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It is unbelievable that you listen to the things coming from the Australian government talking about two deaths due to COVID, one was 90, and the other 80, who were not vaccinated. They are saying that 25% of the people over 70 are not vaccinated and that is unacceptable.

They have used this to impose a lockdown where you are never allowed to leave your home for beyond 5 km regardless of the excuse – you will be thrown in jail. They have increased the fine to $500 for ANYONE who does not have a mask on – vaccinated or not proving vaccinations do not work.

The police have the power to shut down any business they demine in their sole discretion is not complying. They have turned Sydney into a concentration camp telling people that the sooner they get vaccinated the sooner their freedom will be restored. They are telling people to rat out any neighbor precisely the same tactics as the Stasi of East Germany.

The long-term implications of these measures are to break society completely for once you turn neighbor against neighbor, there is no putting civilization back together again.

MARCHING ORDERS have gone out around the world to turn society inside out and at each other’s throats. Listen to this announcement. If you cannot work, call the government and you will be given GUARANTEED BASIC INCOME. They will call anyone who points these things out which are PRECISELY the recommendations from the WEF is just coincidence and thus a conspiracy theory.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

TSHTF

July 30, 2021

TSHTF

You just know everything’s going pear shaped when the venerable acronym TSHTF, well known in our circles, hits mainstream media….. The below article written by Fiona Blackwood from the Hobart ABC Bureau appeared on the ABC News website and it’s so full of ironies I just had to pull it apart. So please bear with what will turn out to be an editing nightmare on my phone while I am still without a working laptop…

“Tasmania has been listed alongside New Zealand, Iceland, the United Kingdom and Ireland as potential havens of the future.” Right….. So whoever wrote this has no idea about food security, because literally nowhere in the northern hemisphere is safe AFAIC.

“The study, published in the journal Sustainability, found Tasmania could become recognised “as Australia’s ‘local refuge (lifeboat)’ as conditions on the continental mainland may become less amenable to supporting large human populations in the future”.

While many people have already moved to Tasmania to escape the heat in other states, some doomsday preppers are weighing up the island state as a post-apocalyptic option.”

Scottsdale's future is changing — Tasmania is already being chosen by mainlanders for its scenic landscape and relaxed lifestyle. (Supplied: Dorset Council)

“Tasmania scored highly in the report in terms of its climate, electricity supply, agricultural resources and population density.”

Mr Polin's land was put on the market in January 2012. — Mr Polin’s land included a bunker during the cold war in case of a nuclear holocaust.(ABC)

“The study states that rising populations and energy use have led to climate change, increased risk of pandemics and ecological destruction.

As a result, it found that human civilisation is in a “perilous position with regards to its future”.

“Professor of Human Geography and Planning at the University of Tasmania Jason Byrne agreed the state would be a good option to seek refuge “if things went pear-shaped globally”.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Sydney Sends In Military To Help Enforce Lockdown Amid Record Jump In COVID Cases

July 29, 2021

Sydney Sends In Military To Help Enforce Lockdown Amid Record Jump In COVID Cases

Despite being locked down for nearly a month now, Sydney has just reported a record one-day rise in local COVID cases on Thursday as public health authorities warned that the outbreak would likely worsen, inspiring them to once again turn to the Australian military for help.

According to Reuters, Sydney, Australia’s most populous city, has struggled to contain an outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant with another economy-crippling lockdown. Instead, cases have continued to move higher, leading public health authorities to double down on their efforts to protect against a broader outbreak of the delta variant, believed to be far more infectious than other strains.

But that didn’t stop authorities from counting 239 locally transmitted cases in the past 24 hours, the biggest daily increase for Sydney since the pandemic began. We should note that Australia’s COVID issue has never really been all that bad: nationwide, the country of 26MM has counted fewer than 1,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic, a far lower rate.

“We can only assume that things are likely to get worse before they get better given the quantity of people infectious in the community,” said New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney.

Berejiklian said one more person had died from COVID-19, taking the death toll from the current outbreak to 13, while the national death toll rose to 921.

Unfortunately for Berejiklian, who has emerged as a kind of villain for the small business owners and restaurateurs who fear they’re about to be crushed by a “double dip” recession, the Australian military is probably better at twerking than fighting viruses.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

‘That’s Not Orwellian, THIS Is Orwellian’: Aussies Mulling ID For Access To Facebook, Twitter, Tinder

April 12, 2021

‘That’s Not Orwellian, THIS Is Orwellian’: Aussies Mulling ID For Access To Facebook, Twitter, Tinder

The Australian government is mulling a proposal which would require citizens to provide at least two forms of identification if they want to use social media, under the guise of ‘battling online bullying and more easily report users to authorities.

Under the guise of preventing online bullying, the Morrison government’s plan would require ‘100 points of identification’ in order to use Twitter, Facebook, Instagram – and online dating platforms such as Tinder, according to news.com.au. To satisfy the ‘100 points’ requirement, citizens would need to combine ‘Category 1’ methods of identification (birth certificate, passport, citizenship papers) with ‘Category 2’ ID (Valid government-issued license, public employee photo ID, doctor’s note).

More via news.com.au:

The recommendation, which has been raised before, is one of 88 recommendations from a parliamentary committee report looking at family, domestic and sexual violence.

“In order to open or maintain an existing social media account, customers should be required by law to identify themselves to a platform using 100 points of identification, in the same way as a person must provide identification for a mobile phone account, or to buy a mobile SIM card,” the report suggests.

It goes on to say that social media platforms “must provide those identifying details when requested by the eSafety Commissioner, law enforcement or as directed by the court”.

In other news, Australia has an eSafety Commissioner.

Well, the government’s in crisis, time to roll the distraction generator dice:

🎲
Citizens must provide
🎲
100 points of ID
🎲
So we can solve social media abuse?

— Dan Golding (@dangolding) April 2, 2021

As the report notes, the ID requirement would mean social media giants have even more information on their users.

Normal people, as expected, are expressing disbelief over the new proposal:

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

When Is Mountaintop Removal Not Mountaintop Removal? In Alberta, of Course!

March 6, 2021

When Is Mountaintop Removal Not Mountaintop Removal? In Alberta, of Course!

The Kenney government plays word games as it plans to strip-mine the Rockies.

Does this look like mountaintop removal to you? Coal mining underway in Elk Valley, BC, on the west side of the Rockies across from where Alberta plans similar mining. Photo by Callum Gunn.

In Alberta, the government of Jason Kenney has one definition for mountaintop removal, while most people have another.

You might think that excavating the top of a mountain until it’s reduced to a series of carved away “benches” that rise like giant steps to a last shred of a mountain’s peak is “mountaintop removal.”

If so, you disagree with the Alberta government.

Here’s someone else who disagrees with the Kenney definition. Australian coal miners.

While the Kenney government claims mountaintop removal can’t happen in Alberta’s water-sensitive eastern slopes, Benga Mining, an Australian firm owned by Aussie billionaire Gina Rinehart, says that’s the technique it intends to employ — and in a joint federal-provincial hearing no less.

Last week, the Kenney government told the Narwhal in a series of emails that open-pit mining can’t be called mountaintop removal if it only removes, say, 90 per cent of a mountaintop.

By Alberta’s definition, the top of the mountain has to be “completely” removed to qualify as mountaintop removal.

The Alberta Energy Regulator and Kenney spokesperson Kavi Bal both informed the Narwhal that open-pit mining can scrape off the sides of a mountain, devein coal seams and leave a ridge a pockmarked shadow of itself after removing tonnes of toxic debris, and that’s OK: because it’s open-pit mining, and not mountaintop removal.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Facebook Goes Nuclear On Australia – Blocks All News Sharing Across Continent

February 18, 2021

Facebook Goes Nuclear On Australia – Blocks All News Sharing Across Continent

After Australia’s government this week announced its intent to issue legislative changes known as the “News Media Bargaining Code” by the end of this month, Facebook in retaliation has said it will begin restricting news sharing on its platform in Australia.

It comes a day after the current session of parliament vowed to implement the law by the session’s close, which ends on Feb. 25. The code seeks to force major US-based internet companies to fairly pay local Australian publishers for use of their content. Last month Google threatened to remove its search engine from Australia altogether over the legislation, with Facebook backing Google’s pressure campaign.

“The panel would usually accept either the platform’s or the publisher’s best offer, and only rarely set a price in between,” the report describes.

Facebook issued the following statement Wednesday afternoon:

In response to Australia’s proposed new Media Bargaining law, Facebook will restrict publishers and people in Australia from sharing or viewing Australian and international news content.

The proposed law fundamentally misunderstands the relationship between our platform and publishers who use it to share news content. It has left us facing a stark choice: attempt to comply with a law that ignores the realities of this relationship, or stop allowing news content on our services in Australia. With a heavy heart, we are choosing the latter.

Essentially Aussies will now be barred from posting, sharing or event viewing news content on Facebook whatsoever in a move which Google may soon replicate.

Exxon Mobil’s refinery closure in Australia: peak oil context

February 17, 2021

Exxon Mobil’s refinery closure in Australia: peak oil context

Exxon Mobil’s Melbourne refinery is closing and will be converted into a fuel import terminal. The Australian public broadcaster has found the right title for its article:

Australia loses another oil refinery, leaving our fuel supply vulnerable to regional crises
11/2/2021
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-11/australia-loses-another-oil-refinery-risking-fuel-supply/13139648

Fig 1: Exxon-Mobil Altona refinery in Melbourne

The refinery has a capacity of 86 kb/d, around 10% of Exxon Mobil’s Asia Pacific capacity.

Fig 2: Exxon Mobil’s refineries in Asia Pacific

“The Altona refinery produces up to 14.5 million litres of refined products per day.
Petrol represents approximately 60 percent of production [8.7 ML/d], with diesel representing a further 30 percent [4.35 ML/d] and jet fuel around 10 percent [1.45 ML/d]. The percentage of each product depends on the type of feedstock used – different types of crude oil, for example, will produce more or less LPG from the refining process.

Around 90 percent of products are transported by pipeline from the refinery to Mobil’s Yarraville terminal and other industry terminals for distribution by road.

The refinery supplies feedstock for the nearby Altona chemical complex, which in turn supplies feedstocks to a number of petrochemical manufacturing plants at Altona. These plants produce the raw material from which a multitude of consumer products are made.”

https://www.exxonmobil.com.au/Energy-and-environment/Energy-resources/Downstream-operations/Altona-Refinery#AltonaRefineryfacts

How much is that compared to Victoria’s fuel sales?

Fig 3: Victoria’s petroleum sales by product

Between 2010 and December 2019 Victoria gasoline sales were practically flat at 400 ML/month or 13.2 ML/day. In contrast, Diesel sales increased by a whopping 5.5% pa from a trend average of 290 ML/month in July 2010 to 440 ML/month or 14.4 ML/day by end 2019. Jet fuel sales increased from 100 ML/month in 2010/11 to 200 ML/month or 6.5 ML/day in 2018/19 (jump due to international flights)

Let’s stack it all up:

Fig 4: Total Victoria fuel sales

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Critics Skeptical as Alberta Reverses Course on Open-pit Coal Mines

February 9, 2021

Critics Skeptical as Alberta Reverses Course on Open-pit Coal Mines

Five days after Kenney defended the province’s mining push, the government says it was all a big mistake.

Rancher Renie Blades says she’s glad that the Alberta government admitted its mistake in cancelling the Coal Policy, but calls her response ‘very guarded.’ Photo by Callum Gunn.

After months of ignoring a grassroots protest movement opposing plans to allow open-pit coal mining in Alberta’s Rockies, Energy Minister Sonya Savage said today the provincial government made a mistake and is now prepared to fix it.

In a brief news conference, Savage said the province would reinstate the 1976 Coal Policy, which prohibited open-pit mining on 1.5 million hectares of “Category 2” lands in the eastern slopes of the Rockies.

In addition, Savage said she had instructed the Alberta Energy Regulator that “no mountain top removal will be permitted” in the province and that all future coal exploration on the Category 2 lands will be paused indefinitely until public consultation is held.

Coal exploration by Australian miners on six existing leases in the foothills will not be paused.

Savage’s reinstatement of the Coal Policy directly contradicts statements from Premier Jason Kenney on Wednesday that the Coal Policy was a “dead letter” and obsolete.

The highly unpopular premier also characterized opponents of coal mining as urban snobs even though the majority of the opposition has come from his party’s angry base: ranchers, farmers, landowners and rural towns and municipalities.

The government’s abrupt change of course follows weeks of protests from hundreds of thousands of Albertans from all walks of life and all political parties.

They raised concerns about water security, selenium pollution (a legacy of open-pit coal mines), and the future of the province’s iconic eastern slopes.

Landowner and conservation groups greeted today’s announcement with skepticism.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Months Before Albertans Were Told, Australian Miners Knew Plans to Axe Coal Policy

January 31, 2021

Months Before Albertans Were Told, Australian Miners Knew Plans to Axe Coal Policy

Investor presentations signalled the Kenney government aimed to open protected lands to open-pit mining.

Documents show Australian firms seeking open-pit coal mining leases in Alberta got signals protections to sensitive lands would be lifted, clearing the way. The public only found out months later, the day the Coal Policy was rescinded. Photo: Shutterstock.

Australian mining firms seeking to strip-mine metallurgical coal in Alberta’s eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains knew well ahead of Albertans that the government was planning to rescind a law that stood in the way.

The 44-year-old Coal Policy, the result of extensive public consultation in the 1970s, kept 1.5 million hectares of Category 2 lands in the eastern slopes off limits from open-pit mining until the Jason Kenney government abruptly axed it in May of last year with no public consultation.

Alberta’s environment minister has denied that doing away with the Coal Policy “has opened up the eastern slopes for strip-mining.”

But a presentation prepared some time in 2019 by Capital Investment Partners, a firm that owns four private coal companies with extensive leases in the central Rockies, told investors: “Alberta government [is] in the process of changing the coal policy to allow more open-pit mining.”

This statement raises serious questions, said Katie Morrison, the conservation director of the Southern Alberta arm of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, who found the presentation online.

“The CIP presentation really implies that long before Albertans heard about the cancellation of the Coal Policy, the government was consulting with coal companies at the request of coal companies and for the benefit of coal companies,” Morrison told The Tyee.

She added that the presentation “is very clear that the Australians understood the cancellation as a lifting of restrictions that allowed them to mine in areas they couldn’t access before.”

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

China Restricts Electricity Use Amid Coal Shortage

December 22, 2020

China Restricts Electricity Use Amid Coal Shortage

Despite the swift industrial recovery from the pandemic, factories in areas in China are working only part-time, and residents in several provinces are asked to save electricity, while authorities are turning off street lights and billboards, warning of coal shortages this winter.

In at least three provinces in China, authorities have ordered limits on electricity use, saying there could be shortages of coal, The New York Times reports.

At the same time, Chinese authorities vehemently deny that the potential shortages have had anything to do with the diplomatic spat with Australia, which has turned into a true energy trade war, with China banning imports of coal from one of its major suppliers.

Still, China has admitted there is a problem with electricity supply in parts of the country, just ahead of the winter season when Chinese industrial activity has been recovering very well from the COVID-related economic slump earlier this year.

“At the moment, some provinces temporarily do not have enough electricity. This is an objective fact,” the NYT quoted the Chinese authority overseeing state-held firms as saying during the weekend.

As a result of the power shortages with a reduced supply of thermal coal, some factories are cutting working hours and are operational only two or three days a week, while office workers in some cities have had to climb 20 flights of stairs to reach their workplaces because elevators have been shut down to save electricity.

“We are not living a normal life when our factory can only work two days a week and the streets are dark at night,” Mike Li, who owns a plastic flower factory in the city of Yiwu, eastern China, told the Financial Times.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Alberta Government Fines Hunter for Trespassing on Australian Coal Lease

December 22, 2020

Alberta Government Fines Hunter for Trespassing on Australian Coal Lease

Levi Williams-Whitney traversed the land to make a video opposing open-pit mining. He has no regrets.

Still from a video made by Levi Williams-Whitney, titled *A Hunter’s Perspective: Open Pit Coal Mining in Alberta*.

The Kenney government has fined an Alberta hunter $600 for making an anti-coal video, but the young man says he’s laughing.

Last October, Levi Williams-Whitney went for a gambol up Grassy Mountain just north of the town of Blairmore in Alberta’s historic Crowsnest Pass.

Much of the mountain is now owned by Benga Mining (Riversdale Resources), a firm purchased by Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart in 2019 for $700 million.

With the Kenney government’s blessings, Rinehart, an iron-ore magnate and Australia’s wealthiest woman, has proposed to reduce what is now the habitat of mountain sheep, trout and elk into a giant open-pit coal mine. (The mountain top removal project is under a joint federal-provincial review.)

Another bunch of Australian developers want to remove more than half a dozen other nearby mountains from the Rockies to also supply Asian steel markets. They, too, have the government’s enthusiastic support.

Williams-Whitney, an avid hunter and environmental student at the University of Lethbridge, wasn’t impressed with Rinehart’s plans, let alone the Alberta government’s red-carpet treatment for Australian coal miners.

“The video was my way to express some of my frustration and refine my thinking about the issues,” said Williams-Whitney who has hunted for elk in the eastern slopes for years.

So he drove an hour-and-a-half from his home in Lethbridge to the Crowsnest Pass, where underground coal mines, French coal barons and communist unions once dominated the region’s turbulent history some 100 years ago.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

China Endures Worsening Electricity Shortages In Name Of Punishing Australia

December 19, 2020

China Endures Worsening Electricity Shortages In Name Of Punishing Australia

Coal is among the latest in a growing list of major Australian exports hit by severe restrictions in China, also including commodities like cotton, timber wine, lobster, and barley. While Chinese citizens might be able to forgo luxuries for a while like Aussie wine as well as lobster, coal is quite another thing especially given the country is currently facing a broad coal shortage.

Here’s how Chinese state media publication Sixth Tone described it:

Several cities in at least three provinces in central and southern China are experiencing a power crunch, with some local governments beginning to ration power use during peak times, according to multiple domestic media reports.

Entire provinces are taking the surprise step of limiting industrial power and even cutting heating in government offices, expected to take effect Dec.11, according to the publication. This also includes limits imposed on entertainment and shopping venues like malls and move theaters, which is impacting their hours of operation.

So ultimately this shows Beijing is so intent and devoted to punishing Australia that it will make its own citizens suffer in the downward spiraling spat that began last Spring when Canberra joined US calls for an independent probe into China’s handling of COVID-19 as the place of origin for the pandemic.

As it stands coal is Australia’s third-largest export to China and is the latest to face severe and opaque import regulations, as Reuters revealed early this week: “Chinese media outlets including The Global Times and Caixin on Monday reported China’s top economic planner had granted approval to power plants to import coal without clearance restrictions, except for Australia,” according to the report.

The restrictions have reportedly left dozens of coal-laden ships idling off China’s ports:

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Australia’s BP Kwinana refinery closure: peak oil context

November 14, 2020

Australia’s BP Kwinana refinery closure: peak oil context

Fig 1: BP is in peak oil mode

BP shuts down Kwinana refinery with 600 jobs expected to go, Commonwealth says no impact on fuel security

Fig 2: Kwinana refinery in Perth

Refining activities will wind down over the next six months, with the new [product import] terminal expected to open in 2022.

The Federal Government has expressed disappointment over the refinery closure.

Energy Minister Angus Taylor said …… the Government expected BP to deliver on its commitment to supporting workers during a challenging period, but that closure of the refinery would not impact Australian fuel supplies.

“We will ensure Australia maintains a sovereign refining capability to support local industry, meet our nation’s needs during an emergency, and protect motorists from future higher prices,” he said.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-30/bp-shuts-down-kwinana-refinery-hundreds-of-job-losses-expected/12832372

The Minister’s statement seems to be wishful thinking. 3 refineries already closed in the last 8 years

2013 Shell Clyde refinery, 85 kb/d in Sydney

2014 Caltex Kurnell refinery, 125 kb/d in Sydney

2015 BP Bulwer refinery, 102 kb/d in Brisbane

The following graph shows the impact of these previous closures on crude and product imports:

Fig 3: Crude imports dropped and replaced by product imports
https://www.energy.gov.au/publications/australian-energy-update-2020

The growth in diesel consumption explains why the government was forced to invest $200 million in a competitive grants program to build an additional 780 ML of onshore diesel storage
Media release 14 Sep 2020
https://www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/taylor/media-releases/boosting-australias-fuel-security

Fig 4: After the Kwinana closure there will be only 3 refineries
https://www.festanks.com.au/crude-oil-refining-in-australia-infographic/

As BP made its announcement a crude oil tanker from UAE was in port.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Australia’s Perth Mint Silver Bullion Sales Surge In 2020

October 30, 2020

Australia’s Perth Mint Silver Bullion Sales Surge In 2020

With the newest update just released, Perth Mint silver bullion sales surged in the first three quarters of 2020. And, for the first time in many years, the Perth Mint sold more than two million oz of silver bullion in a single month this year. The official silver coins produced by the Perth Mint are the Silver Kangaroo, Koala, and Kookaburras.

Not only are the Perth Mint’s silver bullion sales up significantly this year, but gold bullion sales are also up a stunning 160% higher than the same period last year (info from CoinNews.net). The Perth Mint sold 579,644 oz of gold bullion Jan-Sep this year versus 223,821 oz in 2019.

According to the data published on CoinNews.net, Perth Mint silver bullion sales for Jan-Sep increased to 13.1 million oz compared to 7.8 million oz during the same period last year. That’s a 68% increase year-over-year.

Furthermore, U.S. Mint Silver Eagle sales of 24.5 million oz are up 66% compared to the 14.8 million sold for Full-Year 2019. So, with two more months remaining in the year, there is a good chance that Silver Eagle sales will reach 28-29 million, nearly double what they were in 2019.

I will update the Royal Canadian Mint’s Silver Maple and billion sales in an upcoming article.

With demand for physical silver bullion up significantly this year, along with the global Silver ETFs, if we see another year like this in 2021, watch out for much higher prices.

People power: everyday Australians are building their own renewables projects, and you can too

October 17, 2020

People power: everyday Australians are building their own renewables projects, and you can too

In the town of Goulburn in southern New South Wales, an energy revolution is brewing. The community has come together to build its own 4,000-panel solar farm – everyday citizens are invited to buy shares in the venture and reap the rewards.

Goulburn is not alone: community-owned energy is an idea whose time has come. About 100 community energy groups operate across Australia – their projects at various levels of development – up from 25 groups in 2015.

The concept is gaining political attention, too. Independent MP for the federal Victorian seat of Indi, Helen Haines, in August moved a motion in parliament, calling on the Morrison government to support community energy, including establishing a new government agency. The bill is backed by fellow independent Zali Steggall.

At its core, community energy rests on the belief that everyday people should have power over how their energy is generated – including its environmental and social impacts. Big corporations should not control our energy systems, nor should they reap all the profits. So let’s take a look at how community energy works.

A solar farm — Steve Bittinger/Flickr under CC licence 2.0

What is community energy?

Australia’s first community-owned renewable energy project, Hepburn Wind, started generating power in June 2011. Since then, many more communities across Australia have banded together to manage their own solar, wind, micro-grid and efficiency projects.

The Goulburn project will be built in the Hume electorate of federal energy minister Angus Taylor, about 3km from the town centre. Earlier this year it received a A$2.1 million state grant, under the Regional Community Energy Fund.

Investors can reportedly buy A$400 shares, each covering the cost of a solar panel and the infrastructure needed for grid connection.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

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