The pond is glad that someone was counting, and that a valued correspondent reported the count to the pond...
The pond can't recollect exactly how many red cards the pond has handed out to Dame Slap, but for anyone not on Planet Janet, in relation to the Lehrmann matter, it would have likely been more than most players earn in their entire career ...
Speaking of red cards, another the pond should be routinely red carding is the Caterist, but somehow the pond can't bear to send him from the climate science denialist field ...
Though some will pause to admire that reptile snap of a fiendish solar array, a terrifying spectacle for lizard Oz devotees, the pond has to keep moving ...
Ah Caterist statistics, up there with Caterist data, and there might be a pond correspondent who cares enough to do some calculations and comment, but of course the major Twiggy thought crime was his dismissal of SMRs, the Caterist's much loved solution to a problem that allegedly - allegedly - doesn't exist...
Meanwhile, on another planet ...
Mention of SMR's might set some to wondering where these SMRs are, or when they'r ecoming, and the cost and the yadda yadda, but again, there's much to do, and much to admire, and more Caterist statistics and data hovering into view, so moving right along ...
Ah, Caterist the environmentalist, such a sensitive, caring soul, though he never seems to note the current dire state of the planet while dinkum, clean, pure Oz coal is still celebrated in reptile la la land ...
Back on that other planet ...
And just as a closer...
Prof Dietmar Dommenget, a climate scientist and modeller at Monash University, said the signal of human-caused global heating was much clearer in the oceans.
“Obviously we’re in a fast-warming climate and we’re going to see new records all the time. A lot of our forecasts are predicting an El Niño.
“If this happens, we’ll see new records not just in the ocean but on land. This data is already suggesting we’re seeing a record and there could be more coming later this year.”
Meanwhile the Caterist keeps at it ...
And that, for the umpteenth time, down there with Dame Slap, is the Caterist on climate science, and so to a contribution from Killer, because the pond never gets tired of woke ...
Good old Killer, good old Ron DeSanctus, and as an aside, here's a news item that should be of interest to both ...
Only in Florida, but at least there's the
Tampa Bay Times ...
Sorry, as soon as Killer hovers into view, the pond immediately begins to think of a deeply Freudian fear of masks and a hint of anti-vax sentiment ...
Back to the woke main game ...
It goes without saying that News Corp, and its Killer 'leet have a complete disdain for inclusivity, and routinely look for people and things to exclude ... race, ethnicity, colour, age, disability, gender identity ... whaddya got?
Ah yes, free market advocates, with no interest in the dead hand of government getting in the way of business ...
Sorry, there's Ron DeSanctus still fighting the good fight, per the Beeb, per CNN ...
It's a complete puzzle and a deep mystery to Killer and so to the pond why any business would want to be inclusive, when News Corp has made a fine business out of angertainment, rage, bigotry, hostility, fear mongering, loathing and hate .... which perhaps helps explain why beneath a gathered throng, Killer leads off with a boob joke ...
Or head to Florida ...
Phew, watch out for dragons, and so to the good news.
You see, Killer has been busy of late ,and that cartoon gives the pond an excuse to do a Killer catch-up ...
The pond often wonders whether the reptiles pause to think about using "witch hunt", implying as it does that the mango Mussolini must be some sort of cross-dresser, a witch in drag, but then "wizard hunt" probably doesn't have the right ring to it, especially the notion that the mango Mussoini is something of a wiz ...
We've heard it all before, but the pond is something of a completist when it comes to Killer ... and it's somehow strangely compelling to watch him regurgitate all the standard Faux Noise talking points ... even if he misses out on all the fun of the board game ...
The pond's theory is more movies than board game. The United States has simply seen too many movies, and so everything is performative, everything is theatrical, everything must be cranked up to eleven in the third act ... and Killer does his best to lather up a rich dramatic feast, with a villain, some sort of insolent Hans Gruber - how the pond misses Alan Rickman, the best villain of them all ...
The pond perhaps should have warned that Killer was going to reference the cosmic joke known as Alan Dershowitz, just one step shy of going the full Rudy outside a sex toy shop ... but never mind, there's a book to flog, and Killer to help ...
Around this point the pond thought of offering a joke, speaking of white collar crimes ...
And so it's off to the the final Killer gobbet, by way of Stalinist detour...
Say what?
"Still an unlikely political resurrection"?
Right at the death and the Killer hasn't the heart or the stomach to go all in on the Don? Could it mean that all the posturing and the blustering was just a shell game?
What else? The pond realises it's run over time but it's holiday season, the pond's ratings are down, so why not indulge?
Say what? They wheeled out old Henry to have a go at the latest reptile fixation? An EXCLUSIVE at the top of the digital page and in the tree killer edition?
Sorry, the pond couldn't go there, the pond has red carded that talk about Aboriginal artists, even if it involves giving up on a dose of Thucydides and Cicero ... and so all the pond can offer in recompense is a serve of the Major ...
It isn't much but, much as with the Killer, the pond has been something of a Major completist in the past and sees no reason to change, even if it's still the Ēostre break...
The pond should perhaps have issued a trigger warning that the reptiles decided to pad out the Major with snaps of dinosaurs ...
Think one snap of the lying rodent is more than enough? Think again ... there's a book to flog... even if the snap is particularly grotesque and deeply unflattering ...
Even worse, the next gobbet is going to feature a dour, colourless, hollowed-out one time Queensland plod ...
Could it get any more pathetic or desperate? Well the rumour went around ...
But how about a snap of a clap happy in his perky prime to liven up the next gobbet ...
And then to top off the pictorial parade, and the Major's last gobbet, a picture of Satan himself, or at least the Devil's southern spawn ...
It took a long time to get to the Major's punchline, and when it arrived, the pond couldn't resist a snort, neigh a gust, a gale of laughter.
There was the Major himself berating the mutton Dutton for nattering negativity ... as if the entire reptile business model somehow counted for naught ...
Ya gotta laugh ...
It's as if the Major had seen that Kudelka cartoon, now a couple of days old, but still at
The Saturday Paper ...
Could it get any funnier? Of course it could ... because the Bolter is also suddenly on to all that dreadful nattering negativity ...
Well, looking into the 'green hydrogen' question, but in the meantime, what's this:
ReplyDelete"Nick Cater is senior fellow at the Menzies Research Centre"
He used to be the Executive Director - has the poor lad been demoted ? And who is David Hughes:
https://www.menziesrc.org/news-feed/the-mrc-appoints-a-new-executive-director
GB - could he be stepping aside from the more onerous duties, to be the candidate for Cook? Or, if the Coalition think they should seek a female candidate - what we understand to be his partner in Kirribilli, Ms Weissner - might be a possibility. Their candidate parachuted into Aston lists as the wife of the desperately dull political editor of the Costello prints.
DeleteWell spotted GB. The formal description 17th March 2003:
DeleteSTATEMENT FROM PAUL ESPIE, CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF THE MENZIES RESEARCH CENTRE.
I am delighted to announce a key appointment by the Menzies Research Centre (MRC) board that will allow us to strengthen our policy work and contribution to the national policy debate on the primary issues confronting our country.
David Hughes will be taking over the role of Executive Director from April, with the support of Nick Cater, who will be focusing on policy advocacy and development as an MRC Senior Fellow.
David is a graduate of the University of Sydney and brings a wealth of experience in policy development and advocacy. He served in senior roles advising three prime ministers, Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison and is currently the senior political adviser to leader of the Federal Opposition, Peter Dutton.
Over the last 16 years David has worked on wide ranging and important policy issues. He was instrumental working with Michaela Cash to secure the passage of the double dissolution legislation establishing the ABCC and the Registered Organisation Commission.
David has been at the forefront of policy development since 2010. He has a strong analytical mind and deep appreciation of Australian Liberal principles and values.
I look forward to supporting David as he takes over management responsibilities of an organisation that has grown considerably in stature and influence in recent years.
With the Coalition in Opposition in Canberra, we have an opportunity to help shape a strong policy agenda for the next Coalition government. David’s arrival will increase our capacity and range of expertise.
Politics, as Robert Menzies once said, is the art of persuasion. Nick, in his new role, is looking forward to spending more time writing, speaking and presenting through the media opportunities available in the digital age.
The board of the MRC at this time of transition is immensely grateful for the work, initiatives and development agenda under the guidance of Nick Cater during his more than eight years at the helm. We are very pleased that Nick has helped us with these developments and for taking on his new role. This combination will be of significant value to the MRC and its projects in the period ahead.
During Nick’s directorship, much has been achieved in public policy debates including in energy and climate. The support base of MRC grew significantly and the Robert Menzies Institute was established. Through the Watercooler newsletter, numerous book publishings and events across the country, the MRC conversation with its support base expanded substantially.
Nick and David will be announcing a series of events around the country after Easter regarding our policy agenda, introducing David to our friends and supporters.
ENDS
https://www.menziesrc.org/news-feed/the-mrc-appoints-a-new-executive-director
The new Übermensch:
DeleteDAVID HUGHES
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
David Hughes became Executive Director of the MRC in April 2023.
David is a graduate of the University of Sydney and brings a wealth of experience in policy development and advocacy. He served in senior roles advising three prime ministers, Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison He was the senior political adviser to leader of the Federal Opposition, Peter Dutton, before joining the MRC.
Over the last 16 years David has worked on wide ranging and important policy issues. He was instrumental working with Michaelia Cash to secure the passage of the double dissolution legislation establishing the ABCC and the Registered Organisation Commission.
David has been at the forefront of policy development since 2010. He has a strong analytical mind and deep appreciation of Australian Liberal principles and values.
A cashed-up chap.
The has been:
NICK CATER
SENIOR FELLOW
Nick Cater quit his job at the BBC in 1989 and hauled his young family to Australia, where he knew few people and had neglected to secure employment in advance. Senior News Corp editor Piers Akerman, then editing The Advertiser in Adelaide, quickly hired him on the assumption that only a talented young journalist would be so reckless. Nick has since developed a profound affection for his adopted homeland, which he captured in his bestselling book The Lucky Culture (2013), and has risen to become one of the nation's leading political and cultural commentators.
His CV includes stints as deputy editor of The Sunday Telegraph in Sydney and editor of The Weekend Australian. He also spent five years in Hong Kong as the correspondent for News Corp. He remains a weekly columnist at The Australian, regularly appears on Sky News and writes for a variety of other publications here and overseas.
Nick was appointed executive director of the MRC in July, 2014, a role he held for nearly 9 years. Under him, the MRC has increased its presence in the media and key policy debates, published a wide range of books about liberalism and the Liberal Party, released dozens of groundbreaking reports, hosted public debates and gala dinners, and developed the talents of many rising Liberal MPs. All of this was achieved through Nick's intellectual curiosity, love of robust debate and adherence to core liberal principles.
Nick is now the MRC’s Senior Fellow, where he contributes to the public policy conversation through through the Watercooler podcasts, newspaper columns, media appearances and his online show Battleground, which airs on the ADH TV network.
https://www.menziesrc.org/staff
The goss ...
Delete...Elsewhere, there’s a big change at the Liberal’s ideas factory, the Menzies Research Centre.
After nearly a decade in charge, the group’s executive director and regular anti-wokeism screeder, Nick Cater, is switching roles, replaced at the top by former Scott Morrison staffer Dave “not Hughesy” Hughes.
There were rumblings from the younger pews of the party’s broad church last year when Cater penned an op-ed about how single young women, and their alleged weakness for state intervention, were the biggest threat to conservative parties.
But we hear the change, with Cater still employed by the organisation in a research role, was down to the former boss’s desire for a quieter life, away from the front lines of the culture wars.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/moving-moments-in-the-liberal-verse-20230319-p5ctej.html
Obviously the pond couldn't waste space on all this internal agitation, but couldn't resist at least placing it on record below the fold ...
Heh. Well I always try to distinguish between 'those who were there when it happened' and 'those who actually made it happen'. Which category do we think applied to NickyC ? And where is Beautiful Daisy Cousens now ?
Delete"we have an opportunity to help shape a strong policy agenda for the next Coalition government." saith the Chairman of the Board of the MRC. An opportunity - yes. Anyone taking bets on whether that will happen? Oh, and Espie did not say it would be policies for the Coalition, in opposition, to take to the next election, so fair guess that the tactics for that election will be drawn from the consulting firm of F.U.&D. Finally - policies for the Coalition? - when the Nationals moiety seems to have picked up the habit of having one or other of its members making its own policies, in isolation.
DeleteIt truly has been a period of utter dreck on the Flagship this week past, but, in the finest traditions - that appears to be the likely quality of verbiage as far as we might see into the future.
ReplyDeleteFor this humble observer, it goes back to Dame Groan last week, where she managed her version of Seinfeld - ‘It’s about - nothing’, minus any semblance of entertainment. So not having any kind of Henry made for an unusually ‘Good’ Friday. His belated popping-up from the fo’c’sle this day is on the same dreary visit to indigenous art, with little indication of his self-awareness of any part of it.
On Friday we had one of the characteristic trial contributors - Vivek Ramaswamy - whose ‘Wiki’ tells us ‘On February 21, 2023, he announced his candidacy in the 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries on Tucker Carlson Tonight.’ This is all ye know of Ramaswamy, and all ye need know. But his exposure is consistent with what is being offered as ‘talent’ on Sky - would-bes and has-beens with Coalition affiliations, held apart by some with pretensions to being journalists. Somehow Caleb Bond has persuaded himself that there are people who find something new in his remix of phrases that have already been batted between Fox and the Flagship and then relayed to Fox as proof that what is said there is significant to the wider world. But that is self-described, this day, as ‘Australia’s highest-reaching news outlet on social media’ as it self-importantly tells us that it eschews TikTok due to ‘national security issues.’
So in that - context is hardly the word, but it will have to do - the Cater displaying his extensive research into hydrogen almost qualifies as interest. Not so much for what he says, but for the way he simulates concern for the greater environment when it suits what he offers as his argument, coupled with disparagement of technologies that are at least proven, while signalling like a John Frum that wonderful cargo, amazing technology, will arrive any day soon, and we will all be rich beyond understanding.
The Major is mildly amusing this day, if only because he bemoans what he sees as the inability of the Coalition to ‘get the message across’; a tacit admission that the out-and-out boosterism from all arms of Limited News was done with so little subtlety and finesse that it was likely counter-productive. Yes, these people believe they are professionals in their field.
Cargo cult often comes to mind when one of the reptiles decides to deliver a sermon about technology. A very superficial understanding, sprinkled with a bit of jargon to make it seem like they are familiar with the subject. A bit like an applicant turning up for an interview without having done any research and just hoping to Blag their way through.
DeleteNow by and large the numbers quoted by NickyC are valid, though his avid research did appear to completely miss one other major issue: where to get all the water from. Unless they use the Stanford electrodes, the effect of electrolysing salt water is significant corrosion which seriously diminishes the life of the electrodes (which aren't exactly cheap).
DeleteBut if they try to use 'fresh' water, where are they going to get enough of it from ?
In short, a technology in its very early stages: significant improvements can be expected; for example, the possibility of catalysts to decrease the amount of electricity required to electrolise a given amount of (fresh or salt) water.
Watch this space.
GB - Lake Argyle? There are several SydHarbs of that not yet committed to any particular use.
DeleteDepends entirely on how often and how completely Argyle is replenished, Chad, about which I know nought. But it does take quite a lot of water to release enough hydrogen to make us "a renewable energy superstar". And 7 years is just a bit short.
DeleteGood point Chad. About 550km from the proposed Sun Cable solar farm as the Magpie goose flies.
DeleteThe question might be more the relevance of the figures GB. One of the other reptiles was running the square meters per megawatt argument recently. You actually pointed out that rooftop PV doesn't require any additional square meters of land. More than half of national solar energy comes from the 30% of homes (and some large number of business premises) who connect to the grid. Plenty of scope for growth and the midday peak (duck curve) already produces very cheap power - just not all gathered into the nest of a single billionaire.
And it's marvellous what you can do, Bef, with a bunch of offshore wind turbines around East Gippsland with a whole lot of seawater close at hand. But it might just take a bit of technological inventiveness re the Stanford electrodes to continually electrolise a lot of sea water (plus appropriate filters to keep the sea life out without actually destroying them).
DeleteBut it will take, as well as the water, a lot of electricity to get up to 'renewable energy superpower' state even if all of the technology can be made to work at minimum cost and maximum efficiency right from pretty soon now.
But GB: Electrolysis 55kWhr/Kg H2 and 9L H2O. Desal 35Whr/9L and what about if desal lithium-rich ground water?
DeleteNicky still doesn't know the difference between power 900TW and energy 900TWhr - definitely a very slow learner.
Our galaxy 13 billion years was a few hundred million years old if you believe the "settled science" aka the Reverend Monsignor Lemaitre's Big Bang Theory that the universe sprang out of a point (of a pin?) - oh, wait a bit, with galaxies already formed like some fossils I read about, so you're right, it would have looked the same.
"Peer-reviewed, self-correcting" - no wonder people don't trust experts and the reptiles can claim science is a religion. When it is overturned will it go quietly or behave like Trump?
Here are a couple of links that show how the 25% by mass of Helium in the universe was made between 1 and 10 seconds after the Big Bang not by fusion in the stars because it would have taken them a trillion years. And look a trillion years of starlight in 9 seconds caused no heating because the protons and neutrons just did what they do make the universe turn out the way it did. I wish Dorothy had some cartoons to go with this stuff.
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Astro/hydhel.html
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Astro/timlin.html
Yeah, point taken about Nick's confusion re volts x amps as power, and volts x amps x time as energy. I don't think we could actually generate 900TW of power, even for a millisecond.
DeleteBoBuck,
DeleteThis is not my thing but.
Claiming that the helium in the universe would have taken a trillion years to form? Helium forms naturally as a product of stellar fusion. There was no helium in the early universe, only hydrogen, which fused in first-generation stars and was then expelled when said stars went supernova.
And this bit is in context how? -
"power and energy (TW=terawatt, TWhr=terawatt/hour) "
I am happy to be corrected here - I have learned a lot from the various
posters and Dorothy - as perhaps I am wrong, but then again your post
might have been clearer. I am not trying to stir the possum with you.
(I love that term, any chance to "stir the possum" I leap at)
And before hydrogen (ie wandering electron-less protons) there was just baryons and quarks - well for a microsecond or two, anyway. Dunno when electrons first appeared, though, so that we could have hydrogen and then neutrons so that we could have deuterium and tritium. And then helium and tritium and ...
DeleteOh, it was such an exciting nanosecond or three back then, when the material of God was being formed.
“Why large businesses drape themselves in niche progressive goals – which politically alienate a substantial minority of their customers – remains a puzzle.”
ReplyDeleteSo…Creighton’s saying most of the customers of large businesses are woke and it’s the non-woke who are in the minority. Somewhat of a counter argument to his whole world view.
“The problem is, there are too many laws and this gives governments too much power.”
The death penalty in the US, anti-abortion laws, banning books … all OK, but a grand jury of ordinary people indicting Trump is not OK, because the mantra of the right now is “we want no law and order that affects us”. That’s the great American dream ? – no gun laws, no laws which might target corrupt politicians and no regulation against destruction of the environment.
“Basic maths suggests a randomly drawn jury of 12 adults could easily have a significant minority who will oppose a political prosecution.”
Yes, well the same applied to the grand jury which brought the indictment. Clearly those ordinary folk did not regard it as a “political prosecution”.
Or if they did, then they approved of it. I know I would have. But hey, we've reached that stage where the main question is: who can make up and tell the most convincing lies.
DeleteResurrecting Lazarus, yet again, to give everyone else advice, after the event. That’ll be sure to get those outside the baby boomer set on side! When the ex-member for Bennelong writes a book on why he lost the 2007 election, let us all know, Chris.
ReplyDeleteBut Mitchell's final comment on negativity is interesting. Let’s quote Michelle Grattan:
‘The conservatives want to be on the "no" side, and they are being encouraged by John Howard. The progressive Liberals want to back the "yes" case.’
[https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-02/voice-referendum-best-chance-of-success/101724748]
How will the Liberal Party and Dutton look if the referendum succeeds? Gosh, Chris, how will all that advice from John Howard look?
“Wheeling Howard out at various critical elections has had a real Weekend at Bernie's vibe”
Deletehttps://twitter.com/auspoldaily/status/1644511369797193729
It’s pretty clear that Murdoch is so invested in a particular product that he cannot transition to some other grift and the Liberals are so closely tied to him that they may both circle the drain together.
Howard has, of course, become known as “The Angel of Death” for Liberal campaigns, but that won’t stop him being wheeled out. After all, what else do they have in the way of “Elder Statesmen”? Dolly ? Brendan Nelson? The Onion Muncher, Malware (ha!) or Scotty? Yep, it’s the Rodent or nothing. But other than being a figurehead, what does he have to offer? Apart from the endlessly-cited 4 election wins, implementing his beloved GST and pissing away the proceeds of the resources boom, his achievements basically consisted of sewing division for political and gain and doing everything possible to push society back to his beloved Menzies era. And that’s the Major’s nominee for visions of the future?
DeleteOh, and losing a landslide election including his own safe seat. Credit where due, mate.
DeleteSo - what’s the position new boy Hughesy on quarries and flood waters?
ReplyDeleteTalking about "there are too many laws" I am reminded of an American tv show in the 1960s (I'm pretty certain it was Art Likletter's 'People Are Funny' and here comes some old geezer's reminiscing:) which had a guest competition in which the participant had to leave the studio and walk around a longish block (about 25 minutes walk) without breaking any laws or regulations while doing it - eg not jaywalking, not even once. Basically, it was very hard to do and my recall is that nobody had managed it until this one guy got back into the studio and the pack of lawyers that had accompanied him said that he hadn't broken even a small legal requirement. Wow. Then Linkletter asked him if he smokes and he said he does, so Art asked to see his cigarette pack.
ReplyDeleteSo the guy handed it over and it was one of those soft cover packs (like Camel or Lucky Strikes). The guy had done what we all did back then, and torn open one end of the top of the pack leaving the centre strip and the other end intact. Oh my, but the centre strip was the Federal tobacco tax register which, by law, had to be torn apart when the pack was opened. Oh dear. So just one broken law.