JoNova
A science presenter, writer, speaker & former TV host; author of The Skeptic's Handbook (over 200,000 copies distributed & available in 15 languages).
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Statistics
I don’t know how the striking down of tariffs will affect Oz. I know it is unpopular to say so on this forum but they interviewed the guy who complied those figures that Trump is holding up in the linked article. He pointed out the data had been completely wrongly used and the position was not as portrayed and sometimes very high tariffs had been imposed erroneously. In the Uk American companies often seem to get a free ride regarding tax or job security, they provide a vast amount of services and many US firms have set up here.
Yet only physical products seem to be taken into account when imposing tariffs.
https://dailysceptic.org/2026/02/20/trump-furious-as-supreme-court-strikes-down-tariffs-but-says-he-has-a-back-up-plan/
It will be interesting to see how this develops but is the last thing Mr Trump needs as we head towards the mid term elections.
41
‘My recckoning is, don’t take anything Trump says at first :glance. His mo is overkill, then fix it.
,Probably the quickest way to minimise tarrifs:.
41
It won’t.
The tariffs stay. The court ruled that he couldn’t implement them through a specific mechanism, so he just switched to another. Just like Biden tried to do when the courts struck down his ‘free college’ program.
I’m not a fan of either move. It’s a sign of how litigious our society has become and how the ‘managerial elite’ no longer cares about the constitution but only about finding loopholes so that they can do what they want. We’ve become a society run by lawyers who are more concerned with finding cracks in the letter of the law than abiding by the spirit of the law.
It used to be that when the courts slapped down a legislative/executive policy, the politicians had the good grace to accept defeat and move on. That all started to change when FDR ignored the ‘two-term’ tradition and then threatened to pack the courts if they declared his New Deal policies unconstitutional. It accelerated during the Obama administration when Obama rammed through Obamacare despite the court ruling parts of it were unconstitutional, ignoring court decisions on his DACA immigration policy. Then it went full retard with the Covid lockdowns and eviction embargoes and the mandatory vaccinations. Now, it’s pretty much both sides ignoring the guardrails and just doing whatever the Hell they want by waiting for the court to strike down a policy, changing it just a tiny little bit so it’s no longer technically the same policy, and then doing the wash, rinse, repeat dance until their term in office ends.
172
Sounds like they will increase. There is a new 15% worldwide tariff. Unsure if this is on top existing tariffs.
40
Our ABC explanation of Trumps list of reciprocal tariffs is here. I don’t know if the ABC is any mote accurate than Trump?
20
Tariffs have been incredibly effective for the US President as a tool in international relations, quite apart from halfing the trade deficit and bringing work back to America. Those people who argued that the Americans paid the tariffs have been proven completely wrong. The media never give Trump credit for anything. They still prefer Joe Biden as model President.
Likely the Supreme Court has decided tariffs are the exclusive province of very slow moving Congress rather than the President. However congress does not do the tricky negotiation used to end wars and fix trade imbalances, Trump’s responsibility and commander in chief and he has shown that even the carrot and stick of tariffs have changed the world without waging war. There has to be a compromise solution in legislation while the Republicans hold both houses.
216
“without waging war”
I believe that is what is known as” being economical with the truth”.
36
The art of the deal……..commentators still don’t recognise the modus operandi of the man. It is fascinating to watch, but most people are so consumed with hatred of the man that they cannot recognise the pattern and expertise in negotiation. It is quite fascinating to watch.
312
The social democrats are two lengths in front as they race to the midterms.
‘California Governor Gavin Newsom has called for American families and businesses to be issued full refunds, following the Supreme Court decision to strike down President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff policy.’ (ABC 10)
13
At one time Aberdeen was known as Britains oil capital and many people and firms prospered there. Despite there still being a lot of oil and gas to be tapped Aberdeen has been cast adrift by the former Tory Govt and in particular the Zealot, Miliband.
https://dailysceptic.org/2026/02/20/aberdeens-collapsing-economy-shows-the-true-cost-of-net-zero/
111
The Australian government is but a shadow of the devastating Kier government on net zero. Coal is our big export but we are not allowed use it ourselves. Whole Commonwealth countries are being similarly impoverished by hatred of the atom Carbon which we are told controls our weather and causes every storm and tsunami and drought and bushfire. This absurd religious idea has been made into a string of pretend science based rotten laws devastating Commonwealth countries.
The UK even copied our prima facie illegal 2001 Renewable Energy Act which legislated theft from energy retailers to pay for private windmills and solar panels using Green creditsl. This way governments did not have to touch the cash, something prohibited since Magna Carta, the King forcing people to pay cash to his friends, handing the right of taxation over ultimately to China. Governments have no business in energy. They have simply written laws to grab control and cash for somethign which was never part of any British Constitution. If King Cnut cannot control the waves, his lawyers will tax the tide as punishment and send the cash to France.
We see this commonality between the old Commonwealth countries in a level of malicious stupidity which defies sense unless there are evil actors. And somehow all the cash and commercial advantage always goes to China. Meanwhile the traditional Conservatives are in full agreement on Net Zero. Thus the rapid rise of Reform and One Nation, someone to represent the actual taxpayers who want their country back, especially from uncontrolled immigration which appears as deliberately devastating as Net zero.
310
“advantage always goes to China”
That is the agreed position that world politicians signed up to.
China is happy to agree.
140
Was it not Mao & Kissinger who started the ball rolling long, long ago…
They’re both 6 feet under now, yet their stench still permeates the aether (the real toxic pollution).
110
‘ …. advantage always goes to China.’
The tariff wars are creating new alliances and reinvigorating stalled trade negotiations, which went on for years with only minor changes.
All stops are now out, the EU is embracing China, South America and Australia in double quick time. All credit to the POTUS.
The US has always held the advantage, but being $38 trillion in debt is not a good look.
10
I suspect this is a problem that OZ also has, as its migrant population grows. The article concerns the many Billions of pounds that migrants are sending back to their families overseas instead of it circulating in the UK economy. Some estimates put it as high as £15 billion annually.
https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/bye-bye-billions-uk-haemorrhages-more-wealth-than-ever-to-migrant-countries-of-origin/
Of equal importance is that new arrivals of course need somewhere to live and there is great competition for rented housing. I think Australia has an even larger shortfall of homes.
111
It was recently discovered that remittances from America to Somalia actually exceeded the GDP of Somalia, and a whole bunch of that is suspected to be from fraud operations ripping off American taxpayers. There is currently an act being written to prevent much of this by making it illegal for anyone on government assistance to send remittances out of the country. Of course, that only addresses legal remittances, not the other kind where luggage full of cash gets physically sent on flights to Somalia while baggage inspectors, customs officers, and everyone else turns to look the other way at the Minnesota airport (because almost everyone working at the airport is Somali).
191
Last week the article on Sikh truck drivers taking over the world’s steering wheels, Coffee & Covid or similar, said remittances to Punjab were the major part of their economy now.
70
Australia remitted $38.2bn in 2024 and the volume continues to grow.
India is the top destination at $7.3bn followed by China at $5.4bn.
110
Remittances of immigrants back to their country of origin are factor in our nation’s economic prosperity that very very few understand or even acknowledge.
20
It is a well known problem in the US. Mex would fail without it.
30
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-out-of-nowhere-canada-became-poorer-than-alabama-how-is-that-possible/
141
Also keep in mind that Alabama has a really low cost of living when compared to Canada.
The average home price in Canada is $665K.
The average home price in Alabama is $226K.
The average gas price in Canada is just under $4.40/gallon.
The average gas price in Alabama is just under $2.60/gallon.
The average grocery bill in Canada is around $720/month.
The average grocery bill in Alabama is around $320/month.
Money goes a lot further in Alabama than it does in Canada.
220
Canada of course being a member nation of the Commonwealth of Nations, originally British Empire
20
This might be the most damning infographic I have ever seen.
It shows the per capita GDP of Canada and the USA over the past 15 years. They were pretty much identical for the first five years of that period, then Trudeau got elected, and now Canada trails the USA by around 13%. That’s a massive change in just over a decade. Even Biden managed to widen the gap. It takes talent to screw up an economy that badly so quickly.
https://x.com/AndyDayes/status/2024831477104390411
120
Even in sensible countries, the demand for electricity for AI data centres is so great, companies are installing gas turbine generators to meet electricity demand.
Australia is kidding itself thinking it can run data centres (or anything) of wind, solar and Big Batteries.
90
At around 30% efficiency, not the best way to power data centres. But with an abundance of cheap gas in the U.S., no doubt cheaper energy than in Australia.
50
We have a lot of gas in Oz but as always the tyranny of distance limits our pipelines. I’d be pretty sure we could build a very useful gas pipe from the NW to Gippsland with branches to population centres and assorted gas fields for the money being wasted on SnowyII.
50
Shades of that Whitlam era.
.
[Hi Coochin, you’ve traditionally posted as Coochin Kid. But lately you have started using a name similar to your email name. This message has been reverted to Coochin Kid.
Please be consistent with posting as Coochin Kid. Or let us know if there’s a need to change. Not just a Whitlam themed “It’s Time” for a change. Thanks. – Raquel.]
30
What price could we sell the gas on the way down H? How many towns would be created if gas-powered electricity was a few cents to consumers. Could we ‘green the desert’ if energy was cheap enough?
It would certainly be a lot better than Snowy2!
30
WA built an 1800 km gas pipeline from the Pilbara right down to the southern coast at Esperance, with the first section to Kalgoorlie built in just 12 months. So it doesn’t appear difficult to push pipelines through Australia’s outback. Surely a lot cheaper that building gas import terminals on the southern coast of Australia, further from any gas source as you could find in Australia.
50
Have you got an authoritative source for 30% round trip efficiency? It will be poor with 27% gradient but such a low figure surprises me.
Last part of a search:
Thus, while a 27% incline supports favorable conditions, the theoretical round-trip efficiency remains within the standard 70–85% range, depending on engineering and operational factors.
AI-generated answer. Please verify critical facts.
00
I was quoting the efficiency of OCGT gas plants, which AI and other info sources indicates is around half that of CCGT plants.
01
Oh dear. I thought the topic was still Snowy2. I never drink during the day either.
00
It is interesting that the AEMO claim Capacity Factor for wind turbines as 30% to 35% on average, but as posted here in recent past months auditing and monitoring by an independent source found the average closer to 29%
20
In the early ’70s we had a gas turbine, a RR RB-211 installed in Mackay [famous for being the engines on a B-747], turn key operated from the Townsville NEA control room. In those days the Bowen Basin coal fields were a BIG power user and Premier Joh took powering industry seriously. With this in mind he had a new 275kV transmission line built north from Gladstone, inland, safe from cyclones.
Come back Joh. All is forgiven.
60
QLD Government still owns the power stations and the youngest in the interconnected interstates fleet being HELE technology
40
Sadly the turbine shaft of one generator penetrated the floor. A simple “fail safe” circuit that wasn’t fit for purpose was all it took.
30
Sort of related. Large turbine being built in the USA by Japan.
https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/japans-36-billion-bet-us-energy-dominance
10
This is a very important video. I urge you to watch it.
Guess which country has the most number per capita and the most expensive public serpents? Very disturbing video.
https://youtu.be/2Z06n-4ircs
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For ‘public servant’ read ‘welded-on Labor supporter’.
Everything happens for a reason.
60
One thing that particularly annoys me is when lignite is particularly verboten in the Stupid Country, particularly in Victoriastan as being especially “dirty” and CO2 emitting.
It has a very similar energy content to anthracite. The only essential difference is that it has a high moisture content.
Sir John Monash developed power stations that directly used brown coal in Victoriastan.
Furthermore, CSIRO along with Environmental Clean Technologies (ECT) developed the COLDry technology to efficiently remove moisture from lignite. https://ectltd.com.au/technology/coldry/
110
I would like to see a similar analysis for Australia.
120
Australia’s productivity growth is in terminal decline:
https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/measuring-what-matters/measuring-what-matters-themes-and-indicators/prosperous/productivity
Within a decade it will be negative unless Australia changes course.
In the late 80s and early 90s I authored submissions to the Productivity Commission enquiries into mining then energy for my then employer and associated industry bodies.
I gave evidence at the energy enquiry that highlighted how State electricity monopolies were hindering the free trade of electricity across property lines and State borders. The most glaring example was the inability to wheel power from the Latrobe Valley to Broken Hill without it being hit with excessive charges for a line my employer paid for. I was the large customer representative on the first National Grid System Working Group.
By 2003, lignite fuelled power from Victoria was selling for $23/MWh. That made Australia globally competitive across heavy industry even with high salaries. At the same time, Howards Renewable Energy Theft was beginning to have an impact on the cost of electricity. Base load electricity is now 4X the cost it was in 2003. That rise has underpinned tremendous inflation and rapid downward trend in productivity growth.
Australia does not have the energy infrastructure to support AI development as an industry..
I expect that if the State electricity monopolies had remained, there would have been more organised defence of their asset value than what the commercial operators have mounted.
I knew after 5 months of piloting my own solar/battery system in 2012 that it would never compete with lignite fuelled generation given that the grid already existed.
Australia’s grid transition plan is like a magic pudding. They keep adding ingredients in the hope that it will turn from shit to gold. In fact it was gold back in 2003 and has gradually turned to shit. The grid has no economic value for Australia. All the money currently being spent on grid assets accelerates its economic decline.
380
Umm, how do I give this RickWill comment a hundred green ticks?
Tony.
240
Just ahead of your comment Tony, DM mentions how over-burdened Australia is with comfortably remunerated public servants.
The two posts are connected.
20
Adding productivity is via private sector and tax revenue collected as well.
Public service employees paid from private sector taxes, what is deducted or paid from their wages/salaries as tax is private sector revenue returned to govermemt but not new revenue
10
Sorry. My comment was meant as a reply to RickWill’s comment re productivity.
00
Mmmm comfortably remunerated is a key issue I think. Used to be that public service salaries where modest but you got superannuation when most didn’t and the closest thing going to a job for life if you could stand it. A jump to the private sector usually came with a god step up in income.
You did have to come to grips with a world were things actually mattered and poor performance had consequences.
Looking at Senate review performances there are some mighty unimpressive people dragging in substantial packages.
60
But, but… ruinables are so cheap! I’ve been told! ..and the example would be right now with electricity at -10c/Mw in NSW and Vic, although nine times more in SA!!
Too bad we can’t all use the day’s worth of electricity right now and not need anything else!
30
Umm, how do I give this RickWill comment a hundred green ticks ?
Doug
10
Ric,
Green tick to you also.
My simple grasp of national economics says that some part of the population has to have jobs that produce income to pay for the rest of us that do not have jobs, like the young, the retired, the disabled, the lazy. When the first group produces less money than the second group wants, we are in economic decline.
Couple this with links in other comments here, that Australia has the biggest proportion of public servants of any country and the cause of a potential (or actual) problem is revealed. Typically, public servants are not in positions to produce national wealth, let alone new national wealth. Some of them fill positions that society demands, some of them do excellent work, but it is seldom structured to produce wealth. Many work with shuffling existing wealth around, which is not very productive.
An example familiar to me is the new wealth created by the discovery and use of new mines. In the past, bureaucrats were quite valuable in this process, such as the Bureau of Mineral Resources geological mapping of the whole of Australia. This was a task better handled collectively via Canberra than by individual mining companies doing a patchwork job as best they could afford. However, in recent years this type of support has not continued. The miners are now finding new mines less often than in the 1970-2000 era. Given that it takes 10 years or more to feel the benefits of a new mine, that does not bode well for the future of the dependent group.
I do not have a simple answer to this employment problem, but I do feel that a better system has to involve government and community support for encouragement and expansion of productive work (as opposed to the present demonisation, like calling good folk “dirty miners”); it should involve important social goods, such as reserves of wanted minerals like oil and strategic minerals, important defence capabilities, proper transport for the export of goods and so on; it should involve education of our young on the ways that society feeds itself; it has to involve fewer bureaucrats and more people in the productive sector; and for those who have never thought through this problem, a clear and frequent pubic description of the definition of a productive job.
There is a lot of ignorance in the present community of how nations work. Some of it is tied to the current favoured dogma being too close to Communism.
Geoff S
61
Late 1990s the Board of the publicly listed company I was employed by decided that despite average operating profit well above industry average consistently, excellent cash flow to holding company and even during the Labor from 1990 recession years remained slightly above industry average operating profit. The reason was a major change in investment holdings and the company at which I was Managing Director had been a useful wholly owned subsidiary as the holding company acquired other businesses it was time to sell. The Board arranged finance and encouraged me to enter into a management buyout. With other managers and a very well qualified and competent Finance Manager we produced our Business Plan. The increasing 1975 Lima Agreement legislation and regulations impositions and costs of compliance, the increasing imports because of the 1980s during Hawke Labor Government meetings and tariff reductions and abolition planning openings in the Australian market for imports our decision was to not proceed, and the Board of Directors were very surprised because they correctly assessed that the management team operated already as if we were the major shareholders.
A foreign company purchased the business and I agreed to stay for a period and with an escape clause in the contract if I decided to resign, which I ended up doing. Within a decade the manufacturing ended, factories closed and high costs involved for employee retrenchments, removing heavy machinery and making good the condition in line with the terms of the Lease. Previously the holding company owned the premises and charged the subsidiary rent.
I know that this background story applies to many manufacturing businesses that have relocated overseas or closed down, or continued as warehouse, sales and administration based businesses.
50
I don’t know where you would find the numbers living on Council/Govt contracts, but directly State and Canberra Govt soaks up 2.5million, Councils about 1/4million.
There’s 4million+ retired, 15million officially employed, so the nearly 3million public servants are in there along with the public money contractors, but that leaves 6million who are at school, one a benefit, not looking for work or similar.
Officially- 14% of our 25million are on a benefit of one sort or another, excluding pensions.
16% are retired.
12% are Govt drones.
48% are working in the private sector.
..and 10% avoid Govt statistics!
Which is why Socialists can always get half the votes!
60
KP,
Sometimes I find it better to classify people not by their political leanings but by their attitude to work and life. In the simplest of terms, I tend to like people who say “How can I help you” rather more than those who say “I am here to tell you what you are not permitted to do”. Can do is better than cannot do.
Geoff S
90
In my past experiences there is not a lot of difference between Liberal and National Coalition centre right and Labor centre left factions.
And often they are friends as MPs and have friendly discussions and differences of opinion.
30
Dennis, I’m sure they’re like lawyers and both sides retire to the pub to discuss the case or the public over a few beers amongst friends…
Its them against us for them, not them against them for us..
30
Probably right KP but I was trying to emphasise the Labor right, being centre left, as compared to the present day dominating Labor far left Marxist focus.
ALP Constitution refers to democratic socialism so apparently centre left agree with that position, but from even comments on for example Sky News from former Labor MPs including cabinet portfolio ministers now retired who are centre left Labor they have little or no time for the far left factions
10
Rubbish doesn’t take itself away, nor potholes magically fill up with bitumen.
00
The media just don’t seem to recognise that Trump uses his “art of the deal” to effectively manage international relations – including tariffs. Heads of nations may – but don’t seem to have as much expertise as the Orange Man.
140
I wonder how many have read TRUMP’s book?
He explains his negotiating strategy.
There is no mystery about it.
I bet none of his clueless detractors have read the book.
90
David, I have tried to purchase his book for my nascent salesman grandson at the usual booksellers – but I have yet to find one that stocks it! Anti-Trump policy I suspect. I am going to have to use Amazon or Booktopia. Very annoying.
10
WUWT ran my Endangerment Finding repeal piece with some good discussion:
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2026/02/20/epas-elegant-arguments-for-endangerment-repeal/
101
Well said David.
It would be nice to see prosecutions of those who illegally misapplied those rules, thus causing countless billions of dollars of damage, and also leading other countries like Australia to follow.
50
FWIW
“Renewables Catastrophically Expensive”
“I just spent an hour responding to the hundreds of people who tried to refute my argument that solar+batteries is an economically catastrophic way to try to provide reliable power.
Which is why no company using lots of power, certainly not any of Elon’s, actually tries to do it.”
https://x.com/AlexEpstein/status/2023151873830903961
Via https://wattsupwiththat.com/2026/02/18/renewables-catastrophically-expensive/
60
It’s interesting that the huge Sun Cable scheme was based around solar, not wind.
10
The Sun in central WA comes up hot and strong most days with the occasional sickie. By contrast, wind in Australia takes at least two weeks annual leave. The cost for batteries to firm for a day is expensive but lower cost than doing it for two weeks.
60
Agree with your assessment of why solar was chosen over wind, but believe that to achieve any suitable reliability, batteries would be needed to support longer durations than just one day.
00
Maybe the problem is getting electrons from central WA to where they’re needed?
00
Even more interesting is the December 2025 announcement by Indonesia of intention to build 20 nuclear power plants and stations.
That following the mid-2025 agreement between 14 countries at an Indo Pacific nations meeting in Singapore that Australia attended and signed the agreement
40
FWIW – how the “mighty” have fallen
Caption
“BLONDES ARE NOW TELLING ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ JOKES”
https://instapundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/blondes_are_now_telling_aoc_jokes_2-21-26-600×471.jpg
50
I think that Munich conference might be AOC’s last overseas junket.
The European press may suck, but they still believe politicians should be able to answer relevant policy questions. AOC is far too used to dealing with the American press, where ‘favored’ politicians get asked questions about their favorite ice cream flavor or are allowed to run out the clock by vomiting up a word salad without answering the question asked.
The American press is WAY more concerned with maintaining ‘access’ and keeping their interviewees happy than with digging into actual policy positions. They have forgotten that their role is to be rumpled, disliked adversary of politicians, not the perfumed pal of politicos who gets invited to all the cool kid parties and who can just sit back and wait for ‘sources’ to call them with all the juicy gossip (which they immediately parrot verbatim). Which is why Kamala Harris was able to get away with running for President without staking out a single policy position. Her entire platform was ‘not Trump’ and ‘vibes’.
60
“Her entire platform was ‘not Trump’ and ‘vibes’.”
Beg to differ – a bit anyway. All she offered really was … being a woman. And it beggars belief how many votes this single characteristic secured for her. Thankfully not enough but it’s nevertheless scary that so many millions would put such a dangerous imbecile in the White House merely for being female.
Ironically, many of those supporting her just because she’s a woman are from the same cohort that can’t tell us what a woman is …
80
Curious that the two women on the presidential ballot were both beaten by the worst ever president to hold office, a racist n@zi to boot.
Will they try again?
30
And a summary from Senator Kennedy –
“Sen. Kennedy Tells Us What He Thinks of AOC, and I Can’t Stop Laughing”
Read it all
https://pjmedia.com/robert-spencer/2026/02/21/sen-kennedy-tells-us-what-he-thinks-of-aoc-and-i-cant-stop-laughing-n4949799
30
Yep – funny. Kennedy is a gem. Probably the best command of funny language I have ever heard.
Kennedy states that the best defence for AOC is to let her speak – you go girl. She constantly proves she’s a moron but claims to have been to Utah.
20
AOC, America’s equivalent of Pixie Anne Wheatley, only more clueless.
AOC’s take on Climate Change
Tony.
00
Blondes are now telling AOC jokes.
00
FWIW
“Was Climate Change The Greatest Financial Scandal In History?”
“Since the global warming crusade started some 30 years ago, the temperature of the planet has not been altered by one-tenth of a degree—as even the alarmists will admit.
In other words, $16 trillion has been spent—a lot of people got very, very rich off the government largesse—but there is not a penny of measurable payoff.
But it’s much worse than that.
In economics there is a concept called opportunity cost: What could we have done with $16 trillion to make the world better off?
What if the $16 trillion had been spent on clean water for poor countries?
Preventing avoidable deaths from diseases like malaria?
Building schools in African villages to end illiteracy?
Bringing reliable and affordable electric power to the more than 1 billion people who still lack access? Curing cancer?
Many millions of lives could have been saved.
We could have lifted millions more out of poverty.”
More at
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/was-climate-change-greatest-financial-scandal-history
To disagree you have to name a bigger one
101
And
“Europe Retreats from Climate Change During International Energy Agency Global Meeting
February 21, 2026 | Sundance | 142 Comments”
BUT
“The IEA shifted to green energy as a security priority, no longer concerned with climate change.”
“However, given the situation with European energy costs and the severe problems they are having within their collective and individual economies, what they consider “national security” appears to be their need to control public outrage at the green energy consequences.”
More at
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/02/21/europe-retreats-from-climate-change-during-international-energy-agency-global-meeting/
20
The Cold War … maybe?
There is an argument to be made that communism will always implode on it’s own, and the western world might have been better off to let the Soviets and ChiComms overextend themselves trying to start doomed ‘glorious revolutions’ all around the world. We might have better off staying out of Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan (in the 1980s when we trained/armed Mujahideen to fight the USSR) and all the little ‘black bag’ coups that the CIA ran from the 1940s-1990s to install friendly dictators to crush communist uprisings. The west certainly wasted a whole lot of blood and treasure for five decades fighting an enemy that was doomed to fail. Maybe we should have just popped some popcorn instead and sat down to watch the show.
30
You made a case that the cold war may have been handled differently, not that it was not a thing.
In the end USSR was broken financially, as you suggest, not militarily.
40
This time its a financial and military combo breaking up the Russian Federation.
03
Name a bigger one…or equal?
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2771764
Global cybercrime comes in at around $10 trillion annually.
20
I agree that the Covid scam would at least get into the finals.
I’ve picked out a few paragraphs from the link below to show how its effects are ongoing.
In a rather long article, the ABC has discovered vaxxine hesitancy, but not it’s cause:
” But experts are warning of a triple threat to that hard-won success: COVID, vaccine policy decisions and discourse in the US, and a loss of trust in government since the pandemic hit. ”
They do get the timing right:
” COVID and flu vaccination rates have also stuttered: just one in fourAustralians aged 65-74 received a COVID vaccine in the past 12 months and influenza vaccine uptake has declined in most age groups since 2020. Immunisation rates for recommended pregnancy shots like influenza, pertussis and RSV are “suboptimal”, leaving parents-to-be and newborns at risk of severe illness or death. ”
But the WHO jumps in with their obfuscation and omission of the real cause in their list:
” The reasons why people choose not to vaccinate are complex, the WHO said, listing complacency, inconvenience in accessing vaccines, and a lack of confidence as key drivers. ”
An admission of sorts, but played down:
” Some people also suffered vaccine injuries or in extremely rare cases died after getting COVID vaccines — or heard unsettling stories about others who had, says Professor Katie Attwell, a political science and public policy scholar at the University of Western Australia ”
And something I can agree with – pity they didn’t practice it, and still don’t:
““There’s no point hiding any of that information,” Menton says. “It’s very important parents have it all so they can make informed decisions”, and so if any very rare but serious issues do emerge — allergic reactions, febrile seizures — they know what to do. ”
And of course, no mention of IVM, zinc or vitamin D.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-22/australia-vaccine-hesitancy-fight-restore-confidence/106353012
Cheers,
Dave B
20
Probably Tim Lester’s best interview. He shows real respect for Pauline Hansen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufxxY4tYDrA
Over the past two years, I see Tim Lester overcoming his TDS. He is now starting to understand why Trump is so important for the world and maybe even Pauline for Australia:.
This is Tim Lester not showing Trump much respect and agog at supporters not embarrassed by Trump’s NY conviction:
https://7news.com.au/news/donald-trump-called-to-attend-probation-interview-hours-after-presidential-rally-c-14972208
There are many instances where Tim Lester’s TDS was not well concealed when he was US correspondent.
Values are the essence of leadership. And Pauline has been true to her values. Not always the best at articulating them. And their ABC have been thoroughly disrespectful in putting unintended meaning into her words. I would be delighted to see ON bring legislation to sell off their ABC. Maybe CMFEU could buy them. They deserve each other.
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Sydney-born Danielle Hatherley has faith in the POTUS. I’m also Sydney-born and can see only a GOP rout at the midterms.
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Too much water to pass under the bridge yet to predict. TDS is becoming tiresome.
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The US Administration is going from nowhere to oblivion. while Beijing epitomises stability.
‘United States President Donald Trump is significantly more unpopular in Australia than Chinese President Xi Jinping, with almost half the public considering the US an equally big or bigger threat than China.
‘As well as being personally unpopular, Trump’s volatile first year back in office, which has included imposing tariffs on key allies and a harsh crackdown on unauthorised immigration, has caused broader perceptions of the US to plummet in Australia.’ (SMH)
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As I said: TDS is becoming tiresome.
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Don’t know about a rout, but its completely normal for the mid terms to go against the party holding the Whitehouse. However I guess time if the normal thing happens it will be incredible news because TDS.
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The general gossip is that Donnie has Frontotemporal dementia.
I like the man, we are the same star sign, but the political and economic upheavals will only get worse.
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Thanks RW,
I think Pauline came over very well in that interview.
I hope she gets a candidate for my electorate – Calare.
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FWIW – Today’s Coffee and Covid newsletter
more on those US tariff decisions
“Special edition: SCOTUS struck down Trump’s IEEPA tariffs 6-3. He signed a replacement in 90 minutes. Why this “devastating loss” was actually a firewall, a machete, and two shields for conservatives.”
More at
https://open.substack.com/pub/coffeeandcovid/p/tariff-turnabout-saturday-february?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
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An interesting and optimistic view.
In the end the thieves may come to regret stealing the 2020 election.
Just another data point supporting my second coming/space aliens delusions.
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Thanks a i,
Fascinating.
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Dr John Campbells latest video (1 hour old with 13,355 views at time of my viewing) deals with research findings into the background and potential contributors to the new (never seen before 2020) incidence of long rubbery white strands (blood clots) taken from patients during autopsy/embalming work.
The video is the usual excellent explanation by JC of 3 papers that have been published and involved studies on 3 different continents (sort of rules out claims of diet/lifestyle etc).
To pique your interest at the 11:30min mark the following quote is presented:
“The protein profile also shows signs of inflammatory and immune system involvement as well as red cell destruction”.
…mmmm “immune system involvement”…
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Surely booster shot #56 would solve the issue.
/silly
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Moderna needs you to do that –
https://open.substack.com/pub/coffeeandcovid/p/curtailed-tuesday-february-17-2026?
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Are they called boosters or the death spiral these days?
10
Well gosh darn, yet another crazy conspiracy theory turns out not to be not so crazy.
Or a theory.
After all my following of ‘climate science’, I am still unclear about when a theory is no longer theory and becomes settled science.
After which I am required to ‘follow’ The Science.
Or stop following and ascend to knowing.
20
Usually referred to as a “far right conspiracy theory”.
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Of course Australia has its own brand new mRNA vaccine laboratory. Once again “world leaders” in something that may not be much use at all.
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“Of course Australia has its own brand new mRNA vaccine laboratory. ”
I’m sure we’re doing something with the biolab samples the CIA sent down here as the Russians over-ran the labs in Ukraine..
For America its always safer to do those sort of experiments in some other country.
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How’s Earth’s temperature this weekend?
-49 C Greenland Summit
-46 C Antarctic South Pole
-35 C Mt Everest summit
-28 C Arctic North Pole
-27 C Yakutsk, Siberia, Russia
+22 C northern New Zealand
+ 9 C southern New Zealand (10am)
with 3 degree windchill due to gale sou’wester
The Year Without Much Of A Summer continues.
Can we get a refund (I’ve kept the receipts)?
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Farmers are looking at it as an early Autumn , temperature wise. No Indian Summer seems likely.
Moisture wise it is rare to have the Break come so early. It can be as late as June, when frost is already emergent.
There is next to zero chance of a dry Autumn. So that is all excellent.
What we might be having is a long cold winter . If it is cloudy too , then it is even worse.
Of course over time the pasture growth will be the same , and it is the economic harvesting of surplus to fill gaps that will make or break the farm economically. Nature has a way of evening things out. Very like climate in that regard.
But yeah , it has been a bit of a waste of time looking after the pool this summer.
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That seems kind’a warm for Yakutsk.
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I am a telephone contact of an ex work colleague who became a paranoid schizophrenic and an NDIS client.
I never cease to be amazed at the things NDIS pays for, for him.
He even gets a chauffeur driver because he claims he can’t use public transport because people are “out to get him”.
He told me he found 60 beer bottles worth 10c each if taken to the recycling centre. I asked him how is he going to get them there. He said his NDIS driver will take him.
Knowing the ridiculous prices NDIS contractors charge, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if this exercise for the client to “earn” $6 in deposit refund, costs taxpayers several hundred dollars.
Your taxes at work.
Remember at the next election that the fake conservative Liberals voted for the NDIS, in addition to the commies.
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This is in Australia.
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Did you read recently that the most NDIS accredited organisations are located in suburbs of Western Sydney?
Coincidently (possibly) I recall the 1970-1980 insurance fraud relating to intersection car collisions in those suburbs, insurance investigations discovered and were able to secretly film cars stopping at an intersection and passenger getting out and standing nearby, the drivers then crashed their cars and the passengers got back in and when an ambulance arrived there were claims of sore neck and backs and so on.
Even in the 1980-1990 period what was called rebirthing motor vehicles was taking place in the same suburbs, people buying wrecks of popular models from smash repair auctions and using the identification numbers to replace stolen vehicle ID and then selling the vehicle.
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Being a driver for a paranoid schizophrenic is not the sort of opportunity I would jump at I think
20
A hypothetical question – two actually.
1) Can Snowy 2 be ended with grace ? Just say “we was wrong”, declare insolvency, etc,..
2) Is there at least some minor advantage of having it completed?
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Answers
1/ Yes. Too much sunk now to turn off before getting some value..
2/ The value comes from ability to peak lop without burning gas. It can be used to keep lignite generators working at the optimum output all the time by providing demand that can be fed back during peak times. It is a low cost, high duration battery.
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How does the cost of the SH2 battery ($20 billion plus) compare with an equivalent electrochemical battery?
30
I was half asleep yesterday evening but didn’t someone say the likely cost has doubled again to $40bn?
30
Yes Annie. This is an excerpt from a Gulag search from an article in the Australian from 4 days ago, paywalled.
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That cost included the HumeLink cost blowout, and the fact that even more transmission lines would be needed.
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Storage capacity is estimated at 350,000,000,000Wh. LFP installed on greenfield site is about 50c/Wh. Maybe 30c/Wh on an existing site.
So replacing Showy 2 with LFP battery would be around $175bn.
With around 40GW of solar panels connected to Snowy 2, you could run both BSL and Tomago aluminium smelters. Similar to what Erraring could sustain while also powering Newcastle and Gladstone.
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With each smelter requiring up to 950 MW each, and the max. Snowy 2 output of 2200 MW before line losses are considered, it would be quite a struggle to power both smelters reliably.
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Sunk cost fallacy.
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The key word in that statement is “solely”.
I responded to your first question with a figure of $175bn. And that is for once off. In the likely hundred year life of Snowy 2 the batteries would need replacing 5 times. So its replacement with existing battery technology nudging $1tr.
Doing a value analysis now taking what you have at zero value and then adding the cost to complete – say $5bn would be good value for that $5bn even as an alternative to gas plant. You could get maybe 2GW of gas for $5bn but it is more expensive than lignite fired power even with the turnaround losses.
Peaking gas averages around $160/MWh. Lignite running flat out would be around $30/MWh. Maybe $40/Mwh for new plant.
Unlike gambling where the chances of winning never change, the project certainty on final cost improves as it nears its end. So you are a mug if you keep punting on the basis that your odds of winning have improved. But you can continually refine the value of a project as you progress toward completion. You do not count sunk costs in that valuation.
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Don’t think you are comparing apples to apples. Should be comparing CCGT gas plants to coal power plants, not inefficient OCGT plants, as OCGT is not meant for continuous output, only occasional peak time additions. And if states were using their own gas, surely the gas cost would be also cheaper. For example, I believe WA gas is half the cost of other states’ gas.
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But the gas is only needed for topping the evening peaks and maybe some morning peaks. You want load following machines. That means CCGT are essentially ruled out.
The main feature of lignite is that it is literally dirt cheap and has not export market. Gas has a well-developed export market and the economic case for its use internally should be based on the price it can be sold for on the open market.
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Depends on where you are. Many locations have an abundance of gas and almost nil coal, so they use gas as their primary energy source. And when they do that, they mostly use efficient CCGT gas power plants.
00
“Is there at least some minor advantage of having it completed?”
a recreational lake
20
A warm virtuous glow perhaps?
30
An Australian Premier getting onto the right track:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqMpdStzbHM
Energetic and focus. Crime, health, expansion, schooling, training,, roads.
Victoria is depression, corruption and violent crime.
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AI?
00
Youtube comes up trumps with a short comedy sketch about an expert in a meeting. Might bring back painful memories for those who have ever been the expert in a meeting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg
Am I training youtube or is it training me?
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Thst sounds exactly like the BS from any of Australia’s “Big Four” consultancy firms, favoured by Government and paid vast amount of tribute from our taxes.
10
Reminds me of every single meeting I ever attended, even those I chaired.
10
Before anybody is involved with meetings, I wish they all had to watch John Cleese’s video “Meetings Bloody Meetings”.
10
Reminds me of Bullsh1t Bingo and similar wafflebollox type experts.
Cat resume, real world:
“I threw up on the rug”
Cat resume, LinkedIn:
“I executed unscheduled floor based nutrient reallocation initiatives to test household response systems, assess textile durability under pressure, and drive continuous improvement in household sanitation performance metrics.”
😆
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Classic. Would love to see how the project ended up, a mixture of coloured lines and balloons. Of course, would look much better if everything was transparent.
00
Germany is in for a taste of it’s own history
https://va.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_taqpvnQ5PO1rnnohe.mp4
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That’s exactly what Albo and his goons and the Left in general want for Australia.
20
Incompatible.
Women rights are an oxymoron under Sharia law. Or at least the fanatics interpretation.
10
Very recent news here was the imposing of penalties against Chinese manufactured roll-formed steel coated sections being dumped onto the Australian market to undercut BHP Steel and subsidiary products often used for house and other framing projects, even out of ground swimming pools have roll-formed steel section framing, zincalume coated usually.
Dumping from China involves, as with other countries that have attempted it in the past, involves cheap labour and materials often government subsidised to target export markets, earning foreign currency that is much sought after by developing countries in particular, and increased production resulting in economies of scale to buy materials at the best prices that can be negotiated from suppliers.
DJT before he was first elected as POTUS was opposed to the UN based developed nations focus and related transfer of wealth via transfer of manufacturing and related world trade.
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“…involves cheap labour and materials”
Nah, that’s not dumping, that’s just economics of the rest of the world outside the West. Their labour is dirt cheap and any local materials are also cheap, that’s the advantage they have.
“often government subsidised to target export markets, earning foreign currency that is much sought after by developing countries in particular,”
Now THAT’S dumping! Any Govt subsidies to make exports cheaper is the pure definition of dumping, and will cost them dearly as the peasants have to pay that money in tax.
“and increased production resulting in economies of scale to buy materials at the best prices that can be negotiated from suppliers.”
That’s fine, just economics, not dumping. Look at it this way, every Holden and Ford we exported was dumped into some other country because we subsidised the crap out of those companies for years. A complete waste of money, as any bright person knew at the time. All those odd arrangements we have right now between Canberra and big companies are just dumping if it involves tax write-offs or subsidies. Still, our taxes are cheap enough that the peasants don’t care…
00
A few originally Australian established companies have invested in the US under Trump first and now second term in office.
00
There have been many over the years:
Resmed
Visy
James Hardie
Austal
spring to mind.
40
There is a subtext to search results: AI-generated answer. Please verify critical facts.
I apply the same scepticism to Peter Zehan but his latest is interesting: The Self-Inflicted Downfall of Mexican Energy.
10
FWIW
“Mamdani Says You Don’t Need ID to Vote, but You Need FIVE Forms of ID to Do THIS”
https://pjmedia.com/robert-spencer/2026/02/21/mamdani-says-you-dont-need-id-to-vote-but-you-need-five-forms-of-id-to-do-this-n4949803
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Solar Future?
Maybe nuclear;
10
Does Singapore have an option, really?
10
“Does Singapore have an option, really?”
Oh Hanrahan! Of course it does!! The Cannon-Brookes solar farm cable from the NT, that was sure to power Singapore!
10
Have been looking at the cost blowouts of six of the main new transmission lines in the National Grid. On average, their projects costs have increased by over 300%, now requiring an extra $32bn. And that’s without their final costs known – no doubt their costs will increase even more. One line is already up to $13m/km.
30
All such projects, before approval and after completion, should be independently audited. I do not believe that these extraordinary sums are legitimate project costs.
A tradie once confessed to me that, when he was quoting, he added a ‘contingency’ onto almost every single line item. And then added another contingency at the end. Then he doubled it, multiplied it by his birthday and doubled it again. Or something similar.
I have no doubt that this happens with the huge, government funded projects too, PLUS extra ‘padding’ for baksheesh and entertaining associates.
I often remark to Mrs Wife when on our travels around Oz, that there seems to be an extraordinary number of oceanfront mansions and huge boats in swanky marinas, going all the way around our coastline, given the size of our economy in world terms, and the small number of truly big businesses.
I guess that doing business in Australia is more profitable than elsewhere for some reason.
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