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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Video. 13.5 mins
Note to Left, you can’t run a country without energy. Australia is now effectively energy poor (despite having energy riches).
290
Why is that our other major exports like iron ore, coal, wheat are sold at world prices yet our dumb gas deal is a fixed price contract with no facility for raising the price when demand increases.
310
Yes, our main gas contract with China was signed under the Howard regime and runs for 30 years and the clown who wrote it forgot to incorporate any provision for inflation or market price.
https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/how-australia-blew-its-future-gas-supplies-20170928-gyqg0f.html
310
David, similar to the $200M QLD govt deal done with Wagners to build a motel for covid victims that was never used and is now owned by Wagners, the smarties in govt are just babes in the woods when it comes to doing business in the real world, bet all of them had degrees for this and that, but let themselves be diddled.
180
Ronin
Would the “degrees for this and that” be Arts, Law, or one of the Social “Sciences”?
90
Check the current financial situation of the “clown”.
While I usually expect that incompetence causes such problems, corruption is also a possibility.
130
Australia’s Gas Policy Mess Fact Sheet
https://australiainstitute.org.au/post/australias-gas-policy-mess-fact-sheet/
10
The Howard government successfully negotiated a significant liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply deal with China, which is valued at $25 billion. This agreement is recognized as Australia’s largest single export deal.
Key Details of the LNG Supply Deal
Value: $25 billion
Duration: Long-term contract
Significance: Largest single export deal for Australia
Purpose: To support China’s industrial expansion and meet its growing energy needs
Impact on Australia-China Relations
The deal reflects the strengthening economic relationship between Australia and China.
It highlights Australia’s role in supplying energy resources to support China’s rapid industrial growth.
The agreement is part of broader discussions regarding a potential Australia-China free trade agreement, which was also a focus during Prime Minister John Howard’s visit to China.
This LNG deal not only underscores Australia’s export capabilities but also positions the country as a key player in the global energy market, particularly in relation to China’s energy demands.
16
The $25 billion LNG deal has led to tripled east-coast gas prices, inflated household energy bills by billions, and widespread manufacturing job losses in Australia. While it positioned Australia as a top LNG exporter, the expected economic benefits have been limited.
Noting that Australia has many more gas fields than State governments are permitting to be accessed, development applications are often held up for years and investors have pulled out unwilling to sustain more expenses with no certainty of being granted access and then consider time to build infrastructure.
80
And China was so grateful to Australia for that gas contract that Xi Jinping came to Australia to point out how weak we are and to threaten us with military action if we upset them (Xi Jinping’s address to the Australian Federal Parliament on 17 November 2014).
10
Australia’s Oil Refineries;
https://www.fuelsandlubes.com/fli-article/the-end-of-oil-refining-in-australia/
10
When Hawke became leader of the ACTU in 1969, he announced that the power industry would be the thin edge of his wedge.
Through the ’70s we then saw time after time strikes in our oil refineries and power stations, where a strike by a few key workers would shut down a state.
Until the Last Great Power Strike, where the ACTU hubris led them to believe they could “clean up” Queensland.
They called a power strike. Simon Crean “went north” to conduct the job.
Joh Bjelke-Petersen knew the workers did not want to be on strike. So he didn’t discriminate. He sacked the lot..
Everybody went back to work as if nothing had happened. Simon Crean went back south with a blooded nose.
And that was 40 odd years ago.
80
Australian Governments have a heavy reliance on “modelling”.
You hear the term endlessly.
But modelling is useless unless you have deep knowledge of the phenomenon you are trying to simulate.
Unfortunately the public serpents and their highly overpaid Big Four consultancy firms they hire to think for them, don’t have the deep underlying knowledge to go with their modelling software that produces all the pretty graphs. The results are therefore mostly meaningless, and the results expensive and destructive to the Australian economy.
360
ALWAYS about the “SPILLAGE”>
As they say in the classics:
“ALWAYS WAS; ALWAYS WILL BE”.
80
151
Incidentally, the first sentence of that quote is from Alfred Korzybski, 1931, “A Non-Aristotelian System and Its Necessity for Rigour in Mathematics and Physics,” further detailed in Science and Sanity (1933).
The second half is often added.
81
The results of the deliberate dumbing-down of the education system in Australia from the late 1960’s onwards after the communists* infiltrated the Australian Teacher’s Federation (union) are now obviously apparent and have been for many years. An entire population and its “leadership” (present company excepted) all dumbed-down and with little knowledge or objectively true understanding of anything, just programmed beliefs according to the post-modernist Official Narrative.
* https://www.search.org.au/honouring_the_contribution_and_legacy_of_communists_in_the_nsw_teachers_federation
260
You are SO right, David. They have progressively (term used colloquially!) infiltrated the Teachers’ Colleges and the Teachers’ Unions. Then, the next step was, of course, the Curriculum Committees. It was a steady and hard headed infiltration.
Sadly, the P&Cs – Parents & Citizens Committees – which could have fought this were missing in action. Didn’t understand, or didn’t care, OR concurred.
130
It’s the vast majority of voters, most do not even know how Federation of States and Constitutional laws apply, separation of powers and responsibilities and that the Commonwealth of Australia 1900 Federal Government has few powers over state governments to force them to act, see COVID-19 pandemic years from January 2020 and Labor States political manoeuvring to support Opposition Federal Labor.
Look at 2019 bushfires and 2020 floods, natural disasters are primarily State responsibilities, Premiers & Cabinets. But acording to Labor propaganda it was all Morrison’s fault and even the more intelligent people accepted that and joined in the criticism, effectively assisting the Labor propaganda campaign to spread.
110
To qr code or not to qr code?
I grow ever more exasperated at the intrusion of the digital world soliciting formerly simple matters.
Today at a Sorrento beach cafe we were presented with a small block of wood with a qr code with the intention we peer at our tiny screens rather than have a proper menu to look at, pass between us, discuss the options and check desserts in case that might affect our choice of main meal.
Looking at a proper menu at our leisure is all part of the eating experience. We refused the qr code and waited for a proper menu to arrive.
Yesterday at another cafe I was told to pay by inserting a 20 euro note into a machine right next to the cashier.
It refused to read despite the cashiers best efforts at crumpling the note, turning it various ways. 8 goes later I proffered another note, same result. Then eventually a thirdnote which eventually disappeared into the machine.
So the cashier had a total of 20 goes to get the change. Wouldn’t it have been easier to have merely given me the change in the normal way?
We are over complicating many things
440
And in addition to all that, if the cash register fails, the young wokester serving is simply incapable of calculating the required change, assuming cash is even used which is an exceedingly rare occurrence. Or they can’t understand if you give them extra so they can return to you a rounded amount of change. E.g. an item cost $5.30 and you give them $10.30 so they can return to you a $5 note rather than $4.70 in change had you given them just a $10 note. It is beyond their understanding and they get confused.
410
I remember having to buy 8 doughnuts which were priced at six for $5.00 or $1.00 each. The girl asked for $8.00 so I said, ‘Can I just buy six.’ Then I bought another two after paying for the six – $7.00 all up. She didn’t have a clue.
360
I think you posted that doughnut story b4. 😁
I went to a local steel supplier years ago after some square tubing.
Standard 5.1m length, but said I needed 2 × 1.5m and please cut the remaining into 3 equal lengths (0.7m).
It was a fresh-outa-school 16 yo or so and I was there for 5 minutes while he struggled doing it mentally for 3 minutes then spent 2 minutes WITH a calculator.
I avoid the kids now…
70
A builder close to me has often used a new apprentice as an example, asked to climb down from a roof structure and get a spirit level from the vehicle he produced his mobile phone and app.
30
What a memory, John. Yes, I think I did.
00
Been there done that. Ironically, you’re trying to make the transaction easier but it ends up being more complicated.
90
I’ve had a similar experience!
30
How Chief justice Robert’s killed the Clean Power Plan and totally changed how the Supreme Court conducts business:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/us/politics/supreme-court-shadow-docket.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
124
Can’t read without creating an account.
If by “clean power” you mean wind and solar, it’s great news.
Genuine clean power from coal, gas, nuclear or real hydro (not SH2) is better, cheaper, more reliable and doesn’t destroy vast areas of farmland, wilderness and bird, bat and insect life or generate shadow flicker, infrasound etc..
460
Here’s a brief NYT video that gives a clue as to what the article is about.
https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000010835178/the-origins-of-the-supreme-courts-shadow-docket.html
Here’s an accessible article that explains a bit about the “secret memos” the NYT has obtained.
https://reason.com/volokh/2026/04/18/leaked-supreme-court-memos-reveal-why-court-stayed-clean-power-plan-setting-important-shadow-docket-precedent-in-the-process/
Here’s the 2015 supreme court decision Michican vs EPA which prompted the Supreme court to follow-up with a pre-emptive decision on the Obama climate policy.
The Supreme court says the EPA should consider cost when imposing requirements.
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/576/743/
FWIW – that initial decision was 6-3 (with one democrat appointee joining the Republican appointees in their decision.)
The later follow-up decision against the Obama policy was 5-4 with the split exactly along party appointee lines.
Probably the most important aspect of Trump winning the 2016 election was his ability to appoint two Justices rather than Hilary Clinton getting the opportunity. As seen by Biden appointing Brown and Brown’s incredibly poorly thought out arguments, even disagreeing with other Democrat appointees at times when they have t abide by some logic, shows just how vital the appointments are and DEI appointments have no place in such an important role that shapes society. The luck of which President is in place when a court position becomes vacant is extremely important.
We know Brown was a DEI appointee because Biden promised before he was elected that he would appoint a black woman to the supreme court. Not appint the best candidate, or even the best candidate sympathetic to Democrat aims. But simply a black woman.
200
The original article is in the link below. The story details how Obama’s Clean Power Plan was defeated in the Supreme Court after being fast tracked by its challengers (almost half of the US states and a number of business groups). The challengers bypassed the appeals court, a non traditional move, and the presiding judge moved swiftly with other judges already commencing their midwinter vacations.
https://removepaywalls.com/https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/us/politics/supreme-court-shadow-docket.html
There’s an interesting quote in the article:
“After Republicans won control of Congress, Mr. Obama responded by pushing the boundaries of presidential authority, promising that his administration would act on pressing problems “with or without Congress.” He tightened gun regulations and granted deportation relief to millions of undocumented immigrants.”
If there are any people attending a No Kings protest in the US this weekend, I’m tipping they’re unaware of the above quote.
120
On the other hand
“Clarence Thomas, National Treasure, Praises Declaration”
https://hotair.com/headlines/2026/04/18/clarence-thomas-national-treasure-praises-declaration-n3814032
And the NYT probably just devalued itself as a reference –
“Good morning, C&C, it’s Saturday! It’s time for the weekend update. Your roundup includes: the Wall Street Journal’s spectacular editorial U-turn on Iran, from “reckless brinksmanship” to “Trump has the right instincts” — in three weeks flat; ”
First up at
https://open.substack.com/pub/coffeeandcovid/p/sour-grapes-saturday-april-18-2026?
30
This new Chinese invention will be very useful for anyone driving into the outback
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1l92yv4mydo
51
It’s in an EV. No one doing genuine Outback travelling is going to use an EV, even if they can find the occasional diesel-powered recharging station. Except in today’s Australia you might not be able to find any diesel or petrol either.
330
Advertising slogan: Take a dump whilst driving past the black stump.
30
Solution: Give the clerk $10. You get $4.70 laid on the counter.
Now add your 30¢ and request a $5 bill. 🙂
150
Nup, it confounds them totally, can’t add, can’t subtract.
190
I was doing a mini-preper on coffee the other day. Same coffee on special choice was
300 gm $23
150 gm $9
Mental arithmetic to the rescue
10
China Airlines incident in Melbournistan.
Someone forgot to apply parking brakes and/or wheel chocks? (Parking brakes are often released once wheel chocks are placed to prevent the hydraulic mechanism from overheating as rotors are still hot plus hydraulic pressure leaks after many hours and chocks are the main mechanism to prevent rolling.)
120
China Airlines, founded in 1958, is a TAEANESE operation.
A little “oversight from a Beijing oriented ground-crew member?
Melbournistan: Where it is ALL “happening”.
60
The BBC would like to link supposedly increasing UK walrus sightings to climate change. Walrus sightings in the UK are rare, with around 27–38 confirmed records in the last 130 years. It’s far more likely increased recent observations, albeit still uncommon, are due to more pairs of eyes, but mostly the remarkable recovery in the N.Atlantic populations that are likely to ever reach the UK. E.g. Aerial surveys have documented a significant rise in the Svalbard area, growing from roughly 100-200 animals in the early 1980s to over 2,600 in 2006, and further to 5,503 (CI 5031–6036) in 2018.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y4de67j93o
140
Also, maybe more food as the EU shuts down the fishing industry and relies on China to strip the oceans like the Pacific, Indian and South Atlantic bare?
170
And claimed to be Australian territorial waters
40
Climate change? I thought walruses prefer cold water but I suppose “climate change” covers all eventualities.
10
Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz again.
Trump not backing down.
https://news.sky.com/story/iran-war-latest-trump-us-israel-ceasefire-deal-strait-of-hormuz-blockade-strikes-oil-lebanon-13509565
120
Lots of internal conflict in Iran now. No one is in charge. As Toosi said today, the first one out of bed in Iran gets to make the daily attack plan for the troop.
I am surprised that an armed Iranian vessel got close enough to a tanker to hit it. The Indian vessel had permission from Iran as well so there is no leadership now.
Once the mined area is cleared, Ships will be able to track closer to Oman so the time to intercept will be much longer. Also Europe is supposed to be sending navy escort vessels.
I was surprised to see three passenger vessels off Oman close to the Strait. One has since left or turned off AIS.
200
Yes I saw those cruise ships in the Strait as well.
From Gulag AI
100
It’s symptomatic of a collapsed chain of command. From the start the self identifying leaders have shown that their word is worthless. There is no chain of command. And the deal, whatever it is, has to be sold to people who are loyal to a non visible and likely severely impaired son of a dead leader. Like a pack of jackals without a pack leader. Like the battles in WWII in Budapest and Czech when Hitler was dead and the armistice had been signed.
What will change minds is lack of food and not being paid. That happens very quickly if the port siege holds and countries like France and Germany stop paying millions to extortionists, deliberately undermining the siege for both commercial and political reasons. No one in politics in Europe wants to see Trump succeed and the press is vicious. Even if the uranium is retrieved, they will spread the story that it never existed.
170
My hope is that, as amply demonstrated, Israeli intelligence is really good, allowing sensible and timely judgements to be made.
Mainstream journalists, armchair experts offering their opinions on the conduct of the war and negotiations are no better informed than anyone else and far less qualified. Plus they hate Trump, almost universally. Even many who pretend to like him. So Trump, unique in history, is making his own press releases on Truth Social, thumbing his nose at biased commentators.
120
Mmmmmm sensible and timely judgements is definitely what has characterised this conflict.
10
FWIW
“QotD: “Instead of the unsinkable battleship we have the unsinkable Military Expert …”
https://quotulatiousness.ca/blog/2026/03/26/qotd-instead-of-the-unsinkable-battleship-we-have-the-unsinkable-military-expert/
00
Same or similar situation after the surrender of Germany and Japan, some military units continued fighting
70
‘Trump not backing down.’
This could be the ruination of the Trump regime.
017
Why would anybody want that result if they understand what is going on and why it took place after 47 years
130
FWIW
“Why Should Americans Care That King Alfred Was Called ‘The Great’?”
https://pjmedia.com/david-barrow/2026/04/17/why-should-americans-care-that-king-alfred-was-called-the-great-n4951908
“Those that don’t read history – – “
90
Thanks for the link. King Charles should be sat down and made to watch the C of E video to (hopefully) understand and appreciate the damage he is doing to once Great Britain and the values that his ancestors held dear and which the country was founded on. Cheers
90
FWIW – through the BBC brick wall!
“Renewables Are Costing Us A Fortune–Justin Rowlatt”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2026/04/18/renewables-are-costing-us-a-fortune-justin-rowlatt/
120
Shirley not, we have been assured by eggspurts that ruinables are too cheap to meter.
So why are electricity bills going up as we get more ruinables?
80
FWIW
“If Women Ran The World”
https://x.com/extradeadjcb/status/2045143847425266078
https://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2026/04/17/if-women-ran-the-world-98/
60
SMH ‘investigates’ our debt problem as interests payments are going to soak up taxes-
“The interest bill on government debt is expected to reach a record $29.4 billion in 2026-27, a near-eightfold increase on 2006-07. ”
“Spending on aged care has more than doubled since those low-debt days….Age pension “will cost about $68 billion. The 189 per cent increase is one of the largest within the budget.”
For those people who don’t think we have a Uniparty, the Coalition makes no difference at all!
““There have only been three budget surplus years since 2006-07. So this is a structural problem, not a cyclical one…Tax revenue as a share of the economy has varied little, he said, dismissing some criticism that tax cuts had contributed to the $1 trillion debt pile….EY Australia chief economist Cherelle Murphy said while government revenue had increased by about 0.6 per cent of GDP over the past 20 years, government spending had jumped by 2.4 per cent of GDP.”
..and for those calling for us to get involved in America’s wars-
“Dealing with the backlog of claims for assistance by veterans is costing taxpayers an additional $13 billion alone.”
Overall, a get-out-of-jail card for Govt policies in general, making excuses for what the Uniparty has done in the last 25years.
“Australia’s debt level, even at $1 trillion, is around 34 per cent of GDP and rates among the lowest in the world, which is awash in government debt that last year reached $US111 trillion ($155 trillion).”
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/australia-s-debt-hits-1-trillion-this-year-what-did-we-spend-it-on-20260414-p5znwf.html
80
It’s even far worse than that taking into account state and local government spending as well.
Total government debt $2.268 trillion.
http://australiandebtclock.com.au/
And the public serpents at the reserve bank are living like royalty, gifting themselves a $1.2 billion dollar building renovation with our taxes, not to mention numerous other examples of extreme government waste.
Who the hell do they think they’re working for? They are meant to be our servants, not masters.
https://www.afr.com/rear-window/rba-s-1-2b-reno-from-hell-cleared-for-take-off-20260415-p5zo44
120
No Australian citizen is eligible to sit in parliament because we are all subjects of a foreign power eg, The United Nations, the foreign owned RBA, Trump.
Under section 44 of the Constitution those subject to foreign power are ineligible to sit in parliament.
“Any person who:
is under any acknowledgment of allegiance, obedience, or adherence to a foreign power, or is a subject or a citizen or entitled to the rights or privileges of a subject or a citizen of a foreign power; or
is attainted of treason, or has been convicted and is under sentence, or subject to be sentenced, for any offence punishable under the law of the Commonwealth or of a State by imprisonment for one year or longer; or
is an undischarged bankrupt or insolvent; or
holds any office of profit under the Crown, or any pension payable during the pleasure of the Crown out of any of the revenues of the Commonwealth: or
has any direct or indirect pecuniary interest in any agreement with the Public Service of the Commonwealth otherwise than as a member and in common with the other members of an incorporated company consisting of more than twenty-five persons;
shall be incapable of being chosen or of sitting as a senator or a member of the House of Representatives…………………….”
Australia is a corporation registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
28
It Sounds Like A Malady?
70
True.
And just because the rest of the world is drowning in debt doesn’t give a pass to our governments either. It’s marvellous how politicians and public serpents can be fiscally responsible when it comes to their own finances but then be so fiscally irresponsible when it somes to other peoples money – the taxpayers money – our money.
90
The Sunday Mail here in Adelaide has a front page article saying “Mali has increased SA debt to $35 billion”.
So what! Everyone with more brains than a raspberry seed knows that is what Labor does.
What is interesting is that the local Liberals have issued another, suggesting that the Labor Government should look at keeping a stockpile of fuel.
Only a month after the election – obviously a major shakeup happening.
10
“Spending on aged care has more than doubled …”
Senior citizens are a big problem, the baby boomer bubble was forecast years ago by a Keating / Hawke government. Superannuation has been a great help in reducing pressure on the bottom line.
36
As has medically assisted dying
70
The Uni-Party now makes sense, Liberal-National, the Coalition, and so many graduates with private sector business experience compared to the two party preferred system that polls are based on other party being Union Labor (Greens, Teals partners).
20
And noting that recently moved from National Party to One Nation Joyce MP was National Party Leader and Deputy Coalition Prime Minister until replaced by another National MP as voted by National MPs.
Barnaby Joyce was a senior Coalition MP for many years and therefore cannot now distance himself from them and why would he want to do that?
11
“We, the Jewish people, control America, and the Americans know it.” — Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, October 3, 2001
“Once we squeeze all we can out of the United States, it can dry up and blow away.” — Benjamin Netanyahu
Australia is a corporation registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
018
The first “quote” is a malicious fabrication debunked numerous times.
The second “quote” is also a malicious fabrication.
Kindly do not post lies and pretend they are true.
The first quote was a hoax first published October 3, 2001 in a press release from the IAP a pro-Hamas terrorist group.
The third statement is true because all foreign governments are registered as corporations in the Unites States so they can legally buy and sell securities. It does not mean Australia is a corporation, its just a badly managed sovereign nation.
290
The Sharon quote is from Hamas. The source Hamas attributed it to, Yoni Ben- Menachem, denies it.
https://www.camera.org/article/false-zionist-quote-sharon-quote-is-fabricated/
Here’s a video of Sharon’s son saying his father didn’t say that.
https://www.c-span.org/clip/public-affairs-event/user-clip-about-quote-attributed-to-ariel-sharon-we-the-jewish-people-control-america-and-americans-know-it/5164369
There is no source to be found for the Netanyahu quote either.
Regarding Australia being registered with the US exchange. There are claims that Australia is a corporation registered on the exchange, implying that it can be traded and foreign investor owned. This video addresses that.
https://youtu.be/agRzeNZ6OGc?si=mRNzVdavBx-ZindF
But, let’s assume all your quotes and claims are true and meaningful. What’s your point?
180
Like a few others here he(?) is a troll working against the West.
Personally, I prefer the standard of living in the west when compared to the squalor and misery in the the non-West.
180
AI how explains how Netanyahu “makes” money on war:
War cost (2023–2025): up to ~$55B
Defence spending: Jumped to 8.4% of GDP (2024) from ~5%
Budget deficit: Rose to ~6–7% of GDP
Debt: Increased from ~61% to ~70% of GDP
Currency (Israeli shekel) fell sharply after Oct 7 ~4.08 per USD at worst
Stabilised around 3.5–3.8 per USD, even appreciated ~20% vs USD by 2025
GDP forecast (2025): ~3.8–4.6% rebound
Bond demand: strong international investor demand (2026 issuance)
Stock market: strong rebound (reported large gains)
Exports: remained strong, especially tech and gas
Debt was ~61% GDP, now~70% GDP
Budget deficit was Low (~2%), now High (~6–7%)
Investment was Strong, now Weakened
So how these numbers compare with Australian wars ?
Start with minor ones, eg – Tabaconists W. then ramp up through Home Invasion W. and Machete W. then up, and up, and up to CO2 War…
10
FWIW
“Caltrop, Cat-head, Catshead, Bindi, Bindii, Doublegee, Bindy Eye, Bull’s Head, Cat’s Head, Goat’s Head, Puncture Vine, Puncture Weed, Devil’s Thorn, Malta Cross, Maltese Cross, Mexican Sandbur, Burnut, Ground Bur Nut, Ground Burnut, Tack-weed
Tribulus terrestris L.”
https://weeds.org.au/profiles/caltrop-cat-head/
00
Stanford says FenBen works on cancer. Note the date 2021. How long does it take when lives are at stake?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzuNd7lezr0
50
It’s out of patent so there are no Big Pharma payments to pay for its approval, in Australia’s case to the TGA, 78% of whose funding comes from Pharma.
It just won’t be approved for this purpose, nor will there be any funding for proper clinical trials. It is only approved in Australia for veterinary purposes.
In Australia it can at least obtained privately until they ban it, as they did IVM and HCQ for treating covid during the plandemic. The banning of these drugs cost many lives, as did failure to recognise incredibly simple and cheap measures such as correcting common Vitamin D deficiency which caused greater susceptibility and mortality from covid.
The TGA are mindless, inhumane public serpents and they simply don’t understand or care.
190
Ya get so mad ya could spit!
160
Joe Rogan and RFK Jr join forces to push Trump administration to accelerate psychedelic drug treatments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q17z09TBYHs
So RFK Jr is obviously not against all drug treatments.
On a somewhat different note, I was really impressed with Geelong’s Bailey Smith for raising the mental health problems of AFL players. He was genuinely concerned for a Carlton player because of his own mental health issues. The Carlton situation is covered in this 7News report:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yn8CGv9RMC0
I wonder how Ben Roberts-Smith is holding up.
80
A plan of Unimaginable Consequences is Unfolding Before Our Eyes
From Jeff Childers, Coffee and COVID
I am not sure yet what the plan might be, but if Trump is behind all these moves it must benefit America first.
Pax America maybe, with the US navy the guarantor of peaceful free trade across the world oceans
100
Though it has only been minor events so far, the real risk is Bab el-Mandeb being tightly controlled.
The USA is going to lose this war, and realistically has already.
Iran has been preparing for decades, with deep underground facilities bombing can’t reach.
Go in with boots on the ground and it’ll be Vietnam 2.0
Maybe 3-6 months now but 1-2 years with a land invasion.
Withdraw and do Cuba instead.
215
Correct on all points.
Cuba would have been so easy, a set piece in his plan to capture the Western Hemisphere. There is still time to call off the blockade and clear out, but big brother has a mind of his own.
013
You are forgetting Israel !
Do so at your peril .
50
Somaliland is on the other side of Bob-el-Mandap and friendly to US-Israel interests. Israel has just recognised it in the UN, let’s see what happens there.
40
Peter
An interesting look at AI, doctors and lawyers there too – starts at
“We’ve recently discussed the looming tidal wave of health innovations fueled by AI, with biomedical startups leading the way. Now let’s look at a second dimension of the same phenomenon: Doctors. Doctors are starting to freak out. Patients, fueled by post-pandemic distrust and AI chatbots, are arriving at appointments armed with detailed knowledge about their conditions, catching doctors unprepared. Last September, a Substack called The Next Big Idea reviewed Charlotte Blease’s new book, Dr. Bot, in a post titled, “The A.I. Will See You Now: Why Your Doctor’s Days Are Numbered.”. ”
https://open.substack.com/pub/coffeeandcovid/p/sour-grapes-saturday-april-18-2026?
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Yes, thanks Ian
You put me on to Coffee and Covid.
I have retired now.
I agree with Jeff. Drs will have to lift their game but the outcome should be better for patients and doctors.
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Jeff should stick with domestic matters
05
FWIW – some other choices
https://accordingtohoyt.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/672066423_10227924046000184_6584936377631043511_n.png?w=696
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And
https://accordingtohoyt.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/trumpnails.jpg
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Exposing the flaw in tap-to-pay
https://youtu.be/PPJ6NJkmDAo?si=GpWaZduOU4xDNVkv
Or how to steal $10k (or clean you out) from your phone when it’s not even signed in.
A more technical discussion of how MITM attacks work, but ultimately the same flaw as the EC’s age verification fiasco as posted yesterday.
I went to the AFP/Banking industry seminar on EFT security years ago and that was an eye opener, and things are way more advanced now.
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the joke is on them… I don’t have any money to steal…
00
Note position of Australia in the graph at the link.
Australia is being bled dry by unrestrained Government spending, welfare to people who should be working, massive Government waste and corruption, economic destruction caused by wind and solar, feral unions, excessive taxes and regulations and numerous other sources of inefficiency and waste.
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NZ weather news.
https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/another-low-barrelling-towards-northern-new-zealand/1891312
11
A whine in the SMH about politicians saying “values” when they mean “race”..
“Values, at least the ones we claim to hold dear: fairness, respect, a fair go – aren’t supposed to need policing….it raises a deeper question for me: not just who is being asked to prove their values, but who is doing the judging in the first place….And even in the political response, you can feel it – this tug of war between an “ideal Australia” and the one that’s lived.”
Well, I’d have no problem sorting out which values of any country are acceptable and which aren’t, but it seems we’re not allowed to check. Looks like its too late to worry about it now. Maybe a look at cheating, stealing, the whole ‘macho-angry’ outlook of men in some cultures should have been mentioned.
“Denise Sivasubramaniam is a Sydney-based writer exploring cultural diversity, identity and mental health.” Uh-huh! Just the skill-set we need to improve productivity in Australia.
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FWIW
Latest Kunstler
“Showdown
“Everything that’s wrong is staring us right in the face, and half this country simply will not join us in fighting and fixing it. It’s infuriating and depressing and maddening.” —James Woods on X”
https://www.kunstler.com/p/showdown
This might cause some stuttering in Downing Street –
“Anyway, the paradigm Iran was operating in as a rogue state is dead, especially the malign influence of Britain’s banking and MI6 intel matrix. Britain, proven by its actions to be not a friend of America. . . Britain, a wretched little has-been island empire with bad teeth, overrun by wrathful Islamists, and, alas, soon to be a caliphate.” !
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FWIW
On line Courier Mail headline –
“Incoherent, childish Trump just got KO’d by Pope Leo and we should all be thankful
Donald Trump is a battered boxer, clinging to the ropes and flailing at the Pope who, as graceful and insightful as a ever, may have delivered the fatal blow, writes Madonna King.”
I can’t see any mention in US media but did see this –
“Note to the Pope: The walls around the Vatican were
ordered by Pope Leo IV following devastating raids by
Muslims who sacked St. Peters Basilica.
So please don’t lecture us on walls, immigration, war
or the virtues of Islam.”
And
The Babylon Bee on the current kerfuffle between Trump and the Pope
“Giant Cloud Of Dust Emerges From Vatican As Pope Opens His Bible https://buff.ly/ihA63cv”
https://x.com/TheBabylonBee/status/2044778166669996117
https://instapundit.com/790462/#disqus_thread
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And
“President Trump Gives Savage Response to Reporter Over Iran’s Execution of Protesters, Including a Woman: “Tell That To The Pope” ”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/04/president-trump-gives-savage-response-reporter-irans-execution/
Plus
“Catholic Charities ‘Scandal’ Is Object Lesson on How Coordinated Propaganda Campaigns Work”
https://hotair.com/david-strom/2026/04/18/catholic-charities-scandal-is-object-lesson-on-how-coordinated-propaganda-campaigns-work-n3814048
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They lay it on thick… Imagine if this came out of Iran, the West would be all over it saying its just lies and rampant propaganda.
” the latest horrors coming out of the blood-soaked Iranian regime.
Tehran is ramping up its barbaric crackdown on the brave anti-regime protesters who rose up in January 2026.
Now they’re set to execute four more innocent souls, including the first female protester, Bita Hemmati, along with her husband and two others.
These are the same freedom-loving Iranians who risked everything to stand against the ayatollahs’ tyranny.”
So the CIA stooges are getting sorted out. Picking a side comes at a cost when your side doesn’t win.
27
One of the few people who can get away with berating POTUS Trump and get a positive response:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0-TY8mmcsY
John Kennedy considers it a dumb move for Trump to be debating with the Pope with mid-terms looming and Iran conflict hitting cost of living.
20
Rick
Maybe but read “Catholic charities” in #24.1 carefully
20
Former Labor Party PMs Hawke and Keating would probably be considered “far right extremists” by today’s standards of the Lib/Labs for their relatively rational economic policies (still not good but acceptable by the low standards of Australian economic management).
100
Labor Right are of course traditionally centre-left and those factions have always clashed with the far-left from which PM Albanese and the majority forming government are from.
During the 1950s there was a major split and the centre-left formed their own Democratic Labor Party to escape from the hard left far left factions that included Communist Party of Australia associates, see Attorney General Evatt QC who gave the UN infiltrating left the plan to sign member nations to as many agreements as possible and for them to legislate and regulate the UN agendas to get around constitutional laws, and avoid seeking referendum permission.
Federation of States, Commonwealth of Australia, formed 1900, has been very well organised by the left side here and the spiders web of Federal-State-Local Government laws and regulations red, green and black tape has made changing, repealing legislation, very difficult and especially when, for example Federal Senate blocks House of Representatives repeal bills, example Abbott Coalition 2014/15 repeal of Labor RET 32% legislation. However, if that had succeeded through the Senate the next hurdles were State Legislative Assemblies and Legislative Councils, and separate state laws and regulations.
It all boils down to voters.
We use the preferential voting system, we have compulsory voting, and often we or most vote and [ 1 ] our favourite candidate and then follow the guide [ 2 ] down. Or as in SA state election recently no guide from One Nation who chose not to support the Liberal candidates.
31
Lest we forget what Donny said in the past
“Going into the middle east worst decision ever”:
https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1181905659568283648
“No war with Iran with me as president”:
https://x.com/CalltoActivism/status/2028214212384673880
“Wasting trillions in the middle east but not fixing our own roads”:
https://x.com/amconmag/status/2027936362972783080
US DOD renamed Dept of war.
What changed since his election?
/and the men in suits arrive to explain how things are done…
Obviously being manipulated like a puppet.
Trump fans disagree? Let’s see what you’ve got.
113
POTUS Trump already the greatest leader in history by declaring peace with carbon and then going about defunding the UN Climate Change™ hoax gravy train.
So far there have been two military personnel on Iranian soil – hardly a war. The rest has been a military exercise demonstrating US military might and getting rid of old weapons before they expire while testing new smart weapons.
I expect USA is making a mint on their military exercise over Iran and Persian Gulf. They have increased sales for US armaments with $331bn in sales in 2025; another record year. Have struck gold with their oil and gas exports at near record prices.
POTUS Trump has already indicated he will not be sacrificing US wealth on Europe’s wars. If they want to keep fighting amongst themselves then go for it without US resources.
161
JCII, you must have a better alternative in mind with a better solution to the Iran “problem”. Name names.
Is the world really split: TDS suffers and Trump fanboys, with no shades allowed? Do you agree with his isolationist policy re Ukraine? I don’t but I don’t have TDS either.
80
H
It is like science – “so much speculation from so little data”
And I’m guilty of adding “?data?”
00
And on top of the obviously wrong anti carbon dioxide laws of most governments, when will the people start to demand where this Climate Change/aka Rapid man made CO2 driven Global Warming is? Where is the devastation? A degree here or there on a hot day means nothing. It was a world ending, the sky is falling scare in 1988, nearly 40 years ago.
We cannot change CO2 levels if we want to do so. It’s nonsense, fake science to suggest that we can or that tiny human CO2 emissions (0.02%pa) from fossil fuel make the slightest difference. The pretence that any CO2 stays in the air forever is utterly wrong scientifically.
And if whatever is wrong with the weather today is twice as bad in another 40 years, how bad is that? Do we expect to be taxed to death for another 40 years to save the planet?
But there is a hell of a lot wrong with Australia, where State and Federal governments have cut, shut, banned solutions for essential cheap power from coal, gas, oil, uranium, thorium, open fires, bbqs, trucks, refining metals, refining oil, anything really.
Never in human history has any government done so much to harm its people for no good at all while pretending to be a benign caring government planning for the future while destroying our power systems. It’s beyond argument now. Only One Nation has a policy to stop the madness. Why?
210
Economic Systems: The alarmists keep telling us their concern about global warming is all about man’s stewardship of the environment. But we know that’s not true. A United Nations official has now confirmed this.
At a news conference last week in Brussels, Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of U.N.’s Framework Convention on Climate Change, admitted that the goal of environmental activists is not to save the world from ecological calamity but to destroy capitalism.
“This is the first time in the history of mankind that we are setting ourselves the task of intentionally, within a defined period of time, to change the economic development model that has been reigning for at least 150 years, since the Industrial Revolution,” she said.
Referring to a new international treaty environmentalists hope will be adopted at the Paris climate change conference later this year, she added: “This is probably the most difficult task we have ever given ourselves, which is to intentionally transform the economic development model for the first time in human history.”
The only economic model in the last 150 years that has ever worked at all is capitalism. The evidence is prima facie: From a feudal order that lasted a thousand years, produced zero growth and kept workdays long and lifespans short, the countries that have embraced free-market capitalism have enjoyed a system in which output has increased 70-fold, work days have been halved and lifespans doubled.
Figueres is perhaps the perfect person for the job of transforming “the economic development model” because she’s really never seen it work. “If you look at Ms. Figueres’ Wikipedia page,” notes Cato economist Dan Mitchell: Making the world look at their right hand while they choke developed economies with their left.
90
Figueres and her brother are fixed members of the UN. Her father founded Cost Rica and everyone in the family has been involved. Two Presidents. An anthropologist herself, the family chase the money and power and there is no greater gravy train for socialist politicians than the grandaddy of US sponsored scams, the United Nations. Conspicuously absent in every conflict, they spend their time chasing money using Christian guilt. It’s a very good living. Nothing to do with anyone’s climate. But everyone knows that.
The UN itself has 40,000 of these freeloaders and another 40,000 helpers. It’s one big party. Wages around $10Billion a year, to do what exactly?
And they are always chasing a new Climate tax, like their tax on bunker oil. Or their Climate Fund of $150Billion. It never stops. Not elected and not a government, they love the lifestyle and travel and connections and not actually having any work to do.
210
And someone needs to ask Braniac Bowen where Australia is going to source the current needs of 1 million barrels of oil a day? None of which is used to generate retail electricity.
120
The whole idea that Australia, 2% of the planet, is going to go Green and carbon free and save itself and the planet is idiotic, well past childish. And devastating the country. I wouuld love to know why it is Government policy. Quite apart from the fact that imported carbon fuels supply 2/3 of our needs and he has zero plans to change that. But great plans to tax it under his Safeguard Mechanism. 35% tax on CO2 say on aircraft. Unless he has an electric aircraft plan, it is just criminal and hidden theft. For what purpose?
120
TdeF: Was the choice of the long dead Braniac an indication that you think either
Bowen has deceased (no sign of brain working) ?
Bowen has a primitive memory ?
Bowen has a little memory ?
Bowen has a very limited reasoning capacity ?
I suppose any of those could apply. Perhaps we need a poll of visitor here?
40
Tiny microbes hiding in soil may help pull rain from the sky
For decades, scientists have known about ice-nucleating proteins (INpros) found in certain bacteria like Pseudomonas syringae. Bacteria travel from plant leaves into the clouds to trigger rain. They use special proteins to force water to freeze at temperatures as high as -2 °C.
As the wind kicks up, their microscopic ice-making proteins are launched into the clouds. Once there, they act as powerful “seeds”.
Even in relatively warm clouds (above -5°C), these fungal proteins can force water to crystallize into ice. As these ice crystals grow, they become heavy and fall. As they drop through warmer air, they melt and turn into rain.
This discovery could change how researchers view conservation. If we clear-cut a forest – stripping every tree away and leaving the land bare, we aren’t just losing trees. We might be breaking the biological engine that triggers regional rainfall.
https://theconversation.com/how-hidden-soil-fungi-steal-bacterial-dna-to-control-the-rain-279618
All those renewables farms causing more droughts?
Nope, global boiling did it!
30
How much more cultural enrichment can the EU handle?
https://en.lamilano.it/by-the-media/he-sets-fire-to-a-cat-and-cooks-it-horror-in-La-Spezia/
Probably a luxury compared to bugs back home.
00
Humaoid robot runs faster than human athlete.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/apr/19/humanoid-robots-race-beijing-half-marathon
01
FWIW
“‘You and What Navy?’ French Presidential Poof de Crème Plans to Cut Trump Out of Hormuz Patrols”
https://hotair.com/tree-hugging-sister/2026/04/17/you-and-what-navy-french-presidential-poof-de-creme-plans-to-cut-trump-out-of-hormuz-patrols-n3814020
30
“Eh Gawd”
Read it all!
Beyond the imagination of Peter Sellars and Co, Monty Python et al (IMO)
10
FWIW – just now
“Iran’s New Supreme Leader Surfaces (Sort of) With a Chilling Message”
https://pjmedia.com/robert-spencer/2026/04/18/irans-new-supreme-leader-surfaces-sort-of-with-a-chilling-message-for-the-us-and-israel-n4951945
20
The idea that Mojtaba Khamenei is still alive is incredible. His injuries were devastating. He may be in an induced coma or gone. Still given the outfit and the beard, they must have hundreds of people who could plausibly be Mojtaba Khamenei. But it also signals that without a connection to the Ayatollah, the successor is not qualified. The mullahs are simply students of the Koran, nothing more. And the Ayatollah has a position above them all.
There is a real possibility that the line of inheritance is broken, not that it had any logic. The battle will then be between the senior people in the government and army and IGRC to vie for supreme leader. Like replacing Hitler after his suicide. Or Stalin after his death.
The problem is that like Hitler, the allegiance is utterly fractured now and oaths invalidated. There is a real chance there is no successor to the Ayatollah and no one in charge, even to negotiate a peaceful transition, so the siege may continue until people are starving and broke. But individual elements might keep fighting because that was their job.
It may take the US to insert Pahlavi’s son into Tehran as a solution. Which preserves the country and gives honor to the military who can switch to a new leader and save Persia, not Iran. It is worth a try.
40
The US might consider using media to support and promote a return of the Shah. That would give the miscreants hope of a stable government and preventing revolution in which they would be the losers.
No one else can unite this fractured country. And for the older people, it would be a retreat from a revolution which backfired and took the country into brutal poverty, not forwards into prosperity. And for the religious zealots, it would unite and bring back memories of a more peaceful time although no previous government could be said to be peaceful. It would sit well with their religion, their traditions, their former experience and their hopes for a better future.
Unlike previous wars, the Americans are not trying to create another America, to control the form of the government. But no one can have a country dedicated entirely to the absolute destruction of others. Including all their neighbours!
00
In a desperate attempt to be relevant and be seen to do something, PM Albanese plans to blockade Bass Strait.i
90
Garda in balaclavas like the IRA out on a spree doesn’t sit well with the Irish.
A long discussion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da9AbJP2icw
A protest is a prisoner sitting on the roof demanding better food – what’s going on are demonstrations.
00