Monday

9.3 out of 10 based on 11 ratings

135 comments to Monday

  • #
    MeAgain

    I met a bloke whose family have history in the area, who said of the 2011 floods ‘we are yet to see the once in 500-year floods that come yet’.

    Mapped from literature back to 1832: http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/flood/fld_history/brisbane_history.shtml

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    • #
      Scott

      David Burton aka Inigo Jones, has been saying for years that we are heading for floods like we have not seen since the 1700’s. Aboriginal stories talk about a massive flood around the 1780 ish using a river box as a flood and date marker.

      https://trusttrees.org.au/tree/SA/Barmera/Near_The_Overland_Corner_Hotel_Overland_Corner_Overland_Corner_Hotel_Old_Coach_Road

      he mentions the planetary cycles are lining up for the same through to 2029

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      • #
        Eng_Ian

        Planets aligning…… I hope that the people who speak these words understand that the pull of Saturn on the Earth is just about nothing.

        Moving iron ore from WA to china has more impact on the gravitational reactions on Earth. It’s heavy and it’s close, all critical things when you think of gravity falling off at the square of distance.

        As a few people have said long before I came along. If you think that Jupiter ascending on the day you were born makes a difference to the way you go through life, then your parents should have been more careful on where the midwife was standing, she presents several orders of gravitational attraction higher than Jupiter. And as a bonus she’ll probably slap you around a little. Jupiter is just not going to do that.

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        • #
          KP

          That all assumes that gravity is the only thing that matters… A tall assumption!

          What explains the sun moving outside the barycenter of the solar system? Are there more ‘science is settled’ assumptions about electromagnetic forces in the galaxy that are also waiting to be proved wrong?

          ‘Just about nothing’ might be on the scale of chemistry with electrons, while we fail to see nuclear reactions completely.

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        • #
          scott

          I understand the scepticism, however he posts rain dates every month for the following month, as well as major and minor flood events years out.

          I am still waiting for him to be wrong….

          Piers Corbyn in the UK does something similar.

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        • #
          el+gordo

          The force is stronger than gravity and the astrologers are putting up warnings. They talk of revolution, something to do with Uranus in Donnie’s first house.

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      • #
        farmerbraun

        We’re overdue for something big here – nothing much since 2004.

        https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289558909_The_February_2004_floods_in_the_Manawatu_New_Zealand_Hydrological_significance_and_impact_on_channel_morphology

        I can usually count on one every ten years or so.

        The Manawatu River forms the boundary on three side of this farm, and inside the stop-bank I am the ponding area , so full up to the top of the stopbank on both sides is what I get.

        I’ll be watching the last days of March this year . . . all those planets in Pisces , right?
        🙂

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  • #
    MeAgain

    One that passed me by at the time: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-08/bureau-of-meteorology-staff-implicated-in-cryptocurrency-ring/9524208

    Two Bureau of Meteorology employees are being investigated by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) for allegedly running an elaborate operation involving the use of the bureau’s powerful computers to “mine” cryptocurrencies, ABC News has learned.

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  • #
    tonyb

    With all this recent talk about AI being used to write Books and music I thought this was interesting. It comes from an experiment in the 60’s when a computer was asked to compose a poem using the 500 words most frequently used by beatnik poets. This is auto-beatnik poem no 41-Insects

    All children are small and crusty
    And all pale, blind, humble waters are cleaning
    A insect, dumb and torrid, comes of the daddyo
    how is a insect into this fur?

    Bill Bryson notes that when the poem was read to an audience at a LA coffee house many listeners were quite stirred up with admiration.

    I expect the audience here is as well, man.

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  • #
    tonyb

    The Sunday Times in the UK reports the OZ govt is tying itself in knots trying to find a way to implement the ban on children using social media. They ae examining 60 different processes all of which seem quite intrusive or ineffective.

    I don’t see how this can be done unless everyone has to give their age and identity details when setting up a social media account. Would that include this one?

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    • #
      MeAgain

      I think one of the ideas is for AI to go back and check if you have existed online for more than 16 years.

      Unfortunately, most of the really annoying people only started appearing online in the early 2000s, so a lot of them will still get through.

      The nostalgia of the wild west – had an internet connection at home since 1996. Although I was already over 16.

      I plan to take the same approach to this as vax passports or track and trace – if they want me to show ID, I just won’t go there any more.

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      • #
        Philc

        Yep, same.

        Farcebook has suspended my account for 180 days and wont unlock it unless I can prove myself not a bot by uploading a live 30 secod video of me to prove it and that is not going to happen. So long Farcebook friends and relatives.

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        • #
          Bruce

          The greatest personal data-mining operation, so far this century.

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        • #
          DD

          I was suspended months ago for the same reason. I, too, refuse to use them.
          But there is a twist. Every now and then I receive a text message from a phone number that is all 4s (4444444 etc). The sender claims to be the police and the message is usually about a missing person, but, get this, it includes a link to a facebook page. When I receive such messages I ask myself why on earth the police would be using a propriety social media site (one that not everyone uses) rather than their own website to distribute important information to the public, when it is certain that a percentage of the population, for one reason or another, will not get to see the notification. In any event, I don’t open links in text messages, so it is a moot point.

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    • #
      MeAgain

      Whatever they do it should be beneficial to growing the next generation of digital capability – these younger kids that will find the deepest, darkest corners of the internet where they can get around whatever system is in place.

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  • #
    MeAgain

    Light humour (scuse the pun):

    https://www.thenational.com.pg/column-1-859/

    Man who just received his electricity bill complained to his friends that he got charged for the sunlight, the moonlight, the street light, the light of his life, the speed of light, and the light at the end of the tunnel. He does not know that the rates have just gone up.

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  • #
    tonyb

    The election for the next Canadian leader takes place today as Trudeau steps down

    This is the front runner

    https://nypost.com/2025/03/08/world-news/mark-carney-frontrunner-to-replace-trudeau-as-canadas-pm/

    If you have heard the name before, it is because he was the woke governor of the Bank of England for some years and tried his hardest to derail Brexit by making unnecessary interest rate changes. Canada has become violently anti Trump in recent weeks as he calls it the 51st state and imposes huge tariffs and the previous front runner who supported Trump has consequently withered away.

    Much the same has happened in the UK, with Farage fading due to his ties with Trump, not helped by scandal in his party. In a poll, a majority of the public no longer think of the US as an ally, the head of British intelligent is reluctant to share information with the US in case it finds its way to Putin and the five eyes is compromised

    I don’t know what this all means for Aukus as yet.

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    • #
      John F. Hultquist

      Would Canada be the 51st state?
      There are 10 provinces and 3 territories. Shouldn’t they be separate states? Well, except for the French area, ’cause Trump only wants American-English folks. Each province has responded to tariffs in different ways of pulling or taxing US wine and booze. Trump will have to negotiate with each one.

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    • #
      Paul Cottingham

      Since Trump said he wants ‘Peace’, the British people have been under a massive warmongering anti-Russian psyop by the same people responsible for the Covid psyop.

      The head of British intelligence is probably reluctant to share information with the US because Donald Trump is discovering how MI6 meddled in three US Presidential Elections, to try and stop Trump from becoming President, but only succeeded once.

      I think Trump has looked at emails sent from Gina Haspel to Mark Allen of the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) about his False Flag Operation called ‘Toxic Dagger’. Toxic Dagger started on the 20th February 2018, Sergei Skripal was attacked on 4th March 2018, and Toxic Dagger ended on the 12th March 2018.

      Yulia and Sergei Skripal are thought to have been murdered by MI6 or the CIA.

      Also, during the BBC News live coverage of Donald Trumps speech. A statement by Trump was censored by the BBC. Trump said “We have had serious discussions with Russia, and have received strong signals that they are rea———-(Picture of the Capital Building for 4 seconds, with the clock changing to 03:48)———-[applause].

      The statement Censored by the BBC was “ready for peace. wouldn’t that be beautiful, wouldn’t that be beautiful”

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      • #
        Rowjay

        Donald Trump is discovering how MI6 meddled in three US Presidential Elections

        So there was no attempt by Russia to do the same, or were they clever enough to cover their tracks.

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      • #
        Rowjay

        discovering how MI6 meddled

        Maybe Putin advised President Trump that all of the attempted cyberattacks/interference on the US Government and public companies were actually those dastardly MI6 types pretending to be Russians?

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      • #

        Agreed.

        Why was the statement “ready for peace. wouldn’t that be beautiful, wouldn’t that be beautiful” censored by the BBC, as if the opposite ongoing war was preferred???

        And why were the Democrats unable or unwilling to accept that most of the world wants peace, sitting in stunned silence as if a dark evil, cloud had descended on them and extinguished their ability to choose between good and evil.

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      • #
        MrGrimNasty

        Did anyone even bother to look up Toxic Dagger before posting/approving of such utter nonsense?

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      • #
        el+gordo

        Putin is ready for peace on his own terms, that won’t work.

        There are rumours spreading that tariffs (on and off) are giving insiders a chance to make a motza on the stock market.

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      • #
        Rowjay

        Poland plans to give all men (and belatedly women who choose to) military training in ‘race for security’

        It would appear that Poland is the only European country who truly understands the urgency of being prepared for whatever may come, given the realities of today’s world.

        Another MI6 warmongering plot?

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTbgKx_cw1s

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        • #
          Vladimir

          Wojsko Polske until 1939 grew little by little, from 250k to 300k. Mobilisation of course brought it to 1M in two months but it was too late.
          Reichswehr, as per Versailles Treaty, started at 100k but got to 1.8 M in 1939, with mobilisation – 4.2 M people Wehrmacht.
          Numbers tell you a lot but not everything. Possibly, until 1936-37 Poland could have squashed German revolt but their leadership was no better than Soviet or German.
          As they taught in soviet schools – between two wars Poland not only had the biggest Army on the continent but was the most aggressive state, dreaming of enslaving Ukrainian peasants again.

          To cut the story short, Polaks were a year or two late and they lost their country, hope they have learnt their lesson by now…

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    • #
      farmerbraun

      “Canada has become violently anti Trump in recent weeks”

      The silent majority may say otherwise ; we shall see.
      Cousin from Canada was here in NZ last week and said that Carney is well known at grassroots level for what he is ; it is unlikely that media are reporting this.

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      • #
        Greg in NZ

        And NZ’s Reserve Bank ‘boss’ belatedly handed in his resignation letter last week, two years too late. Wonder where he’s going to resurface in the coming months…

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    • #
      Robert Swan

      tonyb,

      In a poll, a majority of the public no longer think of the US as an ally, …

      There are some sceptics at Jo Nova’s who might ask questions like Who commissioned this poll?, Who conducted this poll?, Is it consistent with other polls?, etc.

      It’s almost like they think polls might not be trustworthy.

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    • #
      Steve of Cornubia

      Trump seems to have bodged the Canada issue, IMO. Surely it would have been in America’s interest to have Poilievre elected, but Trump has essentially forced Poilievre to defend Canada’s interests and side with Trudeau and the lefty government, screwing his election chances. He now just looks like your run of the mill Uniparty leader.

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    • #

      Carney got the job.
      https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cg4k2l204zqt

      As Bank of England Governor, he seemed very woke indeed. A WEFfer.
      Not a democrat [small ‘d’], as he wanted – and partially succeeded – in buggering Brexit [tho incompetent pollies like T. May and B. Johnson have much responsibility, too].

      Auto

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    • #
      Graham Richards

      Surely the Canadian electorate are not stupid enough to believe the Liberal policies which are crippling everything & everyone will not change because it’s the exact same party room that creates all the dumbass policies, with a new face attached.

      Sorry it’s quite possible considering how long it takes for the electorate to sit up, take note & arrive at a decision to throw the offending party on the dump!

      Maybe, just maybe they waking up!

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      • #
        Rowjay

        Graham

        Maybe, just maybe they waking up!

        They have. As a constitutional monarchy, they have decided to keep King Charles and not swap him with King Donald.

        It seems that the “people”, also part of NATO, did not appreciate being thrown under a bus, just like any other group.

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  • #
    MeAgain

    The Lutherans are shipping around the palm oil plantation workers – well who knew that?

    https://www.nbc.com.pg/post/18280/workers-told-to-go-back-home

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    • #
      StuMcL

      Nothing really to do with “The Lutherans”. Although the church owns the ships, they have little to do with the running. They are operated by IROK Services on behalf of the owners.

      “IROK Services is a shipping and logistics business, operating coastal passenger and cargo shipping services in Papua New Guinea to provide a vital and essential service link between urban centres and remote community populations”

      IROK is owned by “Chan Corporation Ltd” (as in the Julius Chan family)

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  • #
    MeAgain

    https://uk.yahoo.com/finance/news/ugly-builds-took-over-britain-080000641.html

    As for infuriatingly tiny windows, buyers of new homes have a Kafkaesque regulatory nightmare to thank. “The logic was perverse,” says Nicholas Boys Smith, of think tank Create Streets. “The idea is that because of global warming, people will open windows more because of the heat, which will mean children fall out of windows more.”

    He adds: “Under the last government, officials snuck through changes to Part O building regulations that mean it is more expensive to make windows that are not tiny on the first floor or above. There are workarounds, but they tend to only get deployed in more expensive areas.”

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  • #
    MeAgain

    https://www.shiftedparadigms.org/p/sedation-not-salvation

    In 2020, approximately 75% of Australia’s “COVID-19 deaths” occurred in residential aged-care facilities (RACFs), with more than 40% of these deaths occurring in just ten of these homes; nine of which were in Victoria.

    Victoria experienced 123 of the 129 listed in the Department of Health’s “COVID-19 Outbreaks in Australian Residential Aged-Care Facilities” final report for 2020.

    These 678 “COVID-19 deaths” in RACFs occurred from a mere 2,027 RACF resident “COVID-19 cases”, revealing a case-fatality rate (CFR) of 33.45%.

    In contrast, among 2,238 RACF staff COVID-19 cases, only one death was recorded, resulting in a CFR of just 0.04%.

    The age and general health of RACF staff likely explain these differences, but the statistic remains striking; highlighting COVID-19’s limited lethality in 2020, except among older, comorbid, or chemically restrained individuals.

    Yet, the reasons for the significant disparities in COVID-19 management outcomes among Victorian RACFs remain unclear.

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    • #
      David Maddison

      It’s well known that vitamin D deficiency makes people more susceptible to covid and more likely to die from it.

      Many elderly people are vitamin D deficient because they don’t get enough sun, plus their skin isn’t as efficient at making it, plus a lot of the medical community are ignorant of the need to correct vitamin D deficiency.

      I wonder if there were (and are) different vitamin D management strategies in the different places?

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      • #
        John F. Hultquist

        When Vit D was first mentioned on this site in early covid-days, I investigated and asked my “doctor” about it. She was okay with supplements up to 4,000 units per day.
        Vitamin D has been known to be good for a person in multiple ways. Therefore large “double blind” trials that eliminate all but one thing are essentially impossible. Thus, there is no guidance that says “take it for X, or Y, or Z.” So the answer to the “different management strategies” is likely as many as there are medical practitioners.

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      • #
        David Maddison

        And during the entire plandemic, there was not a single word from “authorities” about correcting vitamin D deficiency. In fact they warned D was either useless or dangerous.

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      • #
        David of Cooyal in Oz

        Morning David,
        This is an update on my personal experimentation with vitamin D.

        I set out to reach a blood level of 200 nmol/litre and over-reached that in 2022 after taking 12,000 IU per day with 285 nmol/L and no side effects. But it was more than I thought I needed, so I dropped my intake to 8,000 IU per day from October 2022. And am still taking that amount.
        (My daily routine has me covered from head to toe, so no access to the beneficial sunlight, in spite of my ideal geographical location.)

        My blood levels have dropped slowly to 270 (Jul 2023), 237 (Jan 2024) and 232 (Jan 2025), i.e. now essentially stabilised.

        I also take its cofactors, and zinc and vitamins K2 and A.

        I also note that few articles even mention D’s role as the moderator of the immune system, turning it up or down as the need arises.

        Cheers,
        Dave B

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    • #
      David Maddison

      My late mother lived independently until her last 15 hrs in hospital and never got covid despite her love of going out and using public transport and her hatred of masks and all the covid restrictions. She passed at 94.

      It’s not proof, of course, but I made sure she took vitamin D, among other daily supplements.

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      • #
        Geoff Sherrington

        David M,
        My wife and I, both now in the 80s, have no evidence of COVID infection.
        Strangely, I was hospitalised for some weeks a year ahead of the Wuhan release, with symptoms quite similar to Covid including pericardial effusion.
        Unhappily, we cannot discover if we had Covid or not. We both had 3 jabs of mRNA “vaccine”. Our GP of 20 years was inadequately or inaccurately informed of vaccine damage risk and of the limited prior safety testing. I cannot think of legal action against the GP but I sure would like to see charges against the shadowy background people who inflicted a very dangerous injection on a public not properly informed. Geoff S

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    • #
      Peter C

      Yet, the reasons for the significant disparities in COVID-19 management outcomes among Victorian RACFs remain unclear.

      Midazolam and Morphine.

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    • #
      Eng_Ian

      Victoriastan also had vitamin Dan. Guaranteed to do you harm, there was no safe level of exposure, especially if you were in an elderly care facility.

      And of course, DD had no memory of ever ordering the death of these people. And that was enough to end the enquiry.

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  • #
    David Maddison

    In Melbournistan, Victoriastan, there is a “severe heatwave watch” until Monday 9pm.

    What’s the maximums predicted temperature today?

    31C or 88F.

    https://weather.com/weather/alerts/localalerts/l/1842fcc4e164187145f5a7bcc196f8ee20bf6b20e76cd467b630ed69794f0489

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    • #
      TdeF

      Sexing up the weather. Like ‘former’ cyclone Alfred. Reassurances from the Prime Minister. Cancellation of flights. For a depleted storm which would not have been a fraction of a regular Carribbean storm. And nothing at all like a real cyclone like Tracey where cars were flying through the air and people speared by roof beams and most houses destroyed. It seems the ‘former’cyclone was so bad that Albanese had to postpone the election.

      It’s all about Climate Change, which is achieved by reclassifying a few days of +30C as a ‘severe heatwave’. I remember a summer in 1990 where all but three days in January were over 30C. It was just a normal summer then. Not ‘End of Days’, absolute proof of Global Warming. The Southern hemisphere has cooled remarkably since then, but not according the BOM. Send money and votes.

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    • #
      David Maddison

      And I wish it would stop raining. There’s a classic car show I want to go to today. It’s a public holiday here.

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      • #
        Eng_Ian

        Let it rain. I’m in NE vic and it’s raining now, (8mm overnight). This adds to the 15mm total since early January. There’s not a blade of grass alive in the district, unless irrigated.

        If you don’t want your rain then please post it. Any postcode near to Benalla or Wangaratta would be appreciated but especially if you get my place.

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      • #
        Annie

        Rain? What’s that? This year has been hot and very dry here (old type summer). We had 0.6mm last night; the total for the month so far. Nth Central Vic.
        We had a brief visit to East Gippsland recently, where it was nicely green.

        10

    • #
      RickWill

      Penguin in Northern Tasmania issue a severe heat alert when the temperature is predicted to exceed 25C.

      The coast between Burnie and Devonport is as close to natural air-conditioning as you can get. This region of Bass Strait ranges in temperature from 15 to 19C. The coast is protected from cold southerlies by the high mountains to the southwest. The hot northerlies coming off the mainland are air-conditioned on their travels across Bass Strait. In winter, the houses fringing the coast get double sunlight; one directly from the sun and the other reflected from the water at its low incident angle in winter. Houses still use winter heating but rare for them to have summer cooling.

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    • #
      Greg in NZ

      ‘Climate Improving’ causes Brisbane to be the COOLEST (least warm) state capital today with an expected high of 26C, followed by Sydney on 27C.

      Cyclone Alfred Stole The Missing Heat!

      Apart from Hobart’s 29C, all other state capitals are going to be sweltering, scorching, melting, screaming in the low 30s… yeah, so what, it’s still summer.

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      • #
        Ronin

        Alfred was a giant evaporative cooler.

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        • #
          Greg in NZ

          Alfred a “cooler”? Not so, said a bunch of (now graduated) teenagers from Vic Uni, Wellington, Students For Climate Solutions [sic] who, back in 2022, had their case against ‘fossil fuel’ exploration thrown out of court, yet now have a date with the Supreme Court of NZ to fight ‘global heating’ or whatever that is.

          Would you trust a green newbie lawyer who used words such as “really… really… gotten… dumb” during their interview with RadioNZ, whose own (young green) reporter doesn’t know the difference between ‘meet’ and ‘met’?

          Children are our future? Please, nooooo…

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      • #
        Annie

        It’s not the Equinox yet; the real end of summer.

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        • #
          Greg in NZ

          Exactly, Annie, thank you: the night of Thursday 20 March – we’ve got 10 more days to go, plus Cyclone Season carries on until the end of April, and some times later…

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  • #
    David Maddison

    Today it’s Labour Day in Victoriastan, a public holiday.

    Hard working people can celebrate the fact that people who hold stop/go signs at construction sites earn $120,000 per year (US$75,600), more with overtime. Even more depending upon how brutish and criminal their local union thug representative is.

    https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/turning-a-stop-sign-for-120-000-a-year-what-its-really-like-to-be-a-traffic-controller/dlcjuxk11

    Stop sign holders and labourers in Victoria are set for a pay rise under a new workplace agreement, with full-time employees to earn $120,000 a year for a 36-hour week, plus allowances and overtime.

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    • #
      RickWill

      Before Rudd, AUD120k was a lot of money. It would buy 120oz of gold. Today it will buy you 26oz.

      The erosion of value in Australia through the loss of productivity from turning our backs on coal and the industry it spawns is truly unprecedented.

      The pain is not as great as is would be without China. China has no reservations about burning coal and has spawned manufacturing industry at a rate never seen before; even exceeding wartime USA.

      Fortunately for Australia, China pays exorbitant prices for Australia’s iron ore; giving Australia enough to pay for the goodies that China produces at unmatched efficiency and. very low cost.

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        Rowjay

        Let’s hope that the generous payments for our resources are not viewed as a bargaining chip for future piece deals, that piece yet to be determined. The Chinese warships circumnavigating our wide, green land were a not-so subtle reminder that the South China Sea is a big one, now extending to the Southern Ocean.

        China may now be preparing to negotiate piece deals with President Trump, who has already nominated his preferred pieces in a global monopoly (or card) game with only 3 main players at the table.

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    • #
      Annie

      It’s a ridiculously high pay rate. A necessary job (with traffic lights available?) but overpaid.

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  • #
    Tonyb

    It will be very interesting to see if the grassroots have sufficient numbers to deny Carney the prize.

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    • #
      Steve of Cornubia

      Well Trump’s war with Canada has forced Poilievre to side with Trudeau, effectively killing his chances of being elected.

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      • #
        Steve of Cornubia

        And … Carney is elected. Big misstep by Trump methinks.

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        • #
          farmerbraun

          ” Carney is elected.”

          Just another nail in the coffin of the Canadian “liberals”.

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        • #
          Steve of Cornubia

          Whoops. Not so fast. Carney has merely been elected as Trudeau’s successor. There hasn’t been a national election yet, so maybe there is time for Poilievre to build a better working relationship with Trump and/or Trump to accept that it’s in America’s interest to see him elected.

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  • #
    Tonyb

    I have never had the slightest desire to go on Facebook. Is that requirement worldwide or restricted to Oz?

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    • #
      Graeme No.3

      I too have never had the slightest desire to go on Facebook so I cannot answer that.
      I wonder what/how the local Channel 10 will get around that with their claim that weather photos can be sent to TIFF on Facebook?
      TIFF was the Weather Girl, whom I thought of as Ms Toothy, although she has much reduced dental displays since she was upgraded to News Reader.

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      • #
        Geoff Sherrington

        Just as CO2 causes better plant growth, it also causes bigger tooth growth.
        What with fast, low cost ways to get images of people on TV, we are seeing demand for a class of under-30s able to speak while smiling, and some in cooking shows to eat while smiling, all to flash those huge carbon-based teeth. Geoff S

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        • #
          Annie

          One of the most gruesome sets of bright white tombstones is grimaced by the dame in the Metricon ad; she of the yellow dress. I try to remember not to look up during the ‘muted’ ads.

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    • #
      Scott

      It does have its uses.

      I first used it as a football (AFL) coach to send game and training updates to the teenage boys, so they could no longer say they didn’t get the message about training as they were all on it. Previously the excuse was “sorry didn’t get the message”.

      Now I am owner building a home and some of the groups are very helpful like the owner builder group I am a member of. We can share knowledge, left over materials and contacts for tradespeople that are quality.

      But like many, I wont return if it requires digital ID.

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  • #
    MeAgain

    https://minister.homeaffairs.gov.au/AndrewGiles/Pages/press-conference-11122023.aspx

    The short point is that Australia is facing major skills deficits;

    We are lucky in Australia; we have one of the best education offerings in the world. It is our fourth‑largest export.

    – how they can say these two things in the same speech and not reconcile how these two things are both true!

    (I wouldn’t bother to read the whole thing really, just constantly amazed at how much we run on spin cycle…

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  • #
    David Maddison

    In case you think you’re too old to pursue your life’s dreams, Frank Lloyd Wright completed one third of his life’s work between the ages of 80 and 92. He was 88 in 1967 when he completed the “Circular Sun House”.

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  • #
    Dennis

    A few years ago I discovered at Trove digitised newspaper records regarding the Hunter Valley Region of NSW, Hunter River and Maitland District, that Aborigines told early settlers about a flood of the Hunter River that based on their knowledge was far deeper than any recorded since 1788.

    And of another time when many years of drought resulted in the Hunter River being completely dry above high tide upper reach, the local tribal groups moved to the hills where springs were still flowing.

    Professor Ian Plimer has written about droughts in the past that extended for decades.

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    • #
      Greg in NZ

      Half of NZ has now been declared under a ‘drought’, yet here I was thinking summer’s finally arrived after a very slow (coolish wet) start.

      Don’t know how farmerbraun sees it, if he’s in the Manawatu then it’s standard fare for ‘late summer’, apart from when ex-troppos drift down and flood half the country: ya pays yer money, ya takes yer chance.

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      • #
        farmerbraun

        We haven’t had a half -decent drought this century.

        Prior to 1999 I could expect the farm to be brown by christmas and stay that way until May , sometimes into June.

        Frost on brown grass makes for hard yakka when one has a daily quota to meet.

        This year I didn’t attempt hay-making until February because there was no drying in January.
        In February there was just one 7-day window with no rain. Knocked over 100 acres and turned it once – nice.

        And we didn’t bother filling the pool until late January because it was too cold.

        Currently hot days, and cool night . . mornings positively autumnal.

        Par for the course as you say.

        10

        • #
          RickWill

          My part of SE Melbourne will probably total more than 20 days of summer this year, albeit a little late but then perihelion is shifting a little later on average year-by-year.

          00

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    “The Crisis of Unreliable Science: A Pharmacologist’s Call for Radical Reform”

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2025/03/09/the-crisis-of-unreliable-science-a-pharmacologists-call-for-radical-reform/

    50

    • #
      KP

      We have trained too many scientists and poured far too much taxpayer money into it. This is exactly the result you would expect from that, cheats, fakes, plagiarists and mediocre people putting up false papers to get free handouts of Govt money. Imagine if we trained a few million more lawyers and the Govt gave grants for them to screw up our lives even more…

      Throw it all back on the free market where your boss need to see a commercial return on what you do, or your eccentric billionaire sponsor takes a personal interest in your work. The results may be far less scientific research being done, but at least it would be true.

      10

  • #
    Rowjay

    FWIW

    It’s been a great growing season in my part of the world (SE Australia), and of particular note is the appearance of many native Blue-banded bees. Unfortunately they are not honey producers, but are a necessary pollinator for some Aussie plants, and don’t mind buzzing around other flowers as well and are great for tomatoes. They are amazingly quick accelerators – would make interesting drones if their flight mechanics could be reproduced. Some more info:

    Blue Banded Bees are solitary bees. This means that each female bee mates and then builds a solitary nest by herself. She builds her nest in a shallow burrow in clay soil or sometimes in mudbricks. Many Blue Banded Bees may build their nest burrows in the same spot, close to one another, like neighbouring houses in a village.

    https://www.aussiebee.com.au/blue-banded-bee-information.html

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    • #
      Steve of Cornubia

      The males have an amusing bedtime routine. They congregate behind my house in the evenings, where they find a ling thin stalk and chomp down on it, then hang there asleep for the night. They do this in small groups, five or six per stalk. They look like little blue flowers.

      10

      • #
        Rowjay

        Sounds like you have a decent population – have not noticed the male behavior and will now look out for it. Only a single bed in the female quarters then.

        00

  • #
    David Maddison

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14476167/Sydney-Bikini-Tradie-stopless-work-Shianne-Foxx.html

    A woman called the ‘Bikini Tradie’ says she should be able to work topless on hot days just like her male co-workers

    A female tradie has called out the double standards between guys who can work shirtless on worksites during hot days and girls like her who can’t.

    SEE LINK FOR REST

    60

    • #
      Greg in NZ

      Big ups to Foxxy lady! You go-go girl!!

      30

    • #
      RickWill

      Shirtless tradesmen are a myth. If there is someone on a building site without a shirt, they are not a good tradesman and have limited future in the business.

      I was involved in a large construction project in FNQ some years ago and the requirement for everyone on site was long sleeve shirt, long pants and gloves. The gloves primarily for protection from minor cuts and abrasion but also afforded sun protection.

      Certainly union run jobs in Victoria are less disciplined and sun exposure not as severe so you may see some sites not being properly dressed for the conditions on those sites.

      How old is the guy sporting the beard in this photo:
      https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/03/01/08/95715165-14449843-image-a-5_1740819377007.jpg

      If you do not know who it is, I can advise his paid work required him to spend a lot of time outdoors.

      20

    • #
      DOC

      The next step is suing for sun damage and skin cancers. All adds to the legal bills of doing business.

      00

  • #
    Ronin

    Carney wins the race to replace Trudope.

    10

  • #
    STJOHNOFGRAFTON

    VACCINES & YOUR KIDS
    A damning, but balanced, report showing the winners and the losers in the vaccine stakes.

    The Takeaway: Risk vs. Reality
    According to Grok’s math, it’s clear: “Vaccination gives you an 8.5-in-1,000 chance of a serious event—611,000 kids—while an unvaccinated kid today faces just 0.14-in-1,000, about 1,000 cases. For milder illnesses, it’s 900-in-1,000 among the vaccinated, 64.8 million, versus 66-in-1,000 unvaccinated, under half a million. Vaccines carry way higher risk per kid because catching these diseases isn’t a sure thing anymore.”

    https://www.theburningplatform.com/2025/03/09/new-vaccine-risk-vs-disease-risk/#more-362539

    40

  • #
    KP

    An article in the SMH about Russia trying to destroy Europe (what else?) by controlling the illegal immigration from Africa.

    It’s all detailed and sounds great so long as you don’t think about it too much.. What incentive would Russia have to turn Europe into another Middle-East Jihadist/African cesspool as a neighbour? The last thing they need is for the whole of Europe to turn into the no-go areas already existing in the towns over-run by immigrants.

    “Exposed: Russian plot to flood Europe with migrants to influence elections- A Russian spymaster plotted to use private armies to control migration into Europe, London’s The Telegraph newspaper has revealed…The revelations come at a key time in the war in Ukraine as Donald Trump puts pressure on Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, to get to the table with Putin for peace talks. European leaders have previously warned that the West could see a tidal wave of migrants if Ukraine falls to Russia.”

    Just more propaganda to frighten the peasantry and work against Trump.

    https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/russian-spymasters-plot-to-use-private-army-to-control-migration-into-europe-20250309-p5li4d.html

    40

  • #
    OldOzzie

    As Utility Bills Soar, New Yorkers Face the Cost of a Greener Future

    The utility that serves New York City and Westchester County has filed a request to raise its rates to help pay for the shift to cleaner energy, sparking dismay among residents.

    When New Yorkers get a sky-high energy bill, many turn to social media and vent their frustrations on Instagram, TikTok or Reddit. Recently, their rage has been directed toward a state-run website, too.

    In January, the Department of Public Service, which regulates utilities, began considering a request for a rate increase by Con Edison, the energy company that serves over nine million people in New York City and Westchester County.

    The proposed increase would “support clean energy investments needed to build and maintain the grid of the future,” Con Edison said in a statement. But that was cold comfort to the New Yorkers who submitted about 800 mostly irate comments on the government website in February alone.

    “Our ConEd bill has already spiked to over $500 for a 1 BEDROOM Apartment this January to February,” wrote one typical customer. “Please do something about this and vote no more increases!”

    The backlash to the proposed rates — which called for an 11.4 percent increase for electricity and 13.3 percent for gas — illustrated what could be a thorny issue for decades to come: persuading New Yorkers to absorb some of the cost of the state’s transition to green energy.

    Many utility customers are in favor of upgrading the power grid in pursuit of the state’s renewable energy goals, but many also appear to be balking at paying more.

    “I support the goals of infrastructure improvement and clean energy transition, but we must find a more balanced approach that doesn’t place such a heavy financial burden on consumers,” wrote Deena Lettas, 33, from Astoria, Queens, in one posted comment.

    Ms. Lettas, who works in public policy, summed up the challenges that lie ahead as New York, in adherence to its 2019 climate law, weans off fossil fuels while electrifying buildings and cars. The shift puts more pressure on the state’s aging grid, which is also facing surging demand from energy-hungry tech ventures like chip manufacturing, data centers and cryptocurrency mines.

    00

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    “Eyesore of the Month
    March 2025
    “God is in the details.” — Ludwig Mies van der Rohe”

    https://www.kunstler.com/p/march-2025

    10

  • #
    OldOzzie

    Five Eyes Would Go Blind Without US Backing: US Army Vet and Intel Specialist

    Britain’s intelligence establishment reportedly started “rationing” what info to pass on to the US after Trump’s election, and his thrashing of Zelensky at the White House last month has sparked talk of a ‘breakaway’ ‘Four Eyes’ intel-sharing pact.

    Sputnik reached out to a leading US military intel specialist for details on what this could entail.

    Sources told The Mail on Sunday that while joint work intercepting electronic communications could be ‘hard to disentangle’, human intelligence by agents on the ground could be held back from being shared with the US, especially “raw intelligence, which can be very exposing of sources if it falls into the wrong hands.”

    Diplomatic sources, meanwhile, told the newspaper that the US intelligence establishment is “in a state of panic” over Trump’s approach, and actively destroying files on assets in Russia.

    “The US share is huge,” retired US Army Lt. Col. Earl Rasmussen told Sputnik. “There’s very little the remaining Five Eyes would have without the US,” the observer noted, highlighting that America provides:

    . Immense signals intelligence (SIGINT) capabilities including information from satellites (about 5,000 of the world’s roughly 8,000 satellites are American), in Rasmussen’s estimation
    . a military feed from the US Defense Intelligence Agency
    . substantive human intel
    . real-time open-source info collection and analysis capabilities
    . security intelligence via cooperation between the FBI and the Five Eyes’ allies’ analogs.

    If the Five Eyes were to break up, Rasmussen doesn’t exclude the creation of new, regional intel-sharing alliances,

    like:Australia and New Zealand partnering up with Japan and South Korea

    The UK ramping up intel cooperation with France and Germany

    20

  • #
    Greg in NZ

    Remember ‘The End Of Snow’?
    Oh it seems so so long ago…
    Meanwhile in the real world, via snow-forecast.com

    Despite the LA ‘sacrificial fires’ a few months back, Mammoth Mountain (just inland from LA) along with Mt Washington on Vancouver Island, Canada, are posting 390cm / 156” / 13ft of snow base on their upper slopes, the biggest amounts in all of North America, with more on the way.

    The winner is however, as usual, Japan, with Tengendai Kogen posting 790cm / 311” / 26ft of snow base with more frigid Siberian powder on the way.

    Completely barking up the wrong tree – or dazed and confused in their academic echo chamber – a bunch of Vic Uni, Wellington (yes, that same cesspool of climate angst) scientists say we have to embrace the unicorn otherwise it’s all over. As DM calls them, statists.

    https://theconversation.com/nzs-glaciers-have-already-lost-nearly-a-third-of-their-ice-as-more-vanishes-landscapes-and-lives-change-250617

    As half of these glaciers didn’t exist 1,000 years ago, and only began advancing with the onset of the Little Ice Age, you’d think the overseeing professors would provide a wider perspective of time, ages, cycles, ups and downs… unless they’re ‘specialists’ who merely ‘specialise’ in the recent Brief Modern Warm Period and/or the Satellite Age. Educated fools.

    40

    • #
      farmerbraun

      “Vic Uni, Wellington ”

      Those were the days – 1970, ’71, but the rot was already creeping in.

      00

    • #
      DOC

      The world of climate didn’t start until 1910! Everything prior is superfluous.

      00

      • #
        DOC

        Reminds one of Pol Pot in the Cambodian killing fields who declared year zero somewhere around 1970. At least he was a little more adventurous than the climate true believers. They simply tried to go back in history and expunge the LIA from the history books. Nothing like expunging the whole of history as did Pol Pot.

        10

  • #
    Rowjay

    FWIW

    USA only country to vote against “DAY of Hope”.

    Reflecting the Trump administration’s unilateral stance in multilateral forums, the US defended its opposition by stating that the resolution “contains references to diversity, equity and inclusion that conflict with US policies aimed at eliminating all forms of discrimination and ensuring equal opportunities for all.”
    The US representative further criticised the resolution for contributing to the “unnecessary proliferation” of international observances, many of which, he claimed, have overlapping objectives.
    At the same time, his statement acknowledged that there were no direct financial implications for the UN and that any costs would be voluntary for member states.
    “We recognise that any costs arising from implementation would be voluntary. However, in a world facing numerous challenges, funding and efforts should be directed toward critical causes and crises rather than the establishment of additional international days. For these reasons, the United States cannot join consensus on the current resolution and has called for a vote, in which we have voted no,” he stated.

    00

  • #
    John Connor II

    In 2020-2021, SBA granted 5,593 loans for $312M to borrowers whose only listed owner was 11 years old or younger at the time of the loan.

    https://x.com/DOGE/status/1898587143796338826

    DOGE strikes again.

    10

    • #
      Steve of Cornubia

      I’m getting a little tired of hearing about these massive frauds without, AFAIK, a single person being arrested and charged. When will consequences be felt by those leading this corruption? It simply isn’t good enough to stop it happening in future, or even reclaim unspent funds. Crimes have been committed and punishment should follow.

      30

  • #

    A big study pointing out flaws in Co2 ice core readings

    Abstract
    Recent global warming and climate change studies frequently assume that the rise in atmospheric
    CO2 is entirely due to human emissions. In particular, the assumption is based on a figure of CO2
    concentration of 280 ppm at the end of the pre-industrial period. However, this assumption reveals
    itself to be contradicted by an examination of the relevant underlying data. At least, this
    assumption cannot be fully trusted. This paper points out in plain language the flaws in the
    fundamentals of the relevant climate change research, using as little technical terminology as
    possible. Furthermore, some clarification is made in the Appendix, to address typical
    misunderstandings of the author’s previous paper, that have been seen discussed in the Internet.

    https://scienceofclimatechange.org/wp-content/uploads/SCC-Ato-2025.pdf

    00

  • #
    another ian

    Hmmmm!

    “President Trump’s Magnificent and Accurate Character Assessment of Malcolm Turnbull”

    https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2025/03/president-trumps-magnificent-and-accurate-character-assessment-of-malcolm-turnbull.html

    00

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