On the grapevine

Have a look at some of these articles/videos from the 'grapevine'.

• Whitesplaining White privilege. Ami Horowitz tackles the concept of "White privilege" using interviews of the 'man in the street'. Very  compelling.

• Terrorism persists because it works. Dershowitz identifies the root cause of this evil and the pinpoints the moral weakness of the west that perpetuates it. Well worth a read.

• The Inconvenient truth about the Democratic party. "Did you know that the Democratic Party defended slavery, started the Civil War, founded the KKK, and fought against every major civil rights act in U.S. history? Watch as Carol Swain, professor of political science at Vanderbilt University, shares the inconvenient history of the Democratic Party"

• Who Will Stand up for Civil Liberties? In this article Alan Dershowitz warns of the damage to civil liberties due to the relentless ideological drive to sabotage the Trump presidency.

• Could these mini reactors replicate the power of the Sun? One company, Tokamak Energy, thinks its mini fusion generators (Tokamaks) may hold the answer by allowing the company to test ideas faster than their competitors.

• How fear of nuclear energy is hurting the environment.  "We're not in a clean energy revolution; we're in a clean energy crisis," says climate policy expert Michael Shellenberger. His surprising solution: nuclear. In this passionate talk, he explains why it's time to overcome longstanding fears of the technology, and why he and other environmentalists believe it's past time to embrace nuclear as a viable and desirable source of clean power.

• Renewable hydrogen could fuel Australia's next export boom after CSIRO breakthrough. Australia's next big export industry could be its sunlight and wind, as game-changing technology makes it easier to transport and deliver their energy as hydrogen.

• Mini Nuclear Reactor ready to be built. China starting the roll-out of factory size 300 Megawatt 'mini' nuclear reactors. The ACP100 reactors meet all IAEA safety standards and promise efficiency and safety beyond the conventional larger size reactors. China plans to start mass production for the local market with plans to later export overseas.

• The American Flag. This is an eye-opening short video by political satirist/director Ami Horowitz. Ami talks with UC Irvine student Matthew Guevara who says the US is evil and the American flag represents hate speech.

• The Myth of the Climate Change '97%' We have all heard it "Ninety-seven percent of scientists agree: climate change is real, man-made and dangerous." This single sentence has become a regular argument in support of Climate Change widely used by laymen in support of their beliefs.  Yet , as Joseph Bast and Roy Spencer argue in this article, it is a myth. A myth created by poor research and a widespread need by CC advocates for a winning argument against increasing scepticism. Well worth a read, if you can get through the paywall at the Wall Street Journal)

• Thoughts on the Public Discourse over Climate Change This is a detailed article by Richard Lindzen critically reviews the core arguments by climate change advocates. Well worth a read whether you are a sceptic or an advocate.

• Family favouritism is as old as politics. Despite the vocal criticism of Trump over his appointments of family members to prominent positions, history shows that such appointments are not rare. "The contrast between the appointments of Robert Kennedy and Hillary Clinton demonstrates one of the oldest rules in politics: when nepotism works well it is acceptable; when it fails, it is reviled"

• Swiss deny citizenship to Muslim girls who balked at swimming with boys.  While this is rather old for a 'news' story, I thought it relevant given Australia's re-discovery of a 'values' test for granting citizenship. Switzerland cetainly sent a strong message when it denied citizenship to those who do not follow Swiss values.

• How is Muslim Immigration to Sweden working out. Eyeopening video highlighting the social issues arising from relatively high volume immigration of people with a different culture. A warning to many Western democratic countries who want to share their free societies with the rest of the world. The most sobering lesson is the willingness of the free press to suppress the truth. The consequence is a people ignorant of what is happening around them. This speaks to all of us.

• A brief introduction to Cold Fusion. Here is some more technical information on Cold Fusion or LENR. See my post "What is LENR?" for an introduction.

• The least diverse Place in America. What is the least diverse place in America? It's the institution that most actively seeks racial, ethnic, gender, and cultural diversity: the college campus! Colleges want students to look different, but think the same. While targeted at an American audience, sadly it is equally applicable to Australian campuses. 

• John Bolton: Tomahawks fired, now think about a new Middle East. Following Trump's unexpected strike against Assad there has been widespread commentary. John Bolton sees this as a major turning point and an opportunity to redress the loss of American influence in the region. History shows this wont be easy. Time will tell.  

• Greivance Feminismn & Corruption of Human Rights. Inciteful presentation by Janet Albrechtsen at the annual Big Ideas Festival of The Center for Independent Studies. She squares up to the feminists who fight for the trivial but ignore the serious.

• Totalitarian minded citizens challenge our freedom of speech. Recent moves by idealogical zealots to prevent open debate by initmidation are a very real threat to a free society. Freedom of speech is threatened not only by the self censorship of the media in the face racial discrimination laws such as 18C but equally or even more so by advocates who are not willing to counter argument by argument. They actively work instead to prevent open debate. Such tactics imply a weak case . It seems these zealots fear their cause would fail to win favour in an open debate. 

• How Socialism Ruined My country recounts recent political history of Brazil. It is a case study in how the ideal of "socialism" works in practice, damaging the lives of those who support it. A sobering reminder to look before you leap.

• UK puts UN's Human Rights Council 'on notice' over anti-Israel bias In what seems to be a sudden reversal of past acquiescence by most European countries to blatant anti-Israel bias by the UN, the UK has called out the UN Human Rights Council and threatened to boycott any future anti Israel resolutions. This is much overdue and perhaps heralds a more objective approach to Israel by some members of the UN. Certainly the election of Trump has changed the US's approach and who knows it may have influenced the UK as well, or was it a Brexit factor. No matter it is but a small step in redressing the tyranny of the many tyrants that seem to form a majority block on the UN.  

• There is no gender gap. Is there a gender wage gap? Are women paid less than men to do the same work? Christina Hoff Sommers, Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, explains the data. While this video is focused on the USA the underlying argument applies equally to Australia and other Western economies.

• Why America must lead. Another insightful video from PragerU. The past head of NATO and Prime Minister of Denmark present a simple, blunt and compelling message that America must , once again, step up to the plate and lead.  

• A satirical take on the Trump and Turnbull telephone conversation. Brilliant piece by Rowan Dean, well worth the laugh.

• Why I left the Left. Dave Rubin of The Rubin Report used to be a big progressive. He even had a show with The Young Turks! But now he's not a progressive. He has left the left. Why? Dave Rubin shares his story.

• Nigel Farage exposes EU leaders' hypocrisy and faux outrage over President Trump. Short video of Farage's recent presentation to European Union in his rather voluble style but with more than a soupcon of truth. The same video has been posted by many who ignore these truths pointing out the sign "He's Lyinhg" held up by one of the delegates in the early part of the video. Mmm. 

• The Case for a Flat Tax. This Prager U video by Steve Forbes, of Forbes Media, presents a compelling argument for a Flat -Tax system. While presented in a US context it is equally applicable to Aus. I think it is a great idea, and would release wasted resources from tax compliance to increase our productivity.

• How Trump Can influence Climate Change During the election campaign Trump foreshadowed a winding down of Obama's commitments to mitigate the US's emissions. Thi s NY Times article explores the potential impact.

• Youtube bans another Prager Video. An insidious censorship is creeping into our social media. The dominant players are removing material that they see as 'unacceptable". However in many cases such a decision is not clear cut. Check out this article and watch the unacceptable video.

• Matt Ridley: Freedom and Optimism. Matt Ridley, author of the Rational Optimist, delivers the 2013 C.D. Kemp Lecture at the Institute of Public Affairs on Thursday 14 November, 2013.

For more videos visit the Archives page.