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
Satire.
Or is it?
Is Australia even more “progressive” (regressive) than Canada?
People are noticing Australia’s extreme wokeness.
Short cartoon.
230
I’d like to give that one another 5 up ticks!!!
110
The Left destroy everything that is good.
In the following video, this YouTuber describes who attempts to fulfill her life-long ambition to study English Literature at Columbia University, which back in the day had a prestigious reputation for studies in that field. Now the department is infested with communists and its impossible to interpret any work of literature without imposing some inappropriate angle on the work under study.
Very interesting comments by the YouTuber.
(If you are an Australian under 16 and interested im literature get an adult to sign you in as you can’t have a YouTube account under Australian censorship laws.)
190
She would have been better off homeschooling herself on a Great Books curriculum. She could have saved herself a few hundred thousand dollars and gained a much richer literary education without all the endless navel-gazing of critical theory and literary analysis.
It’s not like an Literature diploma has much market value anyway. You know who else didn’t have a degree in literature? Shakespeare, Homer, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Chekov, Hemingway, Melville, Mark Twain, Jane Austen, Mary Shelley and a bunch of other great authors of the classic works she wanted to study.
180
You don’t seem to need to login … I never bother, and I don’t even have an account.
Presumably they track what I watched by some other mechanism.
Anyway, yeah good to have this stuff explaining to kids and their parents that our education system has been gutted from within. You can look at the positive side, in as much as English literature departments probably were always a bit over pretentious anyhow … and now the commos have taken over, yes we have lost some of our tradition but it was something we can make do without.
I mean, even if most authors have not read great literature … you can be sure all the AI’s have read those old books simply because they all start their training with DVDs from Project Gutenberg. And won’t be long before AI’s are doing most of the authoring.
The most important thing is to avoid more money and time being wasted on those now sadly hollowed out institutions.
41
The UK is headed for £3Trillion in debt with some economists warning an IMF bailout may be required.
https://debt-clock.org/
Our incompetent politicians have given away £28Billion to criminals and terrorists in just a few years.
https://www.cityam.com/government-aid-worth-28bn-handed-to-terrorists-criminals-and-hostile-states/
We can’t afford net zero, or much else, yet we still pretend to be a rich country and throw cash around on the world stage.
Why would politicians care. It’s not their money.
111
British politics. Healy had a ‘stand up row’ with Reeves which led to a “demonstration” by Starmer that he supported Reeves. This led Healey to fire off a “missive” resigning from his position.
A “stand-up row” refers to a very heated argument or fight
A demonstration – can be peaceful or violent, and they are frequently associated with protest and dissent
A missive – 1. Specially sent; intended or prepared to be sent. 2. Missile.
From a newspaper’s p-o-v are these examples of “far right” actions that should be condemned by all?
10
Any updates about when Starmer will resign? Its a bit like free energy, its all gonna happen one day, sometime in the near future.
50
…how long does it take political pundits to change a lightbulb? Who cares so long as the lightbulb confirms it wants to be changed.
11
Any updates about when Starmer will resign? Its a bit like free energy, its all gonna happen one day, sometime in the near future.
We’ll probably have a better idea next Friday, after Thursday’s Makerfield by-election.
Polling (yes, I know) suggests that Lowe’s Restore Britain has split the conservative vote and neatly cut Farage’s Reform out of contention. The result being that Andy Burnham is currently odds-on to get to go to Westminster and challenge the pitiful Starmer for the job.
Ironic really, that a cock-off on the Right should deliver a hard Left PM who will keep Labour in the game for another three years to ‘soak the rich’ to support the costs of immigration.
20
Starmer is limping on, he’s not going willingly and seems to believe he can survive. The likely successor, Andy Burnham, currently Mayor of Manchester, has to get elected as an MP. Another Labour MP has resigned to cause a by-election. If he doesn’t win; Reform could beat him, although the vote split with Restore could stop them; goodness knows what will happen. Starmer will probably attempt to cling on.
30
The US is approaching $40 trillion debt and Bond markets around the world are in real strife.
01
What level should it be at?
20
Sky’s the limit.
‘The US bond market is experiencing extreme volatility driven by a massive sell-off of Treasury bonds, pushing long-term yields to their highest levels since 2007. This stress stems from surging national debt, excessive government borrowing, persistent inflation, and foreign sell-offs, which have revived fears of a liquidity crisis.’ (AI)
12
Which AI did you use and what was your question?
00
I just asked google about the US bond market and that answer turned up.
The point is, do you think its the truth or a lie?
02
Ok. The first problem with AI is that it will tell you whatever you want to hear.
The second problem with google is that it remembers previous conversations and is even more tuned in to what you want to hear. That means I can’t replicate your answer.
The third problem is that you haven’t said exactly what you asked which means I can’t see what other AI would say to the same question.
The fourth problem is that you gave a specific figure which suggested to me that there might be a figure you would prefer it to be at. When I asked you didn’t give one.
Have fun but as Lewis Carrol might say beware the jabberwok my son!
20
So to be fair ask about China’s national/regional/local/off balance sheet debt.
Or Russia
Or Japan
etc
10
Google AI is equivalent to wiki, merely a source of knowledge.
Where do you think the US bond market is going?
Hanrahan this is not a partisan issue, on the ground where people live China is in economic depression while Russia is facing stagflation. Japan’s bond market is in very poor health.
01
Which way Australia?
https://warwickpowell.substack.com/p/asia-pacific-reshaped-china-and-australia
00
FG – This relates to your second 3.3.1.1.1 item.
By coincidence I let my Jabberwock out for exercise the other day on BRAVE AI and asked whether a separate AI session could mine information on what questions and general issues and mood of contacts are coming up most often across (BRAVE) AI. The answers it provided as below support your points re making the person warm and fuzzy, incorrect or fabricated info (referred to as “hallucinations”).
Anyway a fascinating interaction it was:
[AI] However, this ability has significant limitations:
No True Understanding: AI does not possess personal opinions, beliefs, or genuine comprehension; it predicts likely text sequences based on patterns in its training data.
Hallucinations: Models may confidently generate incorrect or fabricated information (“hallucinations”) when they lack specific knowledge, as they are often trained to provide an answer rather than admit ignorance.
Bias and Alignment: Responses can reflect biases present in training data or be influenced by Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF), which may prioritize user satisfaction or perceived helpfulness over strict factual accuracy.
Static Knowledge: Most models rely on pre-existing data and may not have real-time information or awareness of events occurring after their training cutoff, though some are integrated with live search tools to mitigate this. [AI]
PS Jabber says hi lol.
10
Thanks Earl.
One of the things which interests (alarms?) me is that grok et al do not appear to have any sort of inbuilt BS detector. Or at least their BS detectors are not engaged by default.
They bring to mind an automated Ron Burgundy. They will say anything that has found its way into their training material and as you point out they will even hallucinate things which aren’t.
I have a really bad feeling about all of the resources being devoted. Sooner or later the emperor’s new clothes will be seen for what they are. And what then?
And I’m disappointed that I misspelled Jabberwock. The forum software even put a squiggle underneath a deliberate misspelling just now so I must have missed it.
10
FG – Cheers. Another thing I’ve noticed regarding controversies that include youtube vid links is that youtube provide the video you have clicked on but also lists other – not always – related video links. Ive clicked a couple of these – more sources the better to verify – and found not only are many months old but comments listed are similarly old and in the same time frame ie item posted 11months ago and last comment recorded also 11months ago. Did issue really lose its relevance/popularity/interest(?) in a very short timeframe or are these evidence of youtube corrupting perception by shadow banning the item. On the other hand the (paid) troll comments may have negated the power of the video message enough to reduce its “power” and so its safe to let it sit there as a “good” source for AI to “find” when answering queries or providing information.
As the saying goes “oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive”.
10
Trump is on the path to balancing the budget by cleaning up fraud [it’s that BIG], coupled with GDP growth their situation will gradually improve.
Name any other nation that may be improving.
Jeez. The “F” word strikes again. [For legal reasons, we have to check it. – Jo]
31
With a new broom at the US Federal Reserve, interest rates are expected to remain on hold.
01
What other nation has the “new broom” that may reverse their plunge into debt? I’m not asking for miracles, just hope.
11
An excellent question H.
Sadly grok tells me its overloaded and to come back later.
Bing gives a list of nations with problems but no nations which have reversed the plunge.
Your question wasn’t rhetorical by any chance was it?
Edit: I seem to recall Australia going from debt to surplus at one stage. Now that’s a long time ago!
20
“Edit: I seem to recall Australia going from debt to surplus at one stage. Now that’s a long time ago!”
Yes, but as in all the West, once the Govt facilities were sold to generate a surplus, they cannot be sold again… Airlines, banks, shipping companies, water, radio, TV, electricity systems…
10
No, serious. The US is the only nation that might reverse the slide with current governments. Japan has been in trouble for nearly 30 yrs but Takaichi San is doing something right. Milei is good with a chain saw. Slim pickings you must agree.
10
From memory Reganomics got Japan into trouble, time to move on and innovate. They are selling US bonds and buying local bonds?
‘The recent decline in Japanese bond prices is closely tied to rising oil prices, which are expected to exacerbate inflationary pressures within Japan. This scenario has led to speculation that the Bank of Japan may need to expedite its interest rate hikes to combat inflation.
‘The focus on the upcoming auction of 30-year Japanese government bonds highlights the market’s anticipation of strong domestic demand, which is expected to yield favorable results due to a reduction in the issuance scale. This environment of rising yields indicates a shift in investor sentiment as they reassess the risk and return profile of fixed-income investments in Japan.’ (gurufocus)
01
The total value of Tokyo RE was worth more than that of the US, why is that America’s fault?
The Claim
Yes, at the peak of Japan’s asset bubble in the late 1980s, the total real estate value of Tokyo was estimated to exceed the total land value of the entire United States. This phenomenon is widely cited as one of the most extreme examples of asset inflation in modern economic history.
00
Isn’t it funny how all the people that want to turn our country
socialist/communist have lots and lots of money…..
110
They’re all ‘Year Zero’ zealots who live in the present and are incapable of understanding the past (Communism always fails) or anticipating the future (expanding the economy via capitalism leads to more widespread wealth than redistribution of current wealth via socialism). They are more interested in ‘managed decline and redistribution’ than in economic growth and a rising tide that lifts all boats.
90
And not funny when they play dangerous pass the blame games based on deception and misinformation generally to often successfully capture the imagination of gullible voters.
Albanese Labor have been very successful playing blame the Coalition politics and unfortunately ambitious conservative side politicians have effectively helped Labor.
20
Goes with that
https://img.patriotpost.us/01KTP6191X14N4BXAYVR5Z2B94.jpeg?w=640&dpr=2&q=50
10
‘ … socialist/communist have lots and lots of money…..’
Nice oxymoron to start the day.
01
>Isn’t it funny how all the people that want to turn our country
socialist/communist have lots and lots of money…..
Well funded.
10
FWIW
USA “DEI’s DEI”**
“FALL OF THE DEI JEDI ☙ Thursday, June 11, 2026 ☙ C&C NEWS
DOJ declares disparate impact unconstitutional, the DEI industry enters witness protection, and the SAVE Act gets a second life inside a $350 billion package. (Bonus DEI Phrasebook included.)”
More at
https://open.substack.com/pub/coffeeandcovid/p/fall-of-the-dei-jedi-thursday-june?
** The first one stands for “Didn’t Earn It”
41
“Better, the entire federal government just lost its ability to “nudge” employers toward DEI. This restores real equal opportunity, for everyone, and lets employers once again hire based on performance, not skin color. Nobody knows how big the economic benefit to the nation’s productivity might be for letting companies fill positions with the best-qualified people.”
Well, anyone told Albosleazy?
00
FWIW
“About That Climate Emotions Study”
“I read a lot of climate papers so you don’t have to. Most of them are about the physical world, and you need some background to follow them. Every so often one comes along that requires no background at all, because it is about feelings, and we all have those. This is another one of those.
The paper is “Do climate emotions matter? Investigating their role in pro-environmental behavior,” published this month in the Journal of Environmental Psychology by Paula Blumenschein and colleagues at two German universities. They surveyed 966 Germans about their climate feelings, ran the answers through a regression, and concluded that climate feelings are important and should get more attention. I am going to walk you through it, because the walk is the fun part.”
More at
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2026/06/11/about-that-climate-emotions-study/
20
FWIW
“Global rice production has nearly doubled over 50 years despite climate change”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2026/06/11/global-rice-production-has-nearly-doubled-over-50-years-despite-climate-change/
30
Would the corollary to that “the consumption of rice has doubled in the last fifty years” despite climate change?
10
Is there a corresponding graph of fertilizer per unit area over the same time period for rice growing?
10
Yanks getting desperate, using precision glide bombs on water reservoirs near the coast of Hormuz. I suppose they will make the coast uninhabitable to keep the Iranian army away from the Strait.
“Strikes early on Wednesday (US time) destroyed what appears to be a drinking water facility on Iran’s southern coast, near the Strait of Hormuz, according to an analysis by The New York Times.”
Its had to say the hits were accidental when you’re telling everyone they were exactly where aimed-
“US Central Command said in a post on the social platform X that it had conducted attacks near the strait “with precision munitions from US Air Force and Navy fighter jets”.
Read more on smry.ai: https://smry.ai/https://www.smh.com.au/world/middle-east/analysis-suggests-precision-us-strikes-on-iranian-water-facility-20260611-p605ys.html#:~:text=US%20Central%20Command%20said,and%20Navy%20fighter%20jets%E2%80%9D.”
20
War is hell. (I think someone said that.)
Iran can spare themselves this pain by renouncing making war on the world.
111
The yanks see this as an opportunity to test weapons in conflict, its important for the military industrial complex, arms sales and all that.
45
… according to an analysis by the New York Times. And picked up by the SMH.
To borrow the words of Mandy Rice-Davis, well they would say that wouldn’t they?
20
Mandy died Dec, 2014 [looked it up]. Her simple words outlive her.
30
Yes, simple words but incredibly perceptive and powerful.
“Well he would say that, wouldn’t he”
Right up therewith some of the greatest orators and I hope we never forget that phrase.
20
It is hard to see the point of it, since the town can be resupplied with water trucks.
10
Glenn Greenwald was a co-host on “The Young Turks” show this week, filling in for Cenk.
He asks a great question: the 2 pilots whose jet was shot down over Iran followed by a dramatic rescue operation, why haven’t they been paraded in the media?
You know, for the value as a feel-good story? Where are the interviews?
What about the two aircrew from the downed Apache helicopter… Will they do media appearances?
Also noted, the takeover of chunks of the media by Larry E!!ison.
And a British version of Ted Cruz: Sir Trevor Chinn, unfailingly loyal to a foreign country.
Tyt.com
08
There are lots of reasons they might not be doing PR.
They might not want to bring more attention to aircraft getting shot down.
The guys might still be in theater and not available.
The guys might be in units that don’t allow publicity in order to preserve anonymity.
Those are just a few examples.
The last one reminds me memes that get passed around among military guys. SEALs are often ribbed by other tier 1 military units for being media whores who write books and screenplays about their exploits, while other special forces operators like Delta Force almost never have anything to say about their missions and maintain operational silence even after retirement.
https://preview.redd.it/navy-seals-vs-delta-force-meme-v0-u9grnuqqgkj71.jpg?width=1080&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=347fbb4980da0e3964b8305d70a65f87c4212046
If you want something done quietly, send in Delta Force.
If you want a book written about it or a movie about it, send in the SEALs.
60
Stoopid Q.
21
The “anyone but Albo” trend seems to be growing. To bad an election is still a way off. Will they dump him? Looking at the talent pool, would it make any difference?
100
Likely he won’t lead them to the next election and also likely they will go early because even they must realise the wind has changed.
30
The punters think Jim Chalmers will be the next PM.
12
What is it about politicians and piano keys for teeth, Dr. Jim and of course or newest New Zealand refugee . Maybe the good salary doesn’t have a dental benefit attached?
11
I remember a neighbour (a dentist by profession) describing another neighbour’s false teeth as ‘X’s tombstones’. ‘Piano keys’ is a good description of the over-the-top pseudo ‘smile’ so many ads display; all white of course.
20
In relation to Jo’s other post today, NZ’s productivity is being (slowly & relentlessly) shut down due to (failed) climate calamity calls, yet even sceptics repeat the un/holy mantra of fervent belief in an ever-warming future:
“These weather events are going to occur more frequently with greater intensity but we need to be more critical of [widespread evacuations which, ultimately, were unnecessary]”. Bold mine.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/environment_climate/597774/were-the-wellington-weather-warnings-an-overreaction Well, duh!
30ft swells were forecast to ‘slam’ the south coast of the capital – a part of NZ well-used to being slammed by storms & big seas – however, the winds which caused these waves came all the way up from Antarctica and the Great Southern Ocean: it was a COLD event, no ‘heat’ to it at all, and apart from a couple of 10-metre rogue waves registered on buoys, it was simply another wild southerly day on the coast, with some now-angry residents and business owners upset at bureaucratic suits ordering them to leave / shut shop / lose money.
And yet the planet still lives! All this happened on the day Greens told NZers we owed $5,500,000,000 for unpaid ‘carbon credits’ to some unknown foreign body on the other side of the world. Thankfully the govt of the day said that was not high on their priority list (whaddaya mean, there’s other debts too?). The ‘cost’ of living huh.
80
As I can read weather maps, took advantage of the big high pressure over us this week (as the southerly storm veered off the east coast) and sequestered myself in the hot pools near Miranda on the Firth of Thames (yes we have one too).
Crisp clear nights with Venus & Jupiter setting in the west, luxuriant geothermal waters bubbling up from deep underground, and a zero degree (0 C) frost every morning 🥶
Lord knows where this long-promised *existential* heat is, but one thing I know is true: hot water in winter rocks!!! 🔥 🥵
50
I also saw Venus and Jupiter setting last night.
Very prominent and dramatic for those of us with an interest in the night sky!
10
Where I live the “administrators” regularly make the claims that “Climate change is already having an impact on the shire”. When the question is asked “how” the answer is always recent natural events like fires and floods and droughts. I push back and ask if these people have ever read the historical records of fires and floods and droughts since records were started, about 1860. They have all occurred with startling regularity and much the same in scale, the one major difference is population. Nothing to do with climate change.
My arguments simply fall on deaf ears.
80
Along with said population carrying camera/phones in their hand/pocket connected to the instantaneous www, there’s a pack of media sharks hungry for Panic! Emotion! Trauma! coz folk love to PET to make their lives meaningful.
Know your history, no panic: it’ll come round again.
Aah “the shire” – so quaint – Maroochy Shire was my local in the 1980s, am guessing it’s Maroochy Circus now because… population.
10
Greg
#7 – the rice crop is celebrating
10
FWIW
“ICYMI: Britain Goes Full Airstrip One.
Nobunaga adds: “Britain’s basically North Korea at this point, ain’t it?”
Yep.”
https://instapundit.com/803056/#disqus_thread
So where does that put Oz?
20
We won’t be far behind, we have the censors on our ‘net already..
“”Ministers are reportedly drafting a law that would force Apple, Google, and the rest to make it impossible for a child to send, receive, view, or share a single nude image,”
So, do they arrest the parents if their child sees them naked, or a sibling naked? What are they trying to do to these kids, remembering a ‘kid’ is anyone up to 18 or 16 years old. Are they so twisted they are trying to hide the bodies that God gave us as unclean? Have they already banned nudist colonies and beaches in the UK, and banned travel to countries that allow them.
There are some very kinked people in the halls of power these days… or doesn’t it matter at all as the kids get ‘sexual education’ from pre-school on, and all the Govt wants is to feed your life to its data centers via your phone.
00
Hope all of the shelter sheds in schools have been shut down. And the toilets fitted with smoke detectors.
Or maybe fitted with security cameras so the computers can identify who is doing/learning what. Just in case evidence is required later on you understand. Not so perverts can get their jollies in real time.
00
Today is the 30th anniversary of the black hawk disaster at High Range. 18 SAS troopers died.
Lest We Forget.
120
Any sign that “Elbow” did?
11
Hopefully he didn’t insert himself into their personal remembrance.
30
C’mon guys. You are out of order.
10
Is today peace deal day #23 or I’m going to bomb them #17?
36
Donnie makes big money on the ups and downs, he strives for balance.
14
Easy to say, much harder to prove. Got any evidence other than “unnamed sources”?
10
https://www.axios.com/2026/05/19/trump-stocks-nvidia-boeing
01
How does this involve the Trump family?
Depending on the day Trump is a terrible businessman who inherited his wealth OR he owns the most valuable company in the world.
You do understand why I don’t take haters seriously, don’t you?
20
What we’re experiencing is the failure of the post Feudal and ‘science’ based machine age world.
Science, initially successful, and believed to be a liberation from human avarice, was turned into a political weapon.
The same purpose religion served previously.
Not that science has not served as a successful vehicle for advancing the human condition.
Truth is, so did Christianity.
Human wantonness rises dressed up in one moral crusade or another, just like always.
Interesting thing is that Pandemic proved the spectacular crash of the Western leadership intelligentsia.
And Pandemic, in indisputable fact, was the psychotic spawn of the politically manufactured anthropogenic global warming moral panic.
CAGW ideology simply served as quasi religious moral facade for the power classes to reassert their usual modus operandi.
Also odd that a fake ‘pandemic’ (newly created propagandistic political term), is likely the fall of a culture that may have been sparked by a real pandemic in 1347.
And Europe burns and most cities in the US are smelling smoke.
Canada and Australia have damaged olfactory systems.
I think Trump, with all his faults is the last gasp of the flawed but capable leadership of the enlightened science/machine age that has been slowly bred into extinction.
We know have a leadership intelligentsia with pedal to the metal on the highway to replace itself with calculating machines.
A race that began before the common folk ever even heard about it.
20
FWIW
“Come The Revolution”
https://accordingtohoyt.com/2026/06/10/come-the-revolution-2/
Long but
00
Has anybody in here donated to One Nation recently? I have donated in the past and was spurred into adding another when I saw ON’s ‘Fire the Liar’ campaign. However, repeated attempts have failed. I get only as far as the security verification “Are you human?” thingy, but then I just get the Spinning Frisbee of Doom for a while, then “Page isn’t working”.
Because I don’t trust Google et al, I wonder if this is sabotage.
31
I donated without issue but I think there is some unwanted traffic because they now have the security verification page.
I just checked now at 1743hrs and target now $3.3M. It seems to go up in $200k increments just to keep the wagon rolling.
20
3.3M .
That is a lot!
It keeps a political focus going but does ON even need it?
I think they should refocus on immigration, Crime Waves and Net zero/Climate Change.
Maybe they can do that since Fire the Liar involves some of those things.
10
yes. Did have a problem paying with apple pay but it is just a bit complicated.
10
Quid pro quo, the Tele is onto something.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/commentisfree/2026/jun/12/one-nation-fire-the-liar-donations-fundraising-news-corp-ntwnfb
01
Wal Footrot’s dog at work:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O8yxotvHGM
00
Wonderful stuff. Welcome relief from politics.
I enjoyed the ABC Muster Dogs series a year or two back as well.
https://iview.abc.net.au/show/muster-dogs
10