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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A man who had been a farmer, and also a miner, and who had been ill-used by his landlords, dug a cave for himself by the seaside, at Marsdon Rocks, between Shields and Sunderland, about the year 1780, and the singularity of such a habitation, exciting the curiosity of many to pay him a visit; our author was one of that number. Exulting in the idea of a human being, who had bravely emancipated himself from the iron fangs of aristocracy, to live free from impost, he wrote extempore with chaulk above the fire place of this free man, the following lines:
Ye landlords vile, whose man’s peace mar,
Come levy rents here if you can;
Your stewards and lawyers I defy,
And live with all the RIGHTS OF MAN
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Spence – a ‘radical’ of that time believed in universal suffrage, ‘social guarantee’ extended to provide income for those unable to work; The ‘rights of infants’ [children] to be free from abuse and poverty. – what a madman!
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How propaganda works. China going great guns, but at what cost?
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2025/01/sowing-doubt-about-china-but-at-what-cost.html#more
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Not on the list:
– China biolabs – but at what blah
– China’s severe Covid lockdowns – but blah blah
But does feel like subliminal programming – China = Cost
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In the end, the Chinese people will pay the cost of preserving power in communist hands. What a pity Deng Xiaoping didn’t introduce democracy in his reforms. Mind you, in the west, democracy seems only to be delaying communist rule – but the delay has lasted a few hundred years now and a number of leaders are working hard to extend that.
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” What a pity Deng Xiaoping didn’t introduce democracy in his reforms. ”
Lol! Western democracy is no shining example of the usefulness of the system! What have we got?? Corrupt politicians, the world’s richest billionaires and the people living their lives in debt! All it has shown is the stupidity of the average voter and the countries being run by those in power behind the scenes. Our propaganda and censorship levels are right there with any dictatorship!
Democracy would do nothing for them, changing the leader has never changed anything.
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The problem is when politicians discover that they can give “free stuff” to buy votes. At that point the collapse of that society is inevitable.
There needs to be constitutional limits on what Government can spend on which should be restricted to law and order, defence, enforcement of contracts and very little else.
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Spot On! Exactly why Australia is declining,
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Those who remember von Daniken and his theories on ancient civilisations will get a sense of deja vu on reading this
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-14045481/Shock-new-theory-Easter-Island-netflix-Ancient-Apocalypse.html
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Unlike Erich von Däniken, Graham Hancock does not believe in ancient extraterrestrial visitation.
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But does Graham Hancock, perhaps, have a book to sell?
Auto
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I’m not so certain that ancient civilizations were visited by extra terrestrials. There is some evidence of a 6,000 year disaster cycle. The last global disaster was about 6,000 years ago. With the current weakening of the Earth’s magnetic field and the acceleration of the magnetic pole movement, it looks like we could very well beheaded for the next one at some point in the not too distant future – in geological time scales. These disaster events would have decimated the populations at the time and sent the survivors back to a more primitive culture. However, some of the artifacts of the more advanced civilizations would have survived and look out of place to us when we discover them and look back in time. I suppose it’s a bit like having a 1000 piece jigsaw but without a guide picture. Just consider the effects of a Carrington like event on our world today. The electrical grid would be fried, all satellites would be destroyed, no communications, no transport, no food shopping, no distribution of goods, out of control fires from lithium batteries, no emergency services – the list goes on. A great reset all right. Imagine, with no records of our “civilization” for future generations – everything stored on computer would be gone, including your bank accounts – and coming across artifacts years later. 11,000 to 12,000 years ago for Easter Island would probably fit in with this disaster cycle. Whilst it isn’t proven, some aspects of this disaster cycle theory may be worth considering.
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I have often expressed my concerns at the headlong race to a digital world which not only has often seemed to make life more complicated but has profound implications for our energy supplies and security
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/2000800/ex-mi6-china-ev-uk-ban-sir-richard-dearlove
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Shortly before the project was terminated a controller on the CBS evening news said: “It takes me 12 commands to do what I used to do with one.”
https://www.cs.hmc.edu/~markk/SWE_copies/worstever.html
“A young man, recently hired, devotes years to a specification written to the bit level for programs that will never be coded. Another, to a specification that will be replaced. Programmers marry one another, then divorce and marry someone in another subsystem. Program designs are written to severe formats, then forgotten. The formats endure. A man decides to become a woman and succeeds before system testing starts. As testing approaches, she begins a second career on local television, hosting a show on witchcraft. An architect chases a new technology, then another, then changes his mind and goes into management. A veteran programmer writes the same program a dozen times, then transfers. The price of money increases eight times. Programmers sleep in the halls. Committees convene for years to discuss keystroking. An ambitious training manager builds an encyclopedia of manuals no one will ever use. Decisions are scheduled weeks in advance. Workers sit in the hallways. Notions of computing begin in the epoch of A, edge toward B, then come down hard on A + B. Human factors experts achieve Olympian status. The Berlin Wall collapses. The map of Europe is redrawn. Everything is counted. Quality becomes mixed with quantity. Morale is reduced to a quotient, then counted. Dozens of men and women argue for thousands of hours: What is a requirement? A generation of workers retire. The very mission changes and only a few notice. Programming theories come and go. Managers cling to expectations, like a child to a blanket. Presentations are polished to create an impression, then curbed to cut costs. Then they are studied. The work spikes and spikes again. Offices are changed a dozen times. Management retires and returns. The contractor is sold. Software is blamed. Executives are promoted. The years rip by with no end in sight. A company president gets an idea: make large small. Turn methods over to each programmer. Dress down. Count on the inscrutability of programming. Promote good news. Turn a leaf away from the sun. Maybe start over.”
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That’s how progress is made – trial and error. Anyone who thinks they can design and implement a faultless system has rocks where rocks don’t belong.
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Thank you for that link.
It illustrates beautifully why so many of us find it blindingly obvious that we’ve taken a wrong turn towards enforced absurdity and it’s scary.
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haha! Easy for an ex-snivel servant to say “Ban these car and make everyone pay far more for a local brand, or not be able to afford a car and catch a bus..”
However the politicians have to answer for any giant steps they take in driving our standard of living down, they prefer constant small ones so we can’t measure the degradation. Every tariff, every trade war, every import ban makes things more expensive and forces our standard of living down.
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How would you like one of these incendiary devices near you :
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/01/17/evacuations-road-closures-begin-as-fire-engulfs-worlds-largest-battery-plant-in-california/
and
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/01/17/massive-fire-engulfs-moss-landing-battery-plant-triggers-evacuations/
The power plant that previously operated on that site would never have produced such toxic pollution but would have provided useful power to the grid , which the batteries would never have done .
The leftists got what they voted for , and the other fires in LA . They got it good and hard !
I would rather a nice safe nuclear power station . Or even better , if coal was nearby , a nice safe , wealth generating coal fired power station .
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Here’s one I am involved with as an advisor:
https://www.massfiscal.org/hazard_warning_for_everett_s_lithium_battery_park
700 MW in a big development next to Boston. No thanks!
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The link makes no mention of the battery capacity.
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That is not specified but their other projects are 2 hrs and that fits their cost estimate so 1400 MWh is likely. Roughly half the capacity of Moss Landing. But theirs are all together unlike Moss where only the 300 MW/1200 MWh phase 1 burned inside the old power house. Hence a bit bigger than Moss.
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This seems an increasing demand by those who expect recompense for the past and the hugely improved standard of living conferred on them
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14295201/tony-armstrong-wealth-back.html
Where does it stop? Do the Romans Saxons Vikings and Normans need to pay huge sums to those of us in Britain?
Do the Mongols need to compensate India for the mogul empire. How much should Spain pay out to mexico?
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https://rumble.com/v6al5ky-robert-kaplan-global-weimar-waste-land-and-a-world-in-permanent-crisis.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp Sunday book review interview: The world is becoming more interconnected and claustrophobic as Globalization 2.0 pulls us closer together. All three great powers are in decline, but America has the greatest potential to remake itself, and can see a new burst of dynamism under Trump. Israel stands at the heart of this global geopolitical war. Because of urbanization cities will be the principle world stage going forward where crowds, technology, and history will intersect.
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Those in the service industries in the cities are about to find out that no one can afford the services they offer and in reality who needed them anyway? It is going to get ugly. At least they will have their Superannuation to carry them through. It is safely invested in renewal energy infrastructure, large office buildings, pieces of paper called securities that were once loans to developing countries, etc. Safe and effective retirement investments!!
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We have never found a cave painting of a salad, just animals for meat…
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All the salads were just to the side(s) of the main course.
No brussel sprouts either.
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There’s no recording of the fearsome fight and capture of the first carrot. Many lives were lost that day.
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Former White House chef shows the patriotic MEAT meal he would prepare for TRUMP’s first meal back in the WH.
Very short video.
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Did he catch the steer in his bare hands as well?
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A guy built like that may well have…
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Upping the ante –
“ExxonMobil Is Done Playing Nice—And Rob Bonta Should Be Worried”
“It looks like ExxonMobil has finally had enough of California’s environmentalist clown show. In a move that can only be described as epic, Exxon has filed a defamation lawsuit against California Attorney General Rob Bonta and his merry band of activist accomplices, including the Sierra Club and other virtue-signaling outfits. Their crime? Allegedly smearing Exxon’s reputation with claims that are as baseless as they are self-serving.”
More at
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/01/18/exxonmobil-is-done-playing-nice-and-rob-bonta-should-be-worried/
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The Democrats have abused the court system for years. En masse their victims are now fighting back, rather than trying to bargain, placate and cower. It is possible Trump has shown them how. Expect lawfare to be reversed and this time with clarity and devastating effect. The days of accommodating the insane are over.
The public do not runaway prices and scarcity and the utter dismantling of the public service from the military to the fire brigade. And in boardrooms across the world, the DEI/ESG/BLM/Climate change destructive fantasies are being tossed out and litigated. At last.
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“At last.”
Indeed, long overdue, I suggest.
And the hope us the assessed damages will be tremendous.
Exemplary, perhaps!
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And in the UK the idea of white privilege has been shattered. After three official ‘inquiries’, the Pakistani mass rape gangs dismissed as ‘grooming’ (implying gentle persuasion) are being called out for what they were. And chief supporter of the Pakistani right to get away with it was none other than Sir Keir Starmer. Was it about racism? No, it’s easier to jail white people for speaking out than to risk losing Pakistani votes.
The same in Australia where having sponsored uncontrolled migration, the Labor party is in the thrall of whole suburbs of anti Israel Muslims in league with the traditional Communist hatred of Jews. And we, like South Africa, are doing our best to destroy Israel while stating that we are not anti Semitic. Which is ridiculous.
The conflict in the old Commonwealth of England, South Africa, Australia, Canada with the incoming Trump government is profound. Forget climate change and AUKUS. Is there any leader of these Commonwealth countries who has not openly called Donald Trump the village idiot?
Watch for the complete rout of the leaders of these countries as they face the reality of defending themselves and trade sanctions.
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GRETA THUNBERG- A FAIRY TALE
(Author unknown.)
Poor Greta. Life without petroleum and petroleum based products.
One crisp winter morning in Sweden, a cute little girl named Greta woke up to a perfect world, one where there were no petroleum products ruining the earth. She tossed aside her cotton sheet and wool blanket and stepped out onto a dirt floor covered with willow bark that had been pulverized with rocks.
“What’s this?” she asked.
“Pulverized willow bark,” replied her fairy godmother.
“What happened to the carpet?” she asked.
“The carpet was nylon, which is made from butadiene and hydrogen cyanide, both made from petroleum,” came the response.
Greta smiled, acknowledging that adjustments are necessary to save the planet, and moved to the sink to brush her teeth where instead of a toothbrush, she found a willow, mangled on one end to expose wood fibre bristles.
“Your old toothbrush?” noted her godmother,
“Also nylon.”
“Where’s the water?” asked Greta.
“Down the road in the canal,” replied her godmother, Just make sure you avoid water with cholera in it.”
“Why’s there no running water?” Greta asked, becoming a little peevish.
“Well,” said her godmother, who happened to teach engineering at MIT, “Where do we begin?”
There followed a long monologue about how sink valves need elastomer seats and how copper pipes contain copper, which has to be mined and how it’s impossible to make all-electric earth-moving equipment with no gear lubrication or tires and how ore has to be smelted to a make metal, and that’s tough to do with only electricity as a source of heat, and even if you use only electricity, the wires need insulation, which is petroleum-based, and though most of Sweden’s energy is produced in an environmentally friendly way because of hydro and nuclear, if you do a mass and energy balance around the whole system, you still need lots of petroleum products like lubricants and nylon and rubber for tires and asphalt for filling potholes and wax and iPhone plastic and elastic to hold your underwear up while operating a copper smelting furnace and . . .
“What’s for breakfast?” interjected Greta, whose head was hurting.
“Fresh, range-fed chicken eggs,” replied her godmother. “Raw.”
“How so, raw?” inquired Greta.
“Well, . . .” And once again, Greta was told about the need for petroleum products like transformer oil and scores of petroleum products essential for producing metals for frying pans and in the end was educated about how you can’t have a petroleum-free world and then cook eggs. Unless you rip your front fence up and start a fire and carefully cook your egg in an orange peel like you do in Boy Scouts. Not that you can find oranges in Sweden anymore.
“But I want poached eggs like my Aunt Tilda makes,” lamented Greta.
“Tilda died this morning,” the godmother explained. “Bacterial pneumonia.”
“What?!” interjected Greta. “No one dies of bacterial pneumonia! We have penicillin.”
“Not anymore,” explained godmother “The production of penicillin requires chemical extraction using isobutyl acetate, which, if you know your organic chemistry, is petroleum-based. Lots of people are dying, which is problematic because there’s not any easy way of disposing of the bodies since backhoes need hydraulic oil and crematoriums can’t really burn many bodies using as fuel Swedish fences and furniture, which are rapidly disappearing – being used on the black market for roasting eggs and staying warm.”
This represents only a fraction of Greta’s day, a day without microphones to exclaim into and a day without much food, and a day without carbon-fibre boats to sail in, but a day that will save the planet.
Tune in tomorrow when Greta needs a root canal and learns how Novocain is synthesized.
Credit goes to author (unknown).
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Spheres aren’t the only three dimensional shapes of constant width.
There are other shapes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_of_constant_width?wprov=sfla1
Video.
https://youtu.be/cUCSSJwO3GU
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