Of course the pond had already been there before, but it's a useful potted reminder of the real purpose of the dog botherer blathering about nuking zero emissions ... it's to troll the woke.
What are we going to do this weekend, the pond's Pinky asks the dog botherer's Brain? Why the same as we did last weekend, troll the climate science woke ...
You see? It's the dog botherer's standard form - nuking the country is a test, and if you don't get on board, why, it's just political grandstanding.
The pond understands and shares the pain. It's a particularly difficult time for true Murdochian warriors, who shed tears and blood at the denialist barricades for generations, or at least decades. They did heroic, sterling work, and it's tough to expect them to turn on a dime ...
The Weekly Beast also noted the suffering of the Bolter ...
That's why the Weekly Beast is essential reading. It keeps the pond in touch with loons it otherwise couldn't be bothered poking with a barge pole ...
And so back to the DB trolling in good spirits, knowing that the Bolter feels trolled by Twiggy ...
That aside about nuking the indolent blacks in the outback back in the '50s shouldn't distract from the core purpose of this week's exercise ... the dog botherer's desire to nuke his Sky News ratings.
Yes, this entire effort is just a promo, as will be seen at the bottom. Meanwhile, much trolling must be endured from a man who has repeatedly told the world that climate science is a bunch of malarkey ...
It's a fiendish and cunning plan, typical of the Brain's best work with Pinky. Introduce nuking the country as a way of heading to net zero, and you induce a classic case of dog botherer FUD ... and inertia, and inability to act, and meantime, clean, dinkum Oz coal can make out like a bandit.
It used to be that carbon capture and technologies not yet invented were the best way to drum up a decent dose of FUD, but nuking the country is so much better, way better ... now let's bring on a mum to help, because mums know ...
Ah of course, the Canavan caravan. Another climate science denialist wheeled in to blather about ways of achieving net zero, while contending that climate science is a nonsense, and that black coal batters ... sorry, matters ...
And so to end with that plug ...
It goes without saying that the pond won't be watching. Perhaps the Weekly Beast will make note of it, perhaps Crikey will save the pond from the effort of trying to find out what was said. But in any case, the dog botherer has trolled his show, because there's already a goodly dose of 'nuke the country' bullshit on hand in his promo piece, and that's more than enough for the pond.
And so to the bromancer, who had also been mentioned as despairing in those beastly despatches ...
Excellent stuff ...
The pond always suggests to the bromancer that when he gets agitated about News Corp and climate science, he should get out his subs and have a play ...
In the old days the pond used to play in the bath with a candle-powered item and was astonished and delighted to discover that pop pop boats had their own wiki listing ...
But there's a goodly range of therapeutic sub toys with a goodly range of prices ...
A waterproof sub, now there's a thing ... and a windup Nautilus is pricey, but it might be just what the bromancer needs for his therapy sessions.
The alternative is an almost endurable amount of petulant foot stomping and deep unhappiness ... a neurotic obsession, an idée fixe ...
The bromancer's irrational obsession with subs so dominates his columns that it might be thought he has no time or mind for other matters, but relax, the pond is confident that he will manage to slip in a reference to another idée fixe ... climate science and net zero ...
The pond hoped its reference to climate didn't give readers premature hope. We must endure a lot of pop popping in the candle-powered bath before we get to that point ...
Am I being too tough here? Not really, you're just being barking mad in the classic bromancer way, shouting at clouds in patented style ... and with a lot more howling at the moon to come ...
As the pond drinks deep on the bromancer's tears - a drop as astringent and citrusy as a Clare valley riesling - it should be remembered that all this is just a backdrop for the bromancer's real ambitions.
The lad had wanted a war with China, if not by Xmas, then certainly by 2030, and now the chance of a dinkum set-to seems as remote as ... oh yes, it has to be said, as net zero ...
Go on bromancer, show your other pet obsession off ... work it into the grand story ...
There's one thing the pond can agree on ... if we're left to the bromancer's and the dog botherer's devices, there will be tears down the track.
Just look at the way that the dog botherer proudly helped fuck Iraq ... and Pinky, given the delusions of these Brains, fucking the planet will be a doddle, just another stroll in the park, or a play with a candle-powered sub ...
At this point the pond must pause for a break, and not being into Kit-Kats, what better way than a Rowe, with more Rowe here ...
Poor old Xian and what does he have on the wall?
Now there's a mystery whose meaning can be brooded over ... talk about refreshing the pond with an apple ...
And so to wrap up by tackling the pond's usual weekend Everest challenge ... an attempt to scale the hand-wringing Chicken Little scribbles of nattering "Ned" ...
Why "Ned"?
First of all, and the best reason... because he's there ...
Secondly, his ability to imitate a headless chook is remarkable, and in its own droll, very dry way, occasionally entertaining ...
Thirdly, donning sackcloth and ashes can be messy, when you can get a goodly dose of wailing and dithering straight from the horse's, or if you will, the "Neddy's" mouth ...
And fourthly the pond is able to reassure punters that there will be no sighting of "Ned's" podcast, wherein "Ned" reads himself to himself ... and to anyone else silly enough to listen, an exercise roughly equivalent to being on a video Zoom chat with Jeffrey Toobin ...
And so bravehearts, let us begin in the usual way at "Ned" base camp ...
And yet, and yet, there's the dog botherer nuking the planet, and the bromancer talking of it all as pointless and meaningless, as futile as ordering a sub ...
Have they turned Republican? Have they no idea what Prince Chuck, and Queen Liz and princely Andrew - sorry, sorry, how did he end up groping his way into the conversation - feel for the planet ...
Did you notice that gem buried in the text? "Having Barnaby Joyce as Nationals leader has been invaluable."
That's why the pond loves the dear old senile sod so ...
Two peas in a coal loving pod, of course that's invaluable ... especially as Barners has been out and about explaining that farmers no longer matter, not up against the good citizens of South Tamworth and Calala lane, and sssh, sweet climate denialist Gina ...
Sweet. See how a little distraction of the ABC kind can help get through "Ned"? Especially as Gina has been out and about of late doing her climate denialist thing and Barners still bends the knee to his beloved ...
Possibly around this point in the Chicken Little hand-wringing hysteria, generating little by way of heat or light or renewable energy, people might be a tad bored and peel off ...
But it gives the pond a chance to offer a few other distractions.
The pond realises that by covering "Ned" it misses out on many good things, but that's why a quick drip in the Crikey refreshment tray can bring reminders of other joys ...
Oh there's a lot more fun to be had with dear Prudence, always ready to come out and play, but it's enough to recharge the pond's batteries and plow on with "Ned" ...
Indeed, indeed. But then he rarely talks about what will really save the planet ... the impending rapture, and in the interim the healing power of the laying on of hands and the speaking in tongues to imaginary friends...
Feeling enervated again? How about that recent report on the doings of Freedom boy's camp?
It might be behind the Crikey paywall, but just a snap of that smirking mug immediately lifts the pond's spirits and it can return to the chicken little handwringing ...
What happened to nuking the country, and nuking the planet? Never mind, a final distraction ...
The pond had already celebrated this, but at the end of the week, it remained a highlight, a comic gem, and it just needed a one liner for the gag to work ...
So good to see that others love the comedy stylings of the Swiss bank account man ...
And there, we've reached the end, with only one "Ned" gobbet to go, and Everest climbed, and the handwringing done for the weekend ...
Did "Ned" just mention the Nationals? Now there's a way to finish on a note of low comedy ...
Hi Dorothy,
ReplyDeleteHow helpful of the Dog Botherer to point out the long history of Fair Dinkum Aussie radioactivity and its long term legacy;
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2008/sep/09/universityofmanchester.radioactivity
DiddyWrote
Oh, so the Pommies had their own NZ born reprise of Marie Curie, then.
DeleteThe Doggy Bov loves his barefaced lies, doesn't he. :-)
ReplyDeleteMuch as it pains me to take any notice at all of what the DB is spouting about the state of energy in Britain, the 'minor doldrums' of North Sea wind is only part of the problem.
For anybody interested in finding out what's really going on - as opposed to being fed the usual reptile bullshit - there's a good and comprehensive exposition here (and it does cover "the doldrums"):
UK’s winter of discontent
https://www.energycouncil.com.au/analysis/uk-s-winter-of-discontent/
Note what it says about the UK's nuclears:
"The UK’s 8GW of nuclear capacity (said to be increasingly unreliable and running at closer to 5GW due to outages) has most units undergoing maintenance."
Will Rolls-Royce's Small Modular Reactors make any difference ? We might find out in about 15 - 20 years when(if) one or two have actually been built, set to work, and had time to develop and display any problems. Will there be any problems ? Given the human race and the state of a new wave of 'technology' there's bound to be, yes ?
And if you're interested:
“What Europe can do in times of North Sea doldrums”
https://www.cleanenergywire.org/news/620000-jobs-hinge-combustion-engine-study-fading-oil-cartel/what-europe-can-do-times-north-sea-doldrums
[It may help if you can read German]
But that's the whole point GB. Will there be any problems? Who cares? With this technology caper, any problems will be fixed - sooner or later. Keep fucking the planet, and hope that technology will let us keep fucking it.
DeleteSo, the Bro has this to say: "Our politics now deals overwhelmingly in symbols, the more distant the better." Now then, I thought the Murdoch revolution was all about climate change, not about total political failure. Is it worth reminding the Bro that for the 20+ years since 2000, the LNP has been in power for 14+ of those years. Indeed for the nearly 25 years since Howard became PM with the second largest Reps majority in Australian history, the LNP has been in government for all but 6 of them.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's all been, not "identity", but "symbol" politics, he says. So that means that Australia was ahead of the UK (Cameron, May and Johnson) and of the USA (Obama, Trump) in going for ineffective, symbol manipulating political leaders where people just don't seem to notice how much their world is being screwed up (though Obama did at least get the ACA through with a Reps majority and a fillibuster-proof 60 Senate seats and he still nearly stuffed it up).
But oh dear, Bro: "As soon as there is an attempt to produce anything concrete, it turns to dust - politically, and often enough, almost literally." That wasn't good, old-fashioned Roman concrete, then; it hasn't turned to dust yet.
But in conclusion, the Bro asserts that: "Meanwhile, one thing we emphatically are not doing is responding to the urgent maritime security challenge we face." Of course not, because there's simply no way we can. If a fleet of 20 nuclears subs, fully operational and fully armed and fully crewed, were to arrive tomorrow, it wouldn't "respond to the urgent maritime security challenge we face". This is China the Bro wants us to fight: roughly 1.4 billion of them, several million in China's military forces, and a navy - including nuclear subs - for which the American navy is the only approximately comparable opposition.
Get a grip on it, Bro, and don't just "talk about it relentessly" which is all you've ever been capable of.
Strange that Sheridan does not mention torpedo defence systems:
ReplyDelete"A miniature torpedo in its own right, CAT provides a rapidly deployable kinetic “hard kill” solution to use against torpedo threats. In other words, it can be launched in an instant, then it homes in on the enemy torpedo and destroys it through proximity detonation and/or collision. In simpler terms it is a torpedo interceptor." https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/5543/the-navy-is-quietly-arming-its-supercarriers-with-anti-torpedo-torpedoes (from 2016). I'd reckon that anti-torpedo technology has improved since then, and by 2035 submarines will only be good for intelligence gathering.
Not even for that, I reckon, Joe. Drones and satellites will do, or already do, a much better intelligence gathering job way much cheaper.
DeleteThe thing about militarists is that, as the wisdom says, they're always re-fighting the last war. But given the speed at which technology moves nowadays and the advanced state it's already achieved, it's more like they're fighting the war of a month or two ago.
Nuclear subs were created to be able to swan around and stay underwater until called upon to fire off a couple of nuke warheaded missiles because they couldn't be detected or stopped. But now missiles loaded onto trains or suchlike, and the beginning era of hypersonics and so on, and nuclear subs are an expensive and failure prone way of delivering a hydrogen bomb or two.
And with the 'torpedo interceptor torpedoes' you mention, they're not all that much value at fighting sea battles, either. And every nuclear sub that's sunk is the loss of $multi-billions and years of manufacturing effort.
Another wayward, witless waffle from Nullius Ned. But he did say something to note: "However, the moral seems apparent: no historic change on a matter of high policy is possible without provoking furious resentment". Well, that is hardly a major scoop, and it is notable that reptiles (and wingnuts) never actually achieve "high policy" but it does bring something very much to the fore: the continual lies of the right-antiwokes.
ReplyDeleteFor anyone with a bit of time on their hands - we aren't completely out of lockdown yet - this is a long, but informative read:
The Methods of Moral Panic Journalism
Scare stories on "left-wing illiberalism" display a familiar pattern.
https://michaelhobbes.substack.com/p/moral-panic-journalism?r=ag5pd&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=
Totally applicable all around the world.
A really good link - should be kept as a companion to the Pond.
DeleteUnfortunately, most of the reactionary conservative folk I have met would be incapable of reading this number of words and tend to discount anything that does not fit their preferred narrative.
Doesn't this ring some bells "The length, prominence, headline and graphics have a far greater impact than the content of any given story".
Here's a trivial example of something that appeals to the old gaffers who infest the comments section of the Oz but turns out to be wrong
https://www.reuters.com/article/fact-check-the-scottish-government-did-n-idUSL1N2RA1NY
"hydrogenated vegetable oil" or "chip-fat" as it was described. Now that's a new one on me. But hey, if you're not burning coal, you've got to get your CO2 from somewhere.
DeleteThis plays into the NET zero emissions greenwashing. Qantas was spruiking this a while ago
Deletehttps://www.qantasnewsroom.com.au/media-releases/qantas-aircraft-to-be-powered-by-renewable-biofuel-from-2020/
For entirely different reasons the US navy is developing technology for capturing carbon loose in the environment to make jet fuel - releasing it again and around and around we go)
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/865434
Oh dear: "Qantas aircraft to be powered by renewable biofuel from 2020" And now it's 2021 and still no "renewable biofuel". And Qantas have just had a year or so of very limited flying in which it could have done all the changeover with minimal revenue impact. But now ?
DeleteWell, perhaps now there might be some opportunity to see if Qantas can discern the difference between "renewable" and "zero emission". And maybe note why so very many are happy to boast of their "renewables" as though that means "zero emission". Which, of course, it doesn't. Oh sure, maybe we escape all the refuse and garbage from mining - which is not to be scoffed at - but we still cop lots of planet-destroying emissions.
Ah, but the US navy, using the 'small modular reactors' that power their aircraft carriers to "harness the carbon dioxide and hydrogen from seawater to create a liquid fuel that can power a jet engine". Carbon dioxide from seawater ? Sure there's carbonic acid from dissolved CO2 and its consequential output of hydrogen, bicarbonate and carbonate ions, but how much exactly ?
Will it really be enough to "allow aircraft carriers to remain in continuous operation and avoid relying on tanker ships to replenish their fuel." ? And if we do reduce CO2 emissions, how much in times to come ? And why not suck in seawater all over the world and use photovoltaic and/or wind power to supply fuel throughout the whole world - kinda like we're hoping to do with just hydrogen extracted from H2O ? I guess we may, or may not, ever find out.
Thanks for the Michael Hobes link GB. A great read.
DeleteThe only disagreement I had with it, Merc, was when Hobbes says: "...playing with the same fire that has pulled the United States rightward and backward over and over again for the last 40 years."
DeleteUnfortunately it's been a lot longer than 40 years - for instance the House Un-American Activities Committee - a very famous example of left suppression - started back in 1961 which is 60 years ago, and it was far from being the first example. Otherwise, indeed a great read, and a fine tutorial for how to view the media, even the nominally "liberal" media (amongst which I do not include the New York Times).