And if you have a moment, Prime Minister, could you also have a look at this

Chinese vessels photographed at Whitsun reef by the Philippines coast guard.

Philippines all at sea over arrival of 220 Chinese ships at disputed reef. Some detail from the story.

The presence of more than 200 suspected Chinese militia vessels at a disputed reef off the Philippines could be a prelude to violent clashes, according to a leading analyst who says the flotilla is only latest example of the superpower tightening the noose in the world’s most contested waterway. In the latest diplomatic flare-up over competing claims to the South China Sea, the Philippines has protested after its coastguard discovered the vessels moored at a boomerang-shaped reef that both nations claim.

Nothing to worry about, say the Chinese. However, as the story says:

The incident shapes as a litmus test in south-east Asia for US President Joe Biden’s new administration swiftly following its frosty diplomatic summit with China in Alaska last week. “Back in 2012 [China] took the Scarborough Shoal from the Philippines and [Barack] Obama didn’t see it as a red line and shortly thereafter we saw a spike in artificial island construction across the South China Sea,” said John Blaxland, professor of international security at the Australian National University. “They tested the waters and they knew the Americans weren’t going to bite. What we’re seeing now is a fresh one for the Biden administration and it comes after Alaska.”

A litmus test for Australia as well. Where’s the Minister of Defence?

You can laugh at Biden (and Harris) but it’s not funny

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Ha Ha. Senile old man is president with an incompetent public prosecutor in the wings to take over who knows absolutely nothing about any of issues that matter. Such as?

Headed For A Collapsing Debt Bubble.

Common sense suggests that it is much easier to repay debt with interest in a growing economy than in a shrinking economy. Carmen Reinhart and Ken Rogoff unexpectedly ran across this phenomenon in their 2008 working paper, This Time Is Different: A Panoramic View of Eight Centuries of Financial Crises. They reported (p. 15), “It is notable that the non-defaulters, by and large, are all hugely successful growth stories.” In other words, their analysis of 800 years of governmental debt showed that default was almost inevitable if a country stopped growing or started shrinking.

You can spend and spend but if those who produce are not getting payments large enough to cover their production costs, something will have to give. As discussed here at Instapundit:

PLAUSIBLE, ALAS: Biden sleepwalks into a stagflation nightmare: US economy simply doesn’t have the productive capacity to meet the demand created by Biden’s stimulus package.

Or as explained in one of the comments: “When you print a couple of trillion dollars, and call it a ‘stimulus package’, it doesn’t actually change the ability of the real economy to produce things.” Nor does it end there. Such as this: Trump EVISCERATES Biden’s Border Policy: ‘Turned National Triumph Into National Disaster.

“We proudly handed the Biden Administration the most secure border in history. All they had to do was keep this smooth-running system on autopilot. Instead, in the span of a just few weeks, the Biden Administration has turned a national triumph into a national disaster. They are in way over their heads and taking on water fast,” the former president declared.

Not to mention China

Or the Chinese Flu. Four years is a long time in politics. There may be a lot of ruin in a state, but Biden-Harris may actually be up to it.

A strong democracy requires a fair and honest press

Trump issues lengthy statement after The Washington Post retracted false quotes. This is the final para of the statement:

“You will notice that establishment media errors, omissions, mistakes, and outright lies always slant one way—against me and against Republicans. Meanwhile, stories that hurt Democrats or undermine their narratives are buried, ignored, or delayed until they can do the least harm—for example, after an election is over. Look no further than the negative coverage of the vaccine that preceded the election and the overdue celebration of the vaccine once the election had concluded. A strong democracy requires a fair and honest press. This latest media travesty underscores that legacy media outlets should be regarded as political entities—not journalistic enterprises. In any event, I thank the Washington Post for the correction.”

And in regard to an untrustworthy media, this from The Oz: Scott Morrison’s rallying call to MPs after ‘tough’ month

Scott Morrison has urged his MPs to support each other after a ‘tough’ month, amid calls from within the Coalition for the parties to push back against claims of being ‘anti-women’.

The Australian leads the way in its anti-government “anti-woman” slant with the ABC doing all it can to keep up. Todays’ front page, for example.

There are a thousand things that might be said about the PM but being “anti-woman” would not be one of them.

Is the Energy Security Board a joke name for the organisation?

Why yes it is. Energy Security Board warns more coal power stations face closure.

Australia’s remaining coal fleet could be forced to close earlier than expected as low wholesale prices and cheap renewables rout generators’ profits, the Energy Security Board has warned, following EnergyAustralia’s decision to shut Victoria’s Yallourn coal plant four years early.

Coal generators including Trevor St Baker’s Vales Point in NSW, Queensland’s largest power station Gladstone and Alinta Energy’s Loy Yang B in Victoria are all viewed as contenders for early closure by ­analysts.

ESB chair Kerry Schott said marginal coal plants faced a decision on whether to pull the pin early.

Let me therefore take you to the comments section. In order of Most Liked First.

How can the ESB still be chaired by someone who has done their best to make energy supply INSECURE through her unceasing advocacy of solar and wind as the country’s future?

We are entrusting our nation’s energy security future to Kerry Schott? Ummm…… Why?

Goldman saachs said it “ADVERSE POLICY SETTINGS”! The freemarket sprinkled with fairydust and bs to make it look like renewables are cheaper yet as noted in the comments below. Your power price keep going up, not down. What a joke. Its time for the politicians to put an electrical engineer in charge instead of green beurocratic bean counters. Kerry schoot, ceo of the energy security board : Has a bachelor of arts degree and was the governments representative that oversaw the sale of vales point for $1m in 2015. Meanwhile, the two lucky owners of vales point pocketed a $62m fy dividend in 2020 and currently value the plant as an assett at $220m, closing it in 2029. The wrong person for the job.

So…Governments federal and state abrogating their responsibilities to the citizenry. You’ve sold us out, pushed power prices through the roof and are trashing our future well being. All of your cute marketing tricks and smug smiles are for nought. I don’t trust your ‘best intentions’.

Media and government keep talking about “cheap renewables” yet the more renewables are introduced, the more expensive electricity and everything related to it gets. When will the cognitive dissonance crack through?

The simple fact is that foolish government policies threaten to make these plants completely worthless. Spend money on upgrades or even serious maintenance and there’s little chance of recouping what was spent. It’s an object lesson in how to destroy Australia as quickly as possible.

These so called experts know nothing. They love attending conferences and blab on. One big hug fest. Like Davos. You dare not be a AGW skeptic.

What sort of a market is it where according to the “experts”, the removal of the so called “most expensive” form of generation (coal and gas) and its replacement by so-called “cheaper” renewables, leads NOT to wholesale prices FALLING but instead RISING by an estimated $6/Mwh? It may, according to the “experts” be “basic economics” but its definitely NOT the brand I was taught.

Wake up Aussies. We will be poorer and China even richer!

Last night it was hot and muggy, then the power went off for several hours. There was no wind, no sun (it was night) where is the back up when there is no solar or wind power. This was at night, but what if it happens during the day when heavy industry are shut down because of no solar or wind power. In the meantime China is laughing building more and more coalfired power stations. Where is commonsense?

Take the triple coal taxes off and the power stations will become economical. Simple.

Barnaby Joyce is one of the few prominent politicians who dares to defy the foreign climate alarm confidence tricksters who work against the best interests of Australia. There is no climate emergency. There is no valid reason for outlawing coal and oil and slaughtering most of our cattle and sheep. Look for those who profit from the sale of windmills and solar panels and for those who enjoy career enhancement and regular overseas jaunts on fully-paid climate-alarm business. All Australian political parties except Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party see climate saving gestures as a vote winner although the liberals are not quite as impatient as the Labor/Green partnership. Will the Nationals party under new leadership rise from the ashes and take a stand against the foreign climate confidence tricksters who threaten the future of our nation?

Say goodbye to our Aluminium smelting industry. It will move offshore..China?

California here we come!

The AEMO operates under rules set by the AEMC. They have publicly stated that they will alter those purchasing rules to facilitate the change in direction of the energy market from centrally located coal fired power stations to geographically distributed renewable networks. That is the reason that the owners of the existing coal fired power stations are running them into the ground. Our power systems are heading into rolling blackouts because not enough investment is going into the required firming when the coal fired assets are retired due to neglect.

And that is every comment at the present time. So let me end with this: EU bullies demand control of Australian electricity in order to do trade deals.

The EU has given up trying to persuade Australian voters that wind and solar power is “cheap”. Instead, it’s using Upperclass centralized bully-power in an attempt to force Australia to sacrifice cheaper electricity and hobble its generation network to satisfy the EU totalitarians.

Australian exporters could face millions of dollars in European tariffs as EU seeks to punish polluters

Written by someone at Their ABC

Australian exporters to Europe are likely to face millions of dollars in new tariffs after the European Parliament voted overnight to move forward with a carbon levy on products from countries lacking serious pollution reduction programs.

The vote came after a top parliamentary committee noted concerns about “the lack of cooperation by some of the EU’s trade partners … to reach the objectives of the Paris Agreement”.

Australians installed more renewables per capita than any place on Earth in 2018-19, but that isn’t enough. The EU say we need a “target” of net-zero, (which we can point at and ignore, like most of what the EU does):

Kathleen van Brempt, a key parliamentary trade coordinator, said an FTA was contingent on “a clear vision [from] Australia by when and how they will become climate neutral and by when and how they will phase out of coal”.

Until Australia establishes a new scheme to lower emissions, its exporters to Europe face the prospect of paying additional tariffs under the new Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which is expected to come into force in 2023.

The mechanism is designed to apply tariffs on imports equivalent to the fees paid under the EU’s Emissions Trading System by local businesses producing the same product.

The aim is to have us freeze in the dark while others prosper.

Are we the stupidest people who have ever lived?

This is the title: Climate and COVID: The Erosion of Common Intelligence and Common Sense. This is the first para:

In a recent article for PJ Media, I discussed the decline in IQ scores across the West over the last decades, a phenomenon confirmed by many psychological studies and clinical reports. In the article I provided links and documentation as well as numerous episodes and examples in support of the survey’s conclusions. But I omitted for reasons of space what strikes me as a cardinal illustration of the contemporary erosion of common intelligence and common sense, namely, the popular belief in “climate change” and so-called renewable energy sources, and, more recently, mass compliance with government public health dogma and politically inspired COVID legislation.

This is the final para:

What we are observing is the shrinking of perception that comes with acquiescence to the pressures of group-think and collective mind-forming. We begin by being susceptible to repression. We proceed by accepting its diktats. We finish by experiencing a narrowing of the sensibility. Ultimately, we grow stupefied, shedding IQ points like autumn leaves. Of course, the reasons for the decline of intelligence in the West are many and varied as well as controversial, but the downward trend is well-documented. The public response to “Climate and COVID” is a sure indication of the debacle.

Let me now encourage you to go to the link to read everything that comes in between.

Barely alive

Taken from Joe Biden’s Handlers Let Him Out, and Things Are Not Fine. There it says:

Earlier today, the Democrats in the Senate passed their COVID “relief” bill along a party-line vote. Not even Lisa Murkowski or Mitt Romney saw fit to break ranks this time because that’s how bad this piece of legislation is. In fact, only 9% of the bill goes to direct assistance for those who have suffered at the hands of government lockdowns. The rest goes to a smattering of special interests and payoffs, from the National Endowment of the Arts to bailing out blue states that were in dire financial straits long before the pandemic hit….

Biden truly looks barely alive at this point. His skin is taut, his eyes are squinty, and he once again shows an inability to articulate even the most basic points. None of his verbal fumbles are due to any supposed stutter. Keep in mind, there’s a teleprompter feeding him lines in a massive font right in front of him. How in the world is this guy ever going to do a State of the Union address if he can’t operate for ten minutes in an environment built to prop him up?

We are always in uncharted waters, but this time we are really really in uncharted waters. Where we end up four years from now is utterly unknowable, other than the name of the woman who will become president in name only, to replace the man who is now president in name only.

BTW there is at least one economist – up, down and sideways – that does not think you need to spend the money to grow the economy. In fact, if your interest is in growing the economy, not one cent of it should be spent. Just leave it alone, and the economy will grow back by itself.

Mad, Saad and dangerous to know

From The Abyss of Infinite Lunacy by Gad Saad. We really do live in crazy times. 

The rate at which our society is sinking into madness is truly bewildering:

1) It is now racist for a white person to translate the work of a black person

2) It is now homophobic for a straight actor to play a gay character

3) It is now racist for a white therapist to treat a black client

4) It is now racist to have advanced high school programs

5) It is now transphobic for biological females to reject having to compete against trans women (biological males)

6) It is now Islamophobic to criticize any tenets of Islam

7) It is now science denialism to question the ongoing COVID lockdowns

8) It is now science denialism to question any tenets stemming from climate change alarmists

9) It is now epistemological bigotry to support the scientific method as THE means by which you adjudicate scientific hypotheses

10) It is now racist to argue that mathematics yields right and wrong answers

11) It is now racist to promote the ethos of individual dignity over collectivist identity politics

12) It is now racist to criticize a Noble Person of Color be it a famous athlete or celebrity

13) It is now transphobic to posit that only women menstruate

14) It is now racist to publicly proclaim your support for “wrong think” black individuals such as Thomas Sowell or Larry Elder

15) It is now misogynistic to note that women greatly outnumber men in universities

16) It is now sexist to publish scientific research that yields sex differences that are contrary to accepted politically correct orthodoxy

17) It is now racist to point to FBI murder stats broken down by interracial markers of victim and perpetrator

18) It is now racist to openly support national borders

19) It is now racist to seek to curb immigration from countries that espouse values that are deeply hateful and anti-liberty

20) It is now racist to not decolonize philosophy and literature departments

21) It is now racist to request that job offers be based on the merits of an individual’s dossier rather than on the use immutable traits.

Let me also add this: Has Everyone Gone Insane? Not everyone of course, not me or thee, and I’m never all that sure about thee. By Noah Rothman who writes:

Does Amazon really think that their app design could honestly be mistaken for Hitler? Does Hyatt actually believe CPAC’s stage designers embedded an obscure Nazi symbol into its program to signal an affinity for fascism—a semaphore that seems to have backfired spectacularly, seeing as only the conference’s critics got the message? Does Syracuse University really suppose that their own student [a female lacrosse player who posted a supposedly racist picture of her making an “OK” sign] is in the wrong here, and not the overwrought agitators on the Internet whose only joy in life seems to be making others miserable?

The answer to these questions would be valuable, but they are also beside the point. Whether they believe it or not, they say they do. Or, at least, they think they have no choice but to say they do.

It’s all part of being “in” and not “out”. The madder whatever it is you must say you believe the easier it is to work out who is not playing along.