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Wednesday

8.8 out of 10 based on 17 ratings

125 comments to Wednesday

  • #
    William x

    As an Engineer that deals with the arcane and lost arts of mathematics, physics and chemistry, can anyone please tell me what is the ideal level of CO2 in ppm that our Govs and agencies are aiming for.

    No one ever states it.

    So what is the point of emmission targets, if no one in gov agencies, can tell any of us, the ideal level of CO2 required to stop their self declared “catastrophic” floods, droughts, blizzards, wildfires, hurricanes and save Tuvalu from “sinking”?

    I believe you are being sold faux science by the establishment/Blob and they cant or refuse to tell you the answer.

    You are all being scammed.

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    • #
      Honk R Smith

      It’s 350.
      I’m told that’s what it was around 1850 before we began experiencing weather catastrophes caused by our efforts to survive weather catastrophes.
      BTW, government agencies are under no obligation to explain themselves past when they utter the magic word ‘Science’.

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      • #
        Murray Shaw

        Honk, in 1852, my local town of Gundagai NSW experienced a massive flood that cost some eighty lives, still the highest level recorded on the Murrumbidgee River in that town. This is still Australias biggest loss of life in a natural disaster, greater than Darwin during Cyclone Tracey. So that was with CO2 at around 350, so on that data with higher levels of CO2 in our atmosphere we have less loss of life, using that metric we need to keep CO2 levels higher.

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        • #
          Gee Aye

          Gundagai was not where it is now (not as elevated) and itinerant workers were camping rough on the flood plane. There was no warning system. There were no means of controlling water.

          You can’t easily compare eras.

          31

          • #
            el+gordo

            ‘ … long before the disaster, local Wiradjuri people had warned settlers not to build there. They knew that country well, and they knew the floods would come, but the warnings were ignored.’

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        • #
          Strop

          Cyclone Mahina (Cape York 1899) is regarded as the largest loss of life from a natural disaster in Aus. Although the actual death toll is not known, estimates range from 300 to 400+. One source has 257 deaths as known confirmed. A number of indigenous and other’s deaths are to be added but not official.

          Don’t know if the Black Saturday fire was considered a natural disaster given ignition seems to have been from fallen power lines, rather than a “nature” ignition. But there were 150+ fatalities in the fire from Kilmore East.

          20

          • #
            Annie

            There were 173 lives lost on Black Saturday.

            10

            • #
              Strop

              Yes. 173 was the total from all the fires included under the Black Saturday banner. I’m treating them as separate fire events, as they would for two separate cyclones that occurred on the same day.
              Referring to the fire that started at Kilmore East, spread to St Andrews/Kinglake/Marysville/Flowerdale etc. Hence adopting a figure lower than 173.

              00

          • #
            Hanrahan

            All 122 people on board the SS Yongala died when the ship sank on 23 March 1911 during a cyclone off the coast of Queensland, Australia. This tragic event remains one of the worst peacetime maritime disasters in Australian history.

            The body of a racehorse was all that was found.

            The wreck of the SS Yongala was discovered in 1958, nearly 47 years after it sank in 1911. It was found by a local fisherman, Bill Kirkpatrick, off the coast near Cape Bowling Green, Queensland.

            It is now a prime dive site.

            Diving the SS Yongala wreck is subject to strict restrictions to protect its historical significance and fragile marine environment.

            No penetration diving is allowed: Entry into the interior of the wreck is strictly prohibited under the Commonwealth Underwater Cultural Heritage Act 2018 and the Historic Shipwrecks Act. This rule prevents damage from exhaled air bubbles, which can accelerate corrosion of the ship’s structure.
            Permit-only access: Diving the site requires a permit issued by the Museum of Tropical Queensland, and only licensed dive operators with proper authorization can conduct trips.
            No touching or disturbing artifacts: Divers must not touch, remove, or disturb any artefacts or marine life. This includes avoiding contact with the wreck’s surface to preserve its integrity.
            Respect as a grave site: The SS Yongala sank in 1911, claiming 122 lives. Divers are expected to show respect for the site as a memorial to those who perished.
            Environmental protection: Operators enforce strict rules to prevent silting, damage to coral, and disturbance to marine life. Divers must use proper buoyancy control, finning techniques, and avoid touching the reef.
            These restrictions ensure the wreck remains preserved for future generations while allowing safe, responsible exploration.

            AI-generated answer. Please verify critical facts.

            20

    • #
      John F. Hultquist

      During cold eras, Carbon Dioxide concentration in the atmosphere appear to drop to below 200 ppm. The end of the last glacial advance is roughly 13,000 years ago. By 1850, the concentration is estimated to be about 285. Many plants die if the CO₂ levels in their surroundings drop below 150 ppm.
      Governments are not people, but people that do speak for agencies of government have declared, without evidence, that some number lower than 350 ppm is desirable. What the ideal might be is a guess.**
      In Dec 2025 it was 427.5, headed for about 433 in May ’26 when seasonal growth of plants in the Northern Hemisphere is strong. See the chart here:
      https://gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/trends/mlo.html

      **What’s your guess?

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      • #
        RickWill

        **What’s your guess?

        A target of 1000ppm would be closer to optimum for the biosphere. China and India currently doing all the heavy lifting.

        The problem is that the increasing productivity of the biosphere limits the increase over the current level. Sort of chasing tail exercise. More carbon combustion delivers more CO2 but higher biosphere productivity sequesters carbon faster.

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      • #
        Bruce

        As I understand it, CO2 is HIGHLY soluble in water. See all those bubbly “adult beverages” and the “non-alcoholic” ones, as well.

        So; if the planet gets colder, MORE CO2 goes into solution. When the sun cycles go back to “Warm” phase, some CO2 is “released” from solution. Anyone seen a table of dissolved gases O2, N, CO2, etc. in seawater, from the surface down to, say, 3000 feet?

        And who is monitoring the deep ocean out-gassing of the various black and white “smokers”?

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        • #
          Peter C

          Anyone seen a table of dissolved gases O2, N, CO2, etc. in seawater, from the surface down to, say, 3000 feet?

          No. Does anyone have a reference?

          00

      • #
        el+gordo

        CO2 doesn’t cause warming, so I won’t guess.

        Same world, different climatic outcomes.

        The planet has two hemispheres which are often out of sync. After the Roman Warm Period the northern hemisphere became cold and wet for 600 years, yet over that period the southern hemisphere was warmer and wetter.

        CO2 had no part to play.

        10

    • #
      MeAgain

      It depends whether the person measuring is breathing out or breathing in at the time.

      (a non-engineer, non-science type person responding)

      110

    • #
      David Maddison

      Whatever it is, it’s too low as we barely missed a mass extinction event had the level got down to 150 or 200ppm at which point photosynthesis ceases (depending on which photosynthetic pathway a plant uses).

      For optimal crop and other plant life production plus a suitable safety margin, I’d like to see it around 800-1000ppm.

      But we just have to watch and see, it’s totally beyond human control. Terraforming, in this case to alter atmospheric CO2, as the ignorant/Elite classes are trying to do by controlling human CO2 emissions is totally for science fiction like The Sands of Mars (Arthur C. Clarke).

      And for the trillions of dollars expended and economic destruction caused by destruction of the woke West’s energy supply, there is no change whatsoever on the Keeling curve.

      It’s about deliberate economic destruction of the West and the supremacy of China (who are exempt from CO2 emissions limits and whose exemption policy is supported and promoted by a vast slave army of useful idiots of the Left).

      240

    • #
      TdeF

      John Howard’s government introduced the massive RET based on green certificates. Carbon was not even mentioned. He now says he is ‘agnostic’.

      Why would you introduce such a gigantic money grab if you were not sure that the story was absolutely right.

      No one has ever proven that the increase in CO2 is man made. It isn’t.
      No one has ever proven that man can increase or alter atmospheric CO2. We cannot. Nor can bushfires or volcanoes or anything else in the last 250 years.
      No one has ever explained why fossil fuel CO2, CO2 from ancient leaves should exclusively stick in the air when all CO2 exchanges with the ocean every five years.

      All this was established science in the 1950s long before Al Gore and James Hanson and the UN and WMO made up this incredible nonsense.

      So they don’t want measurable CO2 as a target as it would quickly prove that humans with 300,000 giant windmills and billions of solar panels have acheived nothing in 36 years except to cripple Western Economies.

      Which is now the entire idea.

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      • #
        TdeF

        And no one can explain why China, India and America have zero restrictions on CO2 but tiny Australia is being crippled by successive governments and massive secret illegal taxes as if Australians need to be punished as major ‘polluters’. It is either ecology gone mad with zero basis in any known science or our politicians are working for someone else.

        180

      • #
        David Maddison

        I don’t think Howard will be remembered well for the destructive path he sent us down.

        Actually, we have very few politicians worthy of good remebererances at all.

        120

      • #
        Bruce

        Why?

        ALWAYS FOLLOW THE “SPILLAGE”.

        30

    • #
      Forrest Gardener

      The problem with your question is that governments use the “shoot, aim, ready” method.
      It helps with the endless present where the government is always right.

      30

  • #
    Vene

    I don’t know if you have heard Donut Lab’s outrageous claims about their solid state battery. It’s features are claimed to be truly unbelievable. Some say it’s a scam or a marketing trick. In the next video, which is excellent by the way, MissGoElectric opens up a subject and also speculates how Donut Lab may have made a remarkable breakthrough.

    Uncovering the details on Donut Lab’s Solid State Battery

    50

    • #
      RickWill

      The first motorcycles with the battery are due for delivery in February. I figure a few of the bikes are going to people who will do battery tests.

      A low cost battery with infinite cycle life could actually make solar in Australia viable against coal.

      An EV with low battery fire risk, 1000km range, 10 minute recharge and lower cost than combustion vehicle might find a real market. But would require much more charging infrastructure.

      110

      • #
        another ian

        Rick

        Willis Eschenbach a while back had a look at that.

        Including that the connection for such really fast charging would need to be about as thick as your thigh and liquid cooled

        100

      • #
        Rowjay

        The recent Dakar Rally had a battery bike class – they were limited to 100km stages and had to manage their use, whereas the standard bikes did 300-500km stages.
        Weight was the other concern for the bat-bikes – tended to sink into the sand. The other issue was the instant torque available which had a tendency to bury the back wheel if not careful starting off.

        60

      • #
        Vene

        What I like with the subject is that you don’t have to wait to year 2100 to see if their claims hold water. I have watched videos both in English and Finnish and in some of these videos someone said something like ‘if even one these claims turns out to be true, it would great.’ I agree. But at the moment it sounds too good to be true, I remain curious but sceptical.

        20

    • #
      John F. Hultquist

      Some smart folks think this item is more like a capacitor rather than a chemical-type battery. And I don’t know if it makes much of a difference. Those smart folks question the scale-up possibility.
      Way beyond my pay grade.

      40

      • #
        Chad

        There are too many “unknowns” in the Donut announcement at CES.
        No samples, not even prototypes, let alone preproduction units on display ?
        Only 77 employees in the Donut/Verge organisation to reserch SState battery tech..AND design/ produce the Motocycle ?.
        Even If they are using the NordicNano technology ( which they deny !) , that is indeed a capacitive tech, which brings with it some unsolved issues for “battery” applications ..( charge/discharge voltage range,..capacity leakage, etc)
        In reality, their claimed 400Wh/ kg energy density is not exceptional, there are higher stats for other batteries, and i really see no value in the 100,000 cycle life claimed….that would be 100+ years of full didcharge cycles, twice per day, !..After 20 or so years, tech will have mooved on and better, cheaper enery sources will be available.
        ( Again there are batteries already claiming 50,000 cycles)
        In addition , several other reputable manufacturers are claiming to make SState batteries available installed in vehicles, this year.

        40

        • #
          Forrest Gardener

          I’m pretty sure I also saw an advertisement for flying cars earlier this year.

          And I’m not sure I’d be comfortable sitting astride a fully charged capacitor. Those things go bump in the night.

          There are some things I’ll only believe when I see and maybe not even then.

          30

          • #
            Graeme4

            Yep. If lithium battery explosions are pretty spectacular, wait until a decent-sized supercap goes up. Company I worked for used supercaps on electric train equipment, to retain power for 10 seconds while the gear performed an orderly shutdown. They would be minnows compared to a supercap designed to replace batteries.

            10

      • #
        Vladimir

        Of course it is just a capacitor, they just made its casing super strong, so they can stuff 10 times more electrons in there.

        00

    • #
      Gee Aye

      This is a good summary of the general skepticism over donut

      https://theness.com/neurologicablog/is-donut-labs-solid-state-battery-legit/

      31

  • #
    • #
      RickWill

      I forecast above trend snowfall for the 2025/26 boreal winter quite a while back. It is the consequence of above trend difference in summer and winter sunlight in the Northern Hemisphere.

      The difference in peak daily sunlight at 10N and minimum daily sunlight at 40N is presently around 276W/m^2. But it is trending up at 0.5W/m^2 over the last century. However the difference in peak at 10S and minimum at 40S is 305W/m^2 and also increasing but at 0.15W/m^2 over the last century. Eventually the SU will reduce and the NH will accelerate so the difference in the hemisphere reverses.

      The oceans of the NH have a lot of warming to come (presently much colder than the SH) so the snowfall will accelerate. Places like Alaska, Greenland and thew Kamchatke peninsula will be the first to experience

      The increase in heat advection in the NH in 2025 was up 4.4W/m^2 compared with 1920. This year the difference is down to 3.8W/m^2.

      Advection is the main driver of increased heat retention in the oceans because most of it is being retained in the net condensing regions of the globe between 30S to 60S and 30N to 60N.
      https://i0.wp.com/wattsupwiththat.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/OHC_2025-1768794524.8046.png

      There is growing recognition amongst the climate modellers that warmer oceans in the NH will lead to more snowfall not less. Telling people that they can stop the warming and extra snowfall by not burning carbon based fuels verges on criminal negligence. Burning carbon has nothing to do with these changes. It is ALL caused by the Sun and Earth’s relationship with it.

      150

    • #
      el+gordo

      TikTok didn’t work for me, but this is the gist of the story.

      ‘Scientists said the weather was related to waves of cool air coming in from the Arctic, which was simultaneously affecting Eastern Russia and Asia, and a second, affecting Eastern Europe.’ (NY Post)

      01

  • #
    Geoff Sherrington

    Why am I awake and blogging at 3.33 am? Why are you others also awake?
    Daylight saving, non-ratings time for TV, hottest weather, too many tasty cherries in season give indigestion, my anti-diabetes Metformin plays up in summer, my favourite radio presenters are back from holidays this week, my pills send me to the toot every few hours, the possums outside the window get noisy about 3 am, my aged legs ache, I forgot to put some frozen food back into the fridge, I like blogging ….
    Please add to the dots. Geoff S

    120

    • #
      Geoff Sherrington

      P.S.
      Why does my clock and radio now say 3.45 when the Jonova time is 2.45?
      Is this the witching hour? Geoff S

      60

      • #
        skeptikal

        Because she uses real time, not that daylight savings BS.

        Glad I’m in Queensland where we get real time all year.

        180

        • #
          Graeme4

          Amen to that. Not sure if any warm locations use daylight saving. WA tried it in the 1970s – was a disaster with young children during a hot summer.

          00

      • #
        Strop

        The time attributed to comments relates to the blog hosting server being located in Queensland. Or some such similar hosting factor that means the time stamping relates to QLD time.

        40

        • #
          Bruce

          I suspect that the entire internet is ‘locked to Universal Standard Time (the old Greenwich Mean Time”. “Zulu Time” to us oldies / aviation and military types). By the numbers, Eastern Australia is “offset” by TEN hours; Eastern Standard Time, (Kilo Time to its acquaintances). Daylight Saving / “Sumner” time pushes that forward by one hour (Lima), for the “benefit” of having an “extra hour” of recreational sunlight, each day; a re-purposed WW2 ‘expedient”..

          When I was a lad, there was a short-wave station of considerable output power, that did NOTHING but transmit a very “bored” sounding human voice announcing the “time, every ten seconds, GMT / UST, of course). That was so long ago that I don’t think that even DARPA-Net was up and running.

          51

          • #
            Forrest Gardener

            Talking of Greenwich I had the pleasure of visiting the observatory when I was in London.

            I was surprised to discover that the prime meridian has moved several times over the years as Royal Observers have come and gone. Each one is clearly displayed at the observatory.

            I was also surprised to discover that the successor to Edmund Halley of comet fame disparaged Halley’s work as sloppy.

            The more things change the more they remain the same.

            40

            • #
              yarpos

              At the third stroke, the time will 8:37 and 20 seconds. At the ……

              50

              • #
                Forrest Gardener

                Yes, they even had a talking clock in their museum.

                10

              • #
                Bruce

                That’s the one!

                “International Bureau of Standards”, I think.

                10

              • #
                Graeme4

                Remember having to tune into the international time clock to set airport time every day.

                00

              • #
                Hanrahan

                Graham4, we would set the quartz clock in the electric authority’s control room this way. The grid time would be read on a synchronous clock and the power station with frequency control would keep the two showing the same time.

                10

              • #
                Graeme4

                H, Perth Airport had a pendulum master clock. Time was adjusted by adding or removing small washers on a tray on the pendulum, an assortment of which was kept for different corrections. A bit tricky when using tweezers while the pendulum was swinging.

                10

          • #
            another ian

            DDG “Search Assist

            WWVH is a high-frequency radio station located in Kauai, Hawaii, that broadcasts time and frequency information 24/7. It is operated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and provides accurate time signals to help synchronize clocks and other timekeeping devices worldwide.
            National Institute of Standards and Technology Wikipedia”

            was one

            11

            • #
              Geoff Sherrington

              Years ago when I often had early morning airline flights to remote places, I had a nightmare dream where the person stating the time had a bad stutter, so ” On the t- t- th- t- third s- S- …..”.
              It was about the time of peak DEI efforts to employ disabled people in inappropriate jobs, like their ABC requiring broadcasters to have a speech defect. Seems the brain works even in sleep.
              Geoff S

              00

    • #
      Gob

      Georr, I’ve forgotten what the term is that you apply to people such as yourself who’ve reached eighty years of age; one known to me gets there tomorrow and I’d like to say it to him but haven’t been able to remember for what has been many weeks.

      00

  • #
    MeAgain

    Crimes in the supply chains of Critical Energy Transition Materials: https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/Crimes%20on%20Environment/Minerals_Crime/Critical_minerals_2025.pdf

    This report documents a few cases in which armed groups (OCGs or politically-motivated organized crime groups) have been involved in illegal extraction and trade of CETM, and in using the related illegal resources to facilitate their activities. However, evidence on the overall extent to which these groups are responsible for CETM crimes remains limited and fragmented. Considering that many CETM supply chains are less regulated than those of gold, numerous research questions remain regarding their vulnerabilities to criminal infiltration and the involvement of illegal actors.

    30

  • #
    MeAgain

    An old article from 2023, I still well up reading stuff like this … thinking … what happened to people, those I knew and strangers: https://collateralglobal.org/article/for-those-who-were-burned/

    The author was supposed to be at COP 2024, is now writing articles on the Green Agenda and Famine: https://brownstone.org/articles/the-uns-green-agenda-will-spark-famine/

    30

    • #
      RickWill

      I wonder if these people view Trump as saviour or evil.

      Any organisation that outcasts people with integrity eventually ends up like their CSIRO or their ABC. UN is probably ahead of these two low integrity institutions in the loss of integrity stakes.

      71

      • #
        MeAgain

        Possibly like me – nothing. Interesting that they put a character like that up front just before it all when mad, but beyond that, no stronger feelings about him than Albo, Starmer or any of the other actors.

        Neither evil or saviour, just doing his bit.

        00

  • #
    skeptikal

    It looks like we’re waking up to the fact that we still need coal fired power.

    https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/other/australia-s-largest-coal-power-plant-to-operate-for-an-additional-two-years-which-green-groups-say-is-a-disaster/ar-AA1UxAb9

    Australia’s largest coal-fired power plant, Eraring in New South Wales, will stay open for an additional two years until 2029, amid concerns about the national energy grid’s ability to satisfy demand.

    70

    • #
      David Maddison

      The problem of all these extensions is that they’re just causing long drawn-out misery and continued high prices.

      We need to let the Left proceed with their program of economic destruction and collapse and only then will the masses wake up and demand rational energy policy with electricity from coal, gas, nuclear and real hydro (not SH2).

      70

      • #
        Steve

        Agreed.

        They need to start building new plants, not just extend the life of old ones. It’s been over 15 years since a new coal plant came online in Australia, and with every year that goes by their current plants get older and closer to retirement with no baseload replacement in sight. It makes no sense for a country so rich in coal to ship it all out so some other country can burn it for power. Exporting coal rather than using it does nothing to reduce GLOBAL CO2 emissions (in fact, it probably increases them).

        40

        • #
          el+gordo

          Totally agree, but we still have to convince politicians that CO2 doesn’t cause global warming.

          Even a vocal handful could turn the tide, I’m optimistic.

          11

  • #
    David Maddison

    Here is a video about icthyoallyeinotoxism.

    It’s very bad.

    Don’t eat fish which are known to be prone to this.

    The fish can contain neurotoxins which cause extreme terrifying nightmarish hallucinations for two to three days.

    https://youtu.be/q5c10CRX2gk

    20

    • #
      Stanley

      That’s a mouthful.

      00

    • #
      Bruce

      Organic LSD?

      Cosmic, man!

      Our bountiful oceans can also provide the unwary with: Ciguatera poisoning from Mackerel, possible DEATH from dodgy Paralytic shell fish poisoning and then there is the Japanese Roulette favourite, Fugu poisoning.

      10

      • #
        Hanrahan

        Ciguatera: When the local fishers caught a big wrasse on the GBR they would feed the wings to the cat. If the cat came back for seconds, they would eat the fish.

        00

        • #
          Hanrahan

          Ciguatera is a toxin that you do not develop immunity to, just sensitivity. Once poisoned you may never be able to eat fish again.

          10

  • #
    David Maddison

    Music.

    Excellent performance of Canon and Gigue in D major for 3 violins and basso continuo (Kanon und Gigue für 3 Violinen mit Generalbaß), otherwise known as Pachelbel’s Canon in D.

    Enjoy.

    https://youtu.be/jJRdLZyOU4w

    40

  • #
    el+gordo

    In a brilliant speech Mark Carney says the old world order is dead.

    We can all agree on that.

    07

  • #
    KP

    Indonesia’s new laws criminalising insults to the politicians and sex outside marriage…

    ” “attacks on the honour or dignity” of the president and vice-president a jailable offence”

    ““The laws probably won’t lead to mass arrests tomorrow,” he says. “The real impact is subtler: ordinary people, journalists and activists starting to think twice before speaking out, just to avoid becoming someone’s test case. That kind of chill is very human – and very real”.”

    Sounds like Indonesia is joining the Western countries, cracking down on freedom of speech and being rude to politicians. The author writes as if its not happening in Australia.

    https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/why-indonesia-s-worrying-shift-is-hard-to-ignore-20260119-p5nv53.html

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    • #
      David Maddison

      Strange that all these anti-free speech laws including those wanting to make it an offence to do things like portray Albanese in a bikini (despite sex/gender having no biological definition in Australia) coincides with the WEF Davos meeting.

      Mmmm…

      BTW, while I’m still allowed to post it, he’s a link to one of thousands of AI generated images and videos of our Dear Leader Comrade Chairman Anthony Albanese in a bikini.

      https://x.com/i/status/2009862573232140542

      It looks like it’s based on the image of him wearing the infamous “Joy Division” t shirt, apparently having no clue, or maybe he did, of the National Socialist concentration camp sex slave origin of that name.

      21

    • #
      Steve

      Dark times.

      If the USA were ever to criminalize calling politicians offensive names, I would be arrested pretty much every day, twice on Sundays.

      40

    • #
      Rowjay

      KP – do you ever regret taking out an SMH subscription?

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      • #
        KP

        “do you ever regret taking out an SMH subscription?”

        Rowjay, I love to see what the enemy is up to, and it always warms my heart to see how absolutely stupid the stuff is that they print… Even worse are any commenters, especially today with the article on Eraring Power Station. Some people are completely wedded to the idea that solar power will be free and we can run Aussie on ruinables if we just put in a few more…

        21

  • #
    Steve

    Usha Vance is pregnant. If all goes well, the Vance’s 4th child will be the first born to a sitting Vice President some time in July.

    https://www.cbsnews.com/news/second-lady-usha-vance-announces-pregnant-fourth-child-jd-vance/

    On a trivial note, the only other child born to an elected President/VP during his term is Esther Cleveland. Esther’s father Grover Cleveland was the first man to win non-consecutive presidential terms, a feat matched last year by JD Vance’s running mate Donald Trump. Yet another weird connection between the Cleveland presidency and the Trump presidency.

    40

  • #
    Rowjay

    Shades of War Trauma…

    This video breaks down one of the most dangerous and least discussed consequences of Russia’s war in Ukraine: what happens when thousands of traumatized soldiers come home to a society that offers them impunity instead of rehabilitation. Since 2022, at least a thousand people inside Russia have been killed by returning servicemen, not on the battlefield but in homes, courtyards, and everyday civilian life.

    20

    • #
      Nigel W

      Russia could solve that problem the same way Ukraine has…

      Leave them on the front line.

      Vietnam vets will look sane and untraumatised, compared to the ones that will leave this one.

      20

    • #
      Vladimir

      It is truth, but not the whole truth.
      Joining the “special operation” was a ticket out of prison for many hardened criminals.
      BTW, leaving them in the trenches was getting too risky for their immediate NCOs…

      30

    • #
      KP

      ‘The Russian Dude’… otherwise known as CIA Propaganda Central…

      20

  • #
    Greg in NZ

    https://www.semafor.com/article/01/19/2026/davos-opens-with-fresh-direction-under-blackrock-ceo

    The Fink? Whatever happened to Mr ex-Nestle?

    Semafor – written/edited by Smith & Smith (not related), ex-NYTimes, Bloomberg, WashPo, etc. churnos so keep a pinch of salt handy.

    20

  • #
    David Maddison

    TRUMP Administration statement at WEF/Darvos.

    In terms of support for workers and other aspects of the video statement, it sounds like something that even the US Democrats or Australian Labor would have supported, back in the day, when some of them actually cared before being totally infested with communists. Of course, Democrats and Labor today don’t want employed workers, they want life-long welfare recipients who have been created to ensure their respective voter bases.

    https://x.com/i/status/2013638111977222213

    Globalization has FAILED.

    Secretary Lutnick at the World Economic Forum:

    “The Trump Administration and I are here to make a very clear point—globalization has failed the West and the United States of America. It’s a failed policy… and it has left America behind.”

    America is done exporting jobs and offshoring its future. We will no longer give in to globalization.

    See link for 2 min video.

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  • #
    John Connor II

    Anyone aee the solar storm last night?
    I was out at midnight watering the garden and looked up.
    Saw a light crescent at the horizon in the far southern sky with some faint light pillars rising from it and some wispy flashing “clouds” racing overhead at 100x normal cloud speed.
    Not remotely as good as auroras in the northern hemisphere, but I’ve never ever seen one, especially at this latitude.
    Woke up at 3am and had a look too. Not as good but still visible.

    30

  • #
    John Connor II

    Silver to $500?

    https://x.com/AGAsianGuy/status/2013648463993491569

    Your daily dose of AI.

    20

    • #
      ozfred

      Is there an Australian market for USA 1920s Mercury silver dollars? Or earlier versions. While there are a few mint/date combinations that have “extra collectors” value most have minimal collectors interest.

      10

  • #
    John Connor II

    I need your clothes, your boots and your motorcycle car, your house and your boat

    Norway advising citizens of preparations for wartime property requisitions, military says.

    Thousands of Norwegians are expected to receive letters from the military on Monday informing them that their homes, vehicles, boats and machinery may be requisitioned in the event of war.

    “The requisitions are intended to ensure that, in a wartime situation, the armed forces have access to the resources necessary for the defence of the country,” the military said in a statement.

    https://x.com/UNIT_Diplomat/status/2013242673365172419

    You’re better off just exiting NATO.

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    • #
      Hanrahan

      My Grandfather and his sons built the MV Paluma in 1941. The Navy took it over, didn’t sink it and eventually gave it back.

      Paluma was requisitioned for wartime use on 11 September 1941 and purchased on 1 June 1942.[2] The launch was being used as the examination and patrol vessel at Thursday Island when offered to meet a requirement for seaworthy small ships to insert Coastwatchers and gather intelligence for a proposed Allied offensive against Rabaul.[2][3][4]

      General characteristics
      Tonnage 45 Gross Tons
      Length 66 ft (20 m)
      Beam 14 ft (4.3 m)
      Draught 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
      Speed 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph)
      Armament
      2 × 0.5″ Browning Machine Guns
      2 × .303″ Bren Guns
      2 × Mk. VII depth charges

      10

  • #
    John Connor II

    How to extinguish a gas cylinder flare off

    https://va.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_t9681wBvle1z23obp.mp4

    Almost needs Benny Hill music.

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    • #
      another ian

      Do a “Red Adair”

      If you can get a hose with a fan spray start below the flame and walk the hose up slowly.

      Walks the flame above the gas cloud and puts it out.

      40

  • #
    John Connor II

    Canadian school bans classic books in name of inclusion

    A London, Ontario, secondary school binned more than 10,000 library books between January and March this year under the Thames Valley District School Board’s “inclusive libraries revitalization project,” eliminating more than half of the school’s 18,000-book collection.

    Calling the exclusion of books liberals find ideologically threatening “inclusive” is classically Orwellian. So it figures that 1984 and Animal Farm are among the banned books.

    https://www.junonews.com/p/orwell-sir-john-a-macdonald-titles

    Next up, book burnings.

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    • #
      Bruce

      I think it was Churchill, who, upon hearing of the regular book burnings in pre-war nazi Germany , quipped:

      “When books are burned, people soon follow:.

      Astute chap.

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  • #
    another ian

    FWIW – Update at another blog, no link

    “Alberta needed 177,000 verified signatures in 120 days

    for a Separation Referendum

    They got 192,000 verified signatures in ONE DAY”

    40

    • #
      yarpos

      People queing in the snow to sign. Not a good sign for remainers.

      40

    • #
      another ian

      FWIW

      Nothing newer I’ve seen tonight.

      With “Carney’s Can’ts” in charge at that rate Trump might have to rescue free speech in Alberta

      20

  • #
    Bruce

    The multi-billion Dollar US “Day-care” alleged fraud rolls on.

    Spot the common denominator.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7A9ujJuGc84

    20

  • #
    ozfred

    Cloudfare timeouts accessing this site just after 1300 BNE time.
    More traffic of interest or of disruption?

    .
    [Appears to have been another DDOS attack with huge traffic to the site. – Raquel]

    70