Albanese government removes ASIO and ASIS heads from National Security Committee of Cabinet

I thought the following bit was pretty interesting:

Mr Davis’ department announced a review last month into whether to cut funding to think-tanks.

This would include the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, which receives funding from both Australia the United States.

Shutting down ASPI, a frequent China critic, was on China’s list of 14 demands issued under the Coalition Government.

The implication is that Albo, Wong and Davis are working their way through a list of demands from China, who are offering the quid pro quo of dropping tariffs on wine and unembargoing other stuff, like coal.

So maybe the ASIO and ASIS thing was another line item crossed off.

Given our vulnerable position defense-wise it sounds like the elites in this country are edging away from the US and towards China. Perhaps they think placating the dragon will work.

With the voter fraud in the US elections, the cartoons about the vote for Putin are hypocritical and unfunny. Big miss, Leak and Knight.

Quite so. Would they prefer the globalist scum who are destroying/have destroyed the West to be running Russia? Ultimately they are both in the employ of Mudrock.

Sharri can smell the influence peddlers inside the tent.
Belt and Road through the back door from the Allan government in Vic through the autocratic pushing of mostly Chinese corporate interests colonising the land with renewables.
Chalmers supposedly inconsequential drop tariff reforms included Chinese solar and turbine blades. The benefits to the average consumer were tiny and it didn’t rate a big announcement but then again, we weren’t the audience.
MSM are tone deaf to the big game being played by senior bureaucrats and corporate bosses. AEMO stinks of influence.

Sending you much sympathy, Mark, on the loss of your Mum. I second Rosie’s choice of Psalm 23 for your OT reading. I’m sure, whatever your choice, you’ll do her proud.

Just In: Barack Obama Caught on Video Entering Home of UK Prime Minister—Why?

Maybe just a gay hook-up while he was in town.

BoN, the “unhappy Tesla driver”, is just like the majority of people doing just about anything. Only look at the positives. There are not many new mousetraps around. The left have perfected this approach by insisting 100% of an unproven idea instead of 5-10% improvement of an old idea. This is why people get caught up in scams. The internet is full of perpetual motion machines and sentient computers. I’m very rarely disappointed by looking at the downside of every shiny new thing that comes along. Some things are already as good as they get, e.g. mousetraps. I’ve been relatively successful by taking nibbles instead of a whole mouthful. There are very few J Robert Oppenheimer and Elon Reeve Musk that can see past the downside of a massive problem. What these two have achieved in a short space of time is incredible. I grew up with parents afraid to do anything. Always warned not to get out of the box. I suppose that’s why I’m a sceptic. I’m more a product of my relatives. My niece asked me recently why I’m not like my sister or parents. I said, “lucky”.

Yep the Leak is a bit weak. Plus, Herge got there a hundred years ago in Tintin in the Land of the Soviets.

Mem – The comment box is now at the top not the bottom.

When you post a comment it first stays at the top, but when you refresh it goes to the bottom.

Bit of a work in progress so far. The commenting seems to work more like Disqus, if you are used to that.

You don’t need to login to comment, but I think you need to register if you want to do upticks. I haven’t tried that yet.

“Failing to swiftly destroy Hamas and directly punish Hamas’s backers in Iran and Qatar will teach sympathizers in other parts of the Muslim world that strategies of atrocity should be added to the playbook of regimes challenging U.S. allies around the world.”

Does anyone think that destroying Hamas, is even possible?
Or, more to the point, is that unachievable action even the goal?
No, is the answer to both.

The aim of the Israeli PM, Benjamin Pfizer, is to keep his sorry arse out of gaol.
Much like St Volodymyr the Pure, he is prepared to sacrifice his entire population, to achieve his goal.

Israel has never been weaker, in comparison to its neighbours, than it is now.
The catastrophe, (for both parties), that is occurring in Gaza, will be nothing, compared to what will happen, if Pfizer directs an attack against Lebanon, which, looks more and more likely.
Back in Dec/Jan, Israel evacuated more than 30,000 inhabitants of Northern Israel. Clearly, because Israel is so strong, ……, right?

If Lebanon is attacked, Israel will be on its own, because those US Carriers will be either withdrawn, or, more likely sunk. The loss of significant Israeli territory is not merely possible, but likely.

This is clearly a disastrous scenario, for Israel. Perhaps it is time to look for the best outcome for Israel, not the PM.

Crap science report of the day.

Magpies under siege from climate and man-made noise (Phys.org, 18 Mar)

The combined impact of climate change and human-generated noise are proving double trouble for wild urban-dwelling bird species, changing their behavior in ways that could threaten their survival.

That’s the finding of a new study from The University of Western Australia published in the journal Animal Behaviour, which looked at how hotter temperatures and loud man-made noises, such as those from airplanes, impacted West Australian magpies, both individually and when they co-occurred.

Magpies are thriving. Indeed more warmth is a good thing for them since they can start their season earlier, thereby avoiding cuckoos. And magpies in urban areas are as well fed as can be, especially in my suburb.

Ah well, the UWA PhD student will probably get an immediate lectureship and rise to professor even before you can say “climate crap”.

Roger

 March 19, 2024 10:09 am

The Guardian cites an ongoing trend of energy companies switching from renewables to higher margin oil and gas projects as a factor in the company’s decline.

Chris Bowen is increasingly looking like a reverse King Canute, assuring Australians he can command the tides of world markets.

Well, he certainly seems to be some kind of a Canute.

TheirABC’s ‘experts’ proved to be idiots – again.

He says according to recent CSIRO research, the flies can also be blown more than 300km a day.

“That is normal,” he says.
Dr Evans says it is too cold for the flies in the southern half of the continent in winter.

“Flies can’t survive below 15 degrees.”

Dr (for a Doctor he is – h/t Gerald) should get out of the aircon and into the fresh air now and then.

Bushflies, and other flies, certainly can survive below 15C. Take it from someone who lives and has lived for decades in the Canberra region.

Bushflies do drop off quite quickly as it gets colder, but other types of flies around here even survive frosts. They do eventually disappear in the depths of winter.

TheirABC’s Rolodex of ‘experts’ contains as many duds as the Victorian Parliamentary Liberal Party.

PS – I still can’t vote up or down, because evil WordPress won’t accept my email address. It’s an encrypted one. The same thing happened when I tried to register for the SBS online service. Not acceptable – now, why would that be?

They’re harvesting your data, make no mistake.