Many readers ask us ‘what is civil society and why do you go on about it so much’?    Civil society comprises the relationships and activities that make up our life at grass-roots    levels of society, in families, communities and voluntary associations, independent of both    government and the commercial world.     It comprises eight key segments:     Family,…

As the capacity of coal power sinks towards the level of demand This is a short story to explain why intermittent inputs from the sun and wind can’t power a sustainable energy system. Spoiler: Its all about the wind droughts. Especially at night. First, three important features of the power supply and what that means.…

Triffids first appeared in a post-apocalyptic novel in the 1951 that depicted a swarm of people-eating monster plants stalking the countryside. Apparently they were bioengineered in a secret laboratory in the USSR and accidentally got released into the wild (yes we have heard that one before.)    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_of_the_Triffids The modern triffids are made of steel,…

Sorry for late call, objections close at midnight and the word is that not enough have come in yet to force a review of the submission. 50 are required and the locals have been captured by the RE interests. It takes less than five minutes to lodge an objection after you register on the portal,…

BUT WON’T LET GO OF INTERMITTENT ENERGY “PARTNERSHIP” Oh well, half a loaf! Peter Dutton is leading the Liberal team to demonstrate a bit of ticker to challenge the Labor narrative on The Voice and now he is taking up the Small Nuclear Reactor (SMR) option. He delivered a spirited address to the assembled IPA…

WHAT THE USUAL SUSPECTS ARE DOING New on the list The Spectator Australia A scintillating roundup of news, opinion, politics, arts and letters. An outstanding array of columnists. The Energy Realists    Conservative Vagabond Jo Nova    The Monarchists Quadrant The Free Press Bettina Arndt Menzies IPA      The Sydney Institute Mannkal CIS   Taxpayers   Alexandra Marshall `   Australian Inst for…

Your taxes at work in a university centre of climate science excellence Looking at a preprint of a paper by Richardson et al on “compound solar and wind droughts” from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes at the University of NSW. The purpose of the study was to assess the risk…

Remember the great booms and busts of history, the Dutch tulip mania, the South Sea Bubble? We will soon be privileged to see the mother of them all, the collapse of the climate and energy ponzi scheme. Buckle up! Look where the money is going! It seems that the ASX has surged this year (and…

Looking for another way to promote peace, freedom and prosperity, and good living generally in addition to looking to Government and Salvation by Political Action? The Conservative Vagabond makes the case for building communities. One of a series. Worth reading and thinking about what follows.