Open Thread – Weekend 23 Sept 2023


On the Shore of the Gulf of Finland – Udrias Near Narva, Ivan Shishkin, 1888

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

1.1K Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Vicki
September 23, 2023 12:59 pm

How I hate electric fences. Just arrived at farm & decided to shut a gate to one of the paddocks & noticed a “click click” from adjacent fence. Obviously a “short”. Should have gone back to machinery shed & switched off the system. Didn’t, and copped a 7,000 volt whack through my arm (on the gate). Lucky there was a short, as normal voltage is 8,000.

Fell to ground screaming – as women do. And cows, as usual, were startled. probably thought – “She’s done it again!” Last time they gathered around my screaming self – as my foot was tangled up ib the actual shorted wire.

Husband, meanwhile, just sitting in Landcruiser (we had just arrived) – barely curious at what I was doing on the ground.

Now watching practice 3 for Japan Grand Prix. I think the electrocution has helped my crook neck!

JC
JC
September 23, 2023 12:59 pm

Angry Kez should read her own link carefully.

Fires related to electric vehicles or hybrid cars with a rechargeable battery are rare, with just two reported in NSW in 2023, Superintendent Dewberry said.

Are they EVs? Doesn’t appear so.

A spate of fires sparked by exploding lithium-ion batteries in e-scooters and e-bikes in recent months has prompted renewed safety concerns.

Data obtained by news.com.au shows emergency services have responded to hundreds of incidents in the past 18 months, some of which led to serious injury and even death.

“We’re concerned about the number of lithium-ion battery fires we’re seeing,” New South Wales Fire and Rescue Superintendent Adam Dewberry said. “And the number this year is well-and-truly trending up.”
Authorities are warning Aussies to be aware of the risks involved with lithium-ion batteries. Picture: NSW Fire and Rescue

and

A spate of fires sparked by exploding lithium-ion batteries in e-scooters and e-bikes in recent months has prompted renewed safety concerns.

I’ll link Kez’s so people can get a clearer idea.

https://www.news.com.au/technology/gadgets/the-ticking-time-bombs-inside-aussie-homes-sparking-a-rising-number-of-fires/news-story/c0416873d79d4413ac03de942e10107d

Vagabond
Vagabond
September 23, 2023 1:01 pm

That is, that EVs represent a yuuuuge fire risk so they need to be excluded from the building, or EV owners bear the additional insurance costs.

I got harangued by a couple of EV owners last week at a social function. Both live in high rise apartment buildings and own EVs as status symbols rather than for environmental reasons. Once we got the EV evangelism out of the way they started whingeing about how the body corporates in their buildings wouldn’t allow the installation of fast charging stations in the basement car parks. Apparently there are major costs involved both in internal wiring (to allow the charger to be controlled and metered from the owner’s apartment) and provision of a high voltage substation to allow many simultaneous EVs to be charged. The fire hazard was the elephant in the room. One of them was working himself up into a state of righteous indignation and talking about litigation against the body corp as a test case to benefit all EV owners in future.

I remained silent and thought about the stability of the nation’s popcorn supply

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
September 23, 2023 1:01 pm
Sancho Panzer
Sancho Panzer
September 23, 2023 1:02 pm

JC at 12:49.
As you allude to, the site talking about vehicle fires could be a total EV gaslighting up.
Are they counting all the petrol cars burnt on Maui as “ICE car fires”.
In any case, it is about severity, intensity and “extinguishability”.
I’ll bet if my petrol sporty Beemer had a wiring short and caught fire in my brick garage it would only damage the vehicle.
If a lithium car battery ignited though, it might be curtains for the house.

JC
JC
September 23, 2023 1:05 pm

Could be true, Sanchez, but I’m responding to the claim that the world is ablaze because of EVs and the claim doesn’t appear to be true.

Moreover, we would have seen reports that the insurers are ratcheting up premiums on EVs and I don’t believe they have.

m0nty
m0nty
September 23, 2023 1:06 pm

It was taped at 6:30 with effects likes in the outer muted.
A mate at Channel Seven told me that was the plan.

LOL Sancho. You have no such mate. Didn’t happen.

97,000 people there, and zero reports of booing.

Face it, Sam Newman and his mates Avi and Rukshan are irrelevant.

JC
JC
September 23, 2023 1:07 pm

I’ll bet if my petrol sporty Beemer had a wiring short and caught fire in my brick garage it would only damage the vehicle.

Would it though? I’m not a combustion engineer and I’m sure someone will soon claim they are, but if a 60 liter tank caught the burns, I’m sure that would leave a mark.

Vagabond
Vagabond
September 23, 2023 1:08 pm

Vicki
Sep 23, 2023 12:59 PM
copped a 7,000 volt whack through my arm (on the gate). Lucky there was a short, as normal voltage is 8,000.

How can you tell the difference between a 7 and 8 kV shock? I’ve never met anyone who could do that and I’ve known a lot of sparkies, engineers and technicians. Admittedly the subject doesn’t come up very often 🙂

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
September 23, 2023 1:09 pm

Sure, but how does that help their offensive in the south?

Dover – Ukraine are in beast mode at the moment, they just want to bleed Russia white. It’s very Slavic. If they can wheedle enough cruise missiles out of the West the Black Sea Fleet will have to go onto the IUCN Red List of endangered species.

You will recall that I’ve said the Great Offensive™ is more about managing the sugar daddies than achieving breakthroughs. The Ukies aren’t stupid, they can read a sat pic. For months the Russians have been laying minefields and digging entrenchment lines like moles on speed.

JC
JC
September 23, 2023 1:11 pm

One other point I’d like to make. If lithium batteries were so dangerous and caught fire so easily, I suspect airlines would be voicing concerns about the huge number lithium charged contraptions people take on planes. Sure we hear about someone’s iphone smoking up a storm every couple of years, but it’s freaking rare.

Rosie
Rosie
September 23, 2023 1:12 pm

A four year investigation kinda puts a kibosh on they went after Brand because of his covid stand, doesn’t it?

JC
JC
September 23, 2023 1:13 pm

LOL Sancho. You have no such mate. Didn’t happen.

Lol.. I do, Fatboy so why wouldn’t Sanchez.

“Brian”, was a former Channel 7 CEO back in the 90s and I see the old buzzard at the coffee shop most days. Nicest old dude you could meet.

Steve trickler
Steve trickler
September 23, 2023 1:16 pm

m0nty
Sep 23, 2023 1:06 PM
It was taped at 6:30 with effects likes in the outer muted.
A mate at Channel Seven told me that was the plan.

LOL Sancho. You have no such mate. Didn’t happen.

97,000 people there, and zero reports of booing.

Face it, Sam Newman and his mates Avi and Rukshan are irrelevant.

You are irrelevant, F-head!

Morsie
Morsie
September 23, 2023 1:16 pm

Just reading an article on Menendez.Apparetly Hunter wanted to lobby him for some dodgy clients.
The article pointed out that GWB had appointed Hunter to the board of Amtrak.
Unbelievable.

m0nty
m0nty
September 23, 2023 1:19 pm

Do you think if there was actual booing and Seven tried to hide it, at least one of the 97,000 in attendance might have spilled the beans, perhaps with some phone video?

Nup, that is a very dumb conspiracy theory, easily dismissed as the fevered imaginings of a loser.

Dot
Dot
September 23, 2023 1:21 pm

Rosie
Sep 23, 2023 1:12 PM
A four year investigation kinda puts a kibosh on they went after Brand because of his covid stand, doesn’t it?

Not really considering (at least two of) the claims are fraudulent and they still went ahead with it last week.

BTW

Baron Lancaster was the British Minister of Defence. “But he was an Army engineer!” doesn’t cut it unless you’re proposing a second deep state which undermines the first.

Don’t go all Ed Case on me, Cats!

Rosie
Rosie
September 23, 2023 1:25 pm

If they put four years in to it, they were always going run with it.
It’s very consistent with #metoo, isn’t it?

MatrixTransform
September 23, 2023 1:25 pm

couple of months ago at 0730 in the morning
was turning left off St Kilda Rd in front of the Art Centre

fire truck with sirens to my right and he wants to go left in front of me.
which it does

then it abruptly crosses the tram tracks
and there right beside the Art Centre
there’s an electric scooter on the footpath with smoke and flames shooting out of it

Knuckle Dragger
Knuckle Dragger
September 23, 2023 1:26 pm

Face it, Sam Newman and his mates Avi and Rukshan are irrelevant.

Nice.

The perpetually-terrified fantasy footballing basement dweller living off someone else’s assets is calling other people irrelevant.

Dot
Dot
September 23, 2023 1:27 pm

If they put four years in to it, they were always going run with it.

You don’t know that at all.

JC
JC
September 23, 2023 1:29 pm

I glanced through Google and the reasons appear to be similar on different sites, but not one site mentioned the added risk of fire due to lithium batteries. It’s about 20% more expensive to insure one of these things.

According to the ICA, factors contributing to the higher average premium cost for insuring EVs compared to ICE cars include:

EVs are generally more expensive to purchase than ICE vehicles
EV technology and parts (such as batteries) are more expensive to produce and replace, are often non-interchangeable, and often need to be imported to Australia via limited supply chains
There are fewer EV service centres around Australia that can repair electric vehicles (particularly in regional areas), so vehicles may need to be transported to a distant location to be repaired
Repairing EVs requires specialty tradespeople, and there are fewer of these qualified technicians in Australia
Dealing with damaged EV batteries is time and labour consuming, and requires specialty equipment and disposal (recycling) methods
Information about EV batteries (such as their expected lifespan) is not always available, which can be a barrier to purchasing and insuring EVs

thefrollickingmole
thefrollickingmole
September 23, 2023 1:29 pm

Monty’s happy that the Stasi like climate of dobbers and squeakers at the footy were enough to ensure decorum.

After all who wants to be ” the face of hate”, lose their job, be hounded by the media and banned from their club/ membership when they can simply write NO in the box in 3 weeks time.

Because the full Stasi experience was waiting.
And Monty approves.

Dot
Dot
September 23, 2023 1:34 pm

JC

Gizmodo is as credible as Slate, Cassidy Hutchinson, Christine Blazey Ford, Julie Swetnick, Anita Hill and Sandra Fluke.

JC
JC
September 23, 2023 1:40 pm

Okay , thanks Dot, but who is Sandra Fluke?

Makka
Makka
September 23, 2023 1:40 pm

Ukraine are in beast mode at the moment, they just want to bleed Russia white.

They may want to. But squandering thousands of lives hurled against Russian in depth defenses seems a strange way to go about bleeding Russia.

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
September 23, 2023 1:42 pm

I suspect the Owner’s Corporation issues regarding EVs might not be the slam dunk they should be.

That is, that EVs represent a yuuuuge fire risk so they need to be excluded from the building, or EV owners bear the additional insurance costs.

I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends in a protracted legal battle to force the Owner’s Corporation to accept the risk and pick up the insurance tab.

The Queensland Fire Service has advised that they will not attempt to extinguish EV fires in underground garages.

Taking account of that, the BC insurance broker has suggested that when the current policy comes up for renewal, we will likely be self-insuring EV’s parked in the basement garages – or paying a special risk excess.

The lawyer on the BC Committee has pointed to the appropriate scheme bylaws and the potential consequences of taking a known risk to the detriment of others.

Boambee John
Boambee John
September 23, 2023 1:43 pm

m0nty
Sep 23, 2023 1:06 PM
It was taped at 6:30 with effects likes in the outer muted.
A mate at Channel Seven told me that was the plan.

LOL Sancho. You have no such mate. Didn’t happen.

97,000 people there, and zero reports of booing.

Unlike politically obsessed leftards, most sporting fans prefer to separate sport and politics.

Then there is the Gestapo effect of having the fascist Thought Police scanning the crowd. But fascists like you just lurrrrve that.

Vicki
September 23, 2023 1:44 pm

How can you tell the difference between a 7 and 8 kV shock?

Vagabond, I asked husband how many volts on the fence & he said 8,000 normally, but probably 7,000 since it had a short. I know nothing about these things, but he was an electrical engineer in his youth.

Knuckle Dragger
Knuckle Dragger
September 23, 2023 1:45 pm

Yesterday evening, replete with Collingwood-related satisfaction I was relaxing in the cot, ready for snoozing when I was involuntarily rearranged somewhat. The bed shifted, and me with it.

It went for about 30 seconds or so. I waited to see if it would continue or get worse – it did neither, so I resumed zed collection.

The NT News:

A magnitude 5.7 earthquake in the Banda Sea 620km north of Darwin has had residents across the Top End shaking in their beds overnight.

The quake hit at about 12.30am local time on Saturday and was reported to Geoscience Australia by more than 700 people across Darwin, Palmerston, Jabiru, Katherine, Wadeye and across the border in Kununurra.

I have a question:

Why was this not predicted somehow?

vr
vr
September 23, 2023 1:47 pm

I glanced through Google and the reasons appear to be similar on different sites, but not one site mentioned the added risk of fire due to lithium batteries. It’s about 20% more expensive to insure one of these things.

Marine insurance companies are paying close attention to EV transport. See this article from a shipping publication.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
September 23, 2023 1:48 pm

They may want to. But squandering thousands of lives hurled against Russian in depth defenses seems a strange way to go about bleeding Russia.

Biden say attack, we attack. Maybe we attack not so attackishly though. Oops, sorry. Do better next time. Soonest! Can we have some Abrams now? Please?

Wash and repeat.

132andBush
132andBush
September 23, 2023 1:48 pm

Why was this not predicted somehow?

It will be.
Tomorrow.

Dot
Dot
September 23, 2023 1:50 pm

JC

She was not asked to testify under oath.

Like the miracle 9 year old kid who needed an abortion, who can conveniently never be identified, but no police report was ever filed.

The next week, the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee convened a meeting to invite Fluke to speak. Fluke put forward reasons that her school, Georgetown, should be compelled to offer contraceptive drugs without co-pay, in spite of the Catholic University’s moral opposition to artificial birth control.[6] She said that during the time spent as a law student, birth control could cost $3,000 or more. She also stated that 40% of Georgetown Law School’s female population suffered financial hardship as a result of birth control not being covered by the student health insurance plan, and that the lack of contraception coverage in the university insurance plans would induce many low income students to go without contraceptives. She then shared the stories of friends affected by such policies, citing a friend with polycystic ovary syndrome. Fluke said this friend needed contraceptive hormones costing over $100 per month in order to treat this disease, and that while PCOS was covered by Georgetown insurance, the insurance company repeatedly denied contraceptives, because they suspected the purpose of the medication was contraception. Fluke explained that the friend was a lesbian, and therefore did not need birth control. Due to the friend being unable to afford the necessary treatment for her disease, complications arose, requiring surgery and the removal of one ovary. Subsequently, the friend then went through premature ovarian failure, a condition that causes infertility, seriously impacts health, and must be treated for years to come.[12][13][14]

Jarrah went spastic when I suggested that Rush Limbaugh was right and taxpayers shouldn’t have to buy people contraceptives.

JC
JC
September 23, 2023 1:50 pm

Dr.

A large number of CBD carparks are subterranean. Are they banning EVs? I haven’t heard of this and I’m sure they would’ve acted sooner if there was an issue. Their insurers would have been on their backs like flies.

JC
JC
September 23, 2023 1:52 pm

Jarrah went spastic when I suggested that Rush Limbaugh was right and taxpayers shouldn’t have to buy people contraceptives.

Oh yeah. I remember that. He really spazzed out.

Boambee John
Boambee John
September 23, 2023 1:53 pm

Dot

Baron Lancaster was the British Minister of Defence.

Check it out. The Minister for the Armed Forces is not the equivalent of our Minister for Defence, that is the Secretary of State for Defence.

His only intelligence related posting seems to have been Deputy Commander of 77th Brigade, as a Territorial officer (at much the same time as he was The Minister for the Armed Forces).

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
September 23, 2023 1:54 pm

Makka – I should’ve included this link, which is blackest of black comedy.

US Pressuring Ukraine For ‘Decisive Breakthrough’ & More Aggressive Tactics: WaPo (20 Jul)

There’s a cost to managing sugar daddies. I’m sad for the poor guys in the trenches on both sides who have to endure such misery while the insiders all get rich. It’s obscene.

Robert Sewell
September 23, 2023 1:58 pm

Instead of worrying about the stability of the Australian Popcorn Market, I was thinking of the dire need of a $5 & $10 coin.
Now hear me out.
Grandneice lost her first tooth and due to inflation, the original silver coin is no longer acceptable. I think a sixpence for a molar and thruppence for the smaller ones were the going rate when I lost mine.
My suggestion is that a $5 coin with a tungsten core – similar to the look of the $2 coin would do the trick. Tungsten is reasonably inexpensive, and would add a perceptible weight to the coin. And if it were black then this would be for the black keys on a Fairy Piano.
The $10 coin could be similar in design, but larger.
As an added bonus, the seignorige(sp?) would bring in a significant sum to the government – $1 Billion for the $5 coin, and $2 Billion for the ten.
Just think of my musings as a service to the community, the government, and children everywhere. Win Win Win.
Not for the Tooth Fairy, inflation is wrecking the Fairy Piano Market with cheap imports from China cutting into profit margins, and forcing fairy populations into other more profitable but illegal markets – Fairy Dust, Fairy Prostitution – (Blush) – and fairy kidnappings.
Should I present this course of action to Our Luigi, in the hope that the lost and ignored Fairy Mob is somehow protected from the Market Failure that is casting them into marginalisation?

Dot
Dot
September 23, 2023 1:59 pm

Only a Major General, brigade commander and Deputy Minister for Defence equivalent & a life peer.

At best, it is literally the establishment working to fraudulently prosecute, impoverish and cancel someone who is no longer their pet lunatic.

JC
JC
September 23, 2023 2:01 pm

Thanks vr.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
September 23, 2023 2:02 pm

The only thing Ukraine are bleeding white is themselves.

Haha. You should stop fooling yourself with Russian propaganda Dover. The Russian Army is looking very pale at the moment, which is why they’ve taken to seducing Cubans with fake job offers. The Ukies of course aren’t any better, but the desperation of the Russian Army for more warm bodies is a tell – when Russia has three times the population of Ukraine.

Salvatore, Iron Publican
September 23, 2023 2:03 pm

1/. The US population is on board & thrilled with trannies being in their face. (this is Monty logic)
2/. Anybody who says anything is fired, debanked, sued, bashed, cancelled, gets thousands of 1-star reviews on their business, has a screaming mob outside their house. etc.

3/. Bud Lite gets into bed with a tranny. The US population simply stops buying Bud Lite.

4/. Football stadiums are video surveilled for anybody booing when an indigenous or coloured player happens to be so much as scratching their nose.
5/. Offenders are summarily evicted from the stadium, are questioned by police, perhaps at some length. They are stripped of membership of the football club & barred for life from attending a football match.

6/. Booing the WTC must be viewed through the above prisms.

cohenite
September 23, 2023 2:09 pm

If lithium batteries were so dangerous and caught fire so easily, I suspect airlines would be voicing concerns about the huge number lithium charged contraptions people take on planes. Sure we hear about someone’s iphone smoking up a storm every couple of years, but it’s freaking rare.

It’s a scale issue: a large lithium battery is much more unstable than a small lithium battery. The reason is simple: lithium is an inherently unstable metal; the more lithium you have the more instability you have.

Oh come on
Oh come on
September 23, 2023 2:13 pm

The ABC investigates, finds the half dozen-strong Australian white supremacist community is the driving force behind the surging No vote:

How Australian white supremacists used a 40-year-old documentary to divide voters on the Voice

Also, the Australian Communist Party’s a No, apparently. That’s another half dozen votes in the No column.

The ABC is getting desperate.

Viva
Viva
September 23, 2023 2:13 pm

Every Weekend Australian it’s the same: 1 comment rejected and four comments kept pending since early morning

I think someone in there doesn’t what I write

Ps

Chris Kenny and Greg Craven are practically begging for yes votes but Kenny is beginning to turn quite nasty

Speedbox
September 23, 2023 2:20 pm

Dr Faustus
Sep 23, 2023 11:33 AM
Our body corporate has been advised that excluded event, or special risk premiums is imminent for EV fire damage in building insurance. This is driven more by the consequences of the difficulty in extinguishing the fire than the frequency of occurrence.

This will become more common I suspect. I have previously noted on the Cat that I own/ride an electric scooter and have been doing so for several years and wonder whether the major source of the problem is the junk that is routinely available via second hand markets.

Used and abused second hand scooters from ‘no name’ manufacturers with mismatched rechargers are readily for sale. In the city, I see people ride their scooters over gutters and generally mistreat the device but will take it home and plug it in.

A fire in a Brisbane suburb a few weeks ago resulted in the total loss of the house property. Vision of the aftermath showed 4 charred scooters that, it seems, had all been charging simultaneously off a non-earthed power board.

I don’t doubt there is the occasional ‘rogue’ scooter that is poorly manufactured from new and is a potential fire risk – and the no name stuff is junk – but I wouldn’t buy a second hand scooter, of any brand, under any circumstances. You just don’t know how the previous owner treated it.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
September 23, 2023 2:22 pm

Incidentally it turns out that 6 Russian guys were indeed shot up by the Azeri Army this week. You expressed scepticism at the time Dover.

Russian submarine commander is machine-gunned to death by Azerbaijan forces during peacekeeping mission (22 Sep)

Captain Ivan Kovgan, 52, was gunned down in the disputed Azerbaijani territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, where he was seconded as deputy commander of a peacekeeping force.

The 52-year-old military leader was also deputy commander of Russia’s Northern Fleet submarine force based in the Arctic.

He died alongside Colonel Tagir-Murod Karaev, from Russia’s Radiation, Chemical and Biological Defence Forces, along with four other Russian servicemen, when their UAZ Patriot vehicle was riddled with bullets by the Azerbaijani army.

The interesting thing was who the Russians had doing the peacekeeping work: a nuclear submarine commander and a chem war guy. Not exactly the sort of officers you’d expect to stand between two hostile armies. The Azeris don’t seem to’ve been too deterred by the Russia peacekeepers. Shortly after this incident the Azeris did indeed win all the marbles. NK is now part of Azerbaijan again, and I have no idea what that will mean for the ethnic Armenian Christians in the province. Probably not good.

Robert Sewell
September 23, 2023 2:23 pm

One downtick and no upticks?
Why are people so unkind?
No one cares about the poor innocent Fairy Piano wukkas, cast out onto the streets, doing tricks for a pittance, selling their fragile bodies for Men of All Genders to satisfy their Beastly Lusts upon?
Being forced into selling drugs like Fairy Dust with their horrific damage to fairy dental health, and allowing teenage fairies to steal Dwarvish eScooters and maiming themselves as they run into gumtrees, evicting Snugglepot and Cuddlepie from their homes and allowing the evil Banksia men to do evil Banksia men stuff.
I find it difficult to believe that Catallaxy Files has slipped so far behind in the Humanitarian Stakes.
*snif*
Give the Fairies a Voice!
Or at least a $4/hr pay rise.

JC
JC
September 23, 2023 2:23 pm

It’s a scale issue: a large lithium battery is much more unstable than a small lithium battery. The reason is simple: lithium is an inherently unstable metal; the more lithium you have the more instability you have.

Maybe, but where’s this issue showing up with Evs as the stats suggest they’re even safer than ice cars?

But then, there’s the link about scooters and e-bikes frequently catching fire. Perhaps batteries aren’t all built with the same care. Dunno.

In the same article Angry Kez posted it suggested there’s a big increase in scooter and bike fires while EV fires are rare. You’re a scientist, Cronkite. You figure it out.

Oh come on
Oh come on
September 23, 2023 2:25 pm

If the polls are correct, the Yes people should be calling for the referendum to be cancelled. It’s going to be a bloodbath for them.

As for the accuracy of the polls – they’re reporting No has a 14 point lead over Yes. That’s such a big margin that if Yes ultimately gets up, the pollsters would be ruined. Unless something drastically changes between now and referendum day which shrinks No’s lead which shows up in the polls, but I can’t possibly see what that could be. The Yes campaign isn’t cutting through where it needs to and it doesn’t have enough time to reset and recalibrate.

Ultimately, I think this one is going down for the same reason the republic vote failed. Bad question, bad model.

Bourne1879
Bourne1879
September 23, 2023 2:26 pm

Boambee John,
Dineage husband, the Major General previously worked for the 77th Brigade up until July 2020.

77th has attracted a lot of attention in recent years and this extract from Wiki might explain why:

“Wired described the brigade as a “psychological operations unit responsible for ‘non-lethal’ warfare that reportedly uses social media to “control the narrative”, as well as disseminating UK government-friendly podcasts and videos”.

Warfare Today says of the brigade that it is a combined regular army and reserve unit “for non-lethal warfare and behavioural influence”, based at Denison Barracks, Hermitage, Berkshire.”

So his wife writing to Rumble to shut down Brand is certainly of interest considering what her husband was doing on the early part of Covid.

If you go to Jikkyleaks on Twitter you will find out more.

cohenite
September 23, 2023 2:27 pm

Chris Kenny and Greg Craven are practically begging for yes votes but Kenny is beginning to turn quite nasty

Kenny gets a blow job from marcia for every yes vote he gets. You’d be nasty too.

Tintarella di Luna
Tintarella di Luna
September 23, 2023 2:28 pm

Thanks Michael Smith News:
https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2023/09/would-you-buy-a-used-car-or-a-referendum-proposal-from-this-man.html#comments

Spit and lies is all this useless creature can produce.

shatterzzz
September 23, 2023 2:29 pm

What a laff our legal system is .. FFS! .. Yesterday not only were she & the kids full names and address published in the media but lotza pix included .. ! but today, pixilated pix’ and “can’t be named for legal reasons” ……. Oz ya’ve stepped in it!
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/sydney-s-four-missing-kids-mum-is-charged-with-abducting-at-least-two-of-her-children/ar-AA1h5EsQ?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=375d61c406f94511ae5e7f85277f4ac0&ei=31

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
September 23, 2023 2:29 pm

Imagine countering so-called ‘propaganda’ with a Time article rebooted by Yahoo.

Keep fooling yourself Dover, that’s fine by me. The Cuban recruitment thing has widely reported. That was just the first hit I got when looking for the story I’d seen this week. I would think you’d at least have a look for yourself too, to verify such stories before you shot the messenger. Messenger shooting is very Russian, as I’m sure Putin’s guys understand exquisitely.

Lee
Lee
September 23, 2023 2:32 pm

Great to hear respectful silence during the Welcome to Country last night at the footy, followed by generous applause, despite Sam Newman calling for fans to boo.

“Respectful silence”?

ROFLMAO.

Far more likely people are worried about the fascist AFL thought police coming down on them like a ton of bricks.

cohenite
September 23, 2023 2:32 pm

Maybe, but where’s this issue showing up with Evs as the stats suggest they’re even safer than ice cars?

Those stats are the same ones dickless uses.

http://www.newgeography.com/content/007169-ev-battery-fires-do-not-bode-well-projected-sales

Wally Dalí
Wally Dalí
September 23, 2023 2:33 pm

Bad question, bad model.
Or maybe, just a bad idea.

Robert Sewell
September 23, 2023 2:36 pm

OCO:

If the polls are correct, the Yes people should be calling for the referendum to be cancelled. It’s going to be a bloodbath for them.

The polls are correct – but Luigi doesn’t care. Because he knows they will win.
Why?
Because he has the winning margins in his pocket – they will cheat.
It’s the only answer that works.
Luigi has the opportunity to impose a divisive, race based rule on Australia that will enable him to fracture our society.
Why wouldn’t he cheat?

He will cheat and you will all wake up the next day with an Apartheid Government. What are you going to do?

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
September 23, 2023 2:37 pm

Cubans forced to fight in Ukraine (DDG search results)

Hundreds of story links. Does seem to be a thing. Weird that. Every media outlet except Breitbart – but DDG doesn’t disgorge Breitbart links, they’re haram.

Rockdoctor
Rockdoctor
September 23, 2023 2:38 pm

OCO

Pity no real betting agencies are touching it but the one I have found is below and showing very short odds to No:

https://www.bluebet.com.au/sports/Politics/142/Australian-Referendums/The-Voice-Referendum/The-Voice-Referendum/1192045/All-Markets

Going to be a deserved whitewash by the looks.

areff
areff
September 23, 2023 2:39 pm

Kenny gets a blow job from marcia

As a special treat when he’s been especially good she takes her dentures out

Dot
Dot
September 23, 2023 2:41 pm

Kenny gets a blow job from marcia

This is a family blog, peoples.

Oh come on
Oh come on
September 23, 2023 2:42 pm

NK is now part of Azerbaijan again, and I have no idea what that will mean for the ethnic Armenian Christians in the province. Probably not good.

Well, I don’t think it’s in anyone’s interest for Muslim extremists to start ethnically cleansing that part of the world. Those people tend to cause a boatload of problems for their own governments, not just for their non-Muslim neighbours.

Bottom line is Armenia pinched NK from Azerbaijan after the USSR collapsed and Armenia was (relatively) strong and Azerbaijan was weak. Now the tables have turned and, unsurprisingly, Azerbaijan wants its land back and will take it if it has to. Not our business.

Dot
Dot
September 23, 2023 2:42 pm

“Wired described the brigade as a “psychological operations unit responsible for ‘non-lethal’ warfare that reportedly uses social media to “control the narrative”, as well as disseminating UK government-friendly podcasts and videos”.

Uh oh!

It’s not intelligence, it’s only disinformation though, right!?

LOL!

Oh come on
Oh come on
September 23, 2023 2:43 pm

Why wouldn’t he cheat?

He will cheat

How’s he going to do that?

Dot
Dot
September 23, 2023 2:49 pm

Holy moley:

Warfare Today says of the brigade that it is a combined regular army and reserve unit “for non-lethal warfare and behavioural influence”, based at Denison Barracks, Hermitage, Berkshire.”

This might be the bigger scandal rather than the op they ran.

Zatara
Zatara
September 23, 2023 2:51 pm

The interesting thing was who the Russians had doing the peacekeeping work: a nuclear submarine commander and a chem war guy

This is what happens when you run out of combat arms officers due to attrition.

Robert Sewell
September 23, 2023 2:51 pm

Madison – Sen. Stroebel (R-Saukville) and Rep. Bodden (R-Stockbridge) introduced legislation today to have Wisconsin join 10 out of 31 other states that have voted to sever their contract with the highly questionable and ethically and legally challenged voter database organization, E.R.I.C.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/09/breaking-big-wisconsin-legislation-introduced-eliminate-eric-system/
Interesting in terms of the ability to enable Democrat cheating.

Robert Sewell
September 23, 2023 2:54 pm

OH GREAT: Three Confirmed Cases of Tuberculosis Reported Among Illegal Immigrants in El Paso Sector
Griff Jenkins of FOX News tweeted today that there are now three confirmed cases of Tuberculosis among the illegal immigrants in the El Paso sector.
The threat of disease is one of the concerns that has been raised by critics of Biden’s horrible open-border policies.
These reported cases are just the ones that we know about. It’s probably safe to assume that other cases have gone unnoticed.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/09/oh-great-three-confirmed-cases-tuberculosis-reported-among/

Tom
Tom
September 23, 2023 2:55 pm

Going to be a deserved whitewash by the looks.

Despite occasional lapses in commonsense and self-preservation led by incompetent pollsters (Brexit, Trump in 2016, etc), bookies hate losing money.

No’s current odds ($1.18) still aren’t Winks-esque and I expect No will start on October 14 at under $1.10.

I would be surprised if Yes gets more than 30% because Uncle Luigi isn’t a retail politician’s bottom.

Deadman
September 23, 2023 2:56 pm

Calli asks:

Is the first part done in alliterative verse?

No, whereas Part II is obviously made of heroic couplets (rhymed iambic pentameter), Part I is Hudibrastic (rhymed iambic tetrameter), usually considered innately comic, but formatted as prose.

Dot
Dot
September 23, 2023 2:57 pm

He’s back.

🙂

JMH
JMH
September 23, 2023 2:58 pm

Fire Rescue Victoria said: “Victoria’s fire services are responding to an average of one significant lithium-ion battery fire each week, and this trend is expected to increase.” (My bold.)

For the record, this is my post at 12.34 pm. I posted no link.

Tom
Tom
September 23, 2023 2:59 pm

Great to see you, Deadman! Please don’t be a stranger.

JMH
JMH
September 23, 2023 3:00 pm

*According to Fire Rescue Victoria*

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
September 23, 2023 3:03 pm

Well, I hadn’t seen it reported or discussed anywhere, and when I asked you couldn’t even remember where you’d seen it.

Dover – I did find the story again later that day, but not in directly linkable form. (I could if pressed get it up. I won’t though since you’d just hate where I saw it…
😀 ) But that is immaterial since it has now been verified. Sad for the guys, they were serving their country, and attempting to keep the two sides apart.

As I said at the time it looked like the Azeris had chosen that time to move for the whole kit and kaboodle. Which they got in two days, since the Russians caved. At least they tried though.

We do seem to be moving to a time where frozen conflicts like NK are becoming unfrozen again. There’re a few signs coming out of Syria that a similar phase change might occur there too. The evolving geopolitical environment doesn’t bode especially well for peace on Earth.

JohnJJJ
JohnJJJ
September 23, 2023 3:05 pm

Rockdoctor
Sep 23, 2023 2:38 PM
Pity no real betting agencies are touching it but the one I have found is below and showing very short odds to No:
https://www.bluebet.com.au/sports/Politics/142/Australian-Referendums/The-Voice-Referendum/The-Voice-Referendum/1192045/All-Markets
Going to be a deserved whitewash by the looks.

It was 5.15 last week – now 4.25 for Yes. That is a big change in a week. I am betting on a October Surprise. The Yes mob are: the usual Tealish ladies trying to be relevant, blokes trying to be sensitive, under 20 year olds because, well “who wouldn’t want them to have a Voice?”, public servants who want to keep their jobs, 5% aboriginal blood uni professors. But in the background are the supersmart PR execs and political hacks who will pull a stunt on the last week, three days before the vote. It will be 100% emotional, hit all the social media, leading story in all the news (and take more than a week to find the truth and expose the BS).
I can bet they have it ready to go. The question is ‘what will it be?’

Vagabond
Vagabond
September 23, 2023 3:06 pm

Tom
Sep 23, 2023 2:55 PM
Going to be a deserved whitewash by the looks.

No’s current odds ($1.18) still aren’t Winks-esque and I expect No will start on October 14 at under $1.10.

Actually the odds have shortened a little. Last week it was $1.11 for No and $5.65 for yes.

I hope you’re right . Let’s hope it just a blip.

Robert Sewell
September 23, 2023 3:06 pm

Kenosha County Eye has reported Gaige Grosskreutz who has now changed his name legally to Paul Prediger was hit by a car in Milwaukee.
Grosskreutz made national headlines after he was shot in the bicep by Kyle Rittenhouse after he pointed a gun at Rittenhouse during the BLM riots in Kenosha.
In the report, the Kenosha County Eye shared that Grosskreutz suffered a lacerated liver and several broken bones after he was hit by a car while walking on a crosswalk in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/09/man-who-pulled-gun-kyle-rittenhouse-gets-hit/

Colonel Crispin Berka
Colonel Crispin Berka
September 23, 2023 3:06 pm

Will the United Nations serve the purpose of its founding or will it be irrelevant?
– G. Dubya Bush

Face it, Sam Newman and his mates Avi and Rukshan are irrelevant.
– m0nty

Boambee John
Boambee John
September 23, 2023 3:07 pm

Dot
Sep 23, 2023 2:49 PM
Holy moley:

Warfare Today says of the brigade that it is a combined regular army and reserve unit “for non-lethal warfare and behavioural influence”, based at Denison Barracks, Hermitage, Berkshire.”

This might be the bigger scandal rather than the op they ran.

A “Nudge Unit”?

Sensible military organisations should keep psychological warfare organisations separate from intelligence to minimise internal confusion.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
September 23, 2023 3:09 pm

An earth-shattering number.

A measure of desperation, more like. It’ll be interesting to see if North Koreans show up on the front line, given the obvious match up between Nork and Russian needs.

Robert Sewell
September 23, 2023 3:09 pm

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/09/vegas-teen-brags-he-will-be-jail-30/

The Vegas teen who callously mowed down a retired police chief last month boasted to police officers that he would be out of jail in 30 days.
As previously reported, Jesus Ayala, who just turned 18, is facing murder charges after he fatally struck 64-year-old retired police chief Andreas Probst. On August 14th, two teens allegedly stole a Hyundai, took the vehicle on a hit-and-run crime spree, and recorded it with a phone.

“You think this juvenile [expletive] is gonna do some [expletive]? I’ll be out in 30 days, I’ll bet you,” Jesus Ayala boasted to Las Vegas cops, according to KLAS. “It’s just ah, [expletive] ah, hit-and-run — slap on the wrist.”

Idiot probably believes it too.
Ain’t he in for a rude awakening?!

calli
calli
September 23, 2023 3:13 pm

Thanks Deadman. It was a fun read.

Diogenes
Diogenes
September 23, 2023 3:13 pm

truth and expose the BS).
I can bet they have it ready to go. The question is ‘what will it be?’

My prediction…
“Grampians Garage Nasti” “beats up” a young indig girl, putting her in hospital with “life threatening injuries”, only to have a “miracle” occur and she suffers no I’ll effects. Nastie is charged, suppression order on everything but somehow it never gets to trial.

Boambee John
Boambee John
September 23, 2023 3:15 pm

Bourne1879
Sep 23, 2023 2:26 PM
Boambee John,
Dineage husband, the Major General previously worked for the 77th Brigade up until July 2020.

His Major General’s posting is as Director of Reservers. This is a long way from being “C”.

Nelson_Kidd-Players
September 23, 2023 3:16 pm

It’s springtime!*

* Not for Hitler.

calli
calli
September 23, 2023 3:17 pm

Ain’t he in for a rude awakening?!

Just after the Big Sleep.

Salvatore, Iron Publican
September 23, 2023 3:17 pm

The Vegas teen who callously mowed down a retired police chief last month boasted to police officers that he would be out of jail in 30 days.

Idiot probably believes it too.

His life experience to date will have taught him so. The system will have treated his prior anti-white crimes as of a lesser severity than if they were done to a stray dog.
He’ll be shocked, surprised, angered & puzzled by the u-turn the system is about to pull on him.

Mother Lode
Mother Lode
September 23, 2023 3:18 pm

Monty’s happy that the Stasi like climate of dobbers and squeakers at the footy were enough to ensure decorum.

Monty is very much like Tom Parsons in 1984, believing that his ardour to conform means means he is safe.

Tom Parsons – Winston’s naïve neighbour, and an ideal member of the Outer Party: an uneducated, suggestible man who is utterly loyal to the Party, and fully believes in its perfect image. He is socially active and participates in the Party activities for his social class.

Later, as a prisoner, Winston sees Parsons is in the Ministry of Love, as his daughter had reported him to the Thought Police, saying she heard him speak against Big Brother in his sleep. Even this does not dampen his belief in the Party, and he states he could do “good work” in the hard labour camps.

I think Orwell had correctly divined the sort of stunted obsequious person that would thrive under a collectivist but centralised ideology. They pursuance themselves that there is a tacit agreement between the themselves and the party where loyalty is rewarded with safety. There isn’t of course. The party sees only its own needs and to be noticed is to be condemned.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
September 23, 2023 3:24 pm

He’ll be shocked, surprised, angered & puzzled by the u-turn the system is about to pull on him.

Death penalty looks quite likely. It’d’ve been creepy if the kid’s name was Dillinger, since Heinlein in Starship Troopers foresaw this type of thing with precision, in the History and Moral Philosophy subtheme.

H B Bear
H B Bear
September 23, 2023 3:28 pm

He is socially active and participates in the Party activities for his social class.

Upper Middle Class presumably? Perhaps married into some assets.

Pedro the Loafer
Pedro the Loafer
September 23, 2023 3:36 pm

“Respectful silence” during the WTC dross at the MCG.

Hohohoho

“Terrified silence” would be closer to the mark. One “boo” and a swarthy security guard would be crash tackling you.

Salvatore, Iron Publican
September 23, 2023 3:36 pm

in Starship Troopers foresaw

.. ???
What, who, or whatever, pray tell, is this starship troopers so often mentioned on this blog?

Robert Sewell
September 23, 2023 3:38 pm

AEMO is an interesting picture atm
Despite solar being 32% of the mix, Hydrocarbins are still 58% of the generation.

Barry
Barry
September 23, 2023 3:41 pm

He will cheat as follows:

1/3 of the population is on the postal ballot register.

All postal ballots are placed in the custody of Computershare after AusPost and prior to counting.

Computershare was founded by Chris Morris who established the the Morris Family Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Morris Group that makes impact investments in food security, sustainable agriculture, and protection and restoration of the environment.

There is no supervision of the ballots by anyone from the No case during their time at Computershare.

They will be switched. Every. Last. One. Computershare has the culture and the ability to do it.

Even a strong No case cannot beat 30% of ballots switched to Yes. Even if some don’t vote by post, envelopes will be ‘found’

This is why you will lose, and be surprised.

Bruce of Newcastle
Bruce of Newcastle
September 23, 2023 3:41 pm

SATP – I always reread Starship Troopers and Forever War together. They’re like two sides of a coin.

Right now human society looks a lot more like Forever War than Starship Troopers. Which isn’t promising.

feelthebern
feelthebern
September 23, 2023 3:43 pm

Wow.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
September 23, 2023 3:45 pm

NSW Education’s defence against Chris Dawson’s victim ’disgusting and outdated’, top lawyers say

EXCLUSIVE
By ellie dudley
Legal Affairs Correspondent
@EllieDudley_
1:49PM September 23, 2023
30 Comments

Lawyers and academics have attacked a defence filed by the NSW Education Department in response to a compensation claim from a schoolgirl groomed by wife-killer Chris Dawson as “disgusting and outdated”.

The defence, sighted by The Weekend Australian, argues the schoolgirl had a “share in responsibility” for being groomed because she did not end her relationship with Dawson, and therefore her damages should be diminished.

It also claims the former student was somewhat at fault for the hurt caused by Dawson’s abuse because she failed to tell her parents about the relationship, did not report it to the police and did not notify the school.

“In further answer to the whole of the allegations pleaded in the Statement of Claim, the (department) says if, and to the extent that, there was any sexual conduct engaged in by or between the (former student) and Dawson, such conduct was consensual”, the defence reads.

The courts recently found Dawson guilty of carnal knowledge, ruling he first had sexual intercourse with the former student in 1980 when she was 16 and his student in an elective subject called sports coaching for year 11.

NSW Education Minister Prue Car this week refused to intervene or speak about the defence, instead passing a request for comment from The Australian directly to the department.

Surprised the Oz is allowing comments.

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
September 23, 2023 3:47 pm

A large number of CBD carparks are subterranean. Are they banning EVs? I haven’t heard of this and I’m sure they would’ve acted sooner if there was an issue. Their insurers would have been on their backs like flies.

I haven’t heard of anyone banning EV’s from apartment garages.

However, the Queensland Fire Service does have its knickers in a knot about EV’s in underground car parks. We’ve recently been advised that the QFES will not attempt to extinguish fires in underground garages fitted with an EV charger, or containing an EV. The reason given is safety of responders trying to dump tonnes of water on an erratically burning, possibly electrifying, toxic smoke producing, fire in awkward confined spaces.

If this is a permanent restriction (as opposed to some industrial stunt), then no doubt the insurance market will respond. Risk is a product of probability and outcome; the probability of an EV fire is the same as it ever was (low), but if the outcome now is an EV blazing away in the basement for several hours, while the Firies stand by and keep watch, it has just got significantly worse.

Which is why we are advised that insurers for our Queensland building are likely to respond with premium or cover.

Bourne1879
Bourne1879
September 23, 2023 3:51 pm

Boambee,
I did not say he was C as my post clearly indicated he worked there until July 2020. He must have done a good job as he was promoted to Brigadier in August and a couple of months later was appointed a Lord.

His wife in early 2020 was the Minister for Digital as well as Culture. In view of his 77th role not a good look.

However Wiki has updated her entry with the following:

The letter prompted her fellow Conservative Philip Davies MP who is a former member of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee to publish an opinion piece backing Rumble’s refusal and wrote:

“We simply cannot have a situation where whenever anyone has allegations made about them, they instantly have their livelihood removed from them by a self-appointed lynch mob.

We believe in the rule of law in this country for good reason, and everyone – including select committee members (perhaps especially select committee members) – should remember that.”

Davies accused Dineage of breaking protocol “I should also point out that whilst the letter has Caroline’s name at the bottom of it as Chairman, normal protocol requires that all letters from select committees are agreed upon by the whole committee before being sent…” and called for Dineage to apologise: “Caroline Dinenage should apologise on behalf of the committee for the wording of the letter, and acknowledge that expressing concern at Russell Brand’s continued employment was inappropriate.”

Good to see an MP with a bit of common sense.

Dr Faustus
Dr Faustus
September 23, 2023 3:52 pm

from apartment garages.

from apartment garages or CBD carparks.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
September 23, 2023 3:53 pm

Time for Prue Car to put things right and support Chris Dawson’s victim over NSW bureaucrats
hedley thomas hedley thomas

11:18PM September 22, 2023
3 Comments

How much more evidence does the NSW Education Minister, Prue Car, and her faceless bureaucrats in a civil case revolving around Australia’s most notorious wife-killer need?

Their legal strategy is risible. They blame the woman who was 16 when groomed by her charismatic schoolteacher twice her age. They deny responsibility for the “duty of care” that Chris Dawson owed, as a person in authority, to the child in his classroom. They tell the woman whose life has been ruined that the sex she had with Dawson during her year 11 at Cromer High was “consensual”.
Read Next

Because for the minister and the bureaucrats and the lawyers being instructed to run interference in the civil case, her “failure” to report the grooming and the sex with her teacher Dawson in 1980 means she was the one at fault.

In a scandal which has highlighted colossal failures and bungling spanning four decades by police, a prosecuting agency, and NSW Education officials and teachers, surely it’s now time for Prue Car to try and put some things right.

Time to admit systemic wrongdoing and pay appropriate damages to a woman whose life changed forever when she was a teenager in Dawson’s sights.

The facts are that teachers and school officials knew – and looked away – in 1980 as their charismatic footballing colleague prepared the girl from a troubled home for sex.

When he made her his year 11 “lover” in a blue and white school uniform, they turned a blind eye. They reported nothing when he made her his “date” at the 1981 school formal to mark the end of year 12; she was welcomed to the teachers’ table.

When he put her into his bed in January 1982, several teachers and the deputy head of the school suspected that Dawson’s missing wife, Lyn, had been killed. But Education officials still did nothing. To quell the gossip, the department Prue Car now leads transferred their sociopathic killer teacher to a nearby high school, Beacon Hill.

Many of the teachers knew full well that their then colleague was breaking the law in having sex with the girl.

Now that he has been convicted of carnal knowledge and ordered to serve another year on top of his murder sentence, Prue Car needs to stop the victim-blaming.

If the teachers and department she now oversees had done their jobs in the early 1980s, action would have been taken then. Lyn might not have been killed

Salvatore, Iron Publican
September 23, 2023 3:56 pm

The Vegas teen who callously mowed down a retired police chief last month boasted to police officers that he would be out of jail in 30 days.

Idiot probably believes it too.

Not just the system, the reinforcement of his social demographic will have been powerful.
He looks to be particularly stupid, so likely has swallowed all the “whites are scum, haha” that’s been going on in his circle, manifested in consequence-free activities like the knockout game, random looting of retailers, bashing of random derros, muggings, porch pirating, etc.

This self-reinforcing is very powerful.
A bunch of dickheads, about as intelligent as that pair look to be, broke into the pub just after closing time one night & brutally worked over several of the staff, putting one into a coma in hospital for weeks. (The urgent nightime aero-medical evacuation alone cost north of $25,000)

CCTV recorded the whole thing perfectly. The edit I made of it was almost of the quality of a multiple-camera angle TV show.

As with anything, it took the cops ages (weeks IIRC) to get around to arresting anyone.
In that time the culprits realised they’d gone too far & were in hot water. Panicked at first, they put their heads together & came up with a story they believed would exonerate them:
They’d seen my father inside the building, he was a paedophile*, so they were justified in breaking in to “get” him.

When the challenger sub was squished diving on the Titanic, it was revealed that 125 milliseconds are required for the brain to realise what is happening.

Their story lasted 3 milliseconds when they tried it on the cops.

They needn’t have worried.** Most of them weren’t even sent for trial. Those who were did not receive a conviction.

(* their words & a most unfounded allegation, at the time “paedophile” had supplanted “wanker” as the nastiest word the hoods of the town knew, & use of it was in their world instant social obliteration – alas the law takes its cue from parliament, not the words of the town thugs. “Paedophile” lasted about a year before “wanker” came back into common use, probably because half of them couldn’t reliable pronounce the word & even fewer if any could spell it.)

(** this despite the CCTV evidence being so good that cops from other towns were dropping in to my office unannounced asking to see it, they’d view it with their jaws agape, with comments like “This is GOLD. I’ve been in the job 25 years & never seen anything this good”.
Goes to show what can be achieved by a corrupt police prosecutor who is covering for the son of a Senior Sergeant)

Cassie of Sydney
September 23, 2023 3:57 pm

“Face it, Sam Newman and his mates Avi and Rukshan are irrelevant.”

Nah, and unlike you, they don’t get off on violence towards women.

Rosie
Rosie
September 23, 2023 4:02 pm

I backed Steparty thank you Farmer Gez. I’d have backed it last time but didnt want to log into TAB account from overseas.

Salvatore, Iron Publican
September 23, 2023 4:02 pm

Starship Troopers and Forever War together

Supplementary question:
In addition to Starship Troopers, what or who, is Forever War?

From context am I correct in presuming them to be books?

Colonel Crispin Berka
Colonel Crispin Berka
September 23, 2023 4:04 pm

Last week Triple-J *news* was reporting how many 100s of thousands more Aboriginals, and people aged 18-25, are enrolled to vote in this referendum compared to the 1999 referendum.

Hmm, so the rolls loaded with people who are either too naive to know why it’s a bad idea, or stand to directly benefit from it, is the main reason Yes is expected by Yes to win. Not a lot of intellectual probing of the persuasiveness of their argument.

H B Bear
H B Bear
September 23, 2023 4:06 pm

“Terrified silence” would be closer to the mark. One “boo” and a swarthy security guard would be crash tackling you.

Won’t be a problem in a few weeks. Just yet.

Tom
Tom
September 23, 2023 4:07 pm

Even a strong No case cannot beat 30% of ballots switched to Yes. Even if some don’t vote by post, envelopes will be ‘found’

As in the US, 95%+ of Australian public servants vote for ALP-Filth, but I’m not convinced the desire to cheat is so far advanced in Australia that the AEC would change a referendum result that doesn’t change the national balance of power — i.e., 95% ALP-Filth state and federal.

Much more likely that another unpopular, failed ALP leader who waited in line for the prime ministership will be spat out by Australia’s increasingly Italian leadership merry-go-round.

Bourne1879
Bourne1879
September 23, 2023 4:07 pm

Courier Mail has an article up about rallies in Brisbane today.

Daily Telegraph online title starts off with “Wild scenes” but the following article makes no mention of anything “wild” happening.

Rockdoctor
Rockdoctor
September 23, 2023 4:09 pm

Just watched 2 bookmarked vids and thanks Cats for providing them.

1st one was Avi & Rukshan with Sam Newman. Can’t see where Sam walked back from his call as widely reported MSM misinformation atm.

2nd was the co-Governance in NZ. A warning of what’s coming our way should the referendum gets up…

OldOzzie
OldOzzie
September 23, 2023 4:09 pm

Vicki
Sep 23, 2023 12:59 PM

How I hate electric fences. Just arrived at farm & decided to shut a gate to one of the paddocks & noticed a “click click” from adjacent fence. Obviously a “short”. Should have gone back to machinery shed & switched off the system. Didn’t, and copped a 7,000 volt whack through my arm (on the gate). Lucky there was a short, as normal voltage is 8,000.

Now watching practice 3 for Japan Grand Prix. I think the electrocution has helped my crook neck!

Vicki,

Watch Electric Fences – They Bite

Having watched Practice 3 Replay Japan Grand Prix – Watching Pre Qualifying Japan at the moment – Norris vs Max will be interesting, with Bundy & Pepsi Max

Dunny Brush
Dunny Brush
September 23, 2023 4:10 pm

One thing is certain about the referendum: not matter the result, bad boy blubby Albo will cry.

Boambee John
Boambee John
September 23, 2023 4:11 pm

Bourne1879
Sep 23, 2023 3:51 PM
Boambee,
I did not say he was C as my post clearly indicated he worked there until July 2020.

I didn’t claim that you said that. I simply pointed out that many references have been made to him being a Major General, but that Director of Reserves is a long way from being a spook.

feelthebern
feelthebern
September 23, 2023 4:12 pm

Farmer Gez, your mates are buying the beers tonight.

feelthebern
feelthebern
September 23, 2023 4:13 pm

I usually don’t put the Caulfield Guineas in the calendar.
But after that Prelude & that Golden Rose, it’s getting set to be one of the races of the spring.

Boambee John
Boambee John
September 23, 2023 4:14 pm

Because for the minister and the bureaucrats and the lawyers being instructed to run interference in the civil case, her “failure” to report the grooming and the sex with her teacher Dawson in 1980 means she was the one at fault.

In a scandal which has highlighted colossal failures and bungling spanning four decades by police, a prosecuting agency, and NSW Education officials and teachers, surely it’s now time for Prue Car to try and put some things right.

But, but, but Cdl Pell is a monster because he shared accommodation with Ridsdale.

feelthebern
feelthebern
September 23, 2023 4:17 pm

Unless you genuinely think you have a chance at winning the Everest, the 3 year olds should head to Melbourne for the Guineas.
At least you won’t have the split the winnings like you do with the Everest.

JC
JC
September 23, 2023 4:20 pm

Where Angry Karen excerpted her paragraph.

I bolded the comment about EVs.

The ‘ticking time bombs’ inside Aussie homes sparking a rising number of fires

An increasingly common item poses a growing risk to Australians, capable of exploding and injuring or even killing those in proximity.

Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) investigators suspect a fire which damaged a unit at Wentworthville, in…

A spate of fires sparked by exploding lithium-ion batteries in e-scooters and e-bikes in recent months has prompted renewed safety concerns.

Data obtained by news.com.au shows emergency services have responded to hundreds of incidents in the past 18 months, some of which led to serious injury and even death.

“We’re concerned about the number of lithium-ion battery fires we’re seeing,” New South Wales Fire and Rescue Superintendent Adam Dewberry said. “And the number this year is well-and-truly trending up.”
Authorities are warning Aussies to be aware of the risks involved with lithium-ion batteries. Picture: NSW Fire and Rescue
Authorities are warning Aussies to be aware of the risks involved with lithium-ion batteries. Picture: NSW Fire and Rescue

There were 165 fires involving lithium-ion batteries across NSW in 2022, while there have been 114 incidents already this year, up to July.

Last month, a 54-year-old man died when a lithium-ion battery stored inside his Punchbowl apartment exploded. When fire crews arrived, they found his lifeless body on a bathroom floor and suspected he had perished after inhaling toxic fumes while trying to contain the blaze.

Early on Friday morning, a battery in a golf cart-style buggy exploded at a St John’s Ambulance facility in Burwood in Sydney’s inner-west.
A lithium-ion battery ignited at a St John’s Ambulance facility in Sydney on Friday.
Three medicab vehicles were damaged. It took fire crews more than 90 minutes to bring the blaze under control.

And just yesterday, firies were dispatched to respond to two separate fires involving exploding e-bike batteries.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services reports a total of 107 fires caused by lithium-ion batteries last year, while the tally for 2023 so far is sitting at 93.

In March last year, a 22-year-old man died when a scooter battery caught fire in his caravan in Logan Central. His pregnant partner sustained burns to 80 per cent of her body and had to be placed in an induced coma.

A spokesperson for Fire Rescue Victoria said: “Victoria’s fire services are responding to an average of one significant lithium-ion battery fire each week, and this trend is expected to increase.”

One of those was earlier this month when a house fire in Lalor was caused by a battery in a model toy bought online from overseas, leading to significant damage throughout.

Fires related to electric vehicles or hybrid cars with a rechargeable battery are rare, with just two reported in NSW in 2023, Superintendent Dewberry said.

Both occurred last week – one on the Hume Highway and another in a car park at Sydney Airport, he said. In the first, a tail shaft blew off a truck and hit the car, piercing its battery. In the second, a battery was removed from the vehicle and left exposed in the elements.

In 2022, there were four incidents involving electric or hybrid vehicle fires.

What is of growing concern is the booming popularity of smaller devices powered by batteries, which are typically kept indoors, he said.

“It’s definitely an area of interest for us, that’s for sure – especially with these smaller devices.”

Matthew Priestley from the Energy Systems Research Group at UNSW said there is “very little regulation” surrounding lithium-ion battery safety.

“We want and need this energy storage technology to be safe because they are vital in the uptake of renewable energy and it’s important that the public and industry do not perceive it to be dangerous,” Dr Priestley said

“But at the moment, most people do not have an adequate understanding about the risks associated with these batteries, or enough respect for them. I don’t think there is enough education regarding proper use and storage, and recycling or disposal.
‘Ticking time bombs’

Lithium-ion batteries are “amazing devices” capable of storing 10 times more energy than a conventional battery, used in everything from phones to electric cars and power plants, Paul Christensen, an electrochemistry professor at Newcastle University in the UK, said.

“But in my view, the penetration of these fantastic devices into all levels of our society has far outstripped our knowledge of the risks and hazards,” Professor Christensen said.

“I’m not trying to demonise them at all. They’re regarded as essential in our fight to decarbonise the planet.”

However, if a battery is over-charged, overheats or sustains damage, it has the high likelihood of generating “huge quantities of explosive and toxic gas”, known as ‘thermal runaway’.

“If that gas gets out in an uncontrolled fashion, it can – and has – caused rocket-like flames or even explosions.”

A lithium-ion battery can leak up to 500L of gas per kilowatt hour, Professor Christiansen explained.

“A kilowatt hour is a measure of how much energy the battery stores. Typically, an e-scooter battery is a quarter of a kilowatt hour, whereas an e-bike battery is about three quarters. So, they’ll produce 125 or 375L or explosive and toxic gas.”

If it ignites immediately, intense flames of 1000C or more can be produced. If the gas fills a room, an explosion is likely.

“You might only have seconds before a major vapour cloud explosion or those rocket-like flames,” he said.

Research by the organisation EV Fire Safe found that if a battery goes into thermal runaway inside a home, there is a 64 per cent chance of being injured and requiring hospitalisation, and a 7.8 per cent chance of death.

Panic erupted earlier this year when it emerged an Australian online auction house had sold 40 discounted e-scooters that were water-damaged, posing a serious risk to buyers.

One of them later caught on fire while left on charge overnight. A man and his son woke to find the living room of their Northern Beaches home engulfed in flames.

“These damaged e-scooters were effectively ticking time bombs, ready to explode inside family homes across New South Wales,” Fire and Rescue NSW Assistant Commissioner Trent Curtin said at the time.

Be alert, not alarmed

With proper precautions, consumers can dramatically reduce the chance of a fire or an explosion, Professor Christiansen said, but with an increasing range of uses, the potential for problems is growing.

Rough estimates indicate there are between 250,000 and 300,000 electric scooter owners in Australia. There were about 75,000 e-bikes sold across the country in 2021.

Consumers should only buy a product with a lithium-ion battery from known and trusted companies and only use the charger supplied, Professor Christian said.

“Never buy one that requires the user to manually turn it off when charging is complete. And never charge a battery indoors, ever – full stop, period.”

If something goes wrong, “you might only have seconds” to escape disaster, he added.

“If you hear popping, hissing or screaming, or you see any kind of gas or smoke venting, do not attempt to deal with it yourself. Leave the building immediately, alerting other occupants, and phone the fire brigade.”

Barry
Barry
September 23, 2023 4:20 pm

Tom
Sep 23, 2023 4:07 PM


I’m not convinced the desire to cheat is so far advanced in Australia that the AEC would change a referendum result
….

It’s not the AEC. It’s Computershare. The AEC is just looking the other way.

Plausible deniability in spades. The AEC of the Ticks and Crosses? Not biassed? Think again.

Look at Computershare’s pinko investing ecosystem.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
September 23, 2023 4:22 pm

Courier Mail has an article up about rallies in Brisbane today.

Seems the “Gay Pride” mob marched in support of the “YES” brigade. Nasty, cruel minds, such as mine, could have fun coining slogans for such a march…

Top Ender
Top Ender
September 23, 2023 4:23 pm

Starship Troopers, Salvatore, is a crossover novel by Robert Heinlein, one of the “Big Four” of 20th century “hard” science fiction writing. That is, SF with a solid basis in physics and technology.

Heinlein, very much a patriotic conservative American (1907-1988), was a very popular writer of “juveniles” – SF aimed at young males. He wrote a lot of science fiction stories and novels, but with Starship Troopers his publisher rejected it as being too violent. He went elsewhere and made a successful change into writing SF for adults.

The book follows the adventures of a young man, off to war against “The Bugs” in a society where the only people who can vote are those who have done military service.

cohenite
September 23, 2023 4:29 pm

Lithium-ion batteries are “amazing devices” capable of storing 10 times more energy than a conventional battery, used in everything from phones to electric cars and power plants, Paul Christensen, an electrochemistry professor at Newcastle University in the UK, said.

“But in my view, the penetration of these fantastic devices into all levels of our society has far outstripped our knowledge of the risks and hazards,” Professor Christensen said.

“I’m not trying to demonise them at all. They’re regarded as essential in our fight to decarbonise the planet.

There you have it: another smart guy completely fuked in the head because of carbonitism.

Top Ender
Top Ender
September 23, 2023 4:31 pm

The Forever War is a novel by Joe Haldeman, an American Vietnam War veteran.

Like Starship Troopers, it follows the adventures of one young male soldier. He takes part, over several years, as a trooper, then as an officer, in a seemingly endless war against an alien civilisation.

One interesting aspect is due to the physics of space-time travel his starship jumps through interstellar space means many decades pass on Earth while he spends only years fighting. On one trip back to Earth he discovers homosexuality is now encouraged as a means of keeping the population down.

A side narrative follows his romance with a female soldier separated from him by her duty in other starships.

An excellent book followed by two mediocre sequels. Haldeman is still around and had quite a successful career as an SF writer.

feelthebern
feelthebern
September 23, 2023 4:34 pm

Who had Canada & India going to war on their 2023 bingo card?

miltonf
miltonf
September 23, 2023 4:35 pm
JC
JC
September 23, 2023 4:35 pm

Is this correct?

Contrary to common disinformation about electric vehicles, data from the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) has shown that EVs are 20 times less likely to catch fire than petrol and diesel cars.

The MSB says that during 2022 there were a total of 106 fires in various electrified modes of transport in Sweden, but that 38 of these were in electric scooters and 20 were electric bicycles.

Only 23 fires were reported in electric vehicles in 2022 making up just 0.004% of Sweden’s fleet of 611,000 EVs.

In contrast, over the same period, some 3,400 fires we reported in 2022 from Sweden’s 4.4 million petrol and diesel cars representing 0.08% of the fossil car fleet.

This means that in 2022 a petrol or diesel car in Sweden was around 20 times more likely to catch fire than an electric vehicle.
EV fires are declining

Furthermore, fires in electric cars are declining. The MSB says the number of fires in electric cars has been around 20 a year over the last three years, although the number of electric cars over that tie has almost doubled. Presumably, this is due to EV makers improving fire suppressing designs in newer models.

Here’s Autoweek.

Scooters and E bikes can be a problem because of faulty engineering.

Bigger Fire Threat with Bikes and Scooters

What about e-bike fires? According to The New York Times, lithium battery fires from e-bikes and e-scooters have killed 14 people and injured 93 others, with 154 fires reported in New York City as of August 14.

Local Law 39, which takes effect September 16, will “prohibit the sale, lease or rental of e-bikes and e-scooters—along with their batteries—that fail to meet recognized industry safety standards,” the Times reports.

Austin says the simple explanation for why a battery might catch fire is due to a fault in the system that causes thermal runaway, and the new law targeting failure to meet safety standards backs that up.

These include “things like manufacturing defects, physical damage, a fault in the battery management that results in over-charging, or some combination of those conditions,” he says.

“When you look at e-bike and e-scooter fires, the likelihood of those problems is a lot higher—or at least it’s easier to call the componentry into question. For automakers, they spend a lot of effort to eliminate those faults and make sure the battery is still safe when there is a fault. Over-engineering is a lot cheaper than replacing tens of thousands of battery packs in a recall.”

https://www.autoweek.com/news/a44938407/battery-electric-vehicle-car-fires/

Cassie of Sydney
September 23, 2023 4:39 pm

Is there a NO rally in Melbourne today?

If so, how long before those mysterious Grampian Nazis turn up and are ushered through by Vic Plod to mingle with NO voters?

thefrollickingmole
thefrollickingmole
September 23, 2023 4:39 pm

I always found forever war too ham fisted a Vietnam analogy.

Salvatore, Iron Publican
September 23, 2023 4:40 pm

Thank you TE. Science fiction I’ve never gone near. I’m as blind to it as I am to advertising.

Ray Bradbury we had to read at school, & I had no objection to it, finding it miles better than some of the crap we had to read (notable example: Catcher in the Rye & Catch-22, which was so bad I didn’t read it & winged the exam by guessing)

Also read lots of Raymond E Feist as an adult, then again that’s not SF so much as fantasy.

Again, thank you. I’ve never heard of either book, or author, & likely won’t ever encounter them apart from on this blog. 60 metres or more of bookshelf in my house notwithstanding.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
September 23, 2023 4:40 pm

Airports! We flew Qatar Airlines for the first time, from Singapore to Milan and happy to report that this airline has attentive service and good quality food for all. We slept well stretched out in a half-empty Economy along three seats each for much of the 8 hours it took to arrive at Doha in the UAE. They’d offered us a discount upgrade to Business for $4000 extra prior to boarding and we were glad we’d refused, because the carrels looked like mini black-walled prisons as we walked by them into Economy.

Doha airport was a shock, because although there were many unused airbridge docks we drew up a long way fromm the terminal and had to descend perilous stairs a long way down from the top of this plane, with me at 81 carrying a 10kg cabin case and wearing a 5kg backpack trying to avoid doing a Joe Biden on the stairs.

Doha is in an univiting flat land of desert, the airport is building extensions, and it was 40 degrees outside, so into a bus to the terminal way in the distance. After a 1.5 hour transit we boarded another plane bussed even further out around the extensions, and had a similar climb up stairs back in. We’d also lucked out on seat space, as it was full, but still daytime and only 5.5hours to go, so we watched movies (can recommend ‘Living’ as an excellent evocation of 50’s London) and were soon in Milan. Business carrels on this flight were the opposite of the last, they had no privacy at all. Just letting youse all know, what you get in Busines is variable.

We waited In Milan airport for an hour for our luggage to arrive, a waste of time because we were five minutes walk from the waiting comfort of our room at the Airport Sheraton. Meantime, crowds of Muslim women with hordes of children from the flight crowded out each end of the side of the moving luggage carrier where we waited. They had truly huge amounts of luggage, seemingly 8 pieces each for some, offloaded from the moving track by the fully-gowned women and a couple of their men while other men stood around. The luggage pieces were all heavily shrink wrapped almost into balls with no visible handles and thus diffucult for baggage handlers to manage. Some Muslim women were hauling and kick-rolling theirs off the track and along to the carts.

Suddenly, just in time, I noticed an overladen cart coming our way at high speed unmanned and out of control, and yelled watch out, jumping aside myself as our cabin bags were sent flying as the cart banged to a stop into the moving track. I could then see that it had been propelled at top speed by two little running boys behind it pushing it, aged around eight and ten, and having a great old game. Whare are your parents? I demanded angrily, saying also this is not a game.

No sign of the parents in the groups at either end, and no care whatsoever as to what their children were up to. I knew this because previously I had seen a baby placed in a baggage cart in the handbag place at the top and another boy try to jump up and pull the otherwise empty cart along, and the whole thing had toppled over, with the baby’s head being caught against the floor and undeneath the pushing rail at the front which was on its neck. The boy had a sore leg and a woman eventually extricated the howling baby and tried to calm it.

Then a blonde female official came up to us, having seen our hand baggage sent flying, and said some new baggage had arrived and was being taken off the tracks on the other side so maybe ours would now be there. This was done it seems to avoid more problems with the Muslim crowds on our side. She walked with us and we found our two suitcases and she said the baggage was late due to so many ‘pieces’ being on board. Why can’t they stick to regulations, be made to do so? I asked this Italian woman about the general fracas. Oh, she said airily, by way of explanation and seeming apology, ‘it’s cultural’.

Hasn’t Italy got a culture too? I replied waspishly, and she look astonished that I had said the quiet part out loud. No wonder Georgia Meloni is doing so well in the polls.

Megan
Megan
September 23, 2023 4:41 pm

. The reason is simple: lithium is an inherently unstable metal; the more lithium you have the more instability you have.

Anyone who has travelled on an aircraft recently may have noticed a new addition to the safety warnings. You are informed that should you drop your mobile device into/between a seat you should call for immediate assistance from the cabin crew and not try to recover it yourself.

Introduced after passengers who accidentally dropped their phones between seats and attempted recovery by adjusting the seat to try to reach them resulting in the phone getting crushed and spontaneously combusting.

Not an ideal scenario at 35,000 feet. Or on the ground.

Farmer Gez
Farmer Gez
September 23, 2023 4:42 pm

Steparty
The old town will be up and about tonight.
Bush bred, trained and mostly owned.
As I said, he’s a gun.

cohenite
September 23, 2023 4:44 pm

EVs have been around for a long time:

EVs are for girls, gas cars are for boys

This is a pro EV article so the author is an idiot. He has no self awareness:

Parts of that story sound all too familiar. Back then, drivers of gas cars would carry extra cans of fuel with them on long journeys to improve their range, but EV drivers couldn’t do the same. The EV industry faced problems with infrastructure and range – it’s an issue we still face today, but it was even more pronounced back then. With most families, even wealthy ones, lacking electricity in their homes, it was inconvenient to own a car that was so difficult to drive far.

To that you can add the fact that EVs are made with rare Earths. Which means you either accept only 1 in a million people will be able to have one because of the scarcity of resources or you drown in a bath of delusion.

JC
JC
September 23, 2023 4:49 pm

To that you can add the fact that EVs are made with rare Earths. Which means you either accept only 1 in a million people will be able to have one because of the scarcity of resources or you drown in a bath of delusion.

Rare earths aren’t rare, Cronkite.

Rare earths are not rare. They’re in fact quite common. The ones that we use the most are as common as copper or lead, and in fact you can find them on every continent, and on the ocean floor, and they’re also in our technologies around us.

The problem with rare earths is that they’re disgusting to process they cause terrible environmental problems and should only be processed in places like China. 🙂

cohenite
September 23, 2023 4:51 pm

The 3 funniest novels and I mean laugh out loud and cack yourself are:

Puckoon
Catch 22
The Sot-weed Factor.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
September 23, 2023 4:51 pm

The book follows the adventures of a young man, off to war against “The Bugs” in a society where the only people who can vote are those who have done military service.

The book “Starship Troopers” was a classic of literature – the film was rubbish, of the first order.

cohenite
September 23, 2023 4:54 pm

Neodymium, dysprosium and terbium.

JC
JC
September 23, 2023 4:55 pm

Let’s now move onto the recent medical discoveries.

Between cost and demand, the latest breed of weight-loss drugs could transform healthcare in the U.S.—for good and ill.
By Josh Nathan-Kazis

Between cost and demand, the latest breed of weight-loss drugs could transform healthcare in the U.S.—for good and ill.
By Josh Nathan-Kazis

Updated September 21, 2023 / Original September 21, 2023

Novo Nordisk

NVO and Eli Lilly are about to start raking in tens of billions of dollars a year on their new obesity drugs, say Wall Street analysts. That’s great news for the drugmakers, certainly, but it could be a disaster for the companies and government agencies set to pick up the bill.

The new medicines, known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, promise body weight reductions of as much as 20%, and may cut patients’ risk of heart attack or stroke. By all appearances, they’re the most effective safe weight-loss drugs in history.

No surprise, then, that the demand for these medicines is huge and projected to get even larger as more supply comes on-line and more GLP-1s win Food and Drug Administration approval for weight loss.

I don’t get these weight loss drugs. Sure, they may be able to reduce weight for fat slobs, but if someone is downing 6 burgers a day including fries etc, s/he may thin out but the effect on the body will show up in different ways.

JMH
JMH
September 23, 2023 4:57 pm
Top Ender
Top Ender
September 23, 2023 4:57 pm

Salvatore, if you’re ever going to read the best SF they are both worth pursuing. There are an enormous number of very bad SF novels out there, but those two books were both very original and very thought-provoking. The Heinlein in particular argues for a type of society many Cats would find refreshing: it would reward hard work, offer societal control only to those who wanted to perform a civic duty, and punish criminals.

I used to read a lot of SF, and indeed wrote some post-graduate papers on it, but gave it away a long time ago as being full of dross. However I have a shelf full of the excellent stuff.

Others worth reading:

Niven and Pournelle: The Mote in God’s Eye, Footfall, and The Legacy of Heorot.

Isaac Asimov and Arthur C Clarke are worth a look, but they both have failures and outstanding books. There is also the occasional novel which comes along that offers a different perspective on humanity’s future. For example Andre Norton’s The Beast Master, Carl Sagan’s Contact, Jack Finney’s Time and Again, and Walter M. Miller’s A Canticle for Leibowitz.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
September 23, 2023 4:59 pm

I write this now a day later. We have picked up a large black SUV to cope with the autostrada where cars whip along at often more than the 130km speed limit, and we joined the six lane highway that leads, as all good roads are said to do, to Rome. We hoved off just above Tuscany to traverse the spectacular Appenine mountain pass over to Spezia, which is an old naval port town on the Mediterranean. Beyond it is a high peninsula headland where our accommodation sits at the very top of the viewpoint, with a trendy tourist town at the base of the climb up. As it was getting late, and a call to our accommodation discovered there was no food up there, and we didn’t fancy the drive back down and up in the dark, we picked up some pickled octipus, cheeses, a salad, wine and other picnic dinner goodies, and headed uphill.

The road was horrendous, narrow, rough with potholes, with ravine edges, with no pull away areas for passing traffic, entailing backing away to a possible, just possible, area of passing. They didn’t mention this part on Booking.Com. Then, a sharp steep poorly angled turn up to a parking area, an eagle’s view and a renovated farmhouse barn of a room with 14ft ceilings, Roman arches, artistically chipped away plaster and a decent bed. We ambled down with some whiskey to enjoy the garden and sit to view through ancient grapevine stems under a trellace covered with their output the dusk descending on the ancient waters and lit up town below. Starlit at the last.

Tom
Tom
September 23, 2023 5:00 pm

Alligator Blood (J: D. Oliver; T: Waterhouse-Bott) wins the group 1 Underwood Stakes ($750,000, 1800m).

JC
JC
September 23, 2023 5:01 pm

You’re such a worry wart, Cronkers.

We’re fine.

Neodymium is fairly common—about as common as cobalt, nickel, or copper—and is widely distributed in the Earth’s crust. Most of the world’s commercial neodymium is mined in China, as is the case with many other rare-earth metals.

Hasn’t been explored for commerical quantities elsewhere.

China currently produces about 900 tonnes of dysprosium per year and estimates that it can mine a further 13 500 tonnes. So at the current consumption
rate, the country could run out of the element in 15 years.

Terbium is one of the rarer rare-earth elements, although is twice as common in the Earth’s crust as silver. It is never found in nature as free element, but is is contained in many minerals.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
September 23, 2023 5:03 pm

Others worth reading:

John Scalzi’s “Old Man’s War” series – you have to be over 70 to enlist, you can never return to Earth, but you get a new body……

feelthebern
feelthebern
September 23, 2023 5:03 pm

Catch 22

One of my favourites.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Beare
September 23, 2023 5:04 pm

apologies for my spelling errors. Too busy now to change them.
We’re on the move to Tuscany this morning, more hilltops, likely more properly-spelled octopus under another trellis. Or some other foodie delights.

Dot
Dot
September 23, 2023 5:07 pm

JC

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucagon-like_peptide-1

Look at the physiological functions. It is a wonder drug thus far.

Tom
Tom
September 23, 2023 5:08 pm

Gai Waterhouse says she dreams every day of winning the Australasian weight-for-age championship, the $5 million W.S. Cox Plate at Moonee Valley. That sounds like Alligator Blood, winner of today’s group 1 Underwood Stakes at Caulfield, is headed there after the Turnbull Stakes at Flemington.

Dot
Dot
September 23, 2023 5:09 pm

The point is that GLP -1 drugs do increase satiety and this curb appetite, as well as increase insulin production & increase glucose uptake into muscles, among many other things.

thefrollickingmole
thefrollickingmole
September 23, 2023 5:10 pm

Skinny unhealthy people instead of fat ones.

JC
JC
September 23, 2023 5:11 pm

Angry Karen first excerpted link specifically mentioned that EV fires are rare.

Here:

Fires related to electric vehicles or hybrid cars with a rechargeable battery are rare, with just two reported in NSW in 2023, Superintendent Dewberry said.

The piece was talking about scooters and bikes.

His second attempt to satisfy his cognitive dissonance is also talking about the same things and not EVs. I can appreciate the problem though. Scooters, bikes and cars all have one thing in common. They travel on wheels, and consequently they’re all the same.

JC
JC
September 23, 2023 5:14 pm

Dot
Sep 23, 2023 5:09 PM

The point is that GLP -1 drugs do increase satiety and this curb appetite, as well as increase insulin production & increase glucose uptake into muscles, among many other things.

Okay, they’re an appetite suppressant also. I understood they quickened the metabolic response to fat burn. Instead of 6 burgers a day and fries, it will cut it down by 20%? 🙂

Dot
Dot
September 23, 2023 5:15 pm

An “Aboriginal elder” who can’t do welcome to country and problem glasses singing the national anthem.

Pig’s whistle don.

This nation needs normalcy, Carlton and John Elliot more than ever.

Dot
Dot
September 23, 2023 5:15 pm

son, damn you autocorrect!

Fair Shake
Fair Shake
September 23, 2023 5:16 pm

Watching AFL Lions v Blues. Had the WTC volume off. That black fella he looked funny with all that crap on his head.

Dot
Dot
September 23, 2023 5:18 pm

Carn the Blues!

1 0 6

Knuckle Dragger
Knuckle Dragger
September 23, 2023 5:20 pm

Torn.

Every fibre of my being is hardwired to cheer every failure of the silver spoon dilettantes that are Caaaarlton.

However, the Pies have a terrible history against Brisbane in Grand Finals, and so I must hope that the Blues get the chockies – so that sweet and just vengeance for the 1979 Wayne Harmes fit-up may come to pass.

JMH
JMH
September 23, 2023 5:24 pm

I simply cannot be bothered arguing with someone who has a serious comprehension problem. A problem highlighted over and over again on these pages for months.

The link again: https://www.frv.vic.gov.au/victorian-fire-agencies-and-regulator-urge-caution-over-lithium-ion-battery-fire-risks.

Once more, I posted no link. I posted no article. I referred only to Fire Rescue Victoria. Funny about that!

cohenite
September 23, 2023 5:26 pm

The book “Starship Troopers” was a classic of literature – the film was rubbish, of the first order.

I thought the movie was superior trash and pretty true to the book. The aliens were genuine aliens, the mixed sex troops had a fine time consistent with Heinlein’s repressed sexuality, the special effects were great and the direction had its tongue firmly up its clacker.

Steve trickler
Steve trickler
September 23, 2023 5:26 pm

That cat @ 4:35 runs amok!

—-

steveinman:

Instant Justice & Epic Fail Videos

cohenite
September 23, 2023 5:28 pm

Let’s now move onto the recent medical discoveries.

HP moves into 4 Corners mode.

Colonel Crispin Berka
Colonel Crispin Berka
September 23, 2023 5:28 pm

Kamahl announced he had changed his vote following a conversation with Indigenous comedian Dane Simpson and constitutional lawyer Eddie Synot.
The 88-year-old conceded he was hesitant because he had insufficient knowledge on what First Nations people had faced.
In an emotional interview with ABC Breakfast on Saturday morning the Australian singer elaborated further on his decision.
“Changing my mind wasn’t too difficult, because the No was a flippant ‘no’. It was not an educated No,” he said.
“I think the whole idea – what really reduced me to tears was, for the first time this Tuesday, I learnt that the British wanted to wipe out the black race as though they were vermin. I just couldn’t – even now as I say it, I want to choke.

If it works, don’t fix it. The October Surprise will be a re-run of the emotional prodding that put Kamahl over the line, but repackaged for a broader group of the over 40s.

Exactly how, logically, the imputed evil intentions of one J.Cook 200 years ago, even if they were true, would be sufficient to justify today a new racist institution, packed full of radicals hellbent on land use veto power and reparations, is an argument destined to remain MIA. Don’t ask awkward questions, just choke up and tick Yes.

He was leaning No because supposedly he had insufficient knowledge on what First Nations people had faced. Is he leaning Yes because he still has insufficient knowledge on what First Nations people do today?
Does he realise the InVoice could only help the aboriginals of today and cannot reanimate the dead?
Most aboriginals live a westernised lifestyle in towns. They assimilated into the settlers’ system – which represents them through Parliament at least as badly as it represents the rest of us. 🙂 Where’s the gap, where’s the oppression, where’s the lack of representation, and where’s their resentment of it all? What problem would the InVoice actually solve?
More importantly, what do the ringleaders of the Makarrata agenda intend as the future Australian society? What state of social relations do they aim for?

If they intend to use the InVoice and the Makarrata to reverse assimilation, they intend ultimately for two sets of laws to operate across the land, almost a second country. If they are not intending to use their special privileges to do that, they are wanting racist privileges within the current mainstream system, to which the virtually unanimous answer should be No.

The question of assimilation or separatism is the really thorny issue which should be asked on the referendum, because every other aboriginal community problem cannot be resolved without a firm direction on that question.

Salvatore, Iron Publican
September 23, 2023 5:31 pm

Catch 22
One of my favourites.

Vive la difference , of perspective.
I found it so dreadful I read only a handful of pages, never mind that we had to read it for school.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
September 23, 2023 5:31 pm

More importantly, what do the ringleaders of the Makarrata agenda intend as the future Australian society?

Well said!

Dot
Dot
September 23, 2023 5:33 pm

Cliff Notes.

It’s what the radio rental literature teachers want as canned answers and the books are shyte.

calli
calli
September 23, 2023 5:35 pm

I’ll barrack for Carlton, then. Poor sods, bound to lose.

It was the Beloved’s father’s team – when he enlisted he ended up with a Melbourne company, all of them Blues supporters. So he followed suit.

😀

Dot
Dot
September 23, 2023 5:35 pm

$&@“ing Cloud Street.

Dot
Dot
September 23, 2023 5:36 pm

I’ll barrack for Carlton, then. Poor sods, bound to lose.

Not today, chief.

cohenite
September 23, 2023 5:36 pm

“Changing my mind wasn’t too difficult, because the No was a flippant ‘no’. It was not an educated No,” he said.
“I think the whole idea – what really reduced me to tears was, for the first time this Tuesday, I learnt that the British wanted to wipe out the black race as though they were vermin. I just couldn’t – even now as I say it, I want to choke.

What a moron. King George’s instructions to Gov Phillips:

You are to endeavour by every possible means to open an Intercourse with the
Natives and to conciliate their affections, enjoining all Our Subjects to live in amity and kindness with them. And if any of Our Subjects shall wantonly destroy them, or give them any unnecessary Interruption in the exercise of their several occupations. It is our Will and Pleasure that you do cause such offenders to be brought to punishment according to the degree of the Offence.

I will not be surprised by a Yes vote because of the money and force behind the agitprop and the stupidity of the sheeple.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
September 23, 2023 5:39 pm

“I think the whole idea – what really reduced me to tears was, for the first time this Tuesday, I learnt that the British wanted to wipe out the black race as though they were vermin.

Stories my Nanna told me!

calli
calli
September 23, 2023 5:39 pm

I don’t know whether the exact term is “company” or “unit”. Whatever they were, they were all older than him. He always got to carry the flag on ANZAC Day as all his compatriots got older and frailer. This was in Sydney, the Melbourne turnout was much larger, naturally.

Whenever Carlton is mentioned, I picture him in his grey boiler suit, smile on his dial, pouring Hill of Grace at Sunday lunch. We had no idea how good that wine was…but he did.

calli
calli
September 23, 2023 5:41 pm

I learnt that the British wanted to wipe out the black race as though they were vermin.

Really? The Marines decided to disobey explicit orders from the King?

I don’t think so.

calli
calli
September 23, 2023 5:42 pm

Sorry, cohenite. Should have refreshed. Too much waxing lyrical over Henschke vino.

Tom
Tom
September 23, 2023 5:42 pm

I’ll barrack for Carlton, then. Poor sods, bound to lose.

Hush your mouth, Calli. It’s early.

PS: Carlton’s coach, Michael Voss, captained the Brisbane Bears when they were unbeatable at the Gabba, where tonight’s match is being played.

feelthebern
feelthebern
September 23, 2023 5:43 pm

I learnt that the British wanted to wipe out the black race as though they were vermin.

By the time the Brits got to Australia, they were more interested in a tax base.
Sure they wanted an underclass.
And convicts were the slave class.
Having a race based slave class was considered outdated by the Brits by then.

miltonf
miltonf
September 23, 2023 5:43 pm

Kahmahl doesn’t seem to like Australia- why did he come here then?

Rabz
September 23, 2023 5:45 pm

or the first time this Tuesday, I learnt that the British wanted to wipe out the black race as though they were vermin

The “British” were the most successful colonialist imperialists in human history for a reason, you f*cking ingrate – they civilised rather than slaughtered the many colourful races they conquered.

You’ve been lied to, you moron.

By collectivists, who are far, far more evil than your imaginary “British”.

calli
calli
September 23, 2023 5:45 pm

What have the British ever done for us?

Salvatore, Iron Publican
September 23, 2023 5:46 pm

Thank you TE for the recommendations. Not sure I’ll ever have time to branch out into reading sci fi.
Once was the time I was a novel-a-day man, regardless of the novel, even Gone with the Wind.
Alas career (i.e. holding down a job) intervened, then along came TV & other things to occupy time, hobbies & other pastimes that occupy time that would once have been spent reading.

I’ll not get read in my lifetime half the books I’ve gathered. Example: I’ve lotsa books by a Tom Lewis. They look great on the office shelf. Haven’t yet had clear enough decks to actually read even one of them.
Sci Fi is likely to remain off my list.

calli
calli
September 23, 2023 5:50 pm

I see the downticker is busy.

Looking at the graphic, it resembles a crouching dog, leaving a dropping. Go for it, Fido!

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
September 23, 2023 5:50 pm

I’ll not get read in my lifetime half the books I’ve gathered

It’s my aim, in retirement, to read all the books I’ve gathered.

Rabz
September 23, 2023 5:53 pm

calli – you’ll conquer your alleged problem, with some recent advances in medical technology.

We dinobores need to stick together, in case of a massive asteroid event. 🙂

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
September 23, 2023 5:55 pm

The “British” were the most successful colonialist imperialists in human history for a reason, you f*cking ingrate

I would have thought someone, who was born in Kuala Lumpar, would have some idea of the record of British colonialism.

JC
JC
September 23, 2023 5:55 pm

The link again: https://www.frv.vic.gov.au/victorian-fire-agencies-and-regulator-urge-caution-over-lithium-ion-battery-fire-risks.

Once more, I posted no link. I posted no article. I referred only to Fire Rescue Victoria. Funny about that!

I took the except, Googled it and it came up with the fist link to a Hun story in which the para was included. Here:

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=%E2%80%9CVictoria%E2%80%99s+fire+services+are+responding+to+an+average+of+one+significant+lithium-ion+battery+fire+each+week%2C+and+this+trend+is+expected+to+increase.%E2%80%9D

Next time it would be a great idea to link.

In any event, both the Hun piece, which referenced the Fire Vic excerpt and Fire Vic itself aren’t talking talking about EVs. They’re discussing problems with scooters and bikes.

The Hun mentioned how EV fires have been a rare incidence.

Lee
Lee
September 23, 2023 5:56 pm

I learnt that the British wanted to wipe out the black race as though they were vermin.

BS.

Makka
Makka
September 23, 2023 5:57 pm

Kamahl was never going to vote No. A Malaysian born of Tamil descent- so much legacy colonial loathing in that mix.

This was a Yes setup from the very start-“Newly enlightened black man changes his vote because of terrible British Colonialism”

Salvatore, Iron Publican
September 23, 2023 5:57 pm

A part of me isn’t entirely sure the Kamahl “indecision”, choice of No, then U-turn to “Yes” wasn’t carefully choreographed in advance.

Then again, Kamahl has (how to phrase this?) has never been among those who are candidates for membership of Mensa.

Salvatore, Iron Publican
September 23, 2023 5:58 pm

Snap, Makka

calli
calli
September 23, 2023 5:58 pm

Of, course, Rabz! On the strength of my “embellishment” birthday card, the Beloved booked an extension of our holiday next year. Including a final dinner in Venice.

A sense of humour goes a long way, even for Dinobores.

miltonf
miltonf
September 23, 2023 6:01 pm

So Australia gave him a singing career and TV show iirc and that’s his level of gratitude.

  1. This is the WSJ but not paywalled. Also not what you’d expect.Decline and Fall of America? Not Yet Trump appears…

1.1K
0
Oh, you think that, do you? Care to put it on record?x
()
x