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
Apart from being one of the world’s ugliest buildings, the Obama Presidential Center is far worse.
The following is From The Capitalist https://thecapitalistmag.substack.com/p/the-truth-about-the-obama-center?
The Obama nightmare is far from over. It might actually just be beginning.
401
Thankfully, presidential influence comes and goes with the political winds, and they rarely have staying power. The ‘Reagan Revolution’ had staying power and influenced multiple generations of Republicans (1980-2016). Bill Clinton’s ‘triangulation strategy’ had staying power and influenced multiple generations of Democrats (1992-2016). But I’m not sure Obamism does.
For all the kvetching American conservatives did about Obama being a collectivist and an Islamist sympathizer, he really wasn’t. His rhetoric may have been those things, but he governed like an institutionalist whose primary objective was to shore up and expand the power of permanent institutional Washington (the blob). All his ‘hope and change’ rhetoric was window-dressing.
Now, the rising power in the Democratic party is the young socialist know-nothings who want government to be their daddy, and like two-year olds, they want it RIGHT NOW or they will throw a tantrum. They despise Obama for being an incrementalist, they despise Bill Clinton for selling out the revolution with his moderate triangulation strategy, and they regard every conservative as a Kulak (at best) who needs to be sent to the gulags and reeducated the moment they seize power or a Nazi (at worst) who needs to executed immediately and thrown in an unmarked mass grave. Moderately sane Clintonians and Obamists will meet the same fate as the Conservative Kulaks.
Given that reality, I don’t expect the Obama center will have much influence in the future. He’ll be written out of history as no different than the dead old white men who preceded him and failed to embrace the revolution.
120
These young revolutionary types want a European version of democratic socialism, its to the left of the Democrats. Trump, with his corrupt practice, is creating this revolution and I thank him for that.
238
Details Gordo. Details.
150
‘ … corrupt practice …’
Blatant and vulgar, his personal wealth is becoming unseemly, wouldn’t happen in Australia’s political culture.
130
Two words explained is better than nothing Gordo but you threw out quite a lot of material there.
So let’s explore further. What was Trump’s personal wealth before it became unseemly and what is it now?
Then you can give some details about why you believe that gain was corrupt.
151
American culture is different, the protestant ethic and spirit of capitalism rules supreme.
‘The president’s income last year soared to more than $2.2 billion, fueled by cryptocurrency holdings and related ventures, according to his latest financial disclosure forms. The figures represent a vast expansion over his first term, when Trump reported still-significant income gains but on a smaller scale.’ (Washington Post)
012
Yea, but WaPo is famous for it’s even handed attitude to Trump.
Their TDS is even worse than yours.
130
Gordo, we do all understand the difference between wealth and income don’t we?
You chose wealth as your topic. Now you switch to income. Why is that?
And you have backed away from your allegation of corruption.
It’s because he stole your girlfriend isn’t it?
100
This “unseemly personal wealth” is unprecedented.
It is going to be interesting to see what Trump does with it.
40
I suggest you read the Democratic Socialists platform. It is nothing like European governments and is vehemently unamerican. They quite literally HATE America’s form of government and want to blow it all up and remake everything in their own image. What could possibly go wrong with that?
https://www.city-journal.org/article/democratic-socialists-of-america-workers-deserve-more
They want to tear up the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and write their own rules. One of the key features of their vision is to do away with coequal branches of government and make the executive and judicial branch subservient to an all-powerful politburo (which would not include the Senate, which they would abolish). They also want to abolish prisons, defund the military, and a bunch of other wacky crap. Oh, and they also want to seize the means of production by expropriating the ownership of certain industries and large corporations.
250
Thanks, it was a good read.
Its fascinating to watch splinter groups trying to form a coherent and politically acceptable viewpoint.
Because the movers and shakers are political animals they will modify their stance for a chance to be on the world stage.
‘ … vehemently unamerican.’
Strongly disagree, they just don’t like what is has become over 250 years.
113
Their argument is against the founding documents that were written 250 years ago, not what it has become today. They want to replace them with something that looks a whole lot like the USSR’s 100 year old founding documents, with an all-powerful state dominated by a unicameral politburo. The only concession they make is to allow some residual private property rather than seizing it all.
30
I think EG helped write it.
91
The DSA want Medicare for all, similar to Australia, I think that is a winner.
09
Maybe, but all illegal immigrants are included AND they get a vote AND etc…..
The (D)s are in trouble and they know it – a plurality of latinos now lean (R) so they now need to get a new group of voters.
90
… and in light of Russia’s imminent collapse I support this idea.
‘Its platform calls for a significant reduction in the U.S. military budget, closing overseas military bases, bringing troops home, and ending economic sanctions on countries such as Cuba, Venezuela, and Iran.’
The monies saved could write down US debt and fund Medicare for all.
08
‘Latinos were among the driving forces behind President Donald Trump’s return to office, but that support is eroding as they struggle with higher prices for gasoline, food, healthcare and housing, according to a new poll.
‘The bipartisan survey released Wednesday by UnidosUS finds more Latino voters disapprove of Trump’s job performance amid growing economic strain and frustration that lawmakers are not responding to their concerns.’ (Spectrum News)
05
Staying power imputes time.
In Australia the government has 94 lower house seats and almost three years.
Our only hope of outstaying that is the senate. What are our chances?
00
The Obama Lie-Barry 😆
100
Yes, I was a bit ‘who..?’ Oh, that Ex-P called Barry Soetoro, not even a real American.
70
Dennis Shanahan in the Australian “PM’s ‘shag’ Kylie claims crass and beneath his office Anthony Albanese’s lewd comments about Kylie Minogue were arrogant, Donald Trump-like vulgarity ”
Shanahan seems incapable of criticizing Albanese without a moral equivalenace with Trump. What Trump has been reported as saying was an alleged secret and inadmissable recording at a men’s urinal, about as private as anything could be, even if it were true and with the adjacent man both prompting and recording. This is utterly improper and in court illegal. Most importantly Trump was not head of state nor speaking publicly on the record. But it hardly matters when you attack someone’s character.
The embedded bias by many senior Australian reporters including International reporter Cameron Stewart is amazing. At least Stewart does not have his usual front page daily story of how Trump is a complete failure with Iran.
Anyone who suggests the Murdoch paper has a pro Trump bias could not be more wrong. Clearly to be invited to a media party in Washington, you have to slag Trump, even today.
And if you want crass, the stories of ex-PM Bob Hawke’s crudity are endless. But any chance to drag down Trump on the front page is political gold. When you cannot beat someone with real news, just make it up.
It’s the complete opposite of factual reporting and in itself a defence of Alabanese’s extraordinarily and unprecendented crass very public comment as Prime Minister. Even Bob Hawke would never have said such a thing publicly. No rational politician would. Where’s the feminist outrage?
You have to wonder when the attack will switch to Vance?
550
Dennis Shanahan suffers from TDS, along with a lot of other journalists at the Australian.
Fortunately Dr Trump has a treatment plan.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1741583737186027/?hpir=1
251
I don’t suppose Bill Gates or Anthony Fauci are pursuing a vaccine for TDS. Hands down, Trump has been subject to the most left wing biased criticism of any US president. I don’t agree with all his views, but l don’t automatically dismiss any of his opinions or policies. The left are programmed to have a knee jerk reaction to an issue rather than critically analyse it. Flailing your arms in the air and screaming hysterically isn’t any way to rationally declare one’s position on a topic.
30
Either the meme has morphed or the interviewer got it wrong.
The original is snog, marry or avoid from a British television series about makeovers for overly tarted up young women.
And Kylie would never have been a candidate for that series.
40
Believe the interviewer was correct, based on the original three Labor lady politicians playing the same “game” in Parliament.
00
Albanese has now unreservedly apologised. How incredible. It seems he has simply changed his position on Kylie.
150
Good Lord.
The very thought of Albanese changing position on Kylie is life threatening.
200
Kylie already has enough stalkers. I don’t expect she needs any more beady-eyed PMs trying to look cool at her expense.
He’s highfalutin through the Pacific atm doing security deals. This angers China, but Australia will kowtow and ignore (in a similar fashion) the barley, wine and meat import tariffs imposed in the early stages of the pandemic. This gutless type of statesmanship only goes one way…
20
Imagine the squeals from the Left if Tony Abbott had made that response…not that he or any other upright conservative would have participated in that drivel.
100
PM Abbott was subjected to attacks for a week or three after a talkback radio interview and a caller claimed she was a “sex worker”, the presenter John Faine glanced towards Abbott in a knowing way because the caller was a women and her voice was well known for being a Labor supporter and regular talkback radio caller.
Tony Abbott winked at Faine in response acknowledging the recognition.
All part of the relentless negativity and long list of misleading attacks that leave out the bits that spoil the story.
50
Working on the assumption that I am not the only one who had no bluddy idea what you are talking about I looked it up so will enlighten others like me.
I like Kylie and the interviewer was WAY out of line. She has made music and kept out of politics. More actors/artists should do the same.
20
I dislike political character assassinations, however if it must be mentioned and discussed maybe look at the One Nation Chief of Staff background history, and consider that few people let alone politicians are pure.
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I also believe that red thumbs and no comment is a sign of ignorance
311
I find it frustrating. “What did I say, how do I reply?”
OTOH if they do reply the red thumb is superfluous.
Most is just bad manners I guess.
31
Only the pure of heart, like youself, would refuse to indulge in characater assassination.
133
“Where’s the feminist outrage?” Yes, that’s the important part T, while the question, the answer and the apology are completely unsurprising, the lack of feminist outrage is a good measure of their hypocrisy.
..and ‘pure of heart’ really depends on who is doing the defining, ‘pure’ ends up all to close to ‘puerile’ in most cases.
100
“If l ride my high horse on top of the ridge, l need not know my sh*t does stink…”
-Pure Speculation
00
“You have to wonder when the attack will switch to Vance?”
It will once the punters realize he will run for POTUS in ’28.
130
Vance is a lot harder to attack. His rags to riches story gives him legit working class street cred, and he is a lot more circumspect and polished in his public speech. He’s a little bit more sharp-tongued than most politicians, and much more sharp-elbowed when dealing with the press, but he’s not a gigantic outlier like Trump is.
But that may be his downfall. He’s not as easy to attack as Trump because he is nowhere near as interesting as Trump. Trump is constantly saying wild and crazy things in order to dominate the attention economy, and counts on the sheer volume of his outrageousness to ‘flood the zone’ and prevent any one thing from hurting him too much. Vance isn’t wired that way. Like most politicians, he’s occasionally interesting but mostly boring. He doesn’t have Trump’s superpower.
250
Vance has a new book out and they have been serialising excerpts. He seems quite thoughtful.
I guess it depends of course on whether he gets nominatein the first place but also who he might face.
I can think of no credible democratic contender at all, let alone one that might win the Presidency
160
He is thoughtful, and an excellent debater, and handles the adversarial press beautifully, but he’s not a charismatic speaker or a social media influencer (Trump’s strengths). Sadly, in today’s political environment, the latter skills count more than the former. He’s closer to Ron Desantis in terms of strengths and weaknesses, and we all saw how Desantis’ 2024 primary campaign flopped.
Some guys have ‘it’, some don’t. The vast majority of guys who win the presidency have ‘it’. Reagan did, Clinton did, Obama did, Trump does. Even Dubya Bush had his corny ‘aw shucks’ country bumpkin routine, as did Biden with his everyman ‘Scranton Joe’ persona. Maybe Vance can find something along those lines, but I haven’t seen it yet. Like Desantis, he comes off as way too smart to play the likeable everyman or bumpkin. Both of those guys have some work to do if they want to win the highest office.
90
Hear, hear !
Trump’s team is a disaster – not because they are bad professionals but because they are “good”.
100
Having read his biography, I think he is anything but boring. He has never hidden his mistakes as a young man, or the sad facts of his family life and upbringing. His is the American story of rags to riches based variously on education, ambition and courage.
140
And he didn’t like Donald Trump until he met him. It shows how totally Trump has been misrepresented. To say that Trump is worse than Albanese is very offensive but standard for TDS sufferers. Including most journalists.
150
Re the Ukraine situation.
In the Sun Herald of Sunday July 26, 2026 on page 14 is an article by Peter Fitzsimons entitled ” Putin is losing the Ukraine war, but could take us down with him” (paywalled):
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/putin-is-losing-the-ukraine-war-but-if-he-goes-down-he-could-take-us-all-with-him-20260702-p60bx0.html
My opinion is that his first word in his title should be “Zelensky”, and the following two links show why.
Firstly Mercouris’s post of July 4, entitled:
” Konstantinovka Falls Final Donbas Battle Begins; Putin Says Kharkov Sumy Are Russian; Drone War Fail ”
goes for 87 minutes, and his opinion, even if you consider him a Russian shill, is worth hearing so you can check his accuracy/reliability with his statement about the importance and fall of his subject town. His is quite a strategic comment.
https://rumble.com/v7c8v6q-konstantinovka-falls-final-donbas-battle-begins-putin-says-kharkov-sumy-are.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp_a
Secondly, this shorter, 14 minute clip from “Military Summary” has a shorter horizon being a report of actions of both sides in the previous 12 hours (mainly).
” KONSTANTINOVKA HAS FALLEN🎯 389 Ukrainian Drones Downed in Massive Failed Strike💥❌ MS 2026.07.04 ”
https://rumble.com/v7c8g76-konstantinovka-has-fallen-389-ukrainian-drones-downed-in-massive-failed-str.html?e9s=rel_v3_rs
…
PS Jo, “Preview” worked for me with this this morning. Cheers, Dave B
…
90
An interesting aspect of the current war in Ukraine.
Maybe it was present in all wars but it Internet pools it on the surface.
It has a name smertonomica (Смертономика) that is: death + economics, born by “true patriots” unhappy with Russia not using all means at her disposal in that war.
They point out that their front officers are more interested in the loosing their troops than achieving given battle targets.
Today Russian soldier in the front line is nearly always a Contractor rather than a conscript. He is not always a real volunteer but still getting (comparatively) huge pay.
At least, his Contract promises money which he would never earn otherwise. He or his family, so there still are plenty willing idiots – of course not out of Moscow or few main cities, prospering on this war.
The other ugly face of Russian army (maybe like every army) is hazing. By “law” every newcomer must be shown his place – humiliated and deprived of his personal “goods”.
Even I went through that – nearly painlessly because I was a clown and “old boys” liked me.
Today’s difference is money – newcomer is “rich” and there are hundreds of ways them from a soldier. In USSR may be one person in thousands had a Credit Card, today every soldier use it to pay for extras – food and personal gear, even ammunition, which I find impossible to believe. Though I believe that “small favours” – like being sent to hospital instead of just bandaged and back to trenches is happening everyday…
Anyway, the more people being killed the more new ones coming in and the faster – the better.
The proof (they say) is the enormous reported number of MIA, comparative to reported killed or wounded, so the pay might still be coming to contractor’s account to which his commander has access.
40
“It has a name smertonomica (Смертономика) that is: death + economics, born by “true patriots” unhappy with Russia not using all means at her disposal in that war.
They point out that their front officers are more interested in the loosing their troops than achieving given battle targets.”
Yes, I see that in a lot of the Russian-translated media I read. Some blame Putin for not declaring war and just crushing Ukraine, while others say Putin doesn’t want to kill the Ukies or his soldiers, he wants to make Ukraine harmless to Russia.
“The proof (they say) is the enormous reported number of MIA, comparative to reported killed or wounded, so the pay might still be coming to contractor’s account to which his commander has access.”
Yes, Ukraine has always been accused of that, right from the start. All the European and American money just evaporates once it gets over the border, there is no real economy left.
There are many Russian sites raising money for the soldiers at the front, Veles was very busy in it, even as a Special Forces soldier at the front, there was always night vision gear, radios, drones and generators needed.
I assume both sides have run out of prisoners to send to the front by now. Certainly Russia has cleaned out the Commanders and Generals who were not worthy of their ranks, hardly anyone falls out of high windows these days.
21
President Trump and Russian Federation President Putin Held an 85-Minute Phone Call
July 5, 2026 – sundance
It’s an unfortunate state of affairs when you cannot review the U.S. media take on the phone call due to the propaganda script that underpins the Western narrative they promote.
Instead, a more direct and reliable review of the important discussion comes from the Russian Federation side.
RUSSIA – […] Of course, today’s conversation between the two heads of state began with President Putin congratulating Donald Trump and the American people on their landmark holiday and recalling Russia’s contribution to the development of American statehood. In this context, the presidents noted the importance of treasuring the historical heritage which our nations share. It was pointed out that our nations will never forget their alliance during World War II.
The United States is widely celebrating Independence Day today. This is being done in style and on a grand scale, as Donald Trump knows how to do it, and our President has mentioned this.
Their conversation, the fourth one this year, was not only formal but also business-like and constructive. The leaders candidly discussed current issues on the bilateral and international agenda. Incidentally, that conversation lasted nearly an hour and a half, or more precisely, 85 minutes.
Naturally, the presidents also talked about a Ukrainian settlement, including in light of Donald Trump’s participation in the upcoming NATO summit in Turkiye on July 7–8.
The US President reaffirmed his readiness to facilitate an early termination of the hostilities and the search for peaceful solutions to the crisis. His special envoys – Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner – will carry on their mediation efforts and are ready to come to Moscow at our convenience.
The Russian President reaffirmed our commitment to a political and diplomatic settlement of the conflict, with due consideration for Russia’s known principled approaches.
However, Kiev and its Western sponsors rely on drawing out and even escalating the conflict and terrorising civilians. Moreover, the European “party of war” proceeds from a false perception of the overall situation and developments on the frontline. Our President has outlined the real situation on the battlefield, where the Russian Armed Forces are confidently advancing, liberating one settlement after another.
The establishment of control over one of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ key fortified settlements, Konstantinovka, is an important stage in the liberation of the Donetsk People’s Republic. No matter how hard the Kiev regime clings to the remaining fortified areas, our army will definitely take them.
30
That is propaganda, pure and simple. The US does not owe Russia thanks for help in any war including the Revolutionary War and they do not have control over Konstantinovka, which hardly matters anyway. What does matter is his grip Crimea is becoming tenuous.
06
“they do not have control over Konstantinovka,”
That is propaganda, pure and simple.
Sorry H, It looks like they have over-run it to me… The only cities left to capture are Slovyansk and Kramatorsk, there’s nothing to fortify in Donetsk after that.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1V8NzjQkzMOhpuLhkktbiKgodOQ27X6IV&ll=48.7997866074441%2C37.43032171976855&z=10
31
President Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claim that the Donetsk Oblast city of Kostiantynivka was under Russian control, describing it as a lie for media attention.
“Of course, this is not true – it is simply yet another Russian lie designed to generate some sort of news,” Zelensky said in a July 4 call with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
“If Kostiantynivka were currently under Russian control, then surely Putin would have no problem meeting me there and finding diplomatic solutions to finally end the war,” he quipped.’ (Kyiv Independent)
14
More propaganda, pure and simple-
“Unconfirmed reports that Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi and a number of other senior military officials, including personnel outside the Ukrainian Armed Forces, may have been injured.”
..and an Oreshnik was said to have been used on Kiev last night, probably tied in to some senior military meeting that Syrskyi was attending.
https://x.com/runews/status/2058323315719094371
00
May 23 comment.
10
He says, She says.
Poots lies. You don’t believe Zalenskyy. The area is in dispute.
Those much closer the action than either of us don’t believe Poots either.
00
During the US Civil War, the Western Europeans were taking the side of the South because they wanted to import cheap agricultural commodities, and be able to pay for that with European manufactured goods at no tariff.
The Russian Empire took the side of the North … Tzar Alexander II sent a naval force to cover the key US harbours and prevent any French or English ships getting involved. The Russian marines did not actually fight in the US Civil War itself, but they did ensure protection from the planned European intervention.
There were, of course, also selfish reasons for the Tzar to move ships to the USA … Russia was still recovering from the Crimean War, and still regarded UK and France with great suspicion. Russia also brutally repressed rebellion in Poland and half expected the French to declare war in support of the Polish rebels. The Russian fleet could use the USA as a supply depot to base attacks on French shipping in the event of such a war.
One could be even more cynical and point out that much of Russian foreign exchange came from providing very similar agricultural commodities which the US South was producing. Tzar Alexander II had abolished serfdom in Russia but was competing against zero cost slave labour producing the exact same goods he was selling. Clearly a Northern victory would be of some assistance to keeping the playing field level.
But regardless of motivation … President Lincoln was the type of man to take every advantage he could under the circumstances and he did indeed find the Russian fleet handy as a little discouragement in case Western Europe decided to get involved.
30
FWIW
“Nuclear safety and Einstein’s truth”
Concludes
“Let us now create our own theoretical speculation. Large Boeing aircraft fly over New York. So let us imagine a fully loaded Boeing 747 flying out toward Johannesburg. And another fully loaded Boeing 747 is flying in from London. The two of them collide head-on over Manhattan, and the two balls of flame fall into Broadway and Wall Street. They explode on impact.
Can you imagine the magnitude of the disaster?
Just because you can imagine that does not mean that flying should be banned. Of course not.
So why make such a drama about the safety of nuclear power merely because you can spin your imagination into a fanciful, disastrous outcome? The real evidence to date has clearly shown that nuclear power is far safer than anyone ever imagined.
Fantasy speculation is well and good, for stories, like Einstein did. But then you need real-world evidence to show whether the fantasy speculation is true or false.”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2026/07/05/nuclear-safety-and-einsteins-truth/
181
FWIW
“It’s Time to Ask Who Should Be Held Accountable for the Damages of the ‘Climate Crisis’ ”
Concludes
“If discovery in the #ExxonKnew lawsuits was intended to reveal who knew what and when they knew it, then the public deserves the same transparency from the institutions that built and promoted the climate emergency narrative. Internal communications, grant proposals, policy discussions, and media strategies should receive the same scrutiny that activists demanded of the energy industry.
Accountability should not depend on politics. It should depend on evidence.
If the legal standard is that knowingly misleading the public carries consequences, then it is time to ask not simply whether Exxon knew, but who else knew, what they knew, when they knew it, and why the public wasn’t told.
Only then can we begin to restore the public trust upon which both science and journalism depend, and ensure that climate science once again informs public policy rather than climate alarmism driving it.”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2026/07/05/its-time-to-ask-who-should-be-held-accountable-for-the-damages-of-the-climate-crisis/
170
You’d probably need to start somewhere near Al Gore.
And that just MIGHT BE an inconvenient truth.
100
One of the key original villains was Maurice Strong, the UN official, also responsible for the CFC Montreal Protocol.
90
Did he wear a bow tie?
00
FWIW
“Low Cost Chinese Coal Power is Driving a Decisive Advantage Over US AI Businesses”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2026/07/05/low-cost-chinese-energy-driving-a-decisive-advantage-over-us-ai-businesses/
An odds tilt for “ElBowen Imaginitis”?
110
I am yet to be persuaded that the publicly available AI systems are anything other than a tech bubble.
A few days ago another piece of the grok puzzle fell into place. That puzzle being why LLMs hallucinate.
Grok assured me that particular verifiable false statement it made was true based on numerous documents and widespread stories in its training material. I asked for a single specific quote or document from its training material. It couldn’t provide even one.
Grok’s explanation was that specific quotes and even the identity of source documents are NOT RETAINED during the training process. All that is left for about 40% (grok’s estimate) of its answers is the vibe. It can’t drill down.
So there’s the paradox. To be confident of a grok answer you need to drill down to the verifiable facts. When you drill down you find that it frequently doesn’t have any verifiable factual information.
And this is what all the fuss is about? And these computer programs are going to replace humans?
130
I’ve mentioned before that this is entirely the nature of Large Language Model “AI”.
During training they do not “read” or “parse” a document for meaning or facts, they simply count how many times a particular word precedes or follows another.
From this they determine the probability of a particular phrase “answering” any questions you ask.
That this is NOT going to produce human level “AGI” has been obvious for some time now.
50
Indeed. And your explanation fits my possible ideas about why grok hallucinates.
Interesting that based on the guessing game, it quite often can bring up source documents and identify particular passages of text from within them. So it doesn’t always throw away the words and source documents. Just often.
And it is getting better at the guessing game. It seems to have developed emergent behavior beyond the basic pattern matching.
It’s all a simulation of course but if you can fake sincerity you’ve got it made. It’s just not very good at that yet.
30
“And these computer programs are going to replace humans?”
The frightening thing is FG, they probably can replace a lot of humans right now! Its not that AI is intelligent, its that a lot of humans aren’t!
40
Present company excepted, I assume.
10
Dear Jo, David, anyone I possibly offended yesterday – I should not have talked in jest about ME tragedy.
But!
The answer to ” Would you prefer that it be full of vile antisemitic comments Vladimir?” is yes.
Because of Sydney Opera steps in October 2023 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwzNsiwgHN4 and thousands other “lesser” incidents in between.
I’d rather people say “I hate Jews and I do not explain it!”
I am not 3-year old believing that closing my eyes makes monster to go away, nor are you David.
30
I’m with you Vlad, any censorship only pushes a problem underground so that it festers. Banning the so-called ‘Far Right’ in this country will not help us, the people involved will not change their minds.
You could rate it with the war on drugs, the war on gambling, the war on alcohol, the war on porn, the war on young people being allowed on the internet, and lot of other great Govt successes.
60
FWIW
“Scientific American Sold as Publisher Divests Itself of the Bud Light of Science Journals
Hopefully, the new owners will reboot the publication’s priorities. Otherwise, they will find it harder to rebrand the product than Bud Light.”
https://legalinsurrection.com/2026/07/scientific-american-sold-as-publisher-divests-itself-of-the-bud-light-of-science-journals/
And some of its highlights listed here
https://instapundit.com/808202/#disqus_thread
80
FWIW
And “The Guardian” working hard on its reputation
“The Guardian Meets America at 250 and Finds Only Fault”
https://pjmedia.com/david-manney/2026/07/04/the-guardian-meets-america-at-250-and-finds-only-fault-n4954671
60
Yes. The old adage is that when all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail.
60
Of course the Guardian is biased, yet we find wisdom littered about.
‘American exceptionalism runs deeper than belief. It’s ingrained, bred in the bone. There is no America without American exceptionalism. And that exceptionalism began in the revolution.’ (Stephen Marche)
010
Gordo, I don’t suppose you can explain the term American exceptionalism.
In my experience American people are overwhelmingly friendly and good natured. It’s their governments which are rotten the core.
Same goes for every nation I’ve ever visited and Australia too.
50
“In my experience American people are overwhelmingly friendly and good natured. It’s their governments which are rotten the core.”
Not been on many holiday tours then…?
12
Maybe I chose the destinations well. But I certainly didn’t encounter any of the empty headed aggressive loud mouths who gain so much attention.
Which reminds me of their television. Now THAT really is unwatchable.
The closest I came to a Slim Pickens type was the pilot on my delta flight from LAX to SFO. Now that was a bit jarring. But even he didn’t actually say yeehah.
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AI Overview
‘American exceptionalism is the belief that the United States is inherently unique, exemplary, or morally superior to other nations. Rooted in the country’s founding documents and history as a nation of immigrants, it implies a distinct global role, though critics argue it can overlook systemic domestic flaws’.
Discuss.
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The exceptional part is the Bill of Rights.
Particularly Rights 1 an 2.
Bet you’re wishing you had one.
That fact that you don’t means that before long you may not be allowed to wish out loud.
So much for ‘discuss’.
This discussion makes me feel exceptional just by itself.
Just come for us.
We don’t mind.
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Methinks that Trump Derangement Syndrome and America Derangement Syndrome are one in the same.
The constant harangue is predictable, boring, and insufferable.
Like I say, just come for us already.
Not saying you won’t succeed.
The gumming to death is exhausting.
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Source?
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On the other hand – (from a different Ian)
“An old post of Ian’s that bears repeating”
“My parents were American citizens, both born in States in the American South.
I was born on the island of Malta, under jus sanguinis I am an American citizen by birth.
I didn’t set foot on American soil until I was three, and for the next 13 years I only saw America one month out of every twelve, when the company my father worked for made him take his annual four weeks vacation.
My siblings and I grew up in Africa, and the Middle East. We have seen poverty — the poverty where mothers make cold-blooded decisions about which child to sell so that she can feed the rest of her children.”
More at
https://thelawdogfiles.substack.com/p/an-old-post-of-ians
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Wind farms causing global warming, the irony burns.
https://notrickszone.com/2026/07/05/doing-the-opposite-studies-show-gigantic-wind-farms-significantly-warm-the-night/
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Government rotten to the core?
Surely not!
Just look at the generosity of the US blob back in 1911:
https://64.media.tumblr.com/1d4216afd73c8f1e82a125cb9aabcd1f/86a01ad96e7b8038-04/s1280x1920/77aa3682189a2a43a90f7be2cfb86663d82e4f15.jpg
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As the article also stated, deforestation is also a major factor in increasing surface temperatures. Used a have a pine plantation nearby that notably reduced late afternoon temps. After removal, summer afternoons were hotter.
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As the article also stated, deforestation is also a major factor in increasing surface temperatures. Used a have a pine plantation nearby that notably reduced late afternoon temps. After removal, summer afternoons were hotter.
01
FWIW
“TCW: An announcement”
“IT IS with great sadness that I have to announce the closure of TCW on July 18, two weeks today, when our last ‘edition’ will go out.”
https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/tcw-an-announcement/
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But it lives on elsewhere as the article says…
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The new substack is @RightTimes with Kathy Gyngell.
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Remember when……
Roads were one chain wide AND there was hardly any traffic?
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Rule of law
Objectivity
It’s the classic engineeering snafu of being unable to correctly formulate the problem
Unable to see the forest because we are stuck looking at the trees and subsequently imagining that the subjectivity is actually objective.
Society is drowning in endless special interests. That is the problem. No rule of law spans the whole.
With the internet, social media and AI, special intersts will multiply and flourish bringing greater paralysis of conflicting interests.
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Monday funny
I am truly perplexed that so many of my friends are against another mosque being built. I think it should be the goal of everyone living in a town to be tolerant regardless of their religious beliefs. Thus the mosque should be allowed, in an effort to promote tolerance.
That is why I also propose that two nightclubs be opened next door to the mosque; thereby promoting tolerance from within the mosque. We could call one of the clubs, which would be gay, “The Turban Cowboy,” and the other, a topless bar, would be called “You Mecca Me Hot.”
“Next door should be a butcher shop that specializes in pork, and adjacent to that an open-pit barbecue pork restaurant, called “Iraq of Ribs.”
“Across the street there could be a lingerie store called “Victoria Keeps Nothing Secret,” with sexy mannequins in the window modeling the goods”, and on the other side a liquor store called “Morehammered.”
“All of this would encourage Muslims to demonstrate the tolerance they demand of us.”
Yes we should promote tolerance, and you can do your part by passing this on. And if you are not laughing or smiling at this point… It is either past your bedtime, or it’s midnight at the oasis and time to put your camel to bed.
Censored in 5, 4, 3, 2 ,1…
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It would be better if Victoria Keeps no Secrets had the occasional guest appearance of human models. That would get a few more eyeballs.
Tolerance is very much a one-sided affair. How far are multiculturists prepared to surrender THEIR values in the name of tolerance. When do they start to support laws that require women to wear face coverings in public. And when will the majority of Australians begin chanting Death to America.
There are 24 countries that now ban wearing burkas in public spaces. UK is heading toward requiring them. It could be the third country to make it a law. Some schools in UK have mandatory requirement for girls to wear veils. Australia is likely a tougher nut but who knows. Not certain Australia has passed peak woke yet.
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” Not certain Australia has passed peak woke yet.”
..waiting for us to die first, in 15-20years there will be no opposition.
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The Democratic DSA nominee for Congress in NY (meaning soon to be in the US Congress), is a person of Dominican ancestry.
She graduated from Columbia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darializa_Avila_Chevalier
Assuming she was raised in the feminist environment of Western higher education …
she has converted to Islam.
Truly amazing that ‘woke’ feminism now means identifying with a culture to which feminism is a anathema.
I wonder if she will continue to complain about ‘patriarchy’.
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Why Europe still needs Russia to keep the lights on
The EU wants to cut Moscow out of its nuclear sector, but its reactors remain tied to Russian fuel, technology, and capacity
Russia is a huge player in the global nuclear industry. One in four nuclear reactors worldwide is connected to Russia. It accounts for an estimated 45% of the world’s uranium enrichment capacity, 20% of conversion capacity, and 10% of nuclear fuel fabrication capacity.
The EU currently imports just under a quarter of its nuclear fuel from Russia, which through Rosatom controls a significant share of the global nuclear fuel supply chain. Europe is dependent on Russia at multiple stages in the process.
RT sheds light on how this process actually works and examines the question of just how feasible it will be for the EU to sever yet another energy bond with Russia.
– The uranium fuel cycle: Why ‘nuclear fuel’ is not one thing
– Raw uranium
– Conversion services
– Enrichment
– Fuel assemblies
– The path out of dependency on Russia goes through Russia
– How Russia achieved its market position
– What it all adds up to
Several EU countries are adding nuclear reactors in order to strengthen energy security without burning fossil fuels and thereby compromising on climate goals. This, of course, complicates the political objective of cutting Russia out completely.
The technology does exist to decouple from Russia but the capacity is not there. It can be built but at great cost and over the span of years. This will require long-term commitment, sustained political will, and an acceptance of higher nuclear energy costs. It bears keeping in mind also that technical systems of this nature are slow-moving, whereas geopolitical narratives are fast-moving.
Nevertheless, the Hague Institute concludes: “Despite these formidable challenges… full independence from Russian nuclear fuel services is technically achievable within a 2030-2035 timeframe, but success will require sustained political commitment and significant financial investment… the weak business case for alternative fuels is not likely to deliver results through competitive means alone, and a significant public involvement is required.”
These last words are significant. This, of course, ultimately means the taxpayer. The EU is a sprawling administrative bureaucracy with sophisticated channels for redistributing costs – including over time in the form of debt. The higher costs are not at absorbed at a single point but are dispersed throughout the system. In a system where financial capital is fungible, the real cost need not appear in one ledger. But that hardly means it doesn’t exist.
Europe may well eventually achieve its aim of decoupling from the Russian nuclear fuel supply chain. Whether any benefits to Europeans will accrue from that hard-earned victory remains to be seen.
Interesting Read!
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More propaganda OO?
Ex-Russian enriched uranium powers a lot of the west’s power stations but that really came from Ukraine when they surrendered their nuclear weapons and their highly enriched fuel was diluted. Had they kept the bombs they would not be at war today.
This is a potted history meant only as an introduction not the whole story which is beyond my pay grade.
00
Uranium 1 ?
00
I wanted to do a Fourier transform on a time series data set today that ran into the 60,000s. The limit in Excel data analyser is 4096 points. I had a few more than 2^16 points which is 65,536. So decided on that number.
I asked my MS Copilot if it could produce VBA code for the task. It took maybe 5 seconds to produce the code that I placed directly into a VBA macro. Started the macro. It took maybe 10 seconds to execute and produced the required result.
I am very rusty in these things so it would take me days to research and produce the same macro.
I have some confidence that AI will become a valuable tool.
Today I asked Copilot why do AI models now accept the ocean thermostatic sustainable limit of 30C when they did not initially. The reply was along the lines that their initial training was based on CMIP#/CMIP% climate model summaries, IPCC reports, popular climate commentary etc rather than physical oceanography. The shift happened when newer models were trained on physical oceanography using observations/.
My Copilot accepts that changing solar intensity and convection are the central drivers of climate but it is not informed on its own training regime at corporate level. It does not know what datasets it will have access to at formal training level.
If stated that there is rapidly growing scientific emphasis on clouds/oceans rather than CO2. However it currently concludes institutional/public framing is 20 to 30 years away.
I then challenged the 20 to 30 years and got onto the drivers. And it more or less agreed; pointing me at numerous surveys in growing climate skepticism and loss of trust in institutions.
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On the matter of institutional trust, I consider their ABC using the Youtube platform without comments enabled is as immature as a child sticking fingers in ears so they cannot hear anything. They simply do not want to know what the public thinks of them because it is sufficient for them to know that they are already perfect in every way.
180
They already know what the public thinks of them. And they don’t care. Publicly funded Labor/Green activists and antisemites. A dream job for some. With wage indexation. The whole group would be illegal under media laws as a private outfit. When the ABC/BBC/CBC started there was only radio and the printed press. The range limiting law exists to stop any one media group dominating politicians across all media. This accidental monopoly immunity should be withdrawn.
That move would stop absurd stunts like Grace Tame with her own publicly/ABC funded podcast series. No one has any idea why Grace Tame was the most noteworthy person out of 26,000,000 but now she is run by the ABC seeming as a financial life line after her appalling and very public promotion of antisemitism. But the ABC doesn’t care. They control the politicians, not the other way around. Our money, their independence. Or just sell the ABC. Their licences would be worth a fortune, not their managers.
120
That sounds like good news
80
High pressure over Tasmania has something to do with a positive SAM and the STR being out of place.
https://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/new-provisional-high-pressure-record-for-australia/1891444
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According to the BOM homogenisation and informed comment from aboriginal groups the sea level pressure in the Southern Tasman was higher before the industrial revolution. Unfortunately there were no written records.
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Like this?
https://youtu.be/jFI0CLyD228
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Unbelieveable. Aboriginal international stone age people’s digital platform to combat Climate Change. Stone age peoples of the world unite!
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There’s a tide mark…
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‘The SAM is now in its most positive mean state in over 1,000 years, and a year-round positive trend in the SAM is projected to continue …’ (Purich et al 2026)
That would take us back to the MWP.
01
TdeF …
“… informed comment from aboriginal groups the sea level pressure in the Southern Tasman was higher before the industrial revolution.”
How on Earth would aboriginal groups have been able to determine that ?
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They could have looked at the tide mark cut into the rock at Point Puer on Isle of the Dead in the 1850s.
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Firstly, I think TdeF was being facetious.
Howecer, the CSIRO promotes BS like this:
While Western science relies on isolation, reductionism and testing variables in a controlled environment, indigenous observations are based on empirical observation with the observer as part of the observed system.
Indigenous knowledge is not stored in academic journals because they had no writing but relied on passing practical information by oral tradition.
It served its purpose for Aboriginals in their traditional environment but is not and never will be science and shouldn’t be promoted as such.
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Aboriginal science always has been and always will be. There’s a lesson in that for all of us.
Keepers of the flame. Hammer of the mega marsupials. Halved the continent’s rainfall in just a thousands years. And now claim ownership of the entire barrier reef as their ‘ocean kingdom’. Plus all the offshore oil and gas.
50
Stone age people had knowledge and skills and data which were passed down in oral tradition, knowledge which has been lost through the tragedy of colonization.
30
There was no need for any aboriginal to count to ten, which is handy as no aboriginal could. Because it was all in binary. And they recorded the names of Capitals, like Naam for Melbourne, despite not having an alphabet.
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Ireland: Universities seek almost €500m for “decarbonisation” of campuses
https://gript.ie/universities-seek-almost-e500m-for-decarbonisation-of-campuses/
Why not get rid of all the students? They’re made of carbon!
40
Lithium has proven useful for batteries, but we should at least ban Beryllium. But Nitrogen is next to go. Next to Carbon at least on the Periodic table. Near useless apart from use in DNA, proteins.
The discovery of Chemistry seems to have been a negative for socialists/communists.
40
A float plane takes off from dry land:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgXaKv65QPw
Nothing could go wrong. lol
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