Recent Posts


Friday

7.8 out of 10 based on 6 ratings

25 comments to Friday

  • #
  • #
    Just Thinkin'

    We know who the “robbers” are with tobacco in Australia are, don’t we?

    50

  • #
  • #
    Hanrahan

    Why would someone spend $100,000 buying a 2,500 kg “truck” and then complain about the price of gas? To make things worse it likely has a smaller, “blown” engine that will fail before the truck is paid off.

    The oil shock was over 50 years ago and the cost of gas has been cook-out conversation and political fodder since. Help me make sense of it all. 🙂

    00

    • #
      David Maddison

      complain about the price of gas?

      Maybe they still want to minimise running costs.

      In any case, if you are talking about Australia, the extra price of gasoline is a small proportion of overall cost considering huge government taxes in Australia for vehicles deemed to be excessive fuel consumers (the so-called “ute tax”). Not to mention huge gasoline taxes in Australia, for one of the lowest population density countries in the world with vast distances to drive.

      Let people have freedom of choice. I’m sick of government interfering with personal purchase decisions.

      140

  • #
    David Maddison

    Excellent animation.

    Mad Marx: A Terrifying Glimpse Into Our Future Under Socialism

    (Mad Max parody.)

    https://x.com/TheBabylonBee/status/2077536186873069673

    10

    • #
      RickWill

      I responded to a survey that the Liberal Party put out a couple of days ago. It made me think about the organisation of Labor in Australia compared with the Liberals and One Nation.

      Albanese now sits atop a powerful neo-communist kleptocracy. The roots are very clear in Victoria where the State government has overspent on numerous large projects that have 100% enforced unionised labour. Money that is automatically extorted from individuals through the payment system gets skimmed through union dues back to Labor coffers to operate their Party machinery.

      Showy Hydro 2 is the most visible Federal scheme with the same basic model. Massive overspend on a fully unionised site with extorted money flowing back into Labor coffers.

      I was somewhat surprised by the fact that not a single Federal Labor Minister has had a real job. They have worked their way up through the Labor machine – a few working as union reps in privately owned businesses.

      Some decades ago now, I had a boss who was aghast to learn that when the automatic bank transfer payroll system was set up in Broken Hill, there was an automatic deduction for union dues and a significant amount of money was sent to the local Labor union office every month. He stopped the automatic transfer immediately and said that he wanted the employees to really know how much their union was costing them.

      Keating enshrined the theft and it now goes to wealth funds that support the Federal and State kleptocracies.

      The Capacity Investment Scheme that Blackout administers is another example of the neo-communist kleptocracy. This is an insidious scheme, clouded in secrecy, and is designed to take money from Australians to enrich government backers here and overseas.

      People see Sleazy as a dimwit yet he sits atop the greatest neo-communist kleptocracy in human history. There are enough people benefiting from the theft that it is guaranteed survival. Takers now outnumber makers.

      Operators on SH2 were awarded pay INCREASES of $50,000 this year. About a 10% increase. You would need to train for 20 years as a specialist surgeon to match what a SH2 operator gets.

      Blackout awarded himself $155M to spread the neo-communist playbook to COP31. (This is how my secret deals work). Similar conversation that Al Gore had with Clive Palmer that caused him to embrace the Climate Change™ hoax.

      Albanese has achieved what the United Nations seek.

      Robots do not pay union dues and that is why they are bound to be big in the future.

      80

      • #
        Dr Faustus

        Robots do not pay union dues and that is why they are bound to be big in the future.

        Of course this is true.

        I suspect that it’s the main driver behind Albanese’s chaotic and contradictory movement towards AI regulation with Australian characteristics. Someone, somewhere has to work out how to harvest any productivity gains to be had by replacing expensive humans working on menial tasks with generative AI.

        Sally McManus explains.

        Australians don’t trust AI because of the lack of clear benefit for working people. We have had big promises, but so far, no guarantee that any benefits will be shared with workers.

        Bed wetting about the arts and creative industries and wrestling with the collapsing energy system are second order issues behind the ACTU hand stuffed up the back of Albanese’s jacket.

        Expect the mother of all fear campaigns as this failed government fails Australia again.

        20

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    “Japan Chooses Reliable Energy Over Climate Nonsense”

    “Not long ago, Japan stood before the world pledging to become a paragon of decarbonization. Government papers were filled with talk of hydrogen corridors, offshore wind farms, and electric vehicle subsidies.

    To satisfy international climate lobbies, Japan planned for years to phase out coal. Operations at coal-fired power plants were restricted to only 50% capacity. Political leaders spoke solemnly of a “moral duty” to achieve “carbon neutrality” by 2050, pledging a 60% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2035 and a 73% cut by 2040, both measured from 2013 levels.

    But as geopolitical reality intruded, this stance dissipated.”

    More at

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2026/07/16/japan-chooses-reliable-energy-over-climate-nonsense/

    40

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    “Political Crisis in Kiev as Shrinking Zelensky Ousts Popular Defense Minister”

    https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/political-crisis-in-kiev-as-shrinking

    50

    • #
      el+gordo

      Syrsky was trained under USSR battle tactics, which is why Russia is losing the war, so everyone will be watching to see how this plays out before winter.

      To keep a lid on things Mykhailo Fedorov will have to be moved sideways, a portfolio outside of Defence. As the war is coming to a close, he is sitting pretty to become the next president of Ukraine after Zelensky goes to Brussels to fight for EU acceptance.

      01

  • #
    Nigel W

    With the scrub of Starship test Flight 13 earliertoday, my X “for you” feed has returned to its relentless anti- One Nation, pro- Labor slopfest.

    Prior to the rise of One Nation in the polls, that feed was equally relentless pro-Climate Change propaganda/slop.

    Which raises the question of how the X algorithm “decides” what you should see and, in my case, be diametrically opposed to the X accounts that I follow….?

    With Labor accusing One Nation of paying for social media bot farms, and socialists always accusing others of what they themselves do, one has to wonder about the true flow of money here…

    40

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    “ARISTOTLE FOR THE WIN:”

    “If you’re a ruler and you don’t care about your country, the foreigner is a much better resident than the citizen. The foreigner won’t complain while you pillage the place. He only asks for a cut of the loot and some legal protections.”

    Answer to the question there –

    https://x.com/JesseKellyDC/status/2077794556771250657

    Via https://instapundit.com/810584/#disqus_thread

    10

  • #

    Bah Humbug! I’ve been doing all this for too long now, and huh! it’s only been eighteen years. You’d think that there’d be nothing ….. NEW for me to write about eh!

    And yet every so often, I stumble across something really interesting.

    You know how renewables are so d@mned cheap, (/sarc) and how we were originally told, you know, they’ll REPLACE fossil fuel power plants pretty soon.

    Well, look at this pretty cool fun fact.

    I won’t even go back to when I started in 2008, but I’ll scroll a little forwards even to 2014. Wind and solar were still in their infancy, just starting to ramp up, and at that time, they were not only cheap, but politicians told us they were ….. free ….. you know, free power from the blowing wind, and free power from the shining Sun, and rooftop solar was still on the con man’s note pad being worked on. Batteries were still ….. (here mate, stand up on this really high ladder, use this telescope, and look out far on that horizon there)

    So in 2014, Fossil fuel plants delivered 86% of all the generated power across the AEMO coverage area. The total Nameplate was a whoppingly humungous incredibly large 32,000MW. Jeez! How the hell do we replace all of that?

    Now, here we are in 2026, so barely 12 years after those criminal times of fossil fuel powered 2014, and wind and solar power helped along by that now growing bonny bouncing (and now hugely overweight) infant, rooftop solar power, those batteries on that far horizon are now on the shoreline, ready to lend their hand.

    So, all we needed to do was to replace that 32000MW of evil fossil fuel power plants Nameplate, and frabjous day, we now have a stunningly huge Nameplate for those three renewables of, umm, 56,000MW. So, not only have we replaced that Fossil Nameplate of 32,000MW, we now have 24,000MW excess.

    So, I dunno, but isn’t that job done then?

    And here’s me wondering why we still actually have 28,500MW of fossil fuel power plants. Umm, isn’t that somewhat anachronistic? (or should that be axiomatic)

    Huh! Makes me think …… now why did I even bother?

    Tony.

    30

    • #
      wal1957

      I’m reminded of the old saying…”a chain is only as good as its weakest link”.
      We know that there are periods at night when the sun is sleeping and the wind is having a well earned rest that unreliables are producing a pittance of their nameplate power.

      So how many multiples of “pittance” power do we need to pick up the slack? The gub’ment certainly don’t know.
      And how many 100s of $Billions will this fantasy chew up?
      Me thinks there’s a big hole in the bucket and the poor sucker taxpayers of Australia have been sold a lemon!

      10

  • #
    OldOzzie

    From Yesterday Jo Nova

    another ian
    July 16, 2026 at 5:32 pm · Reply

    A link there

    “Calm Yourself on the Drones for a Bit, if You Don’t Mind…
    …be interested, but keep your pants on…”

    https://cdrsalamander.substack.com/p/calm-yourself-on-the-drones-for-a?r=192g33&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email&triedRedirect=true

    That Linked through to this Excellent Article it was Reviewing

    Excellent Article on Sea Drones, puts Ukraian Black Sea & Hormuz blockade into perspective

    Sean Andrews is a retired Royal Australian Navy Captain and currently a senior research fellow at the Strategy, Statecraft and Technology – Changing Character of War Centre, Pembroke College, University of Oxford.

    Australian Strategic Policy Institute Why Navies still matter in the Age of Drones 10 Jul 2026

    At sea, drones are disruptive, but they are not decisive.

    They complicate the maritime fight, but they do not replace the enduring strategic logic of sea power.

    Combat in the Black Sea and Persian Gulf demonstrate this.

    Iran achieved limited denial in the Strait of Hormuz, and by doing so in a chokepoint gained great effect on global energy flows. Again, it didn’t achieve sea control.

    The debate over whether drones will make navies obsolete has become one of the most persistent and most misleading arguments in contemporary strategy.

    The imagery is seductive: cheap, fast, expendable drones humiliating billion-dollar warships; swarms overwhelming layered defences; small actors imposing strategic paralysis on larger fleets.

    But the conclusion that navies are entering their twilight is wrong. Drones can damage ships, but they can’t fill the roles of navies. They can harass maritime trade but can’t secure it.

    They can impose risk, but they can’t project sovereignty, uphold maritime order or provide the diplomatic and constabulary presence that underpins a stable Indo‑Pacific

    Australia’s edge in the drone era will come not from choosing between ships and uncrewed systems but from generating a force that can survive intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance saturation; sustain itself under fire; and adapt faster than adversaries.

    Mass, dispersion, industrial depth and maritime logistics – not the drones themselves – will decide who prevails.

    Drones disrupt, but they do not replace sea power. The future belongs to countries and navies that understand that.

    Attribution – https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/why-navies-still-matter-in-the-age-of-drones/

    20

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    “Y2Kyoto: The Great Backpeddling”

    Today, I share more big news about how official climate scenarios continue to evolve.”

    “CMIP7 has just published the final versions of its new scenarios as they have emerged from integrated assessment models (IAMs), updating the placeholders that accompanied their April announcement. The final versions — once again — dramatically reduces the cumulative carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels from the April placeholder”

    “Do read the whole thing, including the conclusions at the end: The massive scale-back of projected future carbon dioxide emissions means, all else equal, less future changes in climate; As a consequence, there will surely be enormous political pressures placed on the climate science community to create projections with greater changes in climate, based on factors other than carbon dioxide emissions”

    And links

    https://www.smalldeadanimals.com/2026/07/16/y2kyoto-the-great-backpeddling/

    20

  • #
    Brenda Spence

    What do the readers here make of this Australia wide alert that is ocurring on the 27th of July? Why has this become necessary?

    There is a lot of comment on fb about it, and a suggestion on how to switch it off. I looked in my notifications settings and lo! there it was Ausalert! It must have been downloaded automatically with a phone update.

    Not sure about this development.

    20

  • #
    STJOHNOFGRAFTON

    Maybe after Cop31 the UN Climate Change Conference in Turkey in November this year, the delegates will vote unanimously to fly economy for Cop32. Maybe they’ll go even one better and do Cop32 on Google Meet or Skype. Imagine the benefits to the climate.

    00

  • #
    John Connor II

    Things hotting up massively in the Iran war, as predicted.
    Trump wouldn’t be stupid enough to try a ground assault would he, despite the historical indicators being duplicated right now. Desperate men do desperate things…
    US SPR’s very close to tank bottom NOW, and even the EIA is going public explaining it.
    Rationing and panic buying incoming.
    Throw in Bab el-Mandeb closure and it’s Mad Max time.
    Barter town runs on methane you know. Bacon and energy is always a win. 😆
    That secure lockup with power I leased was just in time! 😁
    Only at the precipice do the masses wake up.

    Yawn…stretch…the above was all just a bad dream. Thank dawg for that!

    01

  • #
    John Connor II

    Lawyers to investigate claims of GB power grid cover-up over blackout risk

    The government-owned energy system operator will face the scrutiny of an external legal firm after a whistleblower claimed that control room staff were warned against leaving a paper trail relating to efforts to stabilise the power system during record high temperatures in late June.

    The accusations, which were raised in parliament last week by the Conservative shadow minister Claire Coutinho, include claims that senior bosses at the National Energy System Operator (Neso) were “risking blackouts to protect Neso’s reputation”.

    “These whistleblowers are coming to me because they are worried that the grid is becoming increasingly unmanageable and they do not have faith that their concerns are being taken seriously internally,”

    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jul/13/lawyers-to-investigate-claims-of-gb-power-grid-cover-up-over-blackout-risk

    Far more common than we think I suspect…

    00

  • #
    John Connor II

    Electric blade etching

    https://youtu.be/9Y1-UyMKM94?si=zOIYohvCtitp7gXH

    This is just amazingly good.
    I have years of experience in engraving and laser etching but they’re primitive compared to this guy’s work.
    Truly impressive.

    00

Leave a Reply

You can use these HTML tags

<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>