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
4.05 am Tuesday and sleep evades.
What is on my mind?
Against good advice, we usually leave radio 3aw playing low through the night to avoid the mind in free fall. Little bits and pieces from the radio set the agenda of the mind which so far today has a theme of people doing inexplicable acts. Like Fergie writing a note to Epstein that seems to suggest that she wants a daughter groomed. Like Trump objecting to his Supreme Court on tariffs and doubling down on principle while doubling up on tariff percent, affecting a lot of people globally. I cheer him on for his fight against faceless influencers and wonder why the polls are against him so much for his midterms. Contrast his style with Pauline Hanson who is polling high. The abundance of weird mental topics keeps me awake. Duh! Geoff S
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Simple remedy…….switch off!
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Where can I locate that switch Graham?
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Beta blockers calm the mind and allow sleep. I am not a big medicator but discovered them accidentally when grudgingly accepting medication for something else. I later described the mind calming/sleep aspect to the Dr and his comment was “yeah, sounds right , the same thing get prescribed to PTSD sufferers to quell thoughts and allow sleep.”
For me the sound of voices like a radio would be the end of sleep.
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It’s built in to most intelligent minds! We basically all have one but it needs to be activated by the individual by asking intelligent questions and analysing the answers & seeking verification!
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Trump’s willingness to bomb and kill people is a surprise this time around. Venezuela, Nigeria, Somalia, Iran, Syria, Yemen… a long list for his first year back!
(I actually admired him in his first term, his dealings with North Korea. Tensions were eased. But that was a different Trump. )
Also not helping his polling is the inflationary affect of tariffs.
And his opposition to the Epstein files release. Margerie Taylor Greene recounted his angry phonecall when he asked her not to vote for their release… he told her releasing them would “hurt my friends”.
Maybe his voters are growing disenchanted.
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Fixed it for you.
In reality, inflation has dropped significantly since Trump took office. He inherited 3.0% inflation when he took office in January of 2025, and after one year in office (January 2026) has it down to 2.4%.
https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/inflation/current-inflation-rates/
Trump’s ‘inflation’ problem is twofold. First, perception is reality, and Democrats are winning he messaging war and have convinced people that inflation is still out of control even though it’s WAY down Biden’s laughably awful 2021 levels (7%). Second, people are economically illiterate and actually expected DEflation, without understanding the awful consequences of deflation. Deflationary spirals destroy asset values, shutter businesses, and drive up unemployment. No one in their right mind should want deflation. What they should want, and what Trump has delivered, is disinflation, a slowing down of the inflation rate to below the level of wage growth. The USA national average wage growth is currently 4.3%, nearly two percent higher than the inflation rate.
https://usafacts.org/answers/are-wages-keeping-up-with-inflation/country/united-states/
Would it be nice if Trump could get inflation down to the sub-2% rates from before the pandemic? Sure. And maybe he will in year two. But to paraphrase Meatloaf two (point four) out three ain’t bad.
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If we ever have ‘sound money’ instead of ceaselessly inflated credit money (fiat money), deflation won’t be a problem.
If we ever get there, Broad Money won’t be allowed to exceed Base Money on a commercial bank’s Balance Sheet.
As Mises observed, I think, a fixed quantity of money is enough to serve a nation’s economy. We don’t need central planners deciding to adjust the quantity.
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The Democrats had four years to release the Epstein files and did … nothing.
Trump has released millions of pages of files.
And while there have been some juicy tidbits, a lot of it is just smearing people who have tenuous or even no association with Epstein. They were just mentioned in emails between Epstein and his pals. So if someone emailed ‘I went to a Taylor Swift concert last night’, Tay-Tay’s name pops up in the Epstein files. So Trump was right about non-redacted releases hurting his ‘friends’ and other innocent people. The files also include a metric ton of false accusations made to tip lines that were run down and found not credible, but once again, no matter how ridiculous the accusation, it is in the files. The innocent accused are in the ‘Epstein files’ because some nutjob accused them eating babies or being lizard people or whatever.
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If these files reflect the state of investigative activity then it is in a very sorry state indeed.
And it seems very likely that one or more of the so called AI tools were trained on this pile of what looks like complete garbage.
And the cost must be astronomical because that many FBI or other agents don’t come cheap.
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Who knew Epstein was a major power broker affecting policies around the globe?
That story is getting an audience. If you’re not interested, others are.
Some outlets not afraid to report about it are:
Drop Site News.
Breaking Points.
The Young Turks.
Up to you if you want to look away.
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That story is getting more than a little stretched.
My guess is that like Biden he was operated by people behind the scenes who to varying degrees wish to remain invisible.
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Perfect situation for the “ switch off “. It’s all obfuscation Centered on Trump.
We all know the Democrats had full access & control of the Epstein field but didn’t release on iota of information.
Now they’ve been released it’s the Democrats scurrying around trying to hide from being identified. Not to mention of course the UK government & the Monarchy.
Time to switch off & let the guilty stew!!
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I found that “radio on low” is worst cure than the sickness. A YouTube historic / technical video is better, you fall asleep halfway and it switches off automatically.
Also, nothing wrong with waking at 3:45, having a cup of coffee and Radio Svoboda (Prague) or JoNova for an hour and curl in your armchair until 8:25, just in time for Tom Elliot.
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V – Try SBS chill on low volume – no talking, just (mostly) instrumental music.
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I recommend Thomas DiLorenzo from the Mises institute. He gives very dry libertarian economics lectures! Puts me to sleep fast!
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Back in the day, biphasic or segmented sleep was common.
People would sleep for a bit, get up and do things, then sleep some more.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220107-the-lost-medieval-habit-of-biphasic-sleep
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I practice this all the time, been telling everyone that old pharts can’t stay awake. Turns out I may have been ahead of the game for the last few years.
Oh well. I read Geoffs post about 4.15 am but couldn’t post a reply because my thumbs are to clumsy to work the phone, its currently 9.OO am probably time for a quick lie down and a nap, Ha Ha.
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Do penguins have kneecaps?
Which letter is silent in the word “Scent,” the S or the C?
Have you ever noticed that word “swims” upside-down is still “swims”?
Why is it that when you’re driving and looking for an address, you turn down the volume on the radio?
Ponderings for 4am Wed.
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‘ … you turn down the volume on the radio?’
Aids concentration.
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Inexplicable like sending a hospital ship to Greenland?
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How good it is to see your comment here it seems aeons since I last saw one. And especially good to to see 8 “thumbs down”
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Thanks aeon
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My trick to get back to sleep when those thoughts rattle around is to switch to my body. I first think about my feet (are they hot or cold, or weighted down too much by the blankets, etc) then the ankles, legs, knees. I rarely make it to the hips before the morning light wakes me again and it’s time to rise.
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I can sympathise with you Geoff. What with the aftereffects of a hip replacement and despair at the way the UK is heading it is as difficult to get to sleep. My consolation is watching Charles Dowding’s YouTube shorts that give me something to look forward to when I get back on my feet and into my garden and allotment.
Also Classic FM at low volume helps.
Neighbours have been very kind and helpful which gives some confidence in human nature.
As for the current political and financial situation all one can do is hope.
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Reminds me of the anecdote about Churchill getting to sleep during wartime.
I just put my head on my pillow and say to hell with the lot of it.
And of course the good news is that by morning the brain will have solved a few problems and clarified a few issues. All by itself.
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In this video Topher Field talks about how the Lib/Labs passed the latest censorship legislation to remove the “threat” to the Uniparty of the conservative One Nation party and specifically how they have weaponised the law to go after Pauline Hanson with the objective of jailing her.
It’s likely one of thr worst threats to Australian freedom and “democracy” (such as it is), ever.
https://youtu.be/CsuXf28Qgy0
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Andrew Hastie by email
20 January 2026
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The bill, in the form the Liberals voted for will still be used to silence One Nation. The Liberals had to have know that (unless they’re stupid). And it will and has silenced truthful speech about all sorts of matters relating to terrorism and other issues.
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Yes. But it was still bad and the Libs still voted for it. And it will still be used to destroy our only significant conservative party, One Nation for the benefit of the Lib/Labs.
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According to very recent polling, put into perspective, noting politics and parliamentary power, relates to the numbers, One Nation now have only one House of Representatives MP and former National Party MP Barnaby Joyce, and a few Senators in the Senate Upper Chamber
Polling now with the next Federal election not due until May 2028 is a guide to general population trend thinking now.
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You can make a case that it was better to pass an amended bad bill that the greens didn’t like, than an extremely bad bill that the greens were going to love. That seems to be the Libs argument.
So while it’s not as bad as it’s initial proposal, it’s still bad.
https://ipa.org.au/publications-ipa/opinion/everything-you-need-know-about-diabolically-bad-hate-laws
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Ignoring the rapid response time after Bondi Massacre by Labor, the short time provided for analysis and obtaining legal and other advice (eg ASIO and AFP), before the legislation was scheduled for debate in Parliament for legislation.
And the public interest and pressure calling for action on the security of all Australians
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Not ignoring any of that. I’m acutely aware of the rush by Labor to use the incident as an excuse for more controls that don’t address the issue. I’m also aware that a number of Nats and One Nation voted No, despite all that apparent pressure. Proving there was a choice to oppose the bill. Not just pass it as a “well, it’s not as bad as it could have been” bill. I acknowledge the passed Bill was better than the initial proposal.
Labor were very happy to drag their feet on a Royal Commission despite public pressure. Proving that they choose to act quickly on things that benefit their agenda and refuse things that don’t. So pressure to act quickly was not actually a factor. They’d spent two years doing nothing.
Do you think it is good legislation? That’s the crux of this. Is it good or bad. Not whether there are excuses for proposing and passing bad legislation that is known to be bad at the time of proposing and passing.
Yet strangely that was not the result.
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Horse trading. Leaves a horrible taste.
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Politics is a dirty job, but somebody has to do it.
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The Libs see One Nation as their competition.
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As they see the Greens and Teals and other minor parties and independents
Preferential voting trickle down system decides the result in most electorates.
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In the news yesterday that Premier Minns (Labor) of NSW has announced changes to gun ownership legislation to assist the farming community in response to protests
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But what about other law abiding firearm owners?
And why should they be punished for the actions of a terrorist who authorities failed to monitor correctly along with his associates?
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Because Jacinda already showed that it is possible to do this.
Brenton Tarrant is currently in court attempting to withdraw his guilty plea.
Perhaps in the course of this action we may learn the identity of his handler and sponsors.
We will never learn why the police ignored the warnings that members of the public submitted about the behaviour of Tarrant.
But from the point of view of firearms confiscation , and Muslim integration, it worked a treat.
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One Nation now polling ahead of Labor on first preferences!
https://www.thenewdaily.com.au/news/state/sa/2026/02/23/one-nation-nsw-polls
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Amazing news, the number crunches will be hard at work.
‘The polling result means a likely hung parliament if an election were held today, with voters’ second and third preferences proving crucial in deciding the final make-up of the next NSW Parliament.’
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WUWT posted my article on the Sun orbit and spin yesterday.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2026/02/22/changing-sunlight-sun-movement-and-spin/
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Well done.
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Excellent post Rick,
A great read. Those that use the different planet position’s for weather forecasting have some science to back up their approach.
David Burton aka Inigo Jones, is right on target with his flooding increasing now and for the next few years.
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Currently it is getting very cluttered in the region known as Pisces
Neptune and Saturn have been there for some time and will remain for a while yet.
Mercury in Pisces will be joined by Venus in a couple of days.
Then the Sun is in Pisces ( from the perspective of Earth) on the 11th of March .
Then Mars moves in at the end of March.
My eye of newt almanac shows in early April that Mercury , Mars,Saturn, Neptune and the Sun are all in Pisces.
That is interpreted to mean that it won’t be dry.
Why?
No idea.
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I am guessing that the Astronomical Diaries from the 700 years BCE recorded by Babylonian scholars, from which they developed what is called astrometeorology, are behind the predictions in this almanac.
So hindcasting the solar changes that Rick has elucidated , to that period of 700 years for which observations are available, might come up with something , or not.
But it should be a simple matter for AI.
Any takers?
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AI would help to clarify a few theories.
https://thonyc.wordpress.com/2014/12/04/the-weather-and-the-stars/
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I was pleased to see your most praiseworthy article appear.
My one follow up question was about the term centrifugal unless working in a non-inertial frame of reference.
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I am using the term as outward force and I consider centripetal as inward. If you have any clear reference on correct use I will change the wording in the original.
Already have an error in the text for the mass of Neptune. But the model that produces the orbital influence for Neptune and Jupiter is correct.
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In sixth form Mechanics(Newtonian) class, Br. Augustine would slam anyone who referenced centrifugal force.
Centripetal only was permitted.
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Thanks. I don’t have a better term and I now understand your use of “centrifugal” as a negative centripetal. At least I hope I understand your meaning.
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That is what I intended in my usage.
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You should send that to the office of the anti-energy Minister, Blackout Bowen. Address it to the senior public serpent who tells him what to think.
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Who will promptly file it under the “never to be opened” category.
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Excellent article – worth a read.
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Great work RickWill – we cannot discount the effects of the planets on our sun and its resultant impact on our weather/climate, but few of us have the exceptional mental capacity to follow it through.
One observation on your Chart 4 – Cumulative Spin Torque graph. Your minimum torque timing seems to generally correspond with the peak sunspot number count for solar cycles 23, 24 and 25, and may be a way of predicting the length of future solar cycles, (but not necessarily their magnitudes).
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The solar activity can be well predicted by the square of the difference better the actual Sun velocity and the minimum or maximum for each cycle. Using this method, it is possible to predict monthly sunspots with a regression coefficient close to 90%. Not so good for the solar activity, which has greater variation.
Up till now I did not know why the timing between the velocity and the solar activity was so far offset. It is as if the Sun is a time shifter. But I figure it is the time required to establish the shear between concentric layers to produce the sunspots. The tidal force is very small and even at near resonance it increases the velocity very slowly or reduces speed slowly if the torque is negative.
The difference in spin velocity from peak drive to peak braking is about 2m/s in 1413m/s. The only time the Sun moves in a near circular arc and almost constant velocity is when Neptune and Uranus are both in opposition to Saturn. Jupiter is then the only large planet significantly controlling the Sun orbit and it gets close to circular. That last happened in 1649 and there were consecutive solar cycles that had low activity. The last near aligned opposition was in 2007 resulting in SC 24 not doing a lot at its peak in 2015. SC26 will be more active than SC25, which is now past its peak.
Chart 7 shows the phasing of the torque as the spin approaches the resonance. Those peaks have reasonable negative correlation with the solar activity.
I am still to get the timing of the peak activity correct. I expect I will need two spinning masses with small radial separation having the same initial angular velocity and position of rotation then watch how they move with respect to each other. Their separation would be enough to have one accelerating and the other braking. With that, I may be able to replicate the timing of solar activity.
The minimum that caused SC24 was 10.8N/s. The peak for SC25 was 15.8m/s and the minimum for SC26 is 8.6m/s. The average is about 12.6m/s. So expect solar activity for SC26 at least twice SC24.
I would really like to be able to get the peak of SC26 within a year. Iknow it will be greater intensity than SC25 and will be in the 2030s but do not have a lot of confidence in predicting its peak year. However I am closer this week than last week.
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This video talks about the “decolonisation” of Africa and has before and after pictures.
The destruction of foreign European-style infrastructure and technology which is not native to South Africa surely has to be a good thing… It’s best to return to the infrastructure and technology that existed before the Europeans. This would be most compatible with the Left’s decolonisation agenda.
https://youtu.be/c0sbFFvVyx8
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That would be a fitting result for governments, but not so much for the populations they rule over.
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And yet, in the West, diversity is our strength. Give me the wisdom……
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White folks going to black/brown/yellow countries …. racist colonization.
Black/brown/yellow folks going to white countries …. diversity is our strength.
Them’s the rules.
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Most things African States need for their citizens are the basic building blocks of civilisation. The problems are not new, they are solved problems and the solutions are deployed widely in other countries. India, SE Asia, Latin America, the Stan countries are all developing.
Africa seems stalled and seems unable to simply build what already exists and is available off the shelf. In South Africa’s case it appeares that just maintaining what existed , even when taken over with enthusiasm, is a step too far.
The future does not look encouraging , unless the Chinese have a new way to do colonialism.
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The Belt and Road Initiative has been a disaster.
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I have a very nice humpy I can sell you.
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African Countries Can’t Practice Maintenance.
Spoken by an African. Very relevant to Davids video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWVosJ91awM
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Video.
Fun with 400 car batteries.
Interesting things to do and interesting physical effects with 100,000 amps and more.
https://youtu.be/OC7sNfNuTNU
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Do not try this yourself.
Styropyro is a chemist and therefore quite mad. 😆
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It’s a wonder the Mythbusters team haven’t got onto it.
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The lad is demonstrating how complex it is to restart a blacked out grid or even just to switch loads. These are substantial switches to handle the the sudden delivery of current to the network
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I think these terrorists, terrorist supporters and future terrorists will end up in Australia despite what Albanese says.
I expect that they’ll be quietly imported once the present controversy quietens down.
They are all present and future Labor Party voters and critical for Labor’s dream of being in Government forever.
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As many know the rot began to set in late 1970s when the Fraser Coalition Government agreed to bring from Lebanon oppressed minority Maronite Christians for resettlement in Australia and arranged for an airlift. After a while the people granted asylum/refuge advised Australian authorities that the airlift had been infiltrated by Lebanese Muslims and the resettlement programme was stopped. Hawke Labor were elected to Federal Government in 1983.
During the late 1980s to early 1990s media revealed what was often described as “ethnic branch stacking” being Labor recruiting migrants targeting ethnic community leaders lured with various incentives to recruit for Labor branch membership of community members. By 1990 when Prime Minister Keating replaced Prime Minister Hawke (see then secret Kirribilli Agreement) many Labor MPs and Cabinet Ministers were becoming concerned about what they referred to as future social problems if the Immigration based recruitment and favouritism continued. Of particular concern to them was the PM overturning an ASIO-Department of Immigration deportation order for Egyptian citizen Australian Muslim community leader Sheik Hilaly who was being pursued via legal channels by the Egyptian Government. Hilaly was given permission to settle in Australia permanently.
There are many other stories, example refugee from Vietnam Phong Ngo, a community leader here who became a Councillor at a Western Sydney Council. He wanted to become a State Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA now MP) but the local electorate Labor MLA in which he and his family lived was not willing to retire. He, John Newman, was killed in a driveway shooting at his home, Police later caught the murderer and the man who arranged for that murder Phong Ngo, they were sentenced to serve time in gaol. And Phong Ngo while a prisoner in Sydney suburb Long Bay Gaol was caught by media for having arranged Chinese New Year Parties for inmates and visitors inside the gaol, catered for by a well known Chinese Restaurant. When revealed the Minister for Corrective Services (Labor NSW) denied knowing about the parties and arrangements. However, as reported many of the visitors were from the ALP.
I recommend the book published late 1990s, author Peter Walsh, Confessions Of A Failed Finance Minister and noting the chapters on ethnic branch stacking and representations from Cabinet Ministers for it to be stopped, they were told that the ALP needed to recruit new branch members.
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Another book recommended revealing the ethnic group tensions and government hiding events from us accordingly;
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There were many police matters dealt with, one in particular that has worried me ever since was police discovering a plan for an attack on a shopping centre using machine guns, they also confiscated hand grenades from the people arrested
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Thanks for a very relevant summary, Dennis.
Remember all that but also that opposition at that time (Keating) discussed setting up “ethnic” branches.
Which was rejected – by “ethnics” themselves. I have no idea – was it 51/49 or 90/10 ratio but am glad that sane heads prevailed.
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I love a disarmed country,
A land of sweeping laws,
Where everyone is helpless,
All facing terrorist claws.
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David, I think the previous batch (or some of them) of “Isis” brides were delivered to a Muslim enclave near the beautiful town of Young NSW (the old Drive in site I believe). Bet the locals are thrilled……..How did this happen ???
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The children cannot ‘return’ as they have never been here. They are Isis children.
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Red Flag warning, children fathered by ISIS fighters with women in supporting roles including producing what ISIS call Cubs of the Caliphate
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Good piece exposing Massachusetts wacky grid battery avalanche:
https://www.masslive.com/opinion/2026/02/battery-energy-storage-systems-coming-to-a-town-near-you-laurie-belsito.html
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Always good to see somebody asking what could possibly go wrong.
But there is another dimension. Note the size measured in mW but no mention of mWh. That’s how the public ends up with “can power 1,000 homes” but never hears “for 5 minutes”.
These things are nothing more than arbitrage machines masquerading as planet savers.
So as well as asking what could possibly go wrong the question needs to be asked, who profits?
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* MWh, not mWh.
Just sayin’.
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The convention is to capitalise units which are proper names and leave the rest in lower case, however there are 9 orders of magnitude between a mW and a MW so there must be a clear distinction I ‘spose.
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Same applies to T (degrees) and V (m/sec).
Absolutely basic parameters in any engineering calculation but equally useless in Global Warming discussion.
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Surely the convention is to use the proper SI units where applicable?
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The prefix of the unit is never a proper name.
Watt of course was the steam engine guy James Watt but there has never been a Dr Milli or Sir Mega.
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mW applies to political brain power.
Just sayin’.
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Thanks. My mW powered brain works in mysterious ways and sometimes I type before engaging it.
Hopefully my error brightened somebody’s day.
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Right about arbitrage. A way for solar to make money by selling at evening peak. MA imports 60% of its electricity and has almost no renewables so there is no green reason for all these batteries. Yet taxpayers are subsidizing them heavily, both state and federal. The federal law that phases out wind and solar subsidies left battery subsidies intact. The MW law mandating these batteries first grants them green “generation” certificates then buys them.
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At this time our Prime Minister has decided to become a commentator on the family problems of the Royal Family, another exercise in diversionary tactics no doubt, as a Republican who apparently wants Commonwealth of Australia, Federation of States, a sovereign nation since 1900 to become a republic and one of the misleading reasons is to have an Australian as Head of State. That is the Governor General (see Constitution) who is selected and appointed by a Prime Minister, the Monarch is advised and must accept.
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To its great credit the Australian voting public have been very reluctant to approve constitutional change via referenda.
It appears that the general sentiment is to ask what those who propose the changes have to gain.
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“It appears that the general sentiment is to ask what those who propose the changes have to gain.”
We are sharp enough to know what we will gain is more public servants, more bureaucrats, more politicians and more need to pay them exorbitant salaries. We also know that the advocates for this change all imagine themselves as “Australia’s first President” thereby securing a favourable place in history, regardless of the incumbents failings at actually managing the country for the wellbeing of its populace.
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Bravo Sambar. I Wish I had said that.
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But..but.. the groupthink here is that the average voter is too dumb to understand pref voting.
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But..but.. the groupthink here is that the average voter is too dumb to understand pref voting.
Too lazy to number the ten or so boxes – so just following the order that a political entity has determined by numbering one box.
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No.
Stopped by the system of completely excluding the several candidates who should never be allowed into the parliament.
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Dennis, and the one we have now “hand picked” by Albo for services rendered no doubt……Def not a Bi partisan GG appointment
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Note that the author Sir David Smith was Official Secretary to five governors-general from 1973 to 1990 and described by Labor Prime Minister Whitlam as “Kerr’s Cur” when Sir John Kerr was Governor General and based entirely on constitutional law forced a double dissolution meaning of House of Representatives and the Senate when Whitlam Labor could not produce the numbers to vote to pass an essential money supply Bill.
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That’s history, we need to talk about what form of republic Australians could live with.
The governors general perform the duty now, a president would be mostly ceremonial and we keep our parliamentary trappings. Retain the Westminster system but replace the GG with an individual chosen by the electorate.
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Former NSW Premier Carr commented years ago that in his opinion if Australia was to change to Republic of Australia vary little should be changed apart from the title Governor General becoming President and still a Prime Minister’s appointment but discontinue the ceremonial position of the Monarchy. After all, a Monarch really has no powers.
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” a president would be mostly ceremonial ”
Yeah…. how’s that working in America again? A monarch has no powers, and that’s the advantage of them. They can quietly show up the ridiculousness of a Prime Minister, without getting involved, and they last a lot longer than 5PMs in 4years.
Now which ex-PM who became President WOULDN’T try to take over? ‘Ceremonial’ would last a few months until the shine and the wealth got boring, or the PM said something the President disagreed with!
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PM Albanese is so sure that he is not assisting the “ISIS brides” attempt to travel to Australia. Can he inform us, now that we know they have all been issued with passports, who paid for the passports?
The cost of the full set of 34 passports is close to $10,000. So who paid?
Was it some agent or doner?
Was it the group of “brides” themselves?
Or was it one of the pro-Palestinian groups in Australia?
Or was it actually the Albanese government who picked up the bill?
If so that is assisting isn’t it?
We all need to Know!
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wow. You are saying that it matters who paid for their passports? Care to explain?
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Speaks to intent.
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First. The government didn’t pay it.
Second, the outcome is the same whoever paid for it. They’ll use them to cross borders.
Many of those women maintain contact with family and/or have a support network. I’d bet you the cost of your next 10 passports that they got it done through multiple sources and a single intent, apart from supplying passports, does not exist.
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Look up Jamal Rifi.
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Australian taxpayers pay for the Australian Passports, successful applicants pay a fee.
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GeeAye, you missed the point.
If any department of government paid for the passports then they supported the return.
That means that Albo lied!
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They didn’t.
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Talking of time for a good sleep. Here’s GI.
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hence your avatar
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Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…
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FWIW – Good news for readers of Jo’s blog in today’s Coffee and Covid newsletter
The last item
“Today’s final “I told you so” moment appeared courtesy of science. According to a new, major, peer-reviewed Harvard scientific study: reading C&C might literally add years to your life. Here’s the tweet from Sahil Bloom summarizing the findings, and here’s the study, titled “Optimism is associated with exceptional longevity in 2 epidemiologic cohorts of men and women.” ”
More at
https://open.substack.com/pub/coffeeandcovid/p/i-told-you-so-monday-february-23?
And the New York Times goes full circle from agruing vehemently that all the Epstein files should be released to deciding that none should have been released
And around that
The Duran thinks that the arrest of Ex-Prince Andrew was to take the heat off Starmer and that it probably won’t
“Former UK Prince arrest… Will it take pressure off Starmer?”
https://rumble.com/v763v96-former-uk-prince-arrest…-will-it-take-pressure-off-starmer.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp_a
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And
“Jeffrey Epstein Didn’t Kill Himself”
“DAMN THE TORPEDOES: Former UK Ambassador to US Peter Mandelson arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office as part of investigation into his ties to Jeffrey Epstein”
https://x.com/FoxNews/status/2025987372941287540
Via https://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2026/02/23/jeffrey-epstein-didnt-kill-himself-59/
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On suspicion of ties to JE birthday cake or his torn bedsheet?
00
I somewhat agree with the Times. A whole bunch of the stuff that has been released is unfounded accusation and completely innocent mentions of a person that had nothing to do with Epstein in an email. 95% of the Epstein files have been a nothingburger that only harmed innocent people. Was it really worth it just to get that juicy 5%? I’m not sure. Transparency is good, but so is protecting the privacy of innocent people who had nothing to do with the whole mess.
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It was heartwarming to watch Whoopi Goldberg trying to squirm her way out of her mention in the files. Apparently she had no hesitation asking the pedopile for a ride on his jet – as you do of course to save the cost of another private jet or the embarrassment of travelling with the plebs.
I figure Trump was under huge pressure from the UK royals and aristocracy to not open the files to public.
40
Article by a “a masters in public policy from Oxford University and a masters in gender, education and international development from University College London” in the SMH is all about the dangers of free enterprise in the social media sphere. She reckons it needs Govt control and censorship, and while its long and filled with fuzzy buzz-words, it can be summed up in this paragraph-
“Now, hate such as misogyny, Islamophobia, antisemitism, and white supremacy material is available to be force-fed to us all day, every day, on our digital devices.”
https://www.smh.com.au/technology/if-we-re-serious-about-social-cohesion-these-big-tech-hate-machines-must-be-reined-in-20260223-p5o4iu.html
The rest of the paper is either fluffy rubbish or hate articles against Trump as usual.
50
I suspect that Labor gas lighting has been converted from their natural gas to green hydrogen the highly explosive gas
30
Y’day I posted on the chaos and murder in Mex. At the time it sounded to be a “simple” reaction to the killing of Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes. As usual, it is not that simple.
Last night, in a situation like GS in the OP, I watched a video by Clive Thompson, a pommy gentleman, who told of the murder of ten workers in a US silver miner’s property in Sinaloa and he spoke of the cartels extorting the silver industry generally in Mex. This morn it is listed as “Private” so no point in linking to it. Top listing here. That’s odd, linking from there works. 🙂 It sounds to have been edited so the old vid has been locked.
I have investments in Ag metal, mining and royalty company shares which have served me well lately but in my mood now it’s like cleaning up at a poker game with matches. I have no desire to spend it without my lady, who was with me in the hard years, by my side.
Any additional info on these riots would be nice, thank you.
40
H
See the Coffee and Covid link in # 11
00
And
“The Latest from México”
https://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2026/02/23/the-latest-from-mexico/
00
FWIW – re national decline
“Featured Comment”
“There were lots of great comments to this post yesterday, but this one from ‘The Phantom’ really stood out:”
https://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2026/02/22/a-hard-pill-to-swallow/
https://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2026/02/22/a-hard-pill-to-swallow/#comment-2089545
“…showed as much fire over the gradual loss of your rights, the destruction of your economy, worsening of your quality of life, and the state sanctioned murder of your own people…”
If you mention any of those four things to most Canadians living in urban areas, they will look at you like you’re insane.”
And
“f you’ve felt something shifting in this country but couldn’t quite put words to it, this is my attempt.”
https://x.com/saskatchewan_in/status/2025028661166977352
Via SDA
Not only Canada
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Amazon: AI-assisted hacker breached 600 Fortinet firewalls in 5 weeks
Amazon is warning that a Russian-speaking hacker used multiple generative AI services as part of a campaign that breached more than 600 FortiGate firewalls across 55 countries in five weeks.
A new report by CJ Moses, CISO of Amazon Integrated Security, says that the hacking campaign occurred between January 11 and February 18, 2026, and did not rely on any exploits to breach Fortinet firewalls.
Instead, the threat actor targeted exposed management interfaces and weak credentials that lacked MFA protection, then used AI to help automate access to other devices on the breached network.
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/amazon-ai-assisted-hacker-breached-600-fortigate-firewalls-in-5-weeks/
The age of AI breakins is here.
10
Keir Starmer rocked as scandal exposed – ‘paedos’ let off with warning letters.
Sir Keir Starmer’s position is “completely untenable” after revelations he oversaw the use of “paedophile Asbos” that allowed suspects to get off with a warning.
Reform UK shadow home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf said the details uncovered by the Express made the Prime Minister’s position “completely untenable.”
He said: “Instead of fighting for the full force of the law against vile grooming gang predators, Keir Starmer presided over a system that sent out weak and useless ‘warning letters’ to paedophiles.”
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/2173205/keir-starmer-cps-scandal-paedos
How low has the UK sunk?
50
FWIW
“Reticulum – The Persistent Coms Needed for AwShits”
“Given the presence of Snooping and Network shutdowns – what to use in a Crisis?
I found this video about Reticulum very useful. Yes, it’s a tech heavy thing. Yes, it still has some minor issues in the demonstration (that he had to fix). But also YES, it looks like the desired state of tech for persistent private & anonymous communications in the face of network outages and State Suppression during “emergencies”. ”
More at
https://chiefio.wordpress.com/2026/02/23/reticulum-the-persistent-coms-needed-for-awshits/
00
FWIW
“DEVELOPING A NATION’S OWN MEDICAL PERSONNEL IS FAR SUPERIOR TO IMPORTING FOREIGNERS EVEN IF THE LATTER IS SUPERFICIALLY CHEAPER: And America needs to listen to this too. Stop pilfering the doctors of the poor while declining to train our own.”
https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/end-this-shabby-practice-of-pilfering-the-doctors-of-the-poor-while-declining-to-train-our-own/
Via https://instapundit.com/778135/#disqus_thread
More reading for “Elbow”
00
I agree. Stealing professionals from poorer countries is reverse charity.
20
The horde that has colonised Europe comprises mostly engineers and doctors, apparently. I don’t know how Pakistan and Africa will be able to function with its professional class so decimated.
20
“The horde that has colonised Europe comprises mostly engineers and doctors, apparently. ”
…but all end up driving taxis or collecting supermarket trolleys in the car park.
10
You guys are forgetting the very point of Globalism.
There are no ‘countries’ with borders to steal from.
That’s why I pay lots of state and local taxes to support and improve the major Uni I live in the shadow of.
That has new modernist construction and pristine roads while the surrounding city looks like a rotting coal mining town in West Virginia with potholes that will wreck your car.
And the said college students that don’t look like me and whose second language is not my first, drive around in luxury cars.
It is my privilege to hand over my historical privilege to educate the oppressed foreign elite that my father sacrificed his youth to save.
The cool thing is when they move out of their apartments they just throw out their new stuff.
The wife and I get new microwaves and all manner of high dollar household items from Uni housing dumpsters.
10
I’ve been reading that consumer ‘puters are being sold with Linux preinstalled and are saving manufacturers heaps at the price-sensitive end of the market. The trials have been happening for a couple of years.
There’s always a rainbow somewhere.
20
An IT Specialist who has computer engineering design skills explained Windows to me as being like a wall of bricks and every now and then a brick falls out and a replacement or path is created to fill the hole, and hopefully the hole had not been infiltrated by unwanted trouble.
10
Have just had to rescue a Windows computer from the dreaded Blue Screen of Death (BSOD), apparently due to somebody switching off its power directly, or due to persistent attempts to power-up from an overloaded circuit breaker. Obvious that Windows computers don’t like power interruptions, whereas the Linux systems I’ve installed are immune to them.
20
So the amateur weather watchers in Warrnambool are not happy with the BOM and the siting of the cities AWS, which is now 10km from the city and, of course, at the local airport. The BOM said that on January the 27th, Warrnambool had recorded a recorded temp of 45 degrees which was their hottest day ever on record.
The weather watchers said, not so. Their own temperature monitoring showed a maximum of 38 degrees for that day, not 45. They argue that having the weather station at the airport, 10 ks away is not representative of the actual towns temperature. The AWS is also not in the same municipality. Of course the BOM says, no it’s right and our weather station “met World Meteorological Organization requirements for global weather models.” Weather models,??? what’s the relevance of that to the stations location.
The weather station used to be at to post office for 86 years until it was closed in 1983. So the 45 degree temp is not a record for the town, but perhaps a new high for the airport. Based on ~40 years of data, not the 86 years of data from the original station. I guess the BOM will now need to massage the old post office data records so it aligns to the new stations temperature’s.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-22/warrnambool-weather-station-location-bom/106349068
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Will Prime Minister Albanese and Cabinet Ministers take notice of this concerned Independent MP?
10
“But I am worried about the children … ” Ah, loves small children does he?? Not that concerned about his voters and the people of NSW, is Mr Minns.
00
A few US polls show Donnie on the back foot.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/23/trump-poll-state-of-the-union
01
“I met Alan Border who said that I could have been a great cricketer. I said to Alan, no I don’t have time for that, I’m too busy trafficking.”
00
el+gordo,
How much trust do you put in polls? Looking at the poll in question, it had 8512 participants. That’d be plenty if the USA was homogeneous, but it isn’t.
Here’s a short video by Pew Research themselves. In it, they admit they have systematically underestimated support for Trump, and give their stab at the reasons they’ve been wrong. It goes on to talk about correcting things with maths. Might as well call it magic, ’cause maths can’t do it.
50
OMG I think my head will explode.
Just clicked on 9 news and the headline post is: Melbourne residents told to stay indoors as severe thunderstorm causes potentially ‘life-threatening’ flooding.
They then show flooding from NT, WA, SA and Qld.
So stay indoors because you might get wet, oh the horror.
Yes, Melbourne gets storms and flash flooding. Hey people have you heard of a new invention; it’s called an umbrella.
I predict a mostly non-event but it will be on the 6 or 7 o’clock news as a potentially close call.
What a pack of pansies.
Victoria’s north is getting a deluge but they are hardy people who will suck it up and move on.
Melbournites, cower in your homes in fear because the BOM and the news stations tell you to.
70
Yup, beautiful drenching rain up north, well for some of us anyway, Kyabram just got over 30 mm. I was so terrified of the lightening, thunder and rain, I stood outside for half an hour watching the downpour, it’s been a while!
20
Medical records are normally confidential, of course.
But the hypocrisy!
Dan made everyone disclose their medical records to strangers or others during the Covid lockups and if you didn’t you’d be denied entry to some place or sacked/fired.
10
All citizens are equal but some citizens are more equal than most other citizens
10
FWIW – about assessing the worth of mineral discoveries
“Thacker Pass Ain’t Worth $1.5 Trillion – Quite Possibly Nothing
People are ignorant of the very basics here”
https://timworstall.substack.com/p/thacker-pass-aint-worth-15-trillion
Brings to mind Pierpont and “Blue Skies Mines (No liability except at gunpoint)”
https://www.afr.com/politics/the-inside-story-on-how-to-slug-the-unwary-investor-19960906-jfhho
10
That via https://instapundit.com/778335/#disqus_thread
00
Anyone come across this verification scam?
https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinfuriating/comments/1rckhf1/popped_up_when_i_was_trying_to_read_an_article/
Plenty of bright people willing to steal from you…
00
FWIW
“Influential anti-meat science group folds, citing shifts in “donor landscape” ”
https://www.beefcentral.com/news/influential-anti-meat-science-group-folds-citing-shifts-in-donor-landscape/
00
Just came across this 16 minute report.
“Mayor Mamdani ERUPTS After BlackRock OFFICIALLY Exits New York For Good! ”
Sophia Miller
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uAYbHrHYLE
My suggestion for a subtitle: ” How a city can destroy itself – quickly” .
10
Beyond his “ken”?
00
FWIW – not The Bee but
“BREAKING: Canada awarded gold medal after receiving two late mail-in goals at 3:00am”
https://x.com/DschlopesIsBack/status/2025729378865357128
10