JoNova
A science presenter, writer, speaker & former TV host; author of The Skeptic's Handbook (over 200,000 copies distributed & available in 15 languages).
Jo appreciates your support to help her keep doing what she does. This blog is funded by donations. Thanks!
Follow Jo's Tweets To report "lost" comments or defamatory and offensive remarks, email the moderators at: support.jonova AT proton.me
Statistics
Carried forward from yesterday: “We should not expect from them deep understanding of how we got here, still less any meaningful programme capable of getting beyond populist posturing. Their worldview remains deeply entrenched, particularly in the institutions tasked with doing society’s thinking. Nonetheless, if their panic attacks will no longer suck up all the political oxygen, it may at least create a little more breathing space for others to do the hard work of democratic renewal.”
https://thenorthernstar.online/2024/11/18/is-trump-2-the-end-of-neoliberal-order-breakdown-syndrome/
10
I work in a fire service.
The 2019-2020 bushfires that occurred in the Australian eastern States… were hijacked by the usual suspects promoting global warming.
More frequent, devastating, catastrophic bushfires they said. All due to Man made climate change!!!!!
So what has happened since…
2021 nothing
2022 nothing
2023 nothing
2024 nothing yet. It is November 26. and I predict no catastrophic bushfires happening in the next 35 days.
Don’t you love the alarmism of our so called experts and media.
And the predictions our experts from the “Climate council” released, dated five years ago.
https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/not-normal-climate-change-bushfire-web/
They play you for fools.
260
The new normal they said, this is just how it is now, they said. And will say again as soon as fires start, which they will, at some stage.
50
Don’t forget the recent report that the east coast will have 6 or more cyclones this summer, due to Climate Change & falling ( failing ) sales of EVs.
They’ve gotta keep up the scare mongering !
30
‘I predict no catastrophic bushfires happening in the next 35 days.’
I second that, it has been damp even without La Nina, so we won’t see a repeat of 2019-20.
10
They’ve been trying to burn the forest around my place for 5 years now. Been too wet, nothing done.
50
I’ve been looking at your predictions with optimism. Noting your expected negative IOD influence to create wetter than average conditions which should apply to us in the south-east of Aus.
Hasn’t been damp around us just south of Ballarat. November about to end and we’ve only had 22mm vs a monthly average of 64mm.
Oct was 39mm vs 78 avergae.
Sept 64mm vs 82
Aug 39mm vs 80
That’s 54% of average rainfall for last 4 months.
Across the year we’re sitting at 66% of average after starting with January giving us double the average. Thanks mostly to one event of slightly more than the monthly average in just over 30 mins.
Got any good news for us?
The lawns are turning white.
20
It is coming William the Tenth!
It is coming and it is the micro climate change of the built environment that will be the source of the devastation. We are building fire traps with houses crammed into gated and confined communities with limited access and a myriad of confusing courts and culdesacs. These areas are often surrounded by bush that is difficult to maintain and is generally unusable and inaccessible. The rest of what was farming land and the surrounding hillsides is dominated by rural residential often dedicated by the wealthy owners ignorant of fire risk to land for wildlife. These owners having established their leafy green refuge are ageing and having to sacrifice the cost of maintaining fire breaks and vegetation reduction for health costs and international travel. Travel to visit offspring located off shore in world financial, charity and general UN type organisations. Or just spending their fortunes in the absence of suitable heirs.
Bases are loaded and the dry will come. Rural fire brigades are devoid of volunteers. The farmers and forestry workers no longer exist to man these brigades.
So good Luck, you will need it. And that is if Apophis or one of the other rocks does not land in your hemisphere in 2029.
20
They prey on human suffering and then absorb all of the political and social capital.
How’s the fire service as a place to work? Engaged in core business of just full of faff and twaddle?
00
Don’t They Teach Any Chemistry In Medical Schools?
By Dr John Happs
It was both surprising and alarming to learn that a group called “Doctors for the Environment, Australia” were actually calling for members of the public to contact their local Member of Parliament and deliver the message:
“To protect the health of the Australian people I call on you as my elected representative to ban all new coal, oil and gas projects.”
This silly appeal is also promoted by some members of the American Medical Association who foolishly claim:
“Extreme heat, powerful storms and floods, year-round wildfires, droughts, and other climate-related events are caused by “fossil fuel combustion, which is said to be the “primary driver of climate-change.”
The AMA argues that we should be:
“transitioning away from hydrocarbon fuels, coal, oil, and natural gas, and toward renewable energy and energy efficiency.”
Now one might think that medicine would be driven by objective scientific reasoning and that our medical schools would accept only the best and brightest of student applicants, yet the message these groups of medical practitioners want us to spread, exposes their absolute ignorance of the chemistry of hydrocarbon resources and our total dependence on them.
“Doctors for the Environment, Australia” appear to have no idea about how coal, gas and oil have lifted millions out of poverty and enabled us to achieve the high standard of living we have today, along with all the tools and medications that the medical industry relies upon. In fact, there is precious little in the medical world that isn’t dependent on the coal, oil and gas deposits that “Doctors for the Environment, Australia” want to ban.
Continue reading: https://papundits.wordpress.com/2024/10/18/dont-they-teach-any-chemistry-in-medical-schools/
https://saltbushclub.com/2024/11/24/dont-they-teach-any-chemistry-in-medical-schools/
270
No, of course not! And in Australia even anatomy was stopped twenty years ago. You don’t need it for a medical degree.
So they are left with memories of school level chemistry and that quickly fades. Technology and laboratories and consultants are reducing GPs to referral centres.
260
The other problem I have found with many is that they believe everything they are told.
But I slowly realised that in their lives, from school to GP, that has been their entire education. Skepticism has no place.
And they cannot imagine why anyone would lie to them. It doesn’t happen in their daily lives. Which makes them mugs in business too. You have a class of people who are trained to believe and not question the voice of authority. NASA. NOAA. UN/IPCC. And pharmaceutical companies.
270
>believe everything they are told…
…and regurgitate it for the reward.
>in their lives… that has been their entire education
Which is why they’re so thoroughly susceptible to being led by the nose.
And the fact that they make up a huge fraction of the public makes a democracy more malleable, more easily subdued and conquered.
50
And, then you’ve got the doctors’ wives.
Teal disasters.
But oh so, so virtuous.
10
‘ … they believe everything they are told.’
They respect other professions, even though climate science is not a profession, the medical profession accept the big lie more readily.
01
And here is the Anthem du jour.
Courtesy of the great John Entwhistle album:
“Smash Your Head Against the Wall”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqHHkxr4Hnw
00
I do not recal learning much about “coal chemistry” in any school classes. The coal formation period (Carboniferous) was/is discussed in various introductory Earth science classes. Actual chemistry not so much.
I do wonder about these medical types jumping into the mess of net-zero. It suggests there are many topics about which they are clueless other than organic chemistry.
180
Coal chemistry is organic chemistry, specifically the chemistry of Carbon compounds. There is also physical chemistry and inorganic chemistry and the more life specific biochemistry, which is more the realm of the medical people along with microbiology/molecular biology, Jo’s field. The fundamental idea that fossil fuel CO2 is very special and stays in the air/biosphere for thousands of years is completely wrong and physical chemistry.
Like the physical chemistry concept that dissolved gases have a constant equilibrium vapour pressure as in Henry’s Law. Physicists explain why this is so based on evaporation and absorption.
Climate Change scientists deny Henry’s Law even exists. And make up stuff like a tiny ‘surface ocean’ and a ‘hot spot’ because they need to do so to explain why fossil fuel CO2 can hang around and secondly why it produces warming far beyond its ability to do so. Both are proven wrong, but it’s a living. Living the dream. Which is all rapid man made CO2 driven Global Warming is. And a nightmare for everyone else.
160
They should be made to put that on their door, so I know, get another doctor this one cant analyse or think very well.
50
They do not understand what they wrote.
COP 29 diplomacy delivers perfectly vague promises a decade away
By David Wojick
https://www.cfact.org/2024/11/25/cop-29-diplomacy-delivers-perfectly-vague-promises-a-decade-away/
Key excerpts:
“In Cop 29’s “Finance agreement” diplomacy is truly the art of agreeing to nothing. There is no agreement of substance here because there is no substance to this agreement. Each side gets its number someday and that is all there is to it.
Let’s look at the actual text to see the nothing. But first recall what was supposed to happen. The Paris Agreement committed the developed country members to providing $100 billion a year to the developing countries through 2025. COP 29 was simply supposed to revise that annual payment up beginning in 2026. That did not happen, not even close.
The fiasco started when the developing countries demanded impossibly huge sums centered on $1.3 trillion. That set in motion a series of side steps leading to the present agreement which is very different from the intended goal. To begin with the $1.3 trillion annual payment is there but it is “by 2035” so ten years from now not in 2026. I can see delaying it until a few years after Trump leaves office but these folks are wedded to their five year plans.
Moreover this money need not come from the developed countries and certainly not from their governments. First it is to come “from all public and private sources.” Second the eligible sources have been expanded to include all the developing countries as well as the developed ones.
These two provisions have fundamentally changed the concept of climate finance. It used to just include mostly government money going from developed to developing countries. Now it sounds like any climate related investment or contribution that winds up in a developing country counts.”
“Then there is the other big number, the $300 billion a year. This is widely assumed to replace the $100 billion a year mandated by the Paris Agreement through 2025. For example CBS has a headline that yells “deal reached at UN’s COP29 climate talks for $300 billion a year (up from $100 billion).”
This is incorrect as here too the new agreement says the goal is “by 2035.” Nor is all (or any) of this distant sum necessarily coming from developed countries as the yearly $100 billion had to. The new agreement just says “with developed country Parties taking the lead.” (Parties means to the Paris Agreement.)
“Taking the lead” is an extremely vague concept. It might mean paying over half say $151 billion. Or just being the biggest donor at say $20 billion. Or even just running a bunch of promotions to get private investors to invest, which might only millions.
The overall fiasco becomes clear when we ask what the finance requirement or goal is for 2026? There is none, nor for any other year ahead until 2035. Nor is anyone responsible for meeting those far distant goals.”
Lots more in the article. Please share it.
161
I never worry about COP29. The people who sign these things are politicians, not scientists. And they will sign anything because they will be retired by then. The scientists in NOAA, NASA, IPCC are real. The bosses are world skimming politicians. And the politicians want power and money, especially as the pay is lousy but the hotels and travel and food are first class and they pay nothing. Free Black Caviar in Baku. Who would miss that? Who cares if the Sturgeon are in real trouble. Just sign some stuff and the oil/gas guys pay for everything. Or the poor mugs with their UN carbon credit billions.
To be fair, only rich Western Democracies pay. China, Russia, Iran, Venezuela, Saudi, Iraq, Indonesia pay nothing.
160
“rich Western Democracies pay.”
You have a problem with “equity” TM ?
Of course the West must pay.
22
Totally irrelevant – my current obsession. I watch this for hours nowadays because reality make me sick.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoWaSroc19s&pp=ygUVYXplcmJhamRqYW5pIHN0dXJnZW9u
50
Please check this one, it is even better – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmX_STguhV0 .
I appreciate those 100s of hours of “village life” are all staged, there is a team of dozens of specialists – naturally they devour the mountains of food at the shoot end.
Still compare it with another current mass consumption product – The Diplomat by Netflix.
30
I really enjoyed that Vladimir. Thank you for the link.
10
As far as diplomacy is concerned, when a diplomat says ‘yes’ he means ‘perhaps’, when he says ‘perhaps’ he means ‘no’, and if he says ‘no’ he isn’t a diplomat.
80
Don’t forget
“A diplomat is too little to fight and too fat to run”
10
Households suffer as ALP gets its priorities wrong
Living standards will continue to fall if poor productivity is not fixed.
The Australian Editorial
The slide towards poorer living standards is on. And Australians accustomed to working hard and putting together a nest egg will hate it.
After countless warnings from responsible economists and industry groups in these pages and elsewhere, the Albanese government is presiding over the longest-running household recession on record, as political editor Simon Benson reveals. GDP per capita has gone backwards for the past six quarters in a row, in a trend that is longer than at any period in the past 50 years.
Economists warn it inevitably will continue unless Labor reverses its direction, which is centred on enlarging the government’s economic footprint at the expense of private enterprise and pandering to the international climate change lobby to secure the COP31 talks for Adelaide in 2026.
Doing so would come at a heavy price.
The Albanese government, regrettably, is unlikely to be swayed from its current course, which bears a closer resemblance to the Whitlam government at its most reckless than reformist Hawke-Keating economic management.
And the government’s adherence to the COP agenda, which promises to create a new world economic order at the cost of ordinary Australians, must be nipped in the bud. As Graham Lloyd wrote in Inquirer, political expediency led Energy Minister Chris Bowen to a catastrophic mistake in withdrawing from our closest allies, the US and Britain, researching fourth-generation nuclear power.
In his address at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan last week, Mr Bowen said Australia would become the sixth-largest contributor to the fund for responding to loss and damage. But Australians are entitled to question whether that is a feasible fit in current economic circumstances.
70
Summed up by Today’s The Australian Front Page – Home, Drawn and Quartered
10
Home, drawn and quartered: longest run of negatives
The Albanese government is presiding over the longest household recession with GDP per capita going backwards for the past six quarters, in a trend that exceeds any period in the past 50 years.
SIMON BENSON
While GDP per capita dipped lower during the past four technical recessions, the length of the current so-called household recession has not been experienced during any other downturn of the past half century.
Jim Chalmers on Monday defended the government’s record on economic management, but acknowledged that the household experience was not necessarily reflected in the economic and inflation numbers.
Economists have warned that it will be more extended, with the possibility that Labor may record two years of continuous negative GDP per capita growth.
The analysis of ABS national accounts data for GDP per capita, measured as economic output divided by population, comes after The Weekend Australian revealed on Saturday there had been a fall in living standards due to the inflation crisis. Real household disposable income has fallen by 9 per cent since March 2022.
According to the new analysis there has been a 1.6 per cent fall in GDP per capita since December 2022 across six consecutive negative quarters.
Of the eight quarters since Dr Chalmers became Treasurer, GDP per capita has fallen in seven.
The 1982-83 recession was the closest period of prolonged downturn on the same measure. Although GDP per capita fell by almost 7 per cent over that entire period, the longest consecutive run of negative GDP per capita quarters lasted only four quarters in a row. Two other periods of consecutive negative growth were also experienced during this recession.
During the 1990s recession there were two sets of consecutive negative quarters: March and June 1990 with a 1.2 per cent fall and March and June 1991 with a 2.1 per cent fall.
70
What was the point of COP29 gabfest? At least the world can see Labor’s energy denial
This year’s COP focused on extracting vast sums of money from rich countries to compensate developing countries for climate damage: the inescapable conclusion is that its relevance is rapidly diminishing, but Chris Bowen has failed to read the signs.
Judith Sloan Contributing Economics Editor
As yet another Conference of the Parties – the annual UN climate confab – winds up, the key question now is: What is the point?
This year COP was held in Baku, Azerbaijan, a small petrostate that was once part of the Soviet Union. It was a strange choice, although the venue did look very attractive, as did the accommodation on the shores of the Caspian Sea.
Thousands of delegates gather at these talkfests, but it’s increasingly clear that any “deliverables” – that’s conference-speak – are now very thin on the ground. There were significantly fewer attendees, but the Taliban did send several representatives.
Azerbaijan’s President welcomed the attendees by declaring that the oil and gas resources of his country are a “gift of God”. Doubtless this caused a degree of confusion in the crowd, given the determination of many of them to eliminate oil and gas industries altogether.
The inescapable conclusion is that the relevance of COP is rapidly diminishing but, sadly, Energy Minister Chris Bowen has failed to read the signs.
It’s all systems go for Australia, along with some Pacific countries, to bid to host COP31 in 2026, although Turkey may pip us at the post.
30
I heard that on the ABC.. Sorry, I was mistaken.
10
Budget deficit to hit $33.5 billion in blow to Jim Chalmers amid slowest economic growth since early 1990s, bar COVID
The Albanese government has been forced to stare down a $33.5 billion budget deficit as Treasurer Jim Chalmers has overseen the “most significant deterioration” in the budget bottom line outside of a crisis.
Oscar Godsell – Political Reporter
The government’s budget deficit has been set to grow even larger due to falling tax revenue and higher spending.
The Deloitte Access Economics’ half-yearly budget monitor report revealed the economy has been growing at the slowest annual rate since the 1990s (excluding COVID).
Economic growth has been crushed in the face of sticky inflation, high interest rates, and a weak global outlook.
According to Deloitte, the country’s economic growth has been forecast to remain weak, with the federal budget set to worsen significantly.
20
I can’t see resource wise why Australia has energy problems. You have every conceivable type of energy at your feet. This bullshit phase your going through is Marxist ideology in its most brutal form being implemented by global entities beyond your shores.Getting rid of Sneezy and the ALP bunch of wreckers and haters for a start. You need a dose of Trumpism to sweep through the place. Us lot in NZ just got rid of these Labour losers last year it’s still economically a bit slow but it’s coming right.
40
Well since the actions are a decade out and the world will end before then we need have no more COP’s
170
That’s the proper spirit.
110
An indication of where taxpayers’ money goes in the UK, at least: –
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy1znkxrggo
“Bradford City Hall gets £2m decarbonisation grant”
Now, it may be that the City Hall boiler is at the end of its useful life – I don’t know. The link only says : –
“The authority said the planned new heating system for the grade I listed City Hall, which was built in 1873, would mean it could remove its 1.5MW gas-fired boilers – a heating system the government was trying to phase out due to its high carbon emissions.”
Replacement –
“When completed in summer 2027, the Bradford District Heat Network was expected to generate heat using one of the largest air source heat pump systems for heat networks in the UK, according to the authority.”
Bradford is about 53.7 North.
It gets cool in winter; typically three or four months with Tmax below 10C. https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/pub/data/weather/uk/climate/stationdata/bradforddata.txt
The air source heat pump [ASHP] would provide ‘warm water’ to run through pipes to City Centre buildings.
It is unclear whether there will need to be back up electric heating in cold weather – or if some other system to provide hot water – for hand basins, washing up, etc. – will be necessary; the BBC doesn’t cover that.
The ASHP, incidentally, will be on a site earmarked for housing – “and an application to build hundreds of flats on the site was approved earlier this year” – that is in 2023.
Spending money ‘because they can’ for an imagined threat, and, possibly, an imperfect solution. Changing the heating in a 150 year old civic building, to one that – usually – needs bigger pipes and bigger radiators.
So taxes ‘inch’ upwards. Ever upwards.
Auto
60
I was under the impression that ‘Up Norf’, they were going to use flooded coal mines to heat homes, etc.
“A quarter of the UK’s homes sit above abandoned coal mines, long since flooded with water. Now, the mines are being put to a new, zero-carbon use.
Coal mines were the beating heart of Britain’s industrial revolution. Their sooty, energy-dense output gave life to new-fangled factories and shipyards, fuelling the nation’s march towards modernity. They helped shape a carbon-intensive economy, one that took little notice of the natural world around it. The mines paved the way for a global dependence on fossil fuels, and in doing so, fired the starting pistol on the climate crisis that today confronts us all.
But what if, in a serendipitous circle of history, our extractive past could be repurposed for a greener, cleaner future? What if the vast maze of coal mines beneath our feet, now filled with naturally warm water, could help decarbonise the UK’s – and the world’s – herculean heating needs?”
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210706-how-flooded-coal-mines-could-heat-homes
10
I don’t know if Bradford, specifically, sits over old coal workings; the Yorkshire field was – is – big but I am not aware if it is continuous.
And there are potential problems with drilling/geothermal;
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yxdpndypyo
That report links drilling for a heat pump, in space, with a fatal house explosion.
Time seems to be off …. maybe.
I’m sure more care could be taken – survey, microbore initially, harnessing gas etc. all spring to mind as possible mitigatory measures.
Or, of course, they didn’t get the memo in Bradford.
Auto
30
The propagation of the Climate narrative and the Pandemic narrative are linked.
Maybe one in the same.
Has the Pandemic fiasco mortally wounded the Climate narrative?
One can hope.
The cost is tragic.
150
“mortally wounded”
It seems that this is so, but that the death will be very slow and painful.
90
FWIW
“Crandall v. State Of Nevada – can not tax cars per mile”
“Interesting Case Law Forbids Taxing Mode of Transportation”
https://chiefio.wordpress.com/2024/11/25/crandall-v-state-of-nevada-can-not-tax-cars-per-mile/
40
I don’t follow. The cited precedent is about crossing state lines. Not taxing people or goods for crossing state lines was a fundamental idea of the creation of a Federation. Taxes only exist when crossing National lines. The Federation/Union looks after excise, customs, currency, international relations and defence. What this has to do with transportation inside a state or even the method of transportation is unclear.
20
FWIW -finely defined!
“YouTube will but Pornhub won’t fall under Albanese’s Social Media Age Bill.”
https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2024/11/youtube-will-but-pornhub-wont-fall-under-albaneses-social-media-age-bill.html
80
Those (developed) countries most enthusiastic to combat Man-Made Global Warming are headed down to underdeveloped status; e.g. Germany and the UK. The spending spree over the last 70 years in the NeoKeynesian/ Modern Monetary has to end with hyperinflation, so any sums agreed to by politicians (who expect not to be there anyway) will be worthless.
80
Video by Styxhexenhammer about how TRUMP’s pick for Attorney General may release the Epstein client list (if it still exists and the Democrats havent destroyed it).
https://youtu.be/Dcijdb3wcl0
Note that despite endlessly repeated lies from the Left, Trump wasn’t on the list and when TRUMP found out what Epstein was up to he disassociated himself from him and banned him from his clubs.
Even the Trotskyist TRUMP-hating Washington Post admits that TRUMP was not on the Epstein client list.
SEE https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/11/trump-epstein-documents-ted-lieu/
142
GET WOKE GO BROKE
I thought this was a joke at first but it isn’t.
Wokeness has taken over Jaguar (cars) who want to go all-electric and have released a bizarre advert only woke Leftists could possibly love.
John Cadogan comments:
https://youtu.be/X6bMVTcpFFw
(Posted from Chandanbari, Nepal 28.11049°N, 85.34007°E, elevation 3270m.)
72
Old news now, except in Nepal.
/smirk
We’ve moved on to Porsche, Aston Martin and Volvo now.
60
John Cadogan is an all in climate doomer, and I note he is now a shill for home batteries. He did a costing on his own installation. Pays it off in 10 years from savings on electricity bill – he must use a lot of electricity. He justifies it as a 10% ROI which is better than investing it. Well, that’s an interesting take I will give it that much.
20
Cadogan is lost on the emmisions science, but his logic on the solar + batteries is not far off .
His data shows a $2400 pa return on a $24k investment.
If you run the maths, a simple ROI suggests a 10 yr payback….
BUT a more realistic estimation, with the $24k invested at 6%
AND if you include include likely annual inflation of power prices (3% ?),
AND if you then also invested those annual savings (@6%) …
AND assume you would pay the increasing grid power costs from the invested $24k,…
Then the picture is very different, and you find that you have not only broken even at 5 years ,but after 11 yrs the power cost savings have accrued to $44,000 …$20k more than the initial investment !
And if the system holds together for 20 years it will have paid for itself with an additional $94 k in the account !
Oh, and the original $24k investment would be $32,000 NEGATIVE after paying those grid power costs !
11
he is still using a lot of electricity to warrant it. My annual bill is about $1800.
20
Yes, but he is using a large 10+kW + batteries , expensive ($24k) system to cover his usage.
A smaller system would have similar returns in proportion..
The point is, if you have the financial ability, installing solar can be a sensible option.
Not ignoring the fact that it screws up the main grid !
10
David, put your phone down, switch it off, stare out the window at the magnificence all around you, and slowly repeat after me: ommm…
The mad, mad world is still here – but you’re there: relax… let it go…
😃
170
Oṃ maṇi padme hūm̐
Tony
60
I’d like to ask David + Wojick about Chris Wright , Dr Pielke jr and Willis Eschenbach’s calculations.
They mostly seem to be in agreement about toxic, unreliable W & S and the costs involved or am I wrong?
I’d like to know what other scientists think before we waste trillions of $ on systems that have erratic, low CFs of just 30% and 15%.
And the costly rebuild every 15 to 20 years and destroying thousands of klms of the environment.
120
Pete Buttigieg will leave his post as Transportation Secretary having spent $7.5 BILLION to build 8 EV charging stations.
His legacy will be squandering billions on something nobody wants, while millions struggle to afford the things they need.
Sounds familiar.
110
Yeah, but he has done some good stuff: fixing those robbing airlines at least.
Very clear thinking.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/11/03/pete-buttigieg-tough-on-airlines-00181436
20
An interesting article, both from showing how important flying internally is to Americans, and how they’re not going to electrify THAT, and also it shows clearly that once you let a Govt regulate and industry, it will spend billions forever each year to increase those regulations.
You’d think it would be simple to allow anyone to open an airline and take passengers from A to B, and all the crap about refunds and cancelled flights would shake themselves out in a free market. Airlines that overbooked would go broke. Somehow it ends up as a multibillion dollar Govt Dept laying out laws as to how refunds must be paid. The waste of resources by a Govt doing this is stupendous, but of course they’ve already made it far too difficult to open a new airline in competition.
30
Great to see the Unified Conservative party (UCP) in Alberta Canada are prepared to take on the Trudeau loony and other groups are also using “The co2 Coalition” as the best source for Scientific information.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/11/25/lets-make-co2-great-again/
50
In my part of the world, the sun is a few weeks away from reaching its peak intensity at top of the atmosphere. However over the last 3 days the sky has not been very clear. The daily surface sunlight for the last 3 days here is:
4.9kWh
2.1kWh
1.2kWh
The conditions are not a lot different to tropical here at 37S just a tad cooler.
Still plenty of moisture over inland Australia despite plenty dropping out here:
https://earth.nullschool.net/#2024/11/25/2100Z/wind/surface/level/overlay=total_precipitable_water/orthographic=-220.94,-27.76,1303/loc=145.525,-38.102
Now what did BoM forecast for Australia this spring and summer?
40
So no wind and overcast for at least the next 4 days according to my understanding of the BOM charts
As they once said ‘Gentlemen start your engines’
– now I would say ‘She & Its start your generators’
40
Yep. If I was off-grid with my planned system, I would likely have to fire up the generator tosday to trickle charge the battery. That is not something I have anticipated for 37S in late spring.
I wonder if Strop will need to start his generator?
30
” Hot and dry summer”.
20
According to BoM its going to be warm and wet in some places.
The long-range forecast for December to February shows:
above average rainfall is likely for large parts of eastern Australia and some parts of the west, whereas for central parts, rainfall is likely to be within the typical range for the season
increased chance of unusually high rainfall for parts of eastern and western Australia
warmer than average days and nights are likely to very likely across most of Australia
unusually high minimum temperatures are very likely for much of northern, eastern and western Australia.
12
Might be warm up north in WA, as it usually is, but the SW corner where everybody lives seems to be having a cool start so far, and this would be expected if your earlier statements of a positive SAM are correct.
20
I’ll put this up for refresh.
https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/a-positive-sam-has-arrived–heres-what-it-means-for-australian-weather/1890082
Elsewhere they are making a big deal of extremely warm ocean waters off north west Oz.
11
There is a broad region of low pressure spinning up south of Indonesia right now at 9S 94E. Central pressure modest 999hPa. But it is a big system with plenty of CAPE to feed off.
It is static at this stage and could go east or west. The CAPE to the east and dry air from SE of it should favour it heading for WA coast around Broome. But a long way off yet. BoM has it numbered as 01U.
http://www.bom.gov.au/cyclone/7dayforecast/
20
According to Kevin Long (written some time ago) Southern Inland NSW ‘Heavy early-summer rains are expected again this year,.. the main spring rain events falling near the New Moon periods as the Northeast Air Tides peak, late October and late November…Hence the drier transition phase of the lunar air tides will dominate the late summer and early autumn period. I estimate 80% late spring rains and above average early summer rains. Another wet Christmas is likely.
With La Nina now building strength as well, heavy rains are forecast for the northern regions of the Murray-Darling Basin during the last few months of the year.’
So that will be this week’s rain with New Moon this coming Sunday. Looks tough for Feb/March though.
https://thelongview.com.au/
10
And not only that, ie. cyclone/wet season, with solar maximum now in full swing (so sayeth scientists) the University of Otago is warning of Solar Tsunamis (sic).
Not only is the sun going to burn us, it’s now going to drown us as well – the horror!
NZ’s ‘Solar Tsunamis Project’ has, so far, wangled $15 million of taxpayers’ money to let us know when the next Carrington Event is headed our way. Small change, in the scheme of things, when NZ’s already handed $1.3 billion over the past 3 years to the UN to spend as they see fit – or not at all.
No wonder children are chopping bits off.
30
I came across the Sustainable Population Australia group recently. I too am not a fan of the Big Aus concept, and was excited to see their thinking, but not before long comes the environmentalism.
Their central tenet is that population destroys “the environment”. There is a certain amount of truth to this, especially regarding water supply for huge Australian future cities, but fail to understand that the environment can be improved by human input. Foreign concept to the conservationist narrow, and shallow mind.
50
Dr Indur Goklany has a comprehensive study to explain why FFs are the greenest sources of energy. Here’s the link and his conclusion.
https://co2coalition.org/publications/fossil-fuels-are-the-greenest-energy-sources/
]
“Conclusion”
“Fossil fuel combustion has increased the amount of carbon dioxide available to green the earth. This has contributed the major share of the approximately 34% increase in the earth’s GPP that has occurred since 1900 that has literally greened the earth. Second, by enhancing agricultural productivity, fossil fuel-dependent technologies have forestalled the conversion of at least 20.4% of global land area to agricultural uses. This is 25% larger than the entire area of North America. Remarkably, this exceeds the total amount of land currently set aside globally for both cropland (12.2%) and conservation worldwide (14.6%). Third, relative to renewable energy sources, fossil fuels have smaller physical footprints and lower demand for metals and other minerals. The latter substantially limits mining and other land disturbance. Such disturbance would inevitably result in “browning” of the land. Hence, fossil fuels are indeed the greenest energy sources. But “greenest” does not necessarily mean the “cleanest”. That distinction may have to be reserved for nuclear energy, but that is another topic”.
60
It seems Freedom of Speech is rare and getting rarer.
A German citizen is being prosecuted for calling Chancellor Olaf Scholz an “idiot” in a private Telegram group. The government claims this harmless comment is “damaging Scholz’s life and credibility.”
https://x.com/goddeketal/status/1859970361498255528?t=HJSkb1Zpc5vkJxfQMyecDg&s=19
Germany’s criminal code includes provisions not only for slander and defamation but also for insult, which is punishable by up to a year in prison.
50
Be careful of what you post as The Government will want to have this as law in Australia!
I am in favour of free speech but if the vague laws are enacted then I hope these are turned against the current Greens, Teals and the ABC by the next Government and teach them a lesson.
So I am going to call Albanese as incompetent and Bowen as in the lowest 20% segment of population by intelligence.
With Albo likely to get The Elbow after Labor pollies find out what voters think (assuming they mix with the hoi polio) over the holidays.
50
>Be careful of what you post…
The government isn’t taking its cues from us, it’s not getting it’s tyrannical inspiration from what we post, it’s getting its goals and orders from the same central source as the other Western democracies.
10
Scholz needs to man up, he’ll be out on his ear after the election.
21
Remember when the response was
“If you can’t stand the heat then get out of the kitchen”
10
Sticks and stones come to mind.
10
..and straight out of Utopia Australia, Turnbull is being blamed for the Snowy 2 debacle in his rush to get the launch!
“Announced in 2017 by then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull as a $2 billion project with a deadline of 2021, Snowy 2.0 has been slammed as a white elephant. Its price tag has hit $12 billion and its deadline extended to December 2028…the wildly optimistic claims from Turnbull at the project’s launch have cast a pall over it ever since. Turnbull specified a cost and deadline before a feasibility study had been done. He announced the scheme only two weeks after it was floated by Snowy’s former chief Paul Broad”
A big promotional puff piece in the SMH saying the cost over-runs are behind us, and it will be finished in the new deadlines. Its so wonderful because it will power 3milion homes for a week… and then take months to refill! While there are glowing descriptions of the water racing down to turn turbines and then filling the lower lake ready to be pumped back up, there is no mention of how much power goes in and how much power comes out!
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/bogged-blown-out-by-10-billion-but-not-beaten-the-rocky-path-to-power-millions-20241112-p5kpw2.html
60
It’s the same thing as ‘Robbing Peter to pay Paul’.
They will pump the water uphill using electricity when it is cheaper. They will let the water flow downhill when the electricity price is higher. Probably the same amount of electricity being used and then generated.
Maybe we need a Perpetual Motion Machine. Now, where do we get a load of those?
30
“Probably the same amount of electricity being used and then generated. ”
Nah, terribly inefficient, it was discussed on here a month or two back. We definitely need a perpetual motion machine or two, but I see the Low Energy Nuclear Reactor mob have gone very quiet this year.
20
I revised my predicted finish date down from 2060 to 2049 based on recent progress with Florence now at 1600m of the required 17,000m but it is almost certain to get assistance from a second machine, which is near approval.
The final cost probably closer to $20bn. More if you throw in the required power lines.
No one has counted the heat loss from all the new power lines in global warming calculations.
80
Actually there is a very detailed technical analysis paper for SN2 which details eexactly how much power could be expected from the project .
Nominal planned capacity is 2.2 GW input and output though an efficiency loss of approx 15%
11
Here is another report for those that have been conned or forced into being “vacinated”
DNA Contamination of mRNA Vaccines Can Integrate into Human DNA, Top Molecular Scientist Confirms
https://dailysceptic.org/2024/11/25/dna-contamination-of-mrna-vaccines-can-integrate-into-human-dna-top-molecular-scientist-confirms/
Does this mean the people who received the actual mrna shot are no longer completely human but trans human per one of those conspiracy theories suggested.
80
Guess the Name?
Sharri Markson lauds ‘fast-acting’ NSW police for efforts on Woollahra attack
73
Believe it or not I got it right(*). What do I win?
(*)Can’t say I got the surname right, but I was spot-on with the, er, Christian name.
93
Freedom of speech – right?
https://todayspaper.theaustralian.com.au/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx?guid=5fc35f02-74b5-4a85-bd4f-1a07711f2dd5&share=true
20
Expecting power outages in NSW tomorrow? So I heard.
50
Blackout warning issued for NSW amid soaring temperatures
Fear of potential blackouts from soaring temperatures puts New South Wales residents on edge
New South Wales residents have been warned of potential blackouts as a looming heatwave piles pressure on the state’s electricity grid.
Preston Potts Digital Reporter
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) forecasts a risk of blackouts on electricity grids in NSW starting from Tuesday, as a heatwave is set to hit most of the state.
The most severe shortage is forecast for Wednesday which is set to be the hottest day of the week where temperatures are expected to hit 33C in Sydney and soaring to 39C in Penrith.
Electricity demand will be high as Aussies will be switching on air-conditioning for consecutive days heaping significant stress on the electrical grid.
An AEMO spokesman said high temperatures and strong electricity demand, combined with major generation outages, are causing “tight electricity supply forecasts” in New South Wales for the next two days.
We have breed a Bunch of Wimps/Wusses in Australia
100
Well, let us all hope the wind blows.
If the blackouts happen it could spell the end of Blackout Bowen, if useful propaganda follows. Get ready to attack.
70
The Daily Chart: The Death of the Green Energy Revolution (1)
Thesis: The green energy revolution is failing everywhere, and I think it is possible the second Trump Administration will kill it off once and for all, everywhere. But I think the Daily Chart is an ideal place to track this with data, so let’s start a series!
Let’s start with Great Britain, where one day last week (not sure which date exactly) you can see how natural gas is the mainstay of Britain’s electricity, supplying just over 50 percent of the kingdom’s electricity. Just how are you going to get rid of gas (which “net-zero” eventually requires)? Not with windmills and solar panels. While wind is the second-largest supplier of electricity on this particular day, if you drive around the countryside of Great Britain, or sail offshore, you’d think wind was at least half the country’s supply.
40
‘Dunkelflaute’ sends wind power generation plummeting in UK and Germany
Meteorological phenomenon is highlighting the difficulties of transition to renewable energy
A “Dunkelflaute” period of weather has sent wind power generation tumbling in the UK, Germany and other parts of northern Europe.
The phenomenon – which translates roughly as “dark wind lull” – describes periods when wind speeds plunge, leading to little to no generation from turbines.
On Tuesday, it meant wind farms were only able to meet 3-4pc of the UK’s electricity demand during the morning and evening peaks, with gas-fired plants instead fired up to meet around 60pc of demand.
The remainder was met by nuclear and biomass power plants, along with solar farms and imports via interconnectors, according to grid transparency data.
A similar phenomenon was seen in Germany, where low wind speeds left the country’s wind farms generating barely 7pc of their nameplate capacity.
There, grid operators had warmed up coal-fired power plants to meet 30pc of the morning’s demand, with another 18pc coming from gas and 12pc coming from solar farms.
The scale of the challenge in Britain was laid bare on Monday when the National Energy System Operator (Neso) published a report setting out “pathways” to the Government’s target of reaching clean power by 2030 – 84 Pages.
It warned that a “Herculean effort” was required, including a doubling of onshore wind capacity, a tripling of offshore wind and a quadrupling of solar power – all in the next five years.
This is to ensure renewables are built to such an extent that there is always enough residual capacity, even on low-wind or darker days.
On top of this, Neso said wind and solar farms would need to be bolstered by nuclear power plants, a huge amount of battery storage and large amounts of system “flexibility” provided by consumers by shifting their electricity use to different times.
The goal also cannot be achieved unless the planning system is rewritten and thousands of extra miles of cables and pylons are built to connect everything together, the report said.
Gas would still be used to back the system up, Neso said, but would provide less than 5pc of capacity.
30
Germany is thinking of bringing back nuclear power.
https://notrickszone.com/2024/11/23/germany-urgently-advised-to-return-to-nuclear-power-as-energy-supply-remains-in-dire-situation/
61
I think the article heading is more accurate – they are being ADVISED to bring back nuclear. I couldn’t see any sign of Germany actually thinking of taking that advice.
30
Interesting to see Australian Voters Intentions if DOGE was applied to ACT/Canberra?
Voters Love DOGE
My organization conducts a quarterly poll of registered voters in Minnesota, the results of which are published in our magazine.
The polling is done by Meeting Street Insights. Our pollster was in the field last week, and the results will be published in the January issue of Thinking Minnesota. We asked questions that were intended to help explain why people voted the way they did in this year’s presidential election.
I’m going to leak just one finding from our poll, which I thought was remarkable.
We asked whether respondents approved or disapproved of a series of Trump initiatives, one of which was the Department of Government Efficiency (“an Elon Musk plan for government reform that would create a government efficiency commission that would audit federal agencies and eliminate wasteful spending”).
The result?
An astonishing 96% approve of DOGE; only 4% disapprove.
I would have said that you couldn’t get a 96% consensus on anything in a poll.
If you asked whether the Sun rises in the East, you wouldn’t get 96%.
60
Can public sentiment force politicians to back DOGE?
Donald Trump has appointed Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk to ramrod the Department of Government Efficiency—DOGE—which will recommend ways to cut governmental inefficiency.
The good news is they’re not going to be official government employees, which means no confirmation hearings and no governmental entanglements. Also, both have the right mindset: they know about much of the duplication, corruption, sloth, graft and outright stupidity in government service. They’re also more than willing to name names and stomp on sensitive bureaucratic toes.
The bad news is [SNIP – too much sharing from the original article. Exceeds fair use policy. – Raquel]
To be sure, Musk and Ramaswamy and their staff will work hard to make the two trillion in savings Musk has forecast, and there’s little doubt those savings can be attained.
Eliminating lunatic spending will surely be a big part:
And that’s the other part of the problem: the congressional leviathan dedicated to spending other people’s money. As The Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher said:
“The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.”
60
Districtict of Columbia voted 92.5% for Harris. You know something is rotten there when it votes so strongly for a intelligence challenged globalists rather than someone who puts USA first.
It is a similar situation in Canberra despite the difference in what is on offer from Albanese and Dutton being hardly perceptible.
31
Australia, New Zealand, and Israel: Elections Have (Good and Bad) Consequences
While New Zealand’s new government has taken a harder line against terrorist groups in the Middle East, Australia’s has instead taken a harder line against Israel.
Blog Post by Elliott Abrams
Lo and behold, the new National Party government announced in February of this year that it was designating Hamas in its entirety as a terrorist organization, dispensing with the fiction that there is a Hamas “political wing” uninvolved in terrorism Then this week it designated Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist organization, again junking the ridiculous notion of a “political wing.” New Zealand also designated the Houthis as a terrorist organization this week.
But Australia has moved in the other direction, increasingly anti-Israel since the Labor Party won the 2022 general election.
The previous (conservative) government had been a reliable friend of Israel, and Australia’s votes in the United Nations more and more frequently sided with the United States on Israel-related matters.
Those days are gone.
This past week, that Labor government refused to allow former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked to enter Austraia.
The other pieces have been evident since Albanese came to power. After the Hamas attacks, President Biden was just one of the many world leaders (including the French president and UK prime minister) who visited Israel in a show of solidarity.
Prime Minister Albanese visited Washington in October 2023, but rejected suggestions that he stop in Israel on the way.
Nor has he been there since.
50
That clashes with the ‘Sharri Markson lauds ‘fast-acting’ NSW police’ which is the expected race by the Govt to do anything for the Jews. If someone damaged cars and scrawled anti-Christian graffiti the Police wouldn’t raise a finger!
40
Except, KP, that the coopers who nabbed the Islamist vandal were from the State of NSW. They were not Federal coppers. They’re state coppers.
The Albanese Islamist loving government is the Federal Government. Albanese is still playing politics and trying to protect his (Labor’s) Federal seats in Western Sydney at the expense of Australians of the Jewish faith.
How’s that for the left-wing’s oft quoted DEI agenda. Essentially, the Labor Party in Australia is racist. Clearly hypocritical racists.
50
FWIW
“These Are The Countries That Triggered Democrats Are Moving To After Trump’s Resounding Victory”
Spared so far –
“The Newsweek report said that Canada ranks as the top relocation destination for residents in blue-majority states, with 89.47% of the 19 states studied favoring it in searches.”
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/these-are-countries-triggered-democrats-are-moving-after-trumps-resounding-victory
20
So long as they don’t want to come here! We get enough bludgers as refugees already!
20
Crescent Dune Solar back in the news for the wrong reasons.
At 5:20 pm election night the DOJ reversed a previous ruling allowing a suit to recover hundreds of millions to proceed.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/11/25/exclusive-crescent-dunes-biden-doj-moved-election-night-cover-up-alleged-solar-energy-scandal/
This is beyond my pay grade. 🙂
20
Take it from me H, there is nothing unusual or surprising in there… The usual long story of high-pressure lobbyists selling an unworkable idea to politicians eager to get involved with other people’s money.. The Govt’s Dept Justice drags any accountability out for years while the politicians retire rich and the dodgy company goes broke. A billion dollars went in, and nothing at all came out.
Lets see how DOGE gets going!
10
FWIW
I’ll be suprised if that doesn’t come back out of the rabbit hole
10
Both of those schemes in the U.S. have been abject failures. Costs a lot of money to keep the “molten” salt molten when the sun doesn’t shine.
30
What is this ban they speak of?
‘In a lengthy Coalition partyroom meeting where two thirds of the debate was taken up talking about the ban, Nationals senator Matt Canavan and Liberal senator Alex Antic prepared to cross the floor while others reserved their right to do so.’ (OZ)
11
An excerpt from a long term review of Ford’s electric Mustang, in the Daily Mail:
“While I once had to pay a whopping £1.12 per kWh at a Shell Recharge station, in general fast charging averages at between 85 and 90p per kWh. On a long motorway journey, the Ford averages between 2.6 and 2.8 miles per kWh, which is by no means unexceptional in large battery SUVs I’ve tested. Using the more generous figures in both cases, the Ford is costing at least 30p per mile for the electricity alone.
“And what about your Honda?” she continued. My scrap of paper was getting crowded, but at similar speeds my Civic Type R will return about 34 miles per gallon, which means that the fuel cost per mile is about 16p. She gave me a hard stare.”
Admittedly the Mustang is bigger than the Civic, but then again, the Civic in question is a very quick car and a beautiful thing to drive, unlike the Mustang bouncy castle. That comparison says the EV costs almost twice as much per mile (UK) than the petrol-engined Civic. On top of this, the electric Mustang costs around GBP19K more to buy.
Of course the writer also experienced the now common problems with busted public chargers, which were also slow, and long queues. This meant that, now it is winter ‘oop North’, he finds himself wearing a coat, gloves and scarf while driving, in order to avoid using the heater and losing lots of range.
The base model Mustang E costs just $70K in Oz and we don’t have nearly as many broken chargers (see what I did there?)
Form an orderly queue here …
41
via Sky
The poll result is at https://au.yougov.com/politics/articles/51000-support-for-under-16-social-media-ban-soars-to-77-among-australians
I have to wonder if the respondents really understood the impact of the bill.
40
If you want the right answers you have to ask the right questions…
20
And if you want the “right” answers you also have to ask the “right”questions.
30
What they’ve done is create a grid that fails only when you need it most. They manage at normal demand levels of energy, fails on any day over say 30 degrees or under 5 when you certainly need your air conditioning or heating. The reason that happens is because. Renewables let you down on a hot cloudy day with no wind and no matter how many more renewables are built it will still let you down . 100×0 is the same as 50x 0. These commentators are absolute idiots when they argue coal is the problem but theyre right. There is not enough of it.
60
Don’t forget EMERGENCIES, natural and man made.
If a disaster occurs, the ability to recover depends on the availability of energy to fix the broken bits.
30
FWIW
Chiefio looks at “Just Now”
https://chiefio.wordpress.com/2024/11/26/judge-napolitano-scott-ritter-trump-gorka/
“Then there is hope. But hope is not a strategy” E.M. Smith
30
FWIW
For Hanrahan and others
“Metal Mix Explosives”
https://chiefio.wordpress.com/2024/11/26/metal-mix-explosives/
00
https://wherearethenumbers.substack.com/p/the-statistics-of-poverty I can’t find a clear explanation of poverty calculations except ‘In Australia, the poverty line is generally defined as 50% of median household income.’ – by this calculation, there would always be some Australian households in poverty also. Not denying poverty exists, just that the measurement seems pretty ropey.
31
‘In Australia, the poverty line is generally defined as 50% of median household income.
So the bottom 25%, a lot richer than the bottom 25% 50years ago.
Quite normal with Govt… What would they do if there was no poverty?
There will always be “poverty”, there will always be “homeless” and there will always be Govt reaching into your pocket to solve a non-existent problem!
20
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-26/one-in-five-renters-living-without-essential-items-study-finds/104649400 – “people with incomes below the poverty line who are experiencing multiple deprivation shows the important role that wealth plays as a protection against poverty” – no shit sherlock!
50
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_YWFvJVdeA Models do not equal evidence
20
FWIW – more “covid soothing”
“BREAKING: O’Keefe Media Group: NIH Chief Confesses COVID Health Initiatives Were Completely Made Up… “I Probably Shouldn’t Be Saying This Out Loud” (VIDEO)”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/11/breaking-okeefe-media-group-nih-chief-confesses-covid/
Sounds like more coming
50
FWIW – no COP!
“Scientists Officially Declare End of ‘Climate Emergency’ During Prague Climate Conference”
https://legalinsurrection.com/2024/11/scientists-officially-declare-end-of-climate-emergency-during-prague-climate-conference/
30