirmed and 1162 are non-medically confirmed;

        – Immune-Mediated/Autoimmune AESIs Search criteria:
        Immune mediated/autoimmune disorders (SMQ) (Broad and Narrow) OR Autoimmune disorders HLGT (Primary Path) OR PTs Cytokine release syndrome; Cytokine storm; Hypersensitivity
        • Number of cases: 1050 (2.5 % of the total PM dataset), of which 760 medically confirmed and 290 non-medically confirmed;
        • Subjects’ age group (n=944): Adult (746), Elderly (196), Adolescent (2).
        • Number of relevant events: 1077, of which 780 serious, 297 non‑serious.
        • Most frequently reported relevant PTs (>10 occurrences): Hypersensitivity (596), Neuropathy peripheral (49), Pericarditis (32), Myocarditis (25), Dermatitis (24), Diabetes mellitus and Encephalitis (16 each), Psoriasis (14), Dermatitis Bullous (13), Autoimmune disorder and Raynaud’s phenomenon (11 each);
        • Relevant event onset latency (n = 807): Range from <24 hours to 30 days, median <24 hours.
        • Relevant event outcome : resolved/resolving (517), not resolved (215), fatal (12), resolved with sequelae (22) and unknown (312). Conclusion: This cumulative case review does not raise new safety issues.(?) Surveillance will continue
        • Number of relevant events: 1441, of which 946 serious, 495 non-serious; in the cases reporting relevant serious events;
        • Reported relevant PTs: Tachycardia (1098), Arrhythmia (102), Myocardial infarction (89), Cardiac failure (80), Acute myocardial infarction (41), Cardiac failure acute (11), Cardiogenic shock and Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (7 each) and Coronary artery disease (6);
        • Relevant event onset latency (n = 1209): Range from <24 hours to 21 days, median misinterpreted (???)

        2) Pfizer Reports Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year 2021 Results
        Risks Related to Our Business, Industry and Operations, and Business Development:

        ….. including the possibility of unfavorable new pre-clinical, clinical or safety data and further analyses of existing pre-clinical, clinical or safety data or further information regarding the quality of pre-clinical, clinical or safety data, including by audit or inspection; …..

        ———-

        Anyone know more about all of this? Could you call this a positive report?

        ——————
        ——————

        I do hope they look further into the use of Ivermectin:
        (as posted before)
        Published: 15 February 2017
        Ivermectin: enigmatic multifaceted ‘wonder’ drug continues to surprise and exceed expectations

        The future: new potential/new target diseases
        Ivermectin is already deployed to treat a variety of infections and diseases, most of which primarily afflict the world’s poor. But it is the new opportunities with respect to ivermectin usage, or re-purposing it to control a completely new range of diseases, that is generating interest and excitement in the scientific and global health research communities.

        Asthma

        Epilepsy

        Neurological disease

        Antiviral (e.g. HIV, dengue, encephalitis)

        Antibacterial (tuberculosis and Buruli ulcer)

        Anti-cancer

        ….

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        Gary S

        I think I would prefer to catch the commie cold.

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        Please just stop! You are clearly confusing causation with correlation, the same mistake climate scientists make. Most of the vaccine deaths you refer to are coincidental. 500 people die per day and some of them will have just have had a vaccine. If vaccines were as problematic as you claim then we would have seen an increase in all cause mortality.

        Is the efficacy of the vaccines less that big pharma claimed? Yes!

        Are serious side effects like myocarditis cause for concern in some age groups? Yes.

        Did big pharma and their governments lackies do some dogey dealings for profit? Hell yes.

        But we need to better than them and stick to empiricism. If you are emotional then you are going to suffer confirmation bias as see demons under the bed. If you compare CFR in the dodgy Dan wave to the delta wave then you see a 10fold reduction in mortality despite delta being more severe. That’s about 25k lives saved. Not to say adressing Vit D deficiency and correctly using antivirals couldn’t have had a similar effect.

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          Lucky

          “If vaccines were as problematic as you claim then we would have seen an increase in all cause mortality.”

          Exactly, there is such an increase:
          1. Insurance industry data from US and Germany show an increase in death above expectation in younger working age males not explained by other than vaccination profiles. Desperate attempts are being made to cover this up.
          2. Internationally, covid data show deaths in a pattern correlating with vaccination programs/schedules in almost every nation with large scale vaccination.

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        Further to my entry at #1.1 above, statistical analysis of the data has shown:
        Cross-correlation testing showed a maximum Pearson correlation for daily hospital admissions of 0.44 for a four day lag of admissions after the daily vaccination numbers. Independence test at this lag gave a Spearman Rank statistic of 0.54 giving a probability of independence of the order of 10^-26.

        Cross-correlation testing showed a maximum Pearson correlation for daily ICU numbers of 0.67 for a seven day lag after the daily vaccination numbers. Independence test at this lag gave a Spearman Rank statistic of 0.65 giving a probability of independence of the order of 10^-40.

        Cross-correlation testing showed a maximum Pearson correlation for daily deaths of 0.43 for a eight day lag of deaths after the daily vaccination numbers. Independence test at this lag gave a Spearman Rank statistic of 0.55 giving a probability of independence of the order of 10^-27.

        These results indicate that the vaccination could be the cause of the daily hospital admissions four days later followed three days later by the ICU occupancy followed one day thereafter by the daily deaths.

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      Mantaray Yunupingu

      Anyone know if Rod Marsh had a history of heart problems, or is he just another vaxed individual?

      BTW: Been recently talking to a pharmacologist (son of a friend). He has declined the gene-jabs, and that’s all I’ll say about that!

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    max

    ‘Madman Putin’: The Globalists’ Misinformation Play
    By Vasko Kohlmayer
    American Thinker
    March 3, 2022
    For years Putin had warned that inclusion of Ukraine in NATO was a red line for Russia. It should not be difficult to understand his position. It is not unreasonable for Russia to object to the presence of what it perceives to be a hostile military alliance on its border with a country that has historically been either part of Russia or within its sphere of influence. Russia does not want to allow such a threat to its security for similar reasons the United States would not allow Russia to build a military base in Cuba.

    In their drive to implement a New World Order, however, Western globalists have been dismissive of Russia’s security concerns. Russia continued its strenuous objections and warned that if they were not taken seriously, they would take the necessary action to keep Ukraine out of NATO. The last time Russia made this clear was in November of last year.

    https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/03/madman_putin_the_globalists_misinformation_play.html

    [Link added. – LVA]

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      Peter Franzmann

      Yes. All good reasons to invade another country and kill its men women and children. Give me a break!

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        John Connor II

        You haven’t seen the reports and footage of Ukrainian soldiers shooting their own citizens, women and children, who are trying to escape rather than be forced to fight to protect the corrupt Ukrainian government then?

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        max

        “The parallels between the 1999 war in Kosovo and Putin’s attack on Ukraine are not perfect, but they are eerily similar in some ways. Both involved the direct military intervention of a superpower, were motivated (or at least justified) by claims of needing to protect an ethnic enclave within a larger country, ignored the post-WWII norm that great powers do not use force to redraw national borders, and created a huge refugee crisis.”

        “And so why would we contradict the common narrative? Because our government lies, and the truth is important. Twenty years ago began the push to lie us into war with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. The most important aspect of it was the way they tried to controversialize critical thinking. Those who contradicted the received wisdom were accused of being “objectively pro-Saddam” and his government. But the critics were 100% right and the war party was lying the whole time. The lesson should have been that we will never let our government and media do that to us ever again. But it keeps happening.”

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        farmerbraun

        “Give me a break!”

        With an attitude and ignorance such as you have displayed, you do not deserve to be given the time of day.
        You would do well to do some research on how Putin was placed in this unenviable position.
        But I am sure that you won’t.

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        TdeF

        3,000 people had already died with the Ukranian government shelling their own citizens. That’s not a secret. Just a dirty war. And shells kill indiscriminately. Especially the report of little children killed by a Ukranian cluster bomb for which there is a memorial. When a democratically elected government takes to murder to enforce its right to rule, it has lost that right.

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        GlenM

        Yeah, yeah just follow the mob Peter Franzmann. Russians impaled babies on bayonets.

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      Mantaray Yunupingu

      max. I’m nopt terribly convinced by the “NATO on our borders” argument since NATO (Estonia,Latvia, Norway) is already on Russia’s borders, and several other NATO countries are very close.

      In the event of a NATO missile launch toward Russia, would the extra distance from say Turkey or Poland to Russia make any significant difference?

      Also, during the cold war, the USSR (means Russia) had heaps of it’s satellite states directly along NATO’s borders. Was Putin upset about this at the time, or did he think they gave the USSR a buffer?

      BTW: I do agree that there has been a lot of BS on this entire subject. Propaganda to “over-egg” the whole narrative.

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        In other words. Why now?

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          farmerbraun

          From another perspective . . . why wait ?

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            I would think, in the short term, once they were ready, they waited for the winter olympics to finish out of deference to the hosts. Why wait until now and not 5-8 years ago? Good question. Complex answer I bet.

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              el+gordo

              ‘Complex answer I bet.’

              They have been selling a lot of oil and gas to bolster their war chest, Putin is still living in the 20th century. I agree that Xi asked him to wait until after the winter Olympics.

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              RobB

              They invaded on the anniversary of the Maidan revolution, 22 February

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              farmerbraun

              How about an imminent Ukronazi attack on the Donbass.?
              A concentration of the enemy in one place where they can be easily surrounded and annihilated.
              A fat juicy target , ripe for the picking.

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        max

        he Eazy-Peazy Ukrainian Alternative – Partition

        by David Stockman Posted on March 03, 2022

        Indeed, a security guarantee deal with Russia was so easily available until the very 11th hour of the invasion that you can only conclude one thing: The neocon criminals and beltway lifers alike who surround Sleepy Joe truly did opt for Wag the Dog 2.0 to save his catastrophically failing presidency.

        But look where it has gotten us now. Things have become so desperate on the ground in Ukraine – contrary to MSM prattle about the heroic resistance of Ukraine’s unarmed civilian population – that Ukraine’s clown-car president has publicly requested Washington to establish a “no fly zone” over most of Ukraine.

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    max

    Vladimir Putin – ‘Empire of Lies’ Speech – Full – February 24, 2022
    By Alexandra Bruce
    It is a fact that over the past 30 years we have been patiently trying to come to an agreement with the leading NATO countries regarding the principles of equal and indivisible security in Europe. In response to our proposals, we invariably faced either cynical deception and lies or attempts at pressure and blackmail, while the North Atlantic alliance continued to expand despite our protests and concerns. Its military machine is moving and, as I said, is approaching our very border.

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      Forrest Gardener

      It really isn’t until people see the propaganda from both sides that they have any real chance to ascertain the objective truth and even then it can be extremely difficult.

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        Ian

        “It really isn’t until people see the propaganda from both sides that they have any real chance to ascertain the objective truth and even then it can be extremely difficult.”

        That’s a strange remark from you who routinely calls anyone who has a view different from with you a troll. Yet here you are advocating “people see propaganda from both sides”

        What a hypocrite you are.

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        Forrest Gardener

        Ooh. I triggered a troll.

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        max

        The History Behind the Russia-Ukraine War

        by Scott Horton Posted on March 03, 2022

        And so why would we contradict the common narrative? Because our government lies, and the truth is important. Twenty years ago began the push to lie us into war with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. The most important aspect of it was the way they tried to controversialize critical thinking. Those who contradicted the received wisdom were accused of being “objectively pro-Saddam” and his government. But the critics were 100% right and the war party was lying the whole time. The lesson should have been that we will never let our government and media do that to us ever again. But it keeps happening.

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          Mantaray Yunupingu

          Max. I’m still unconvinced by the “WMDs did not exist in Iraq” conclusion, since we know Saddam did have nerve gas etc. However…

          I’m very surprised that the CIA did not invent WMDs once the US had control of Iraq if they did not exist.. I suppose this means I think the CIA and US military are lying most of the time…in both directions!

          I suspect the WMDs were found, and then the deliverers and receivers traced . While THEY were high-fiving at how “inept” the yanks were / are, the drones and hitmen were on the prowl: that unexplained gas explosion in Hamburg Apartment: that single car crash in Marseilles: that fall down the stairs in Casablanca etc etc…..and NO furthjer attacks on the US. Hmmm?

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            Annie

            Weren’t there rumours of a couple of ships being scuttled in the Arabian Gulf? If it happened, why? What was on board?

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      John Connor II

      I posted that video link and the associated image yesterday.
      Everyone should watch it!
      The vast majority of msm reporting is fraudulent just like for Covid…

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    max

    World No.2 Novak Djokovic looks set to be able to compete and defend his Roland Garros title after the government’s backflip on vaccinated athletes.

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      Mantaray Yunupingu

      I’m 100% against guys like Novak being allowed into Australia since “ScoMo and The Karens” (this rock-band title is now copyright) have told us what a bad character he has.

      Meanwhile, serial spouse basher Alex Zverev (recent world #3) should be allowed…AS USUAL, AS IN JANUARY…into Australia where ScoMo and The Karens can applaud him wildly as a fine example to us all. As Alex’s recent bashing of an umpire in the Mexican Open shows, ScoMo and his camp-followers really know an honourable bloke when they see one, eh?

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    max

    The price of Australian thermal coal has skyrocketed by US$99, or 33 percent, in one day as countries traditionally reliant on Russian coal scramble to secure alternative sources.

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    max

    If most of Russia’s oil exports are cut off, there could be a 5 mn b/d or larger shortfall even if there is some offset from the release of strategic reserves and some increase in OPEC exports. That means oil prices could double from $100/bbl to $200/bbl.”

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    max

    What Does 7.5% Inflation Mean? The Rule of 72 Can Show You
    The rule of 72 helps us understand why the concern Americans are feeling over inflation is warranted.

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    Forrest Gardener

    What can you say about people who will tolerate anything except a contrary opinion

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-03/stan-grant-tells-audience-member-to-leave-qanda/100880520

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      Honk R Smith

      That they lack confidence?

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        PeterS

        No, the MSM and the government has too much confidence to the point of being arrogant and authoritarian. The host states we can’t have the conversion. End of discussion. The really sad part about all this is the voters will very likely continue to support this nonsense at the next federal election.

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      Ian

      What can you say about people who will tolerate anything except a contrary opinion

      You can say “Yet another hypocrite following their leader the arch hypocrite Forrest Gardener”

      BTW you either forgot the question mark or didn’t know one was needed.

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        TdeF

        Why join a conversation if your only contribution is personal abuse?

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          Ian

          “Why join a conversation if your only contribution is personal abuse?”

          Because TdeF I am responding in kind to Forrest Gardener who on every occasion I or Gee Aye post a comment routinely calls us trolls presumably because we often have views different from his or indeed different from many here

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            farmerbraun

            ” presumably because”

            I suggest that you presume wrongly.
            Contrary opinions do not a troll make.

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              Ian

              “Contrary opinions do not a troll make.”

              Precisely. It would be good if you told Forrest Gardener that as I have given him that definition on several occasions but to no avail

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            TdeF

            Then just express your views and do not just abuse people. Let others decide who is right.

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        TedM

        Or they troll this blog.

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      Forrest Gardener

      Ooh. The troll is triggered again.

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      max

      by Scott Horton Posted on March 03, 2022

      And so why would we contradict the common narrative? Because our government lies, and the truth is important. Twenty years ago began the push to lie us into war with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. The most important aspect of it was the way they tried to controversialize critical thinking. Those who contradicted the received wisdom were accused of being “objectively pro-Saddam” and his government. But the critics were 100% right and the war party was lying the whole time. The lesson should have been that we will never let our government and media do that to us ever again. But it keeps happening.

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      PeterS

      The host says “we can’t have the conversion”. In other words, shut up, don’t ask the hard questions and listen to what the MSM is saying. So much for free speech. It’s now dead.

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      GlenM

      Stan has been under his sun lamp again.

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    RickWill

    Thermal coal price has hit an all time high cracking AUD600/tonne at close on Thursday. That will supercharge Australia’s current account.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/australian-coal-and-gas-prices-soar-as-europe-scrambles-for-fuel-20220303-p5a1dp.html

    The mines in Queensland have missed the serious wet. The NSW mines appear to be OK as well.

    Imagine if there was a woke Labor government in Canberra charging toward Net Zero and shutting down Australian coal mines.

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      Graeme No.3

      RickWill:
      Do the powerstations pay the Spot Price for coal? This jump could see a number shutting down abruptly OR ELSE!

      Wheat prices are up too. Russia’s delivery of grain is down by 60% but they are unlikely to be losing much.
      And gas prices have skyrocketed and Russia is still being paid for delivery (special exemption by EU/Germany etc.) They’re probably making enough to not need Nord Stream2. The easiest way for Germany (and the stupid UK Govt.) to lower the price of gas would be to allow NordStream 2 to start up, but “nose meet scissors”.

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        RickWill

        Do the powerstations pay the Spot Price for coal?

        Not in immediately in Australia and not exports with term contracts. I do not know the split between spot and long-term contracts. Generally there is an increasing tendency to have some exposure to spot price but I have no idea how much.

        The power stations in Australia have close linkage to the mines. They may have internal pricing based on spot prices and that creates a basis for higher profits by selling electricity based on spot price if the market can bear it. The increase in coal price reflects a broad increase in energy costs.

        I do not know how Australian electricity prices respond to international thermal coal spot price. Generally gas or wind sets the wholesale electricity price in Australia and the coal plants just push prices just below gas power prices during periods of peak demand.

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    Brenda Spence

    Release of Pfizer trial data (sorry if this has been posted already)

    1223 people die in 90 days of trial! Pg 8 summary.

    https://newsrescue.com/1200-deaths-in-90-days-pfizer-safety-data-released-under-judge-foia-enforcement-and-its-not-good-expert-video-review/

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      Mantaray Yunupingu

      Brenda Spence: We already know all this. That’s why we “non-brain-damaged-by-gene-jabs” are declining to be culled, isn’t it?

      All these reports and studies kinda remind me of, say, dissidents in the USSR etc trying to tell people that everything they’d been hearing and seeing was BS: the Commies were NOT light-years ahead of the capitalist exploiters.

      Them that knows the truth need no further convincing. Those who got jabbed are now suffering dementia. End of story!

      [Please, can people making big claims use evidence, write carefully. Limit hyperbole. -Jo]

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        Mantaray Yunupingu

        Jo. As they say….”a definite diagnosis of Vascular dementia can only be made by examining the brain after death.”

        Thus we are left with observation of symptoms and signs, followed by D-Dimer tests if these appear, followed by CTs and MRIs.

        OK, the symptoms and signs are everywhere. The lack of rationality and logic is so apparent in 99.99% of the gene-jabbed that MANDATORY D-Dimers etc would be better “forced medical procedures” than the gene-jabs…BY FAR.

        Here’s a very recent example: “the New South Wales State Emergency Service is calling for volunteers to urgently help fill sandbags to fight flooding on the Central Coast…

        T<strong>hey must be able to shovel sand, be fully vaccinated and willing to do a Rapid Antigen Test on arrival at the Erina meeting site.

        The Central Coast has received 140 millimetres of rain in just four hours.”

        All those involved in this have lost their minds, or what? To be so inanely stupid and unreasoning is the very definition of demented. PLUS, the well-known “I’ve had three shots which don’t work, so getting another half dozen is the go” definition of insanity…

        Bearing in mind that we actually know they’ve all been injected with a mind-bending substance, why do we need to investigate further? their minds ARE bent, are they not?

        BTW: The recipients of the filled sandbags do NOT need to be jabbed. Virus knows which way it’s going, eh what?

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          Lucky

          “The recipients of the filled sandbags do NOT need to be jabbed.”

          The noble-minded who are doing-the-right-thing are sacrificing themselves in the interests of TheScienceDeniers. Here, in the far west, Mark McMake-Us-Safe would not tolerate such slackness.

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    You know, none of this is important any more, but hey, I just keep on looking at this ‘stuff’, because, it ACTUALLY is important.

    At the end of February (the end of Summer) power consumption across the AEMO coverage area, (all of Australia except WA) shows this when it comes to power consumption during the last year by State:

    New South Wales – 35.2%
    Queensland – 29.3%
    Victoria – 22.8%
    South Australia – 6.7%
    Tasmania – 5.5%

    Okay, now some of you with a keen eye for numbers will see that adds up to just 99.5% ….. power consumption.

    The other half a percent is made up of battery charging and pumped hydro, and with the pumped hydro, the emphasis here is on the PUMPS, this being what is used to get the water back ‘up the hill’ to the top water holding facility.

    Now half a percent actually seems all but insignificant, but here, keep in mind that this is 205TWH of overall power consumption, so half a percent of that is 1025GWH, enough power to supply around 150,000 homes. (on that year round basis)(and using that completely spurious comparison)

    That half a percent is actually interesting really. It’s made up of 0.4% to the pumps, and 0.08% for battery charging.

    Zero point zero eight of one percent for battery charging….. Now imagine how many huge batteries you are going to need to even consider replacing coal fired power’s 63%, and for every battery you need an equal source of ACTUAL power generation to charge the battery, well, almost 110% extra taking into account the losses. And hey, if you have to construct a power source PLUS the battery, why not just construct the power source only, because you either use the power as it is generated or use the power to charge the battery. (losing some of the power on the way to doing that) You can’t do both.

    Similarly the case for pumped hydro and its losses. It isn’t a power generation source. It’s a nett consumer of power. It (pumped hydro) makes up only 5% of ALL Hydro power. It’s only real use is as a money generator. They consume power at the lowest cost charge rate to pump the water up the hill, and then sell it at Peak power time, at double the rate, again losing some of the power in losses. So let that be a good indicator of Snowy 2.0.

    As to the State by State consumption, perhaps there might (you know, just ….. might) be an indicator there about something or other.

    The three States with the largest power consumption (far and away when compared to SthAus and Tassie) are (umm, coincidentally) the three States with coal fired power.

    Huge power consumption means having a source of supply actually able to deliver huge amounts of power ….. eh!

    Tony.

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      Oh I forgot something here.

      In the same manner as pumped hydro buys the power to pump the water up the hill for as cheap as it can get and then sells it for the most it can get, umm, at the usual 6PM Peak power time of each and every day, then the batteries do exactly the same thing. They buy the (charging) power for as cheap as they can and then sell it at Peak for as much as they can get ….. almost four times as much in fact. They consume 0.8% of ALL power to charge the batteries, and sell 0.7% of power, so the losses are 0.1%, or 36GWH a year, enough to power 5200homes.

      Tony,

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        Graeme No.3

        Well put Tony.

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        Forrest Gardener

        Yes. Arbitrage machines. Even if they have an auxilliary purpose it is only the arbitrage which gets them built.

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        Ross

        Then stupidity upon stupidity – the state governments, where those batteries are constructed, subsidise or directly pay for their construction. The energy companies – money for jam!

        50

      • #
        Mantaray Yunupingu

        TonyfromOz. I’ve discussed Snowy 2.0 a number of times. As I understand it the “up-pumping” from the low Talbingo / Blowering Reservoir to the high Tantangara Reservoir will be “free” or almost so, as it will utilize excess renewable electricity during the day, which would otherwise be unused / wasted completely. However…i

        if EVs ever get a foothold in Oz, there will be NO EXCESS renewable electricity as the mid-day power will be charging EVs while owners are at work, or at home watching TV.

        Something not being discussed is that the water in the SMH reservoirs is supposed to be for irrigation mainly (some town water supply too) but that will be lost by the constant up-pumping / storage in the open air lakes / downhill releasing.

        Snowy2.0 is a serious dud….especially with the various fractured rock issues (AND Asbestos deposits) they are encountering… necessitating sealing of the tunnel walls and ceilings etc! Cost blowout unlimited!

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      Ronin

      What happens if there isn’t sufficient ‘spare’ power at recharging time, rolling blackouts at peak hour, that’s what.

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      Whilst i agree the batteries are a big mistake other than for generating profits for their owners,….
      …a cannot agree that Pumped Hydro os a similar “money leach”.
      When used as designed with coal or Nuclear generators, and because og their relatively huge ( compared to batteries) storage capacities,…they can act to smooth demand by adsorbing excess power during periods of low consumption ( nights etc) and then boost supply significantly for peak periods.
      This allows the coal / Nuclear plants to operate at constant output levels and maximise efficiency and minimise operating costs.
      Pumped hydro is in a completely different class to battery storage ..ie
      Big battery <> 100GWh
      Further , a practical PH installation can “charge” and discharge at 2+ GW rate ….much more than any current battery installation.

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      • #
        Mantaray Yunupingu

        This all depends on there being very cheap electricity off-peak, to pump the water up the mountain each time it’s released down the mountain.

        Will there be any cheap electricity if there are millions of EVs charging off-peak eventually?

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        Don’t get me wrong here with Pumped Hydro, just that in 90% of the time, when it is used as at the evening Peak, it adds just the tiniest amount to the total generated power required absolutely at that time, when power costs its absolute most. Then (and you can watch it on the daily Load Curve) they consume power for the Pumps to pump the water back up the hill when power is at its cheapest. If used at that evening peak it’s quite rare, and again, you can also watch that on that daily Load Curve. On some occasions, one maybe two Units will be delivering power, so it’s not a big thing. All I am saying here is Pumped Hydro already in use is all but insignificant in the overall power consumption.

        However, when, on those rare occasions one of those large coal fired Unit has a problem, and shuts down, almost in an instant, within seconds sometimes, you can see Hydro coming to the (absolute immediate) rescue. You can watch, again isolating it out on the daily Load Curves as (a) two, sometimes even three of those Tumut Three pumped hydro Units come on line, running up in seconds, and (b) one, two or three of the big Units at the Murray Hydro (also part of the Snowy Scheme) also run up, also delivering their replacement power.

        At the same time, open cycle gas turbines also run up, and when these reach their power delivery over a little longer time frame than the hydro Units, then you can watch as those Pumped hydro and Murray Units wind back down. Sometimes those hydro units are only on line for fifteen minutes to half an hour, just enough to make up the instantaneous lost power.

        And as to smoothing output to allow coal fired plants to operate at constant levels, here in Australia, coal fired power ramps up and down by 3500MW to 4000MW ….. EVERY SINGLE DAY, ramping down in three hours, and then ramping back up for the evening Peak, and then ramping back down to the overnight Base Load minimum point for the day, before ramping back up again for the next Morning Peak, each and every day. Up twice a day, and down twice a day.

        And as to their use, that pumped hydro percentage of 0.8% could also be used as a time indicator, telling us pumped hydro is again, insignificant.

        Tony.

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          here in Australia, coal fired power ramps up and down by 3500MW to 4000MW ….. EVERY SINGLE DAY, ramping down in three hours, and then ramping back up for the evening Peak, and then ramping back down to the overnight Base Load minimum point for the day, before ramping back up again for the next Morning Peak, each and every day. Up twice a day, and down twice a day.

          Yes, but that is not efficient ,..operating a plant at part capacity is not cost effective and exactly what a correctly utilised PH facility should prevent.
          Power you dont produce from available facilities, is power wasted.
          Maybe there just is not enough PH in Australia to function effectively. ?
          Currently the Wind/solat plants are the “prioritised tail” wagging the coal plant dog !

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            I should also clarify,.. ..
            On a coal/ nuclear powered grid, PH can significantly increase the generatores CF to near maximum if correctly planned.
            But on a Wind/solar prioritised grid , PH will do NOTHING to improve the CF of wind or solar !

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      Graeme#4

      I realise that I’m being lazy Tony, but what’s the average power consumption of the National Grid, say over a year? Around 5MW?

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    John Connor II

    The END of ATMs in Australia? Thousands of cash machines are removed across the country as banks go digital

    As Australian banks continue to focus on digital transactions for customers, ATMs and bank branches are disappearing across the country, according to new data.
    The analysis revealed close to 460 bank branches have shut down across the nation in recent years, and dating back to 2020, approximately 3800 previously active ATMs have been removed.
    NSW alone now has 140 fewer in-store banks, and almost 300 suburbs don’t have a singular ATM to withdraw cash.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10561999/The-END-ATMS-Australia-Thousands-cash-machines-removed-banks-digital.html

    ..and then a fibreoptic cable gets cut or the power goes off or a cyberattack hits and everything stops..dead..
    Got cash, no problem.
    Government: ve vill control you regardless of vot you vant.

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      And in a cashless society your Digital ID is your social credit score. The unvaccinated can’t pay for restaurants, alcohol, concert tickets and have a %1.5 levy on all health care costs…

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        John Connor II

        Which is why this agenda should never be allowed to continue…
        Imagine if Australia became China.

        I don’t go to pubs, clubs, restaurants, cinemas, concerts, casinos etc so a “social credit score” is somwhat academic to us hermits 😆

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          Ian

          Imagine if they decided that high sugar content foods could not be purchased by the obese.

          Wouldn’t that clog up the checkouts, “the computer says no”.

          If not sugary foods, then what about the newspapers or the fuel volume purchased exceeding your yearly limit.

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            Bozotheclown

            So you are on to it then. Is it your conspiracy or mine?

            How about your internet access? Will they limit that too?

            Funny thing about cash is that I stop working when there is no cash. I think a lot of other people feel the same. Strippers as one example.

            Let’s see how that works out in the end.

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        David Maddison

        A fully digital currency will also enable full control over what you buy. E.g. you might be rationed to 1 ounce / 28g of meat per month in order to “save the planet” and more than that and your transaction will be rejected, but the UN is pushing insect protein and you will be advised you can buy 1 kg / 2.2 pounds of cockroaches instead, or your fuel purchases will be restricted etc..

        It doesn’t matter which party is in power, in Australia it’s a choice between the socialist ALP or socialist-infiltrated Liberals, they both badlu want this.

        Both parties see freedom of choice, free speech and democracy as a problem.

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        Ian George

        Another drawback of a cashless society is what happened in Canada where people who donated to the truckers had their accounts frozen. So many ways to control people it’s scary.
        Another aspect of closing down ATMs is that the few that are left can charge a huge transaction fee. Enjoy the decline, folks.

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        David Maddison

        It is inevitable that a cashless society will come as it’s the best way for the Left and the Left-infiltrated “conservative” parties to exercise control.

        It is therefore critically important that freedom-loving people develop some sort of currency for trade. It should be based on a physical artefact, not a crypto currency because that could be wiped out by government controls as well.

        Coinage based on precious metals looks attractive. Coin clipping could be controlled by low cost digital scales available cheaply now, you could weigh coinage before accepting it. If you were suspicious about alloy content you could also measure the dimensions of a coin with inexpensive digital vernier calipers and dimensions and volume will give you density to confirm correct alloy composition. I’m sure other anti-counterfeiting measures would be possible as well.

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        GreatAuntJanet

        Today Qld goes maskless (mostly), but the rest of the repression and division continues. No more health briefings (presumably numbers of deaths and hospitalisations are low) and there is plenty of data (as analysed by Dr John Campbell daily) on the much better effect of natural immunity over the vaccinated, and the health lords are STILL not advising people to get their Vit D levels up.

        From Qld.gov.au today:

        Unvaccinated people are not permitted to:

        visit vulnerable settings, including hospitals, residential aged care, disability accommodation services, and prisons. This does not apply to residents and patients of these facilities, and there will be some exceptions for medical treatment, end-of-life visits, childbirth and emergency situations
        attend hospitality venues such as hotels, pubs, clubs, taverns, bars, restaurants or cafes
        attend indoor entertainment venues such as nightclubs, live music venues, karaoke bars, concerts, theatres or cinemas
        attend outdoor entertainment activities such as sporting stadiums, theme parks or tourism experience like reef excursions
        attend festivals – either indoor or outdoor – such as musical festivals, folk festivals or arts festivals
        attend Queensland Government owned galleries, museums or libraries.

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          b.nice

          Is all this to prevent the triple vaxxinated from catching Covid ?
          It really doesn’t make any sense at all.
          Almost an admission that they know the vaxxes don’t work.

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      yarpos

      Our local town lost 2 banks and their related ATMs. One was replaced by a 3rd party ATM, probably viable as its a tourist region. At the moment if i want cash , i cash out at a supermarket. I think the post office is an option also.

      I thought APost would get into banking as postal services do in parts of Europe. Not sure how many would trust them here as the arent seen by many as a beacon of competence.

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        Annie

        The remaining bank has vastly shortened opening hours; not so good if one is not an early bird! Also, the mail box at the PO isn’t necessarily freshly sorted at that time so it entails a longer stay in town if one wishes to see the nice staff in the bank AND wait for the mail to be ready. Can’t have lunch in a café while waiting if one is a member of the great ‘unwashed’ unvaxxed.
        I don’t suppose our wondrous ‘leader’ cares about such things.

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      Mantaray Yunupingu

      John Connor II. Had a great time 5 years ago during Cyclone Debbie. Getting petrol was OK as a couple of servos had generators for the pumps, but cash was king for almost everything….including paying for the petrol.

      Anyone willing to sell me their valuables for cheap, got some of MY cash, and could then survive another few days: maybe even their loved ones too…maybe.

      The rest of ’em? Stuff THEM: black marketeers and profiteering rules, OK? Learned that “Stairway to true Heaven” at the Young Global Leaders School I attended with Klaus Schwab, Justin and Jacinda, dude. Bring it on!

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      Chris

      This is happening in West Australia also. Our small suburb had four banks and two extra ATM’s three years ago. The banks have closed and the last ATM has just been removed. If you want a bit cash you have to get it from Coles or drive the seven kilometres to the next big suburb.

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    Ronin

    Russians shelling Enerhodar nuclear power station, Europes largest supplying 25% of Ukraines power, umm , that might not end well.

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      Someone will find a “report” showing that it is actually Americans so that the Ukranians can blame it on Russia.

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      KP

      Just an admin building full of Uke Army soldiers. I’m sure they’re accurate enough to hit a building and not a reactor. All the power stations will be targets for takeovers.

      https://twitter.com/BNONews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

      Webcam footage shows building on fire at Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant as fighting continues

      BREAKING: Background radiation remains at normal levels at nuclear power plant where fighting is underway, spokesman says –

      RIA/REUBREAKING: Firefighters gain access to nuclear power plant in Ukraine, where an administrative building is on fire –

      BREAKING: U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham calls for President Putin’s assassination

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      David-of-Cooyal-in-Oz

      G’day R,
      According to our ABC, that power station has been taken by the Russians, safely. The ABC link, timed about 7 pm Sydney time, is above at:
      https://joannenova.com.au/2022/03/friday-open-thread-9/#comment-2525540
      Cheers
      Dave B

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  • #

    More of my simple engineering:

    Why “cheap” solar increases the price of power

    https://www.cfact.org/2022/03/03/why-cheap-solar-increases-the-price-of-power/

    When you hear that solar is the lowest cost power, that is a fallacy at grid scale. The cost of solar (and wind) includes the cost of backup capacity, which is not included in the standard accounting.

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      Ronin

      Not only backup during times of shortage but voltage, frequency and reactance supplementation, in effect a shadow generation system is needed to keep unreliables going.

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      Graeme#4

      More than that. Alarmists in Australia tend to quote Lazard or the CSIRO report, both of which seem to use 30-year lifetimes, claim that wind and solar will last the 30 years, and don’t appear to take the lower renewables CFs into account. When the longer lifetimes of coal, gas and nuclear power, plus their far better CFs, are included, then even without firming/backup, solar and wind are twice as expensive as coal, gas and nuclear. Add even basic firming/backup and the cost of renewables climbs even more, up into the “forget it” area.

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    John Connor II

    Looking at a range of agri data and sources like KPMG we’re looking at a 20-30% price hike in food for 2022.
    Those projections were pre “invasion” so it’ll be worse. Of course energy will jump across the board too, especially oil which of course affects not just the cost to fill your Prado or Landcruiser (sell now!) but manufacturing and shipping and the rrp of goods which in turn results in reduced consumer affordability leads to reduced sales which leads to business cutbacks..and so on.

    With mortgage stress hitting way too many here in Oz already it’s not hard to see what’s coming, as I’ve said.

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    Hi… just a shout out to anyone (Peter C?) who has contact with Keith. He was last on here Feb 21st. It is not like him to stay silent for so long.

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    • #
      Annie

      I’m sure he was around more recently but I can’t remember where.

      50

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      Graeme#4

      Think it’s the same Keith that regularly contributes comments to The Australian on climate-related articles.

      20

    • #
      Kalm Keith

      Gee Aye,

      Thanks for the concern but I became a bit discouraged and took a break.

      This is a great blog and Jo puts an extraordinary amount of skill and effort into running it but it started to grow on me that the world is just too complicated for us to solve its problems.

      Too many areas of science have been weaponised for use by the power hungry in society, and while the truth is there it is hidden so that politicians can use the new science to beat us with.

      On top of those three issues we now have experienced two years of a fourth pseudo science based control mechanism that is a multi faceted joy for the FizerBidoFauccis.

      “They” are winning, and we aren’t.

      KK

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        el+gordo

        What has happened to Clarence? His absence from tutorials is a worrying trend.

        30

        • #
          Kalm Keith

          Don’t know.

          He seemed to be very aware in the area of behaviour of atoms in the atmosphere.

          Maybe he got bored with Covid and the Ukraine?

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          • #
            b.nice

            Read some of his posts before and after Christmas, before I decided to join in.
            He certainly seemed to know his stuff in that area.
            Maybe something to do with most universities being back face to face?

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            robert rosicka

            Yes KK and Clarence are well worth the read , don’t give up KK .

            30

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        David-of-Cooyal-in-Oz

        G’day KK,
        Glad you’re Ok.

        I’ve had similar thoughts about the situation we’re in, also hoped that normal science would establish, and quite quickly, that the CAGW as it was then was a flawed theory and would be publicly refuted.
        Didn’t happen.
        And I was slow to accept the extent of the scam and global control of the media and governance. Including the COVID-19 manipulations.
        But I’m a bit of an optimist and hoped there was, and is, a way to turn the tide. I’d hoped Reiner Fuelmich’s work was the solution, and it still might be effective. He named the big nasty as Mr Global (others have used different names), but that triggered in me the hope that there might be a namesake somewhere to take a slingshot to this manifestation of Goliath.
        And now I’m wondering if the David could be Mr P, trained by Mr Global, but who recognised the threat to his tribe, owns an updated slingshot, and is saying “No”. Quite loudly.

        Could I be right? I live in hope.

        Keep well.

        Dave B

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          Kalm Keith

          Thanks Robert and Dave for the thoughts but, no dramas.

          The fact that three important areas of science have been turned into vehicles for propaganda and science is very disturbing and discouraging.

          Man Made Global Warming And Death by incineration due to CO2 levels is first.

          Then the ignoring of the science behind the “gay” issue and abuse of the LGBTQIR meme to promote a conflicted community.

          Third, the concept behind diabetes type 2 is hidden from view.

          Interestingly it was the discovery, post WW11, of the passing of the mother’s current insulin setting to the developing baby which led to the discovery of how mixed gender problems occur.

          My understanding of the biology behind COVID19 is way behind the understanding I have of those top three issues, but the overview of the thing is very dodgy and reeks of control and money making.

          The truth is there, if only we could hone in on it and highlight the truth.

          KK

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        Good to hear from you KK. Stay well.

        20

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          Kalm+Keith

          I hope to be back in Canberra soon for the FPCFF, mid April.
          No international stars listed but who knows, usually something surprises.

          00

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    John Connor II

    No sympathy at all…

    A sexual predator who faced over 15,000 years in prison for 865 counts of child rape was pleasantly surprised when he received a much shorter sentence. However, even though he could have been released after serving the minimum, his fellow inmates made sure that won’t ever happen.

    https://taphaps.com/garrick-landon-bloom-inmates-5/

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      Ian

      When I was a lad, you would have had to calculate the surface area of the rectangle as it passed within 1Au of a 1000 solar mass black hole event horizon. Hint, you don’t have to work out the radius of the event horizon before jumping at the distortion due to gravity, (your ruler is also affected by the same gravity distortion).

      21

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      Graeme#4

      A great image. As an occasional technical trainer, I’m often amused when my students pull out their phones/calculators for the most trivial calculations, so I just tell them the answer before they have time to work it out. And as for formula transpositions…

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    • #
      KP

      Pretty accurate- If Russia fk this up they will cease to exist in a decade or two. The Yanks won’t stop trying to destroy them, they will up the force used by pushing NATO onto it while using the UN to neutralise any Russian allies.

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  • #
    John Connor II

    This is pretty cool. A “shopping list” from the 1920’s. Actually, it’s very cool!
    I want (the modern equivalent of) one.
    A similar smartphone app would be a killer.

    https://64.media.tumblr.com/fce1484cde04d021e036448d60f6a743/0416a834c4ca6be5-fd/s1280x1920/4ed9f252601de5beec6e1061ea997aba7cb459be.jpg

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    John Connor II

    Thought for the day:

    I wonder why there are no women transitioning to men so they can compete in men’s sports?

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      TdeF

      Why not a separate team for LGTIBQ+WTF? That’s just too many letters. So why not just call it Confused or Other.
      And why restrict it to biological humans at all? Isn’t that specist? A crocodile or hippo in the pool would add to the motivation and
      world records would fall.

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      Geoffrey Williams

      They don’t have the ‘b*lls’ thats why . .

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        TdeF

        After a long fight for women to be recognized as sportspeople at all and get the right to their own competition, men are destroying the women only competition by claiming womens’ rights. And sports administrators do not have a problem with this? How long before men are playing in the AFLW?

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          PeterS

          It’s just one facet of a decaying society. If women really cared about it they would boycott all sports that allowed that sort of mixing of genders. Decay creep used to be subtle but it’s now gone beyond that point and it’s so obvious one would have to be as blind as a bat not to see it.

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          Mantaray Yunupingu

          TdeF. An aged female relative of mine, who played various chick sports in her younger days will not watch women’s sports as they are “too slow” (the women). And that’s all I have to say on this.

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    John Connor II

    WikiSpooks: Russian invasion of Ukraine

    Since the end of the Cold War NATO is getting closer to Russia known as the encirclement of Russia. Russian president Vladimir Putin escalated talks with ultimatums to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO in 2021, but invaded when Russia’s demands were not met.

    https://wikispooks.com/wiki/2022_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine

    A good informative article.

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    • #

      Russia has no right to dictate what Ukraine or nato should or should not do.
      Putin is paranoid agressor and does not understand the concept of peaceful defence .

      05

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    John Connor II

    Did you know?

    Octopuses enter a dementia-like state after breeding, forget what happened

    After octopuses breed, they develop dementia. They then live the rest of their lives in this confused, seemingly lost state, with apparently no knowledge of previous events.

    Then move into American politics 😅😅

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    • #
      Ian

      Or wake up in parliament house after a blinder and looking down the barrel of being sacked??

      Asking for a friend.

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    • #
      Simon Thompson

      Or with certain Green polititians, the male Octopus pulls of his penis and throws it in the direction of the female Octopus- I saw it on Sea Patrol!

      20

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      Chris

      That’s really sad. Octopi are very intelligent, they quickly learn that a tunnel in a maze which has a ‘stop’ sign does not have any food at the end. Arrows point the direction they need to go, and stars and asterisks mean food. They have been known to leave their tanks in laboratories and move around to other tanks that contain fish, remove the lid and help themselves to a late night snack.

      As they don’t take on any parenting roles, I can only conclude that human parental advice was true – sex rots your brains.

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    John Connor II

    Jo – would it be possible for you run polls on various topics?

    It would be informative to get some numbers on Zeitgeist issues.

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    • #

      they’d all be 100:3

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        John Connor II

        Given that the people in this blog are generally “on the same page and same mindset” that might seem to be the case, and that potential objection had occurred to me but the choice of topic is key.
        For example:
        Would you dump your favourite political party based on what you now know about the NWO/vaccines?
        If you had adverse reactions post vax would you take another?
        Would you let your prepubescent child decide their own gender and even allow reassignment surgery?
        How many of you have blacklisted chinese products to support climate change?
        (Yeah I know – 0 😆)
        Lots of thought provoking topical issues…

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        • #

          I’ll give this a go, John.

          1. Dump past voting preference? Yep – will happen in Australia in May. Can’t wait.
          2. Am unvaccinated & have resisted all coercion.
          3. Reassignment of gender of child? Only in my nightmares.
          4. Blacklisted Chinese products? Absolutely! Husband causes quite a stir in hardware stores by requesting non Chinese products. Hasn’t been arrested so far. Just bought new US brand tractor.

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            Brenda Spence

            Ditto here Vicki, to all 4!

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            PeterS

            I do hope point 1. comes to pass but I remain sceptical. We just have to wait and see. My dream is that neither major party wins and one of them (I don’t care which as they are on the same page on many issues today) has to negotiate good deals with the minor parties to form government. Actually, my real dream is both major parties are extinguished but that’s not going to happen.

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              KP

              Sadly, that makes it worse! Look at NZ, a complete basket-case where minor parties decide which major party gets in power in exchange for powerful positions in Cabinet and the adoption of policies so outlandish no-one would ever expect them to occur.

              The tail wags the dog with minor parties taking power. Democracy is a failed experiment, but no more people realise that than can see Covid was a man-made disaster, not a pandemic.

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            Blacklisted Chinese products? Absolutely! Husband causes quite a stir in hardware stores by requesting non Chinese products. Hasn’t been arrested so far. Just bought new US brand tractor.

            Hmm ?…should have gone with the Japanese one instead of US ! 🚜🚜

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        • #

          an example-

          Would you dump your favourite political party based on what you now know about the NWO/vaccines?

          No 100
          Yes 0

          They’ve already moved to a party that aligns with their view on that so wont dump it.

          rewrite

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      • #

        I reckon the Ukraine issue will throw up generalised divisions in opinion.

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          PeterS

          Sure will, just as the COVID-19 and climate change issues has already. It’s all part of the plan – divide and conquer. Given enough such polarising issues our governments will have made their task of subjugating the people very easy. There is an opportunity to stop the rot at the ballot box but I fear it’s already too late as too many people have already drunk the Kool-Aid.

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    John Connor II

    Meanwhile in Italy..

    https://twitter.com/VigilantFox/status/1498732589292605446?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

    I had a business deal a bit over a year ago and good old Covid came up in conversation.
    I said “You know..I was hoping to get through life without experiencing the attrocities of the past but it doesn’t look like I will”

    Yep…’fraid so…

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      PeterS

      The atrocities of the past are nothing compared to what is going to happen in the future as governments become more and more desperate. One must be blind not to see it coming.

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      OldOzzie

      At this moment in time, there are only three power blocks of any consequence in the world; China, Russia and America. China is walking a tightrope between allowing a limited form of capitalism to make it prosperous while at the same time keeping a strict Soviet style grip on its population. Russia is a populist dictatorship which is definitely over the fall of the USSR and is back big time. America is being run by an incompetent shadowy cabal with their hand up the ass of a senile puppet president. Get offended if you want but the reality is everyone else is merely a spear carrier on the world’s geo-political stage.

      Will There Be A 2024 Presidential Election?

      “All tyrannies rule through fraud and force, but once the fraud is exposed, they must rely exclusively on force.”

      – George Orwell

      The smell of tyranny is in the air. The level of propaganda, disinformation, and mistruth has reached astounding heights, as the ruling oligarchy/Deep State/globalist cabal are thrashing about violently because their frauds are being exposed on a daily basis. This shift to the tyranny of force has massive implications for everyone on the planet. When every quote from Orwell’s 1984 applies every day to everything swirling around us, you begin to realize we are in the midst of a dystopian nightmare which gets more ghoulish by the day.

      The last two years have been a fraud of epic proportions, conducted by a cadre of evil money titans, their financial, media, and medical apparatchiks, with the objective of tearing down our existing social and economic structure and “resetting” the world where they own everything and you own nothing, eat bugs, and provide the slave labor needed to keep society functioning. Of course, this will be after they dispose of tens of millions of useless eaters through their Covid/Vaxx scheme, global war, and mass starvation.

      The past two weeks have denoted a remarkable transformation in the pushing of the fraudulent fearmongering narrative about a relatively non-lethal flu, vaccine mandates, masking and shaming those with the common sense to rely on their immune systems, to trying to provoke a world war over a border dispute with absolutely no relevance or strategic value to our country, other than to further enrich the military industrial complex and the parasites and leeches in government, finance, media and war making industry who live for and love war.

      It’s as plain as the vacant look on Biden’s face during a press conference that Biden, his handlers, and his pollsters decided two weeks ago to Wag the Dog, scrap the covid farce, rally the country around the flag, and pretend their policies have not unleashed raging inflation, destroyed our economy, shattered the lives of millions, and unleashed an ongoing and long-term death sentence for the millions of trusting souls who believed their safe & effective narrative – injecting themselves with a DNA altering experimental drug which has already killed and maimed millions.

      I’m convinced Orwell and Huxley were the two most prescient minds of the 20th Century when it came to understanding the human condition and how power-seeking psychopaths would always rise to the top of society and inflict their psychosis upon the masses. The mass formation psychosis (aka madness of crowds), which has overtaken a large swath of the population over the last two years, did not happen naturally, but was purposely initiated by propagandists who know how to manipulate the minds of the already willfully ignorant masses using mass media, social media, and parading of paid “experts” and “influencers” to sell their narrative.

      Another long but interesting read

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        OldOzzie

        Putin:Crazy Like A Fox

        Consistent Leadership

        Whereas Russia has had the luxury of having consistent leadership for the past two decades, and can look to another decade or more of the same, Western leadership is transient in nature. One need only reflect on the fact that Putin has, in his time in office, dealt with five U.S. presidents who, because of the alternating nature of the political parties occupying the White House, have produced policies of an inconsistent and contradictory nature.

        Rather than try to explain to the American people the historical roots of Putin’s concerns with an expanding NATO membership, or the impracticalities associated with any theoretical reconstitution of the former Soviet Union, the U.S. political elite instead define Putin as an autocratic dictator (he is not) possessing grandiose dreams of a Russian-led global empire (no such dreams exist).

        It is impossible to reason with a political counterpart whose policy formulations need to conform with ignorance-based narratives. Russia, confronted with the reality that neither the U.S. nor NATO were willing to engage in a responsible discussion about the need for a European security framework which transcended the inherent instability of an expansive NATO seeking to encroach directly on Russia’s borders, took measures to change the framework in which such discussions would take place.

        Russia had been seeking to create a neutral buffer between it and NATO through agreements which would preclude NATO membership for Ukraine and distance NATO combat power from its borders by insisting the alliance’s military-technical capabilities be withdrawn behind NATO’s boundaries as they existed in 1997. The U.S. and NATO rejected the very premise of such a dialogue.

        The Russian invasion of Ukraine must be evaluated within this context.

        Here’s the punchline — the likelihood that Europe balks at a resumption of the Cold War is high. And when it does, Russia will be able to exchange the withdrawal of its forces from Belarus and Ukraine in return for its demands regarding NATO’s return to the 1997 boundaries.

        Vladimir Putin may, in fact, be crazy — crazy like a fox.

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          PeterS

          The Russian invasion of Ukraine is just a small step along the way to a much larger game plan. Don’t worry, I’m sure Biden will do something about it. He can join Russia eventually to subjugate the whole world. After all, they have the same goal so why not join forces and complete the job much quicker? China can be used to put lots of feet on the ground where necessary. You think I’m joking? I’m not.

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          OldOzzie

          Senator Lindsey Graham Calls for the Assassination of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Things are Getting Out of Control

          The propaganda push from the U.S. government is actually quite remarkable to watch unfold. I mean seriously, there’s a point when you don’t go all-in because there has to be an exit option. We are in very tenuous place because no one is thinking about an off ramp…. it’s full speed ahead.

          If Lindsey Graham, Joe Biden, NATO, the EU, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Word Economic Forum and the multinational corporations in this alliance of Public/Private geopolitical partnerships, succeed in the fight against Vladimir Putin – I promise you we are not going to like the world on the other side of their victory.

          A few weeks ago, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sent a clear & specific message to citizens in Canada when he sanctioned the trucker bank accounts. Joe Biden, NATO and EU are right now sending a clear message to the citizens of the world as they sanction Putin’s bank accounts and Russian economy.

          If you can’t see the connection, you are not thinking carefully enough about it. Everything will be different now.

          What we are seeing is a full-blown alignment of interests between globalist government and their partnered multinational corporations and financial institutions.

          This is not a good thing to witness regardless of the outcome in Ukraine.

          Think about the direct message and the implications here. Think about the world of multinational corporate compliance to the dictates of political power in the aftermath of this current enterprise. If this collective group of multinationals and government interests succeed in this approach, everything will change.

          If you think corporations, Big Tech and Big Banks, et al, are controlling and politically motivated now?…. Good grief, just wait.

          The global future being outlined in this geopolitical strategy to use private industry as a weapon, is like the government attack on Canadian truckers/supporters taken to an exponential scale. Overlay your requirement to walk around with a digital identity and you can see exactly how easy it will be to de-person, which is one layer higher than de-bank.

          Half of the world will be stuck in the economic quagmire chasing windmills, solar power and renewable energy. Meanwhile Russia, China, Iran, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, and possibly Brazil, India and more will have a major strategic economic advantage by sticking with oil and gas.

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          KP

          “Whereas Russia has had the luxury of having consistent leadership for the past two decades, and can look to another decade or more of the same, Western leadership is transient in nature.”

          True, I saw this very clearly in South Africa when I went to live there. 30years of the same party in power meant you knew how things were going to be, you could plan for 5years and know the goalposts won’t be shifted. So different to Australasia these days, you can’t run a business without having extra Govt costs thrust upon you year in and year out.

          I’m expecting quota ratios to be compulsory in the shortish future, you will HAVE to have women employees in equal numbers, then minority racial groups, plus sexual orientation balancing. It may sound ridiculous to some, but when it happens it happens quickly and seems quite normal given the people’s thinking at the time…

          No-one ever thought you would be banned from filling sandbags by your medical status either…

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          OldOzzie

          ‘Madman Putin’: The Globalists’ Misinformation Play

          Ever since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the western public has been carpet-bombed with the claim that Russian president Vladimir Putin is some sort of unhinged madman. This notion is being feverishly spread by the establishment and those in its pay: the political class, the media and the commentariat, career diplomats and technocrats as well as those connected to the security and intelligence communities.

          The most remarkable thing about the Mad Vlad claim is that it is obviously false.

          Whatever Vladimir Putin may be, he is certainly no irrational madman. This much should be obvious to everyone with the eyes to see.

          A former KGB operative, Vladimir Putin is a wily person of demonstrated ability. After all, he managed to bring control and order to a vast country that was largely in disarray when he took it over at the age of 48. He adroitly managed to keep himself in power for over two decades while navigating and overcoming a number of crises and challenges along the way. Through it all, he has shown himself to be intelligent, steel-willed, calculating, shrewd, self-controlled, determined, cunning, and patient.

          These are hardly the qualities of a lunatic.

          The question is this: Why did they decide to suddenly gaslight and brainwash people with such a patent lie that so obviously contravenes reality?

          They did this to hide and conceal the gargantuan blunder they have committed over Ukraine.

          By convincing the public that Putin is a madman, they can portray his move on Ukraine as an irrational, unexpected, impulsive, and unjustifiable act of an unbalanced mind.

          Nothing could be further from the truth. Putin’s move was not irrational, impulsive, or unjustifiable. And it was certainly not unexpected.

          The “Putin is a madman” canard is meant to shift the blame in the eyes of the public for the Ukrainian tragedy on the allegedly irrational act of a “crazy” man rather than assigning it to the right people: the overbearing, domineering, arrogant Western globalists who treated the legitimate security concerns of a great nuclear power with contempt.

          In Putin, they encountered reality in the form of a wiley and cunning strongman who would not yield to their edicts and hollow pronouncements in the submissive way they were used to from their own badgered populations.

          They were in for a rude awakening. For two years the pompous globalists had been enriching themselves while tormenting peoples of the world with their useless and destructive lockdowns and dangerous and largely ineffective injections. If you think this is a harsh exaggeration, please read this from Yahoo News:

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            I was fascinated by Julie Bishop’s description of their encounter after the MH17 disaster. She said his eyes never left hers as she said her piece. He heard her out courteously without interrupting, then made some remark about “So this is shirtfronting….” & then turned his attention to another person who engages him.

            This is a man who is very very good at assessing friends, enemies and those of no account.

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            …..Vladimir Putin is a wily person of demonstrated ability. After all, he managed to bring control and order to a vast country that was largely in disarray when he took it over at the age of 48. He adroitly managed to keep himself in power for over two decades while navigating and overcoming a number of crises and challenges along the way. Through it all, he has shown himself to be intelligent, steel-willed, calculating, shrewd, self-controlled, determined, cunning, and patient.

            These are hardly the qualities of a lunatic.

            Substitute A Hitler for V Putin in that …. and it is still an accurate bio..!
            So, YES..he is a Lunatic !
            .. or mor accurately a born agressor who does not understand the concept of democratic peace.

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        PeterS

        I have little doubt that the incumbent “criminals” will find a way to stay in power indefinitely. The details of how it will be done will be revealed in due course.

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        OldOzzie

        HOW OUR STUPID LEADERS ARE HERDING US TOWARD WW III

        THIS IS A VERY NUANCED SITUATION WITH NO ‘GOOD GUYS’ SO DON’T LET MSM FOOL YOU

        Vladimir Putin is accused of some horrendous things—including poisoning his political enemies and even journalists. As a KGB colonel, my generation was taught to hate him with a passion, and we did.

        Perhaps Putin’s longest running enemy is my home nation—the U.S.—which has admittedly murdered 21 heads of State since 1960.

        Under the Obama/Biden Junta, ‘Colour Revolutions’ were fomented worldwide, including overthrowing the duly elected government of Ukraine in 2014. For more on ‘Colour Revolutions’ see:

        WHAT DID PUTIN MEAN BY ‘DE-MILITARISING’?
        Good question, and I’m glad you caught that, because Putin said all he plans to do is ‘denazify and de-militarise’ Ukraine, then go home.

        That is, except for the Eastern Ukraine states Luhansk and Donetsk, which have been Russian since Russia was Russia and voted 97% to rejoin the Russian Federation in a UN-sponsored vote in 2014.

        You might note that this vital information is strangely absent from the media propaganda, as it hurts their narrative and requires more than three words to explain. “Putin is bad.” “Orange Man Bad.” “Black Lives Matter.” You get the point.

        And when Putin says ‘de-militarise’ he is not even speaking of the Schwab/Soros/Obama/Biden Neo-Nazi shock troops.

        He’s referencing all the illegal, immoral and dangerous bioweapons labs built in Ukraine—mostly by the U.S. Department of Defense (as we’ve reported) https://richardsonpost.com/howellwoltz/25863/putin-destroys-7-u-s-bioweapons-labs-in-ukraine/, but last night we received a shocking report we have not yet been able to verify that says it was even worse:

        SO LET’S TALK ABOUT ‘STUPID’ LEADERS

        They’re not really ‘stupid’ first of all because IQs just don’t go low enough to create a dozen dangerous labs cooking up killer diseases in an unstable place and call themselves the ‘Defense Threat Reduction Agency’.

        That would be akin to planting land mines all over a soccer pitch and calling yourself the ‘Safe Soccer Defense League’. Some day, something bad will happen, and they knew that—and counted on it, in my opinion—when they built them.

        – WE MUST DRILL, MINE AND FRACK OUR WAY OUT OF THIS MESS OUR ‘LEADERS’ GOT US INTO

        – SO HERE’S WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF THIS FINANCIAL MADNESS CONTINUES

        – ALL WE HAD TO DO WAS KEEP OUR PROMISES

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    PeterS

    China’s Message to the US: “Your Military will be Reduced Into Scrap Iron”

    Not sure about that but the threat can’t be ignored, especially since the US has done enough damage to make Russia question and doubt their real intentions. In any case it’s just a matter of time that Taiwan will fall into the hands of Chinese soldiers. If the US wants to do something about it, they can start migrating the people of Taiwan who prefer to come to the US. The US doesn’t appear to have a problem with so many illegal immigrants flooding across the Mexican border. At least people from Taiwan would be importing skills the US ought to encourage not drown out by too many illegals.

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      OldOzzie

      China’s Military Strategists Watching Russian Invasion Closely With Eye On Taiwan

      Amid speculation in some Western policy circles that China could move on Taiwan ‘at any moment’ given currently the world has its total focus on the Ukraine war, the prospects for some kind of surprise rapid invasion of the democratic island wasn’t helped by former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit this week.

      Pompeo was there in the capacity of a “private citizen” – the White House had previously stressed – also while separately an official US defense delegation visited. But Pompeo’s words likely spoke louder in terms of evoking the ire of Beijing, given he provocatively stated that Taiwan is a “great nation” on his visit. Beijing promptly responded by calling him “despicable”.

      But without doubt, policy and military strategists in Beijing are following events in Ukraine very closely, as fresh analysis featured in The Wall Street Journal lays out:

      Russia’s initial struggles in its invasion of Ukraine have offered a vivid illustration to China’s leaders of the military challenges if they tried to seize control of Taiwan through force.

      The most prominent is the possibility of fierce resistance from local people defending their homes and sovereignty from any invasion.

      A US naval war college professor and retired military officer, Bernard Cole, offered this insight in the report: “The chief surprise for Russia, which may well be the chief lesson that China takes, is the willingness of the Ukrainian people to fight it out.”

      But as WSJ underscores, China’s military has recently made rapid advances over years of President Xi’s military modernization initiative: “China would start any invasion with one advantage compared with Russia: an even bigger and better-equipped military. China has around one million ground troops, the largest navy in the world and a military budget more than three times as large as Russia and around 13 times the size of Taiwan’s budg

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        PeterS

        They are all watching each other. The point is how close are they watching each other. Are they so close that they are secretly working together to establish a NWO? That’s the real question. Time will tell as the what is the answer.

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    John Connor II

    Pittsburgh Station Accidentally Uses President Biden Photo for Story About Old Man Inappropriately Touching Young Girl

    https://patriotrising.com/pittsburgh-station-accidentally-uses-president-biden-photo-for-story-about-old-man-inappropriately-touching-young-girl/

    The irony, it burns 🔥

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    John Connor II

    ” Now the business of America is war…”
    Assassinate a superpower president.

    https://twitter.com/BNONews/status/1499575681927327747

    “Now we see the violence inherent in the system”

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      KP

      I’m all for it!! All wars should be on the basis that you kill the leader, 7.62cal or smaller only!!

      There should be daily attempts on all leaders, just part of the job if they want it! If they don’t have the balls to lead their men into battle at the front, like our ancestors did, then this should show how much courage they have.

      It would instantly clean the current leaders out!

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      b.nice

      Just remove his script-writers !

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    OldOzzie

    Vaccinating Children Against COVID-19 After These Studies Is Insane

    Politicians and bureaucrats from agencies with evidence of capture by Big Pharma should not be making population-wide health recommendations. The first group is subject to the whims of public sentiment, which have no place in individual healthcare decisions. The latter have unknown motives requiring serious investigation by our elected representatives to reform the health bureaucracy and redirect its activities back to the original mission. The insistence of both of these groups that children get vaccinated against COVID-19 is a case in point.

    New data from the New York State Department of Health shows protection from the Pfizer mRNA vaccine against infection in children aged 5 to 17 declines significantly against the omicron variant in a single month. For the youngest cohort approved for vaccination, children aged 5 to 11, the vaccine is only 65% effective against infection within two weeks of vaccination. After 28 to 34 days, the vaccine effectiveness drops to 12%. For adolescents 12-17, it drops from 76% to 56% in the same period.

    The study can’t measure the effectiveness against death from COVID-19 in these age groups. Unless they have severe pre-existing conditions, children have almost no risk of death from any variant of the virus, and omicron is less deadly than previous variants. These facts are why many clinicians and parents question the wisdom of vaccinating children at all. However, they did not prevent mediocre politicians like California Gov. Gavin Newsom from mandating the vaccines for children. They also did not stop the politically compromised FDA and CDC from issuing an emergency use authorization and recommending their use.

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    OldOzzie

    Trump’s Virtues

    We are still in need of the qualities of great leadership.

    Many leading Republicans and conservatives want someone other than Donald Trump to run for President in 2024. But this judgment requires an assessment of Trump’s vices and virtues in the context of our current political and cultural circumstances, as well as an assessment of other prospective Republican presidential candidates. Among the talked-about alternatives to Trump, I have not yet seen anyone who possesses either his virtues or his backbone. I am not suggesting that everyone make way for Trump; rather that it is too early to throw him overboard.

    I regularly ask Republican politicians what they think of Donald Trump. The most frequent response is some version of, “I like his policies but don’t like the rest of him.” But this formulation gets it almost backwards. Although Trump advanced many important policies, it is the “rest of him” that contains the virtues that inspired a movement.

    Trump stood up for America every time he violated the strictures of political correctness. Trump has said over and over exactly what political correctness prohibits one from saying: “We have our culture, it’s exceptional, and that’s the way we want to keep it.” Trump’s contempt for political correctness showed patriotic Americans that its ever-tightening grip could be loosened. As Trump and his supporters know, political correctness cripples our ability to think clearly and act decisively.

    Trump treated the woke media with the same contempt he treated political correctness, provoking their outrage and revealing their utter corruption.

    Trump made no apologies for America’s past. His unlimited confidence in America is, in this time of national doubt and self-loathing, just what the doctor ordered. Trump thinks America can vanquish all comers if we just put our mind to it and he is right.

    Trump is a man of action, guided by facts and common sense. He has no use for theories. He knows that slavish devotion to theory can lead to nonsensical beliefs; for instance, that children should be able to undergo “gender conformation”; that police forces should be defunded; or that biological boys should be able to compete against girls in athletics.

    This enumeration of Trump’s virtues does not fully capture his uncommon courage and firmness of purpose. Trump is the most towering political figure in living memory. He has, like it or not, defined the politics of our age. In 2016 and 2020 he was the political leader most fit for war-like circumstances. Yes, he has vices; even so, we should pause before we move on to someone else.

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      OldOzzie

      Why America Needs Donald Trump

      Looking at the crises facing America, the question of foreign policy leadership is crucial. As just one example, with Putin on the march, we all know that Ukraine’s fate would be very different if Trump were in the White House. Trump’s records of foreign policy achievements, which he achieved despite the Russia collusion hoax that hampered him, make a compelling case for Trump to lead America again.

      Here is an overview of Trump’s relevant global accomplishments.

      – Restoring relationships with America’s most important ally
      – Achieving peace in the Middle East.
      – Trump’s support for ASEAN over Chinese expansionism
      – Trump dealt with China’s aggression toward its neighbors
      – Hong Kong citizens trusted Trump
      – Helping Taiwan to maintain regional stability
      – Diplomacy with North Korea
      – Working to decouple Russia from China
      – Practical solution with illegal migrants
      – Firm and clear resolve as a deterrent

      According to The Hill, a recent poll by the Harvard Center for American Political Studies and Harris found the majority of American voters say that Putin would not have invaded Ukraine if Trump still occupied the White House.

      What’s unfolding now in Ukraine was inevitable on January 20, 2021, when Trump left the White House. Our only hope is that Biden’s administration does not precipitate World War III.

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      PeterS

      Trudeau is most definitely insane. Also, what about the Russian allies, the Chinese? Will they also be targeted by Trudeau? His own party needs to get rid of him before it gets any worse and things escalate too far.

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    John Connor II

    If nuclear war broke out where’s the safest place on Earth?

    https://www.theguardian.com/science/brain-flapping/2016/dec/16/if-nuclear-war-broke-out-wheres-the-safest-place-on-earth

    I saw a global map analysis years ago agreeing with this. Can’t find the website readily but will look again if there’s sufficient interest.
    It didn’t factor in global cooling & jet stream changes though.

    Southern most Tasmania down to northern coast of Antarctica would be the least affected zone but not UNaffacted.
    Best of luck with Menulog KFC deliveries 😅

    Realistically there’s NO safe place but Antarctica is your best bet.
    Best of all real estate there is dirt cheap.

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      PeterS

      I rather get as close to the detonation than try to escape from it. I would not like to try to survive in the aftermath of an all out nuclear exchange. In any case I don’t believe it will happen. God will not allow it.

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      Hanrahan

      Read On The Beach. There was quite a good movie and TV special done on it. too.

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      Sambar

      I hear that the real-estate prices frozen, no capital gains to be made there!

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      Realistically there’s NO safe place but Antarctica is your best bet.
      Best of all real estate there is dirt cheap

      But along way to the nearest supermarket or bottle shop !

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    Greg in NZ

    I’ve been ‘over the range’ and out of range for the past week – so enjoyable having no interweb connection and only scratchy radio reception – and meeting HEAPS of Pf!zer-free folk on the road and camping at secluded east coast bays and getting back to basics: sea, sun, food, friends, wine.

    Has anyone noticed UAH’s February anomaly is exactly – precisely – 0.00°C? Zip, zero, nada, flat as. AGW is dead; Covert-19 is dead: release the hounds (of war). Anyways, my fillet steak and Cab Sav is ready… ciao!

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    KP

    If Putin loses this, I expect Russia to cease to exist. There are a couple of ways America will tackle it-

    The quickest would be for Putin to do what Biden did in Afganistan- declare “Objective achieved”, pull the troops back and get on with life as the Euros lift sanctions to get Russia’s oil/gas/minerals. There would be world-wide calls for elections in Russia without Putin standing, and the Yanks would do everything they could to rig it so their patsy wins. Russia would join Europe in trade, American companies would rush in to grab what they could, and being Russian would mean no more than [snip does here. Section 18C means you have no free speech.]. Western Russia becomes Europeanised and that effect becomes lessened as you go East, where no-one gives a shit what culture you have as you scrabble a hard living in the stone age without iphones. Private companies get permission to run mines the way they want, in the old colonial system of a company town.

    If Putin stays in power or someone as strong defies the West, America might try their other ploy of divide and break up. Easy in Yugoslavia, much harder where most the people are of one culture. They’d keep pushing and financing the South-West of Georgia and Azerbaijan to forment trouble, the Kazakhs in the South and maybe the Latvian/Lithuanian/Estonian area. The goal would be to rip everything East of a line going North of the Caspian Sea out of Russia as we know it, the Eastern side can be tackled later.

    For Russia, there’s a lot riding on this-

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      KP

      Well, you never know what you can’t say until you say it! How about..”Being Russian would mean no more than being any native person in a Commonwealth country” Basically, they’d try to turn the people into the soyboy gender-bent versions in the West while the NWO run the place, just like Europe..
      Thanks Jo-

      Anyway, another interesting little burst of irrationality has taken place- We’re back to banning books!

      “No matter one’s opinion of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine, it appears that the famous “tolerant liberal West” are using the war to express their most disgusting Russophobic racism and dehumanization of the Russian people. With Russian troops pouring into Ukraine, Western liberals excitedly used this as an opportunity to cancel Russian art, history and cultural contributions to humanity. This is occurring at humiliating proportions and has a more dangerous dimension as even simple Russian shop owners in Western Europe are being targeted in racist attacks.

      Russia has already been stripped from hosting the Champions League football final and Formula One’s Russian Grand Prix – with much hypocrisy. The Grand Prix did not condemn Russia but cited the “impossibility” of holding the race under the current circumstances. It now appears the event will be hosted in Turkey, where there is no “impossibility” for race organizers despite the country’s illegal occupation of Cyprus, Syria and Iraq…

      (Now)“Italy’s main University in Milan just banned teaching Fyodor Dostoevsky because he’s a Russian writer. Dostoevsky was sent to a Siberian labour camp for reading banned books in Tsarist Russia. We are reaching levels of hatred and stupidity that I thought were never possible.”

      https://greekcitytimes.com/2022/03/04/russians-cancelled-west/

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    KP

    ..and its just as bad on the other side-

    : Russia’s State Duma approves bill making it illegal to publicly “discredit” the use of armed forces, punishable by up to 5 years in prison

    Russia’s State Duma approves bill criminalizing the encouragement of foreign sanctions, punishable by up to 3 years in prison

    Russia’s State Duma approves bill criminalizing “false information” about the army, punishable by up to 15 years in prison

    https://twitter.com/BNONews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

    and between them they did manage to destroy the world’s only Antonov AN-225, the largest plane in the world. Also on that BNO twitter page above.

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    Honk R Smith

    In my extremely liberal American city, mask mandates have ended.
    (A major science oriented Uni within walking distance.)
    Which means, the majority of people are still wearing them, and most businesses changed their signs to “Mask not required but, STRONGLY ENCOURAGED” (not my emphasis).
    Confirming that masks have become nothing but political symbols.
    It amazes me that supposedly well read, educated people (‘1984’, ‘The Scarlett Letter’, just naming two), would become what they have become.
    A uncovered face is now a Scarlett Letter.
    I’ve never been prouder about not getting a degree.
    Seven years of College down the drain. 🙂
    May have to escape though.
    No Red Barchetta, and my uncles are all dead.
    One did own two ’69 Superbirds.

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    James Murphy

    I haven’t looked properly to find the real data, but I have a feeling this is somewhat…imaginative in the way it describes things.
    I would not be surprised to find out that it this actually meant “some time interval” on 180 different days, rather than the full 24 hour period for each of these days as could be interpreted by people less inclined to care.
    https://energymining.sa.gov.au/growth_and_low_carbon/leading_the_green_economy

    In 2021, South Australia met 100% of its operational demand from renewable resources on 180 days.

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    OldOzzie

    POWER BATTLE I drove an electric car for a week and almost ran out of battery on a motorway

    THERE are only 15 miles left in the battery of this Tesla and the charging point I’ve come to is broken.

    It’s fair to say I’m panicking. I’m not sure what happens when the battery dies – does it damage the car?

    It’s not like I can pick up a jerry can and walk to the nearest petrol station to fix the problem.

    Like around 8 million homeowners in the UK, my home does not have a driveway or off-street parking.

    The row of terraced houses that I live on is lined with parked cars.

    Knowing there was a charging point less than a mile from my house, I was blase as the battery edged into the red and the car started flashing up warnings.

    But all three at the station were broken, and the same happened at the next location I found.

    A recent Channel 4 Dispatches investigation found that around 1 in 20 charging points it sampled were not useable.

    Some 10% of the Rapid Chargers it sampled were out of service, and 3% of the new Ultra Rapid Chargers were faulty.

    The Dispatches investigation even found one charging point that had been out of service for SIX years.

    In the Morrisons car park in Essex, I’m in luck – the charging point is working.

    But there’s something else I haven’t factored in. Standard charging stations are incredibly slow.

    As I plug-in, I’m informed it will take 6 hours 30 minutes to fully charge my vehicle.

    There is also a sign up saying I’ll be fined if I stay longer than 90 minutes.

    Drivers aren’t convinced on EVs

    An Opinium survey recently found that cost was the biggest concern for drivers when it comes to EVs, with 56% are put off by prices.

    But 54% of drivers surveyed are concerned that charging points are too scarce.

    Four in 10 drivers say they have no way of charging an electric car at home, and many are also worried about their safety while charging up in a public place.

    Sitting in the slowly-charging Tesla at the back corner of a supermarket car park, I can definitely relate to this last point. I feel like a sitting duck.

    If someone were to approach me and I felt uncomfortable or threatened, I can’t just pull away as my car is attached to the charging point – not to mention the fact the battery is nearly flat.

    Brighter lighting, better positioning and speedier charging are clearly needed for drivers to feel safe.

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      OldOzzie

      BZERO HERO Toyota bZ4X review: All-new electric SUV is reliable with a solid interior

      All great achievements, and all proof that it’s never too late to try something – a notion Toyota agrees with.

      Because more than a decade after cars like the Nissan Leaf and Tesla Model S were launched, Toyota is finally giving us its first electric car.

      But this isn’t a case of being fashionably late to the party.

      The reason Toyota hasn’t had to jump on the EV bandwagon as early as most is because it’s been making hybrid cars for donkeys.

      The numbers that matter: More than 280 miles of range in the FWD version, around 255 miles for AWD, 80 per cent top-up in half an hour on a 150kW charger.

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    OldOzzie

    Rex Murphy: Trudeau’s inexplicable use of the Emergencies Act must not be forgotten

    The government conceived of the “Bouncy Castles Revolt,” as the insurrection will be known in future histories, as a perfect cauldron of hate. Justin Trudeau, on Feb. 1, recorded in a tweet that, “Today in the House, Members of Parliament unanimously condemned the antis@mitism, Isl@mophobia, anti-Black r@cism, hom@phobia, and transph@bia that we’ve seen on display in Ottawa over the past number of days.”

    That’s a whole lot of phobias, almost the entire basket, for even a large convoy. And diversified by anti@mitism and r@cism, by the judgment of the prime minister and his cabinet seneschals, it was probably the most threatening congregation of civic vice this country has ever known. It was to the deep thinkers in Ottawa almost an anti-Woodstock. (Minus the folk singers, which was a good thing.)

    Commons was in recess. Which has been its abiding state these past two years. The Parliament of Canada has become somewhat “optional” these days, a kind of token add-on. Something not essential to the functioning of our democracy, but there just for the odd touch of comfort, or as an intermittent luxury.

    So it came to be that when Parliament was in its now-customary hibernation, that the Emergencies Act was summoned into its existence and all sorts of powers invoked — not least the deep reach into the bank accounts of the “saboteurs” and “insurrectionists” rolling into Ottawa from the deep wastes of Edmonton, Winnipeg and other points far West and East. Powers also to “seize trucks” and “cancel insurance” and “compel services” and “prison terms up to five years.”

    This was very serious stuff. These kinds of powers come out of the dark spaces where they are kept only when a country is staring into an abyss, and the abyss is waving back with a great grin on its face. And as so often noted by all leading government authorities, the intention of the “seditious” convoy was nothing less than to “overthrow the government.”

    Meantime the “briefest imposition of an emergency state since 1945” must not be left unexplored, and the invasion of so many civil liberties, especially the freezing of bank accounts and the banks’ co-operation in this matter, must not be allowed to dip into oblivion, just because Trudeau dropped the emergency rhetoric almost as swiftly and strangely as he adopted it in the first place.

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    OldOzzie

    Electronic Weapons: Lasers For Good Or Evil

    March 4, 2022: In February an Australian P-8A maritime patrol aircraft observed Chinese warships moving along the north Australian coast. When the P-8A went closer the Chinese destroyer aimed its laser at the aircraft, endangering any of the crew observing the ship and not wearing laser safety glasses. These laser safety glasses or goggles protect eyes from laser damage that will result in permanent blindness. Aircrew do not wear these laser safety goggles full time because they are rarely needed. Air forces dealing with Chinese warships often recommend or mandate that pilots put on the laser safety glasses or goggles when near Chinese warships. Fighter pilots can have laser safety added to flight helmet that features visors. The risk of temporary or permanent blindness from widely available laser technology has been around for two decades now but only China has enthusiastically, and illegally weaponized these lasers.

    The Australian incident was not the first for P-8A pilots. In early 2020 China was accused of trying to disable an American P-8A by aiming a high-powered laser at the pilots getting a better look of a Chinese destroyer. The P-8 crew was alerted when one of its sensors detected the aircraft being hit with a laser. China denied any involvement but Chinese government- controlled mass media in 2019 and 2020 published articles promoting the use of laser devices against American aircraft that overfly parts of the South China Sea that China claims are now Chinese. International treaties and court rulings say otherwise but the Chinese openly ignore these treaties and court rulings. China increasingly talks of confronting trespassers with force.

    Warships most often use the LA-9/P just to warn small boats away to avoid collision or to keep them outside of a security zone. On land the special laser dazzlers are used to blind the fire control systems of hostile armored vehicles. Yet the most common use of the eye-safe lasers is still as an alternative to opening fire with bullets from checkpoints or aboard ships.

    Using lasers that temporarily disorient a pilot or cause permanent blindness is another matter, especially if the aircraft is landing or operating in a non-threatening fashion. This is less of a problem for pilots who must wear flight helmets. But pilots of large, multi-engine aircraft do not wear flight helmets and find wearing laser safety goggles all the time a nuisance that protects pilots on very rare occasions. The Chinese exploit that, violating the 1995 treaty by insisting that each incident where a ship laser was aimed at large aircraft pilots was an accident while demanding punishment if any other nation does the same to Chinese pilots.

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    KP

    ” the pilots getting a better look of a Chinese destroyer. ”

    Very simple, “don’t like the laser, don’t try to spy on our ships..” I wonder if they were flying above the minimum height allowed over Sydney, or were they doing the ‘hero buzz’ as low as possible.

    Its a lot less lethal than the Govt uses on its people with Tasers, flash-bangs, sonic cannons and bean-bag rounds!

    “The Chinese exploit that, violating the 1995 treaty by insisting that each incident where a ship laser was aimed at large aircraft pilots was an accident while demanding punishment if any other nation does the same to Chinese pilots. ”

    I’ve never met a Govt that wasn’t hypocritical!

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    Hugh

    Global Warming – Proof it Cannot Be!
    This should be on a poster in every Classroom – Check the well known facts and conclusion

    Science – Observe, Think, Research, Conclude

    One third of all the Sun’s energy that lands on Earth (about a Gigawatt per square km depending on where you are) goes into Evaporating Water. The Vapour carries the Energy.
    The only way Water can get into the Atmosphere is as Water Vapour (an invisible lighter than air gas). It’s like entrained water in fuel, it’s a small amount up to about 4% that goes in when it’s warm and precipitates out when it gets cold.
    The only way Water can get out of the Atmosphere is as a Liquid or Solid (rain, fog, cloud, hail or snow). It takes 5 times more Energy to evaporate water than to boil water and 6 times more to sublimate ice or snow to water vapour. This massive Energy is released into the Atmosphere continuously as the Water Vapour precipitates, (reverts to liquid or solid) depending on temperature and ultimately falls to Earth.
    Water in the atmosphere turns over 40 times a year ie, about every 10 days. So, All the Evaporation Energy of the Sun landing on the Earth gets purged into the Atmosphere as the water precipitates out on this time scale.
    This heating of the atmosphere by the latent heat of water is the competition manmade greenhouse gasses are up against. – These include CO2 0.042% (420 ppm), plus Methane (CH4), Nitrous-Oxide (NO2), and Halocarbon gasses totalling about 0.015% (150) ppm. – vs Tens of millions of gigawatts every day. Greenhouse gas effects on this scale are infinitesimal!

    Hugh R Crowther – For my Grandchildren March 2022 All References included in full Doc.

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    CHRIS

    Where’s the playground, Susie??

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