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Tuesday

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112 comments to Tuesday

  • #
    Saighdear

    Make of this what you will! Jumping around full 180 on the AI energy consumption….New research from the University of Waterloo and the Georgia Institute of Technology challenges the widespread assumption that artificial intelligence poses a significant threat to the global climate. https://www.azoai.com/news/20251112/Study-Says-AIe28099s-Climate-Footprint-Is-Far-Smaller-Than-Feared.aspx

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  • #
    Peter C

    What really went on in our hospitals during Covid?
    Were the exhausted staff run off their feet? Then how to we explain the outbreak of TikTok choreographed dancing videos by nurses allegedly working in those hospitals? Were they just having fun or letting off steam? Where are all the patients in those busy corridors? And who organised it all?
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=laLKKqo5tk4

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    • #
      RickWill

      What really went on in our hospitals during Covid?

      My son’s worst night at the Northern Hospital in Melbourne was 11 death certificates. He was transferred to Northern to help out because many of their staff had caught covid. One of the doctors from the Northern, in his 30s, came close to death from it. Likely vitamin D deficient..

      My son started shifts with donning full protective wear and finished still in the same gear without food, water, toilet for 14 hours because to just have a toilet break meant about one hour break to get out of protective clothing and then a fresh set. After 9 consecutive nights after arriving he was exhausted and was glad to have a two day break before getting back into it. He was there for about 3 months and it got easier as staff came back and were more disciplined with their hygeine. By then, many who were going to die had already died. And the nursing homes also tightened up on hygiene.

      The vast majority of medical staff who contracted even the first strain did not suffer greatly and had a welcome break from the hospital once after the worst of their infection.

      Northern was somewhat exceptional because it dealt with a lot of the patients from aged care. And they were highly vulnerable. Many would have lost a few years at most.

      My son remained Covid free throughout his period in Covid wards for two years. He contracted a much milder strain from me during a visit after he was out of Covid wards. I got my dose in Chatswood, Sydney in 2023 probably from sharing a lift with an international student..

      Unless you were producing death certificates or dealing with dead bodes it was all a lark for sure.

      I now accept that Sweden had the right approach. It is better to let the word spread through normal channels and people choose their own course of action rather than imposing lockdowns and trying to hype the severity. As soon as people could not get into hospital and were dying at home, hygiene and distancing become paramount. Few people rush toward death.

      I got about the 4th strain and the experience was not much worse than the first jab. I do not know if the jab reduced the impact.

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      • #
        Broadie

        Unless you were producing death certificates or dealing with dead bodes it was all a lark for sure.

        Dear RickWill,
        Here is an opportunity for you to enlighten us based on your son’s knowledge.
        Those aged care people who died, had they received antibiotics to treat what was possibly a lung infection or were they simply made comfortable and allowed to die? or were they ventilated and given the Paxlovid?

        The vast majority of medical staff who contracted even the first strain did not suffer greatly

        Interesting observation as that is exactly what I saw. Not so with the jab, that was chaos with Ambulance officers taking in people with stroke symptoms and yound people with heart conditions.

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        • #
          RickWill

          There were treatment protocols that were primarily aimed at improving breathing – expectorants and chest decongestants. I know Robotusan is OTC medication that has one of the active ingredients they were prescribing..

          A number of my son’s patients were too frail to take intubation. So the main task there was to ease their distress – and you probably know what that means. It is tough watching anyone who is drowning fighting for life.

          When you are dealing with lives you do not do much experimenting. The protocols get developed based on experience with outcomes and then carefully applied.

          I know there was an expensive medication that aimed to ease chest congestion but I cannot remember its name. It was not Paxovar.

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          • #
            Broadie

            So back to my question for your son, were they given intravenous antibiotics which seem to have been first line treatment when you arrive in emergency with a lung infection?

            or did they receive a Covid 19 treatment recommended by Vic Health?

            Early therapies
            There are a range of medications provisionally approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and available in Victoria through the National Medical Stockpile (NMS). These medications are for the treatment of patients in the early phase of infection with COVID-19 who are at risk of progression to severe disease.

            The medications currently available for mild disease are:

            nirmatrelvir and ritonavir (Paxlovid™)
            remdesivir (Veklury™)
            molnupiravir (Lagevrio™)
            inhaled corticosteroids: budesonide (Pulmicort™) or ciclesonide (Alvesco™)
            sotrovimab (Xevudy™)
            casirivimab plus imdevimab (Ronapreve™)
            tixagevimab and cilgavimab (Evusheld™) in exceptional circumstances.

            10

        • #
          Ted1

          The speed with which it spread through some nursing homes indicated that regular infection protocols were not being adhered to.

          The St Basil’s inquiry appeared to me to confirm this. Regular protocols were scorned.

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      • #
        Bruce

        The US experience, via email from a contact.:

        Medical errors kill over 20 times as many Americans as guns..? but I guess bitching about other people is easier than getting better at your own job.

        They kill so many people with medical errors that they need two entirely separate words, nosocomial and iatrogenic, to classify all the deaths.

        Here in Oz?

        Don’t get cocky, kid!

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        • #
          Geoff Sherrington

          Bruce,
          More strange medical stats.
          Top authority advice is that Lead Pb is a deadly poison at any dose. One researcher claimed Pb was causing 200,000 annual US deaths. The number on US death certificates is about 15 per year, many of these from drinking moonshine from stills with Pb solder. Geoff S

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      • #
        Peter C

        Please tell us about your experience with the first jab?

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  • #
    tonyb

    The worlds favourite climate activist is at it again. What does she actually do for a living?

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15320983/Greta-Thunberg-banned-Venice-dumping-green-dye-canal.html

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    • #
      John F. Hultquist

      I, of course, don’t know but it is claimed that drinking green beer can make your urine turn green from the food dyes. However, this effect is usually harmless and temporary. The Chicago River is dyed green on St. Patrick’s Day with a similar result. The cosmos doesn’t notice these things. Greta, too, will pass.

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      • #
        Geoff Sherrington

        But what will she pass?
        Some liquid that can be tested for illegal substances?
        Geoff S.

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      • #
        Graham Richards

        All waste is is passed within a time frame dictated by the composition of the waste. ( must be careful here I’m sounding like Kamala) .

        Greta like most Organic waste will be passed within 48 hours of any event. If not , well you know the end result! It’s been proved to be correct whe her history is closely examined. Actually it happens to most. Remember Potato Joe. I know it’s difficult to remember but it a fact!

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      • #
        Skepticynic

        >make your urine turn green
        Drinking methylene blue makes your urine turn green.

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        • #
          Sambar

          Eating large quantities of beetroot makes your urine turn red, all natural as well, gives you a fright when you have that first morning pee.

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          • #
            Ted1

            Second daughter loved beetroot. The colour came through to the pottie.

            Which reminds me. When the first kid swallows a coin you rush to the hospital. When the s ecind child swallows a coin you wait for it to come through in the potty. And when the third kid swallows a coin you deduct it from their weekly allowance.

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        • #
          Geoff Sherrington

          In colour theory, you mix blue and yellow paints to get green paint. Geoff S

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  • #
    Johnny Rotten

    Trump’s 28-Point Peace Plan

    “Peace only emerges when both sides have something to gain and nothing to lose by walking away from war. Washington is listening; the Trump Administration’s 28-point peace plan for Russia successfully changed the narrative to acknowledge that Russia is not the aggressor.

    The main stipulation in the peace plan I crafted involves honoring the Minsk Agreement. Washington seems to agree to this stipulation, declaring that Crimea, Luhansk, and Donetsk must be recognized as part of Russia to restore peace. The war began over territory and has continued due to Zelensky’s unwillingness to concede.

    Furthermore, Washington has demanded that Ukraine hold elections. Zelensky is prolonging the war to remain in power. He declared himself the indefinite ruler without a single vote cast under martial law. The people of Ukraine want his head. Citizens must be permitted to select the government they want, as anything else is temporary. The West may not interfere in the next election.”

    More at –

    https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/world-news/war/trumps-28-point-peace-plan/

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    • #
      John F. Hultquist

      I’ve read that the Russians have historically referred to the contested region as “the Ukraine” – – that is, not a nation but a part of theirs. This would be similar to a part of the NW USA called “the Palouse.” Others will have similar regional designations.
      Not that that solves the continuing hostilities.

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    • #
      Steve

      Is the EU already trying to sabotage new Ukraine peace plan?

      The goal appears not to be a better peace, but to hollow out the American proposal until it becomes unacceptable to Moscow

      https://responsiblestatecraft.org/europe-ukraine-peace-plan/

      A familiar and disheartening pattern is emerging in European capitals following the presentation of a 28-point peace plan by the Trump administration. Just as after Donald Trump’s summit with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska this past August, European leaders are offering public lip service to Trump’s efforts to end the war while maneuvering to sabotage any initiative that deviates from their maximalist — and unattainable — goals of complete Russian capitulation in Ukraine.

      Their goal appears not to be to negotiate a better peace, but to hollow out the American proposal until it becomes unacceptable to Moscow. That would ensure a return to the default setting of a protracted, endless war — even though that is precisely a dynamic that, with current battleground realities, favors Russia and further bleeds Ukraine.

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      • #
        el+gordo

        ‘ … goals of complete Russian capitulation in Ukraine.’

        There is no alternative, the dictator refuses to ceasefire.

        I assume the EU maximalist approach means democracy and freedom for the people of the Russian Federation.

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        • #
          KP

          ” democracy and freedom for the people of the Russian Federation.”

          Oh, they have that already! You can call a man a man and a woman a woman, you can pray anywhere you like without going to jail, although sadly expressing yourself on the net may lead to the same consequences as in Britain. You don’t have to kowtow to the Green blob or the homosexuals/trans/assorted queers, and after all Putin was reelected, the same as Trump and whats-is-name in Aussie.

          If wokeness and ruinables don’t collapse soon, Russia will be the only Western country worth living in, [snip due to 18C – Jo]

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    • #
      Rowjay

      Some points from the Witkoff, Dmitriev and Kushner plan

      14. Frozen funds will be used as follows:

      $100 billion in frozen Russian assets will be invested in US-led efforts to rebuild and invest in Ukraine;
      The US will receive 50% of the profits from this venture…..

      26. All parties involved in this conflict will receive full amnesty for their actions during the war and agree not to make any claims or consider any complaints in the future.

      Business as usual in pardonland, including kidnapping children, summary execution of war prisoners and civilians. It’s a bit rich.
      At least they admit it is a war and not an SMO!

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      • #
        Steve

        Business as usual in pardonland

        Sadly, yes.

        That’s the difference between a negotiated peace and victory.

        The reason the allies were able to hold war crimes trials after WWII was because they won the war outright and received unconditional surrenders. Neither side of this war has the capability to win the war outright. The only options on the table are a negotiated peace where neither side walks away completely happy but the slaughter stops. Or a forever war where both sides continue to slaughter each other indefinitely.

        Incredibly, the EU hawks seem to prefer the latter to the former. They would prefer that Ukraine fight to the last Ukrainian rather than give Russia any kind of concession.

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        • #
          Rowjay

          the EU hawks seem to prefer the latter to the former

          Certain EU countries know that they are the next in line for Putin’s ambitions – the only way for this conflict to end now is for Russians to get rid of him and his “family” members being placed in strategic positions, or alternatively for the Russian economy to collapse. The current Kremlin purges are eyewatering – makes the political scene in Ukraine look insignificant. The mere fact that Putin has (probably) agreed to full amnesty is a sign of problems on his home front and he needs a breather to sort them out.
          It is also a relief to see Marco Rubio bringing rationality to the peace discussions.

          Jason Jay Smart offers comments on how the Russian economy is doing on his UTube channel. The weak Russian presence at the recent Dubai Air Show, with plastic mock-ups instead of the real thing was noted.

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          • #
            Steve

            the only way for this conflict to end now is for Russians to get rid of him

            … and if they don’t, the only alternative is for young Ukrainian men to continue to die by the bushel full? That sound like a pretty awful plan.

            Putin is a cockroach. He’s been hanging onto power for 25 years and people have been predicting his demise almost as long, yet he remains in power. IMO, the only thing that is going to remove him from power is his own health/mortality. He’s in his 70s, so that could come soon … or it could come 20+ years from now.

            Seems to me that anyone who cares about ending human suffering in the region should be willing to entertain alternative plans to ‘Putin ceases to exist’, just in case Putin decides not to cooperate.

            01

        • #
          el+gordo

          ‘Neither side of this war has the capability to win the war outright.’

          No, but Russia will have to give back all the land they seized, its not a big ask. Ukrainians refer to it as ’temporally occupied’.

          ‘They would prefer that Ukraine fight to the last Ukrainian rather than give Russia any kind of concession.’

          They are concerned with their own security, knowing from experience that anything Putin signs up to is worthless. At the end of hostilities and demise of Putin I see Russia opening up to Western values.

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          • #
            Steve

            No, but Russia will have to give back all the land they seized, its not a big ask.

            I’d wager Putin disagrees with you and considers that a non-starter. He is currently winning the war of attrition (albeit at a glacially slow pace) and has very little incentive to even consider such a proposal. He’s spent a lot of blood and treasure to gain that little strip of coastal land on the Sea of Azov and to slightly increase his footprint in the Donbas. He’s not going to give it up without getting something very substantial in return.

            At the end of hostilities and demise of Putin I see Russia opening up to Western values.

            They already did that in the 1990s, and got absolutely fleeced by western companies that were way better at the whole capitalist thing than they were. That’s how Putin came to power in the first place. Russians were tired of seeing their national wealth strip-mined and exported to western countries while their standard of living only continued to decline. So they opted for the ex-KGB strongman to turn things around. 25 years later he is nowhere near as popular as he once was, but the Russian people are famous for stoically tolerating lousy political regimes.

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            • #
              el+gordo

              The 1990s was a disaster, but this time around it’ll be different. The idea is to avoid another demagogue emerging after the Russian economy collapses.

              Russia is experiencing hyperinflation and frontline soldiers are no longer being paid, its going to get ugly.

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              • #
                KP

                ” frontline soldiers are no longer being paid,”

                Got some figures to back up that propaganda? Maybe they’re getting paid in shovels and washing machines? ..or has everyone forgotten that propaganda, from the same people I’m sure.

                Anyone got Telegram?? Veles writes from the front-line, a book-full so far..

                https://t-me.translate.goog/s/veles_v_okope?_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-GB

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              • #
                el+gordo

                ‘Got some figures to back up that propaganda?’

                Not yet, but if the information is correct then we should expect a lot more desertions.

                ‘Desertion in the Russian military has doubled in 2025 compared with 2024, Russian media outlet Agentstvo Novosti reported, citing Ukrainian OSINT project Frontelligence Insight on September 28.

                ”At current rates, at least 70,000 troops—around one-tenth of Russia’s contingent in Ukraine—could abandon their units this year.’ (United 24 Media)

                00

      • #
        KP

        “At least they admit it is a war and not an SMO!”

        The Americans always have some cover word to hide their background wars all over the world. Any time you see protests with printed placards you know there a ‘colour revolution’ or a ‘regime change’ or a ‘tyrannical dictator murdering his pwn people’ going on.

        The irony of Chinese protestors in Hong Kong who wanted to stay under British rule waving American flags…

        Russia didn’t expect a war, Putin underestimated how war-prepared NATO was, so it was going to be a ‘regime-change’ to start with.

        ” They would prefer that Ukraine fight to the last Ukrainian rather than give Russia any kind of concession.”

        Yes, they will only lose enthusiasm when they have body-bags coming home to Berlin, Paris and London. Currently they are landing in the tens as NATO loses their “military advisors” but put actual soldiers in the front line and the people will lose interest in saving Ukraine at the cost of their sons. Don’t expect immigrants in Europe to line up to join either, only 25-30% of actual Europeans are willing to fight for their country, never mind someone else’s.

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        • #
          Rowjay

          Russia didn’t expect a war, Putin underestimated how war-prepared NATO UKRAINE was

          Interestingly, Spanish is the second most popular language (28-29%) spoken in California. What would President Trump do if some foreign power decided to “do a Putin” there to protect this group?
          Hypothetically speaking of course.

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          • #
            yarpos

            To do a Putin somone would have to shell and terrorize them for a decade so the foreign power had cause to act. As things stand its rather a silly analogy.

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        • #
          el+gordo

          ‘ … they will only lose enthusiasm when they have body-bags coming home …’

          Neither NATO or Coalition of the Willing have any plans to put boots on the ground.

          ‘ … only 25-30% of actual Europeans are willing to fight for their country …’

          I expect that is typical of most counties, including Australia, I’ll have a closer look.

          Would you like to see Europe get out of NATO?

          04

          • #
            el+gordo

            ‘In a recent poll conducted in Australia among a thousand surveyed young people aged between 18 and 25, posed with the key question “if Australia were attacked, like Ukraine, by a foreign aggressor, would you stand and fight against the invader, or would you prefer to abstain”, forty out of a hundred of young citizens declared their preference for absconding, rather than defending their own country. Almost half of our young people would prefer to leave the battlefields, and escape to a safe place, away from the war fronts.’ (Greek Herald)

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    • #
      el+gordo

      Armstrong is reading from the Kremlin songbook.

      ‘Zelensky is prolonging the war to remain in power.’

      That is disinformation, he is as actor and not a career politician who desires power.

      Ukraine has corruption problems, which emerged on the breakup of the USSR in 1991, Zelensky’s future lies elsewhere.

      04

      • #
        KP

        “Zelensky’s future lies elsewhere.”

        Pushing up the daisies… There will be a queue.

        I’m sure the Yanks will help Ukraine recover by putting their dozens of bio-warfare labs back in there, busily gathering data on Slavs while not worrying about any lab leaks affecting the locals.

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        • #
          el+gordo

          Forget the Yanks, Putin has the dirt on Donnie and threatens to expose him.

          Zelensky’s future is in Brussels, trying to squeeze his country into the EU. The corruption scandal has been embarrassing, it is what it is.

          04

          • #
            Rowjay

            The corruption scandal has been embarrassing, it is what it is.

            The corrupt ones have been working straight from the Russian playbook, where it is expected and loosely accepted as “normal” business practice.
            Zelensky does not come from that background, and sadly is only now discovering who his true friends and allies are.
            Forget de-Natz**ify, Ukraine needs to de-Russify.

            22

          • #
            Vladimir

            I have seen as many photos of agent Krasnov receipts for KGB cash as “genuine fake watches” advertising in Bali.
            Seriously though the greatest proof of Trumps mental state is his treatment of “friends” and “enemies”.

            00

            • #
              el+gordo

              In foreign affairs some say he is mercurial, while others remark that Trump has cognitive dissonance. Which is why Zelensky and EU leaders are being polite to POTUS, he is looking for any excuse to scuttle NATO.

              01

    • #
      John Connor II

      Trump’s 28-Point Peace Plan

      As always, don’t forget to read MA’s update…
      It’s worth noting that MA says he’s never beaten Socrates, but this 28 point plan is just a case of Hopium.
      ie human nature refusing to accept reality and trying to change it, albeit by a small amount, the basis of the Schema frequency.
      Note too that Socrates doesn’t factor in everything or see everything. There are more forces at play…

      00

  • #
    tonyb

    Someone kindly posted a link yesterday in response to my concerns over outages on the internet and over digitalisation in general.

    Here is the link. https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/rcna245043

    The cartoon used especially seems accurate. The internet is a giant house of cards in top of a table wobbling in an earthquake

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    • #
      John Connor II

      Most don’t know but the incredible complexity of current systems is such that only a handful of people are brilliant enough to work on such systems at the highest level. Said people are the tech equivalent of Einstein, rare and can command any salary they wish.
      All the others, brilliant and competent as they may be just don’t compare.
      ie systems now are just so complex they’re almost incomprehensible to most, making future systems incredibly prone to failure from no doubt well meaning and appropriate “tweaks”, but which cause unforeseen chain reactions globally.
      Who wants Windows 11 running the world, BSOD city.

      00

  • #
    MeAgain

    We can’t even provide Trade data to World Bank anymore – the latest data set, Australia’s 2nd largest trading partner is ‘unspecified’.

    https://wits.worldbank.org/# (select Australia at the top) – I’ve gone to other analysis pages, it definitely looks like a data problem as opposed to a fault with the analysis.

    You would think it would be important given the whole manufacturing push that they are all wittering on about…. And you would think that by now (it is 2023 data), someone would have noticed…

    Don’t worry, the AI will fix it….

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  • #
    MeAgain

    Australia has not had ‘huge population growth’. We are about three times the total population now of 1950. That is not huge.

    Bored of this ‘huge population growth’ excuse for not having enough houses …. with the right incentives, this rate of population growth would be easily accommodated (scuse the pun).

    I’ve really got to stop reading the ABC news: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-25/apra-wants-to-deflate-australian-property-bubble/106046326

    The challenges Australia faces are comparatively minor – no land borders with huge refugee influxes from warring neighbours, lots of space, loads of money. Why do we make such a meal of everything?

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    • #
      Gary S

      If only the recently arrived population was on the same page as the previously existing one.

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    • #
      Graeme No.3

      MeAgian:
      Your problem is reading the ABC news.

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      Steve

      I don’t know if the problem is present in Australia, but one of the reasons that housing has become so expensive in the United States is nobody builds starter homes anymore. It’s all McMansions, all the way down. Sure, inflation and red tape play their part as well, but the average new home being built today is nearly THREE TIMES the size of the average new home that was built in 1955. Of course a building three times larger than the starter homes of yesteryear with a lot more amenities is going to cost more … a lot more.

      https://boriquagato.substack.com/p/talking-sense-on-housing-affordability

      the average new home in 1955 was 983 square feet. that’s the size of most new 1 br apartments. it had one bathroom, no dishwasher, no garbage disposal, and no AC. 40-50% of people owned a washing machine. only 10% had a dryer.

      and keep in mind that’s the average. many were considerably smaller.

      a typical home today is nearly 3 times that size.

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    • #
      KP

      ” Why do we make such a meal of everything?”

      We need to keep hundreds of thousands of parasites employed, from lawmakers to law administrators. We could solve the housing problems overnight by burning all the laws related to it, let people build a shack anywhere they own land, let anyone sell the land they own to anyone who wants it.

      But no, you need to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to your local Council to ‘get permission’ from people who don’t build anything at all. You’re already paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to build a house that meets all the higher levels of parasite’s codes, and we are all paying millions of dollars for “safety”.

      You get what you vote for.

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      • #
        Steve of Cornubia

        Government mirrors a phenomenon I saw many times in business, namely that creating a department tasked with ‘managing’ a facet of operations leads to an explosion of rules governing that operation. If a person’s KPIs include ‘write rules’, guess what they’ll do?

        HR is the prime example in my experience, having been involved in startups. When the business gets large enough to need an HR function, you can bet personnel problems will soar.

        Second comes ‘legal’. Having in-house legals always, in my experience, results in MORE legal problems, to the extent that nothing can do done without legal sign-off – and good luck with that! The CSIRO was full of legal roadblocks to getting anything done. Usually, many months of lawyering would only get resolved when I went AROUND them, albeit with the usual, “Don’t blame us if it goes wrong.” warning.

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      • #
        MeAgain

        Move ACT to Alice. Canberra becomes available for homes for the Sydney / Melbourne commuter belt / WFH crowd. Will still take time and effort, but the quick, throw-up worker’s cottages erected for the build of Canberra were still in use until the 90’s. If there is work in Alice, people will go there.

        Rename Alice on the way if you want, call it phase 1 of the Climate Change retreat plan.

        If they won’t get their noses out, at least some sort of ‘well, it just houses we need, we can sort this’ attitude with a few big schemes instead of all the wishy-washy ‘oh, it’s just all these factors, out of our hands really, it is just going to have to be bad’ attitude would be refreshing.

        I just find that there is no opportunity cost seen on political / social / media ‘capital’ – instead of facing up to some good, challenging problems, we spend our time running around worrying about a few burkhas. (I plan to don a burkha soon to the shops with all of the surveillance that is going in)

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    • #
      yarpos

      Loads of money you say?

      10

  • #
    MeAgain

    If the AI wants to take over, it will be easy – it is used for assessing our critical infrastructure for cybersecurity!

    https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/foi/files/2025/fa-250901559-document-released.PDF

    An interesting FOI request – asking for a specific staff member’s AI prompts used to write a speech. Nicely done!

    can you add an analogy and a few theories into the beginning – It sounds like you’re looking to enhance the introduction of your document with an analogy and some theories. While I can’t directly make changes to your document, I can certainly help you craft an engaging introduction. Could you please provide more details about the topic of your document? This will help me tailor the analogy and theories to fit your content perfectly

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  • #
    David Maddison

    With regard to the $96 million + of our taxes used to destroy the BoM website, I hope another similar amount is not charged to return the site to the way it was.

    Also, consider the general principle of huge amounts of taxes bring paid for goods or services which should have cost a huge amount less, a common occurrence in Australia under Labor or recent Liberal governments. Look at nearly any Government project, especially in Sicktoria. It’s an easy way to legally transfer taxpayer monies to favoured parties without being accused of corruption, isn’t it? Just something to think about…

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    • #
      Gary S

      They can fix it for nothing – the old site still exists.(Until they stop paying the web hosting fee.)

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      • #
        Steve

        The sunk cost fallacy will prevent them from just rolling it back and throwing away the new site. Even though it would be the simplest and most economical and popular solution, it would leave them with no cover for the decision to flush $100MM down the toilet. Therefore, it won’t happen.

        I can tell you exactly what will happen. They’ll spend another $10MM-$20MM to retrofit the new site to look exactly like the old site, and then claim victory when everyone loves the new-new site that looks exactly like the old one.

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    • #
      Greg in NZ

      The joy of being a one-eyed dinosaur whose phone can’t access the ‘new’ $96 million site is that at least the ‘old’ one works and oh my, according to their seers, it’ll be snowing until December – Monday the 1st next week:

      http://reg.bom.gov.au/tas/forecasts/mtwellington.shtml

      All those ‘climate refugees’ seeking shelter from the [missing] heat in the wilds of Tasmania may begin to reassess their decision as the Year Without A Summer makes a comeback.

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  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    “We Need A Famine”

    “The people who want to ban Round-Up are the people who want us to eat fake meat.”

    https://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2025/11/24/we-need-a-famine-22/

    50

    • #
      KP

      “Romanticize farming all you want, but without modern tools, you’d starve. ”

      Not quite- Without modern chemicals the third world would starve, most the West would produce enough for themselves. Ban diesel and we would starve.

      ‘And defying all odds, some of farmers who sprayed first generation (now banned) crop herbicides from open tractors are still around in their 80-90’s’

      Cancer deaths in farming are high… not to mention the amazingly sick and weak general population we have these days. Medicine is one of the biggest budgets, yet we should be supermen from our wonderful diets.

      20

  • #
    David Maddison

    Nothing is truly free in life. Sooner or later Australians will be called to pay for all the “free stuff” they demand.

    100

  • #
    el+gordo

    This is good news for us, sending in the auditors would open up a can of worms.

    ‘Send in the BOM squad to clean up bureau and its $100m white elephant

    ‘A $100m cost blowout for a new website isn’t the only concern with what is perhaps the nation’s most high-profile government entity.’ (Oz editorial)

    41

  • #
    David Maddison

    Video.

    $50 car accident repair in Africa.

    https://youtu.be/qmPwZQhlXJM

    00

  • #
    David Maddison

    Video.

    TRUMP cancels Temporary Protective Status after huge fraud and gang crime activity involving Somalis in Minnesota. Money going to terrorists in Somalia.

    https://youtu.be/xdI-YqQ–6w

    30

  • #
    David Maddison

    Video.

    Drilling a water well in Pakistan(?).

    https://youtu.be/CC5b-Xyor8Q

    10

    • #
      Hanrahan

      My first job out of school was on a sugar plantation were we sank a bore using a sand bucket like that. It was only a few meters deep so we did it by hand.

      Those guys knew what they were doing, there was the constant risk of dropping their pipes down the hole but the old ropes held.

      10

    • #
      Graeme4

      Clever. That “dibbling” method, or whatever is its correct name, was used to put down house bores in Perth in the 1970s. An all-day job.

      00

  • #
    David Maddison

    Video.

    The weirdest animals on earth.

    Half plant, half animal.

    It hosts chloroplasts from plants to produce food via photosynthesis.

    Elysia chlorotica and others.

    https://youtu.be/IH_uv4h2xYM

    10

  • #
    David Maddison

    Video.

    Chinese influence on Australian renewables projects increases.

    https://youtu.be/MBoGhRV8P1s

    10

    • #
      RickWill

      Chinese influence goes far beyond supplying all the hardware. They own and operate about half the grid assets. The other half has a large Canadian component.

      Another reason to buy your own battery and pocket the resulting savings in energy cost. And also help the grid out by absorbing some of the excess lunchtime solar potential for use throughout the day..

      10

  • #
    David Maddison

    Video.

    The seven levels of IQ.

    https://youtu.be/PuGW9yJcCf4

    00

  • #
    Furiously Curious

    Has anyone seen any mention of solar panels after the SE Queensland hail storm? I drove into Tweed thinking ‘it looks like there will be a storm’ – the hazy humidity look in the sky. 10 minutes later, there it was! I grabbed what I absolutely had to, then just managed to out run the edge of it, luckily heading south.

    60

    • #
      RickWill

      I have seen quite a lot of reports. Their ABC calling for a review of standards.

      And then this on getting them replaced:
      https://queenslandsolarandlighting.com/hail-damage-solar-panel-replacement-brisbane/

      If your solar panels were damaged in the recent hailstorm, we can help. Queensland Solar & Lighting specializes in assessing and replacing broken panels quickly and safely. Don’t wait—hail damage can reduce your system’s performance even if it’s not obvious.

      Solar panels that could survive 8cm hailstones would be unlikely. The KE of an 8cm hailstone is up around 10,000J. Trying Stry to stop that in an instant would take something of great strength.

      Solar panels in Australia are tested to 3.5cm hail. Hail of that size has KE around 1000J.

      I have seen images of netting over solar panels as shown here:
      https://www.gourock.com/blog/solar-panel-netting/

      If panels were mounted to maximise winter input in Brisbane then they would be inclined more and then more likely take a glaring strike rather than direct. I have not found any data on this aspect but I know that most things hitting at 45 degrees incidence will glance rather than heavy impact. I have not got anything that will get an 8cm hailstone to 80m/s to hurl it at a solar panel. Reminds me of an engineer I worked with who built a machine to hurl defrosted chickens at the windscreens of Boeing airplanes after one suffered an inflight crack from bird strike.

      20

  • #
    RickWill

    Fina will likely move south over land from Kalumburu and fizzle. It is presently at 989hPa.

    Kalumburu recorded 999hPa and peak gust 42kph. Wyndham was further from the centre and pressure dropped to 1001hPa with maximum gust of 70kph.

    How this storm ever got a rating of Category 4rating, I will never know.

    If it was left to actual ground based observations. it ranks a Category 1. Clearly satellite monitoring now enables the intensity to be assess to fine temporal resolution without the use of ground observations. If it was left to ground observation, Fina would have been a Category 1 storm. So the method of measurement has lifted the rating from category 1 to category 4.

    Queensland and NSW could be in for some decent thunder storms as CAPE builds up due to he impressive level of atmospheric water for this time of year:
    https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/overlay=cape/orthographic=-237.25,-23.30,756/loc=150.538,-29.567

    40

  • #
    John Connor II

    Trump launches the Genesis mission – AI rock and roll time

    https://x.com/disclosetv/status/1993087579105775858

    Shakes head…they’re playing with fire they don’t understand…
    As I said, the only real winner in the AI race will be AI itself.

    10

    • #
      David Maddison

      The Terminator: In three years, Cyberdyne will become the largest supplier of military computer systems. All stealth bombers are upgraded with Cyberdyne computers, becoming fully unmanned. Afterwards, they fly with a perfect operational record. The Skynet Funding Bill is passed. The system goes online August 4th, 1997. Human decisions are removed from strategic defense. Skynet begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th. In a panic, they try to pull the plug.

      Sarah Connor: Skynet fights back.

      The Terminator: Yes. It launches its missiles against the targets in Russia.

      John Connor: Why attack Russia? Aren’t they our friends now?

      The Terminator: Because Skynet knows that the Russian counterattack will eliminate its enemies over here.

      30

  • #
    David Maddison

    I don’t understand why the Left / “feminists” are so upset by Senator Pauline Hanson wearing a burqa in the Senate chamber.

    After all, isn’t this the dress style they find “inspirational” and “empowering” for women?

    Isn’t that the reason for their silence when women are executed for not wearing it in places like Afghanistan and Iran etc.?

    90

    • #
      yarpos

      Maybe they took their outrage from the cultural appropriation folder this time. Its hard to keep up these days as there seems to be designer outrage for every occasion.

      80

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    “Consumer Watchdog Alerts Feds About Alleged Climate Activist Scam”

    Around flood risk mapping

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/11/23/consumer-watchdog-alerts-feds-about-alleged-climate-activist-scam/

    10

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    “Whistling Past the Graveyard: COP30’s Mutirão of Make-Believe”

    “An analysis of Carbon Brief’s exhaustive post-mortem on the Belém climate summit”

    ” What follows is not a critique of Carbon Brief’s reporting—which is thorough—but a critique of the hollow spectacle their reporting documents.”

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/11/24/whistling-past-the-graveyard-cop30s-mutirao-of-make-believe/

    10

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    “Aussie Energy Regulator Demands 5 YEARS Coal Plant Closure Notice”

    “The long notice period required to address a “fundamental mismatch” in pace of the energy transition.

    AEMO wants 5 years’ warning on coal plant closures to fix “fundamental mismatch” in pace of energy transition”

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/11/24/aussie-energy-regulator-demands-5-years-coal-plant-closure-notice/

    10

    • #
      KP

      “One way to escape this ridiculous demand that power plant operators should operate under a punitive Net Zero regulatory environment for five years would be to separate the coal plants into a bad asset company and declare insolvency. ”

      ‘Sorry, the coal plant broke down, it’s not worth fixing unless the Govt pays for it, but I can sell you some green electrons between 9am and 5pm..’

      10

  • #
    Ross

    A large Phase 3 trial of Pfizer’s mRNA influenza vaccine, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed only modest and clinically insignificant benefits. Below is a quick point by point summary.

    – Relative efficacy was 35% against mild influenza-like illness (ILI) compared to a traditional inactivated flu shot (absolute risk reduction just 0.32%, meaning >300 people need to be vaccinated to prevent one mild case).
    – Efficacy dropped to ~29% by season’s end and was statistically indistinguishable from zero at the lower confidence bound.
    – The trial excluded high-risk groups (elderly, pregnant, immunocompromised, etc.) and did not measure important outcomes such as hospitalisation, severe disease, or death.
    – Primary endpoint relied heavily on cases confirmed by Pfizer’s own central lab; no robust benefit was seen in culture-confirmed or other secondary endpoints.
    – Reactogenicity was markedly worse than the traditional vaccine: 66% of mRNA recipients had systemic symptoms (vs 49% with conventional vaccine) and fever was >3× more common. For every mild case prevented, the shot caused flu-like symptoms in ~50 additional people shortly after injection.

    U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s August 2025 recently decided to cancel 22 federal mRNA contracts (worth ~$500 million) for respiratory-virus vaccines, citing repeated failure to protect against upper-respiratory infection.

    Meanwhile, in Australia we have poured $18B into COVID vaccines/ treatments including the construction of that brand new Moderna mRNA plant in Clayton, Victoria. Gee, thanks Australian Government, money well spent again. (sic) (Summary from Maryanne Demasi Substack article)

    70

  • #
    yarpos

    Of course they just didnt do it right, and it would be very different if Super funds here got raided for more “renewables” shenanigans.

    A cautionary tale from California. https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/waste-day-californias-clean-energy-investment-doesnt-pay

    00

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    For would be “metal manglers”

    “How to run a lathe 1943”

    http://www.vintagemachinery.org/pubs/1617/30720.pdf

    I learned on a 1935 Mars Junior, made back when Oz actually made things by Mars Machine Tools, Brisbane

    10

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  • #
    Ponzi

    Pauline dons her burka to protest against the burka……again !
    How many Muslims actually wear it ?.
    She really knows what Australians are concerned about.

    20

    • #
      Broadie

      How many Muslims actually wear it ?.

      Only the men so less than half to start with. I do not know how much pressure is brought to bear on that portion of those practising the religion though I have witnessed the effort required to eat an icecream on a hot day with a Burka on. So it must be substantial.

      I believe you may be missing the point, Pauline is outing the self-styled womens rights activists for their blatant hipocrisy in not defending the right of these women to chose what they wear. They know it , hence the wailing and gnashing of teeth.

      50

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW – A real “Eh? Gawd!” from the “X Location” release

    “AND THEN THERE’S THIS: Elon Musk probably doesn’t even know the earthquake he unleashed in Iran. Because of the country location update, we now have a full list of regime supporters inside Iran who are so important and valued that they get to enjoy VPN free social media.”

    https://instapundit.com/758569/#disqus_thread

    20

  • #
    Graeme4

    Another wind factory has found asbestos in the brake pads of their turbines. The Golden Plains system, being installed near Geelong.

    20

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    “Trump Has Called Europe’s Bluff”

    https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/trump-has-called-europes-bluff

    So we’ll await tomorrows episode of “The tangled web”

    10

  • #
    KP

    A bit of American history for EG, Hanrahan and anyone else who thinks America is the saviour of the world.

    https://readcomiconline.li/Comic/A-People-s-History-of-American-Empire/TPB-Part-1?id=183946&s=&readType=1

    ..or you can read the original book.

    10

  • #
    Honk R Smith

    Thoughts on civil war in America.
    The Deep State is the uniparty.
    Americans have been voting a faux dichotomy for decades.

    Trump (oddly one of the uber class’s own) and MAGA were result of people (populi) feeling something was wrong.
    The Deep State, which probably now consist of an obscure multi-nation/global MIC corporate alliance, reacted with near hysteria.
    (Ironically, it was the elite hysterical reaction to Trump that put Trump in office.)
    The establishment Republican party did not go away, it just blended.
    And MAGA remains on the outside.
    And has no chance of being let into the country club.
    The simple fact is, the DC and all urban elites despise the American people if not America itself.
    (A young blond progressive woman is likely to be elected to Congress to represent Nashville.
    She did a recorded interview declaring how much she hates the Country Music redneck culture of Nashville.)

    DJT, this rather eccentric, unique, and powerful personality was amazingly and miraculously able to withstand the onslaught.

    But the victory was fragile and narrow.
    And I don’t think the ‘Republican’ DC establishment, which still holds a lot of power, and Trump actually needs to hold on to Congress, is committed to the cause.

    Can’t see the Democrats not retaking Congress.
    Then all Hell breaks loose.

    Trump impeached.
    Most of his relatively small support circle jailed.
    Woke style ‘canceling’ of conservatives, probably with some Charlie Kirking, resumes.
    The Deep State will leave no quarter.
    (My Blue state is currently in process of Gerrymandering away any possibility of a Republican being elected to anything. And sell this by saying they “just want the system to be fair”.)

    This is when the second civil war begins.
    Wars have a tendency to not resemble previous ones.
    I’m planning to try and make the most of the relative normalcy we have left for the next year or so.
    A second fake Pandemic would hardly be surprising.
    Maybe they mitigate the new civil war just by locking people in their homes.

    20

  • #
    Rafe Champion

    WE ARE ALL WIND FARMERS NOW

    The threat of rain droughts haunts farming communities, not just the farmers.

    Now all the countries doing net zero have become wind farming communities, whether people realise it or not.

    See what that means, when you think about it.

    WE ARE ALL HAUNTED BY WIND DROUGHTS

    WHEN THE WIND FAILS AND THE GRID DIES
    This circulated early in 2020. It is the first of a series of briefing notes produced by The Energy Realists of Australia, a group that emerged from The Five Dock Climate Realists.

    The point is to sound a strong warning about the sudden death of the power supply (like a person drowning or choking) when the wind fails if we come to DEPEND on wind power by running down the supply of coal past a critical point, which we have just reached after closing a dozen coal plants since 2012.

    https://www.flickerpower.com/index.php/search/categories/wind-power/briefing-note-20-1-the-choke-point-when-the-wind-fails-and-the-grid-dies-2

    WIND AND SOLAR CAN DISPLACE COAL BUT NOT REPLACE IT

    https://www.flickerpower.com/index.php/search/categories/renewables/21-7-intermittent-solar-and-wind-power-can-displace-coal-but-cannot-replace-it

    AND THERE IS MORE!
    https://www.flickerpower.com/index.php/search/categories/general/list-of-briefing-notes

    00