OTG Week ending 27 Apr 2025

It Must be Climate Change

Like an unforgettable earworm, "it must be Climate Change" has been assailing us from every corner of our media exposure. It has become the go-to phrase to explain whatever weather-related issue arises. A flood here, a cyclone there,  an algal bloom, an unusually hot day or even an unusually cold day. It seems there is no environmental event that Climate Change has not caused.  Worse still, there are many nodding heads, agreeing. Heads of politicians, media commentators, business entrepreneurs, large renewables portfolios, mind you, and of course, the experts, the academics. So is this correct? How can one even consider that those we always rely on for our view of the world are wrong? They wouldn't collude to fool us? They couldn't, could they? 

I don't believe it is collusion. However, they are acting in concert to mislead us. Some do not do it intentionally, but certainly some will avoid exposing information they do possess that would contradict their statements. Lying by omission. 

Like all great movements, the Climate Catastrophe phenomenon will unwind over time. Just as we are now seeing the COVID hysteria unwinding with a slow trickle of information exposing the sheer lies we were fed "for our own good", so too will the Climate Catastrophe dogma unwind. But as it has been going for much longer, its unwinding will take longer. 

Nevertheless, some green shoots of truth are emerging.

The Prager U recently focused on this issue with a video titled "It must be Climate Change".

As usual it is a rather short video, but well worth a view.

The robots are running, sort of

In a world first Beijing hosted a half marathon for robots. I guess it had to come. This was an opportunity to gauge the status of humanoid robots, at least as to their ability to run. It was a somewhat comical affair with many robots failing the task in hilarious ways. Battery life was the most obvious problem for many, but the sheer task of coordination was enough to bring many down to earth. The win, hail  the hero, was a Chinese candidate with the cute name of Tiangong Ultra. Young Tiangong finished in 2 hours and 40 minutes — a long way to go before it can surpass the men's winner who finished in 1 hour and 2 minutes.  Here is a video summary of the race.

Yet, we should be aware that this is a massive development and without doubt future models will soon overtake human capabilities. 

When humanoid robots combine with AGI (artificial general intelligence), all human work on the planet will be obsolete, unlike global warming, which is the ultimate threat to humanity. 

China in Chaos

Trump's high tariffs on China are having a dramatic effect on China. I covered some of this in last week's post so won't belabor it here. This second video tells the story. 

No doubt this has a long way to run, and the consequences may not be welcome. A China under pressure will likely resonate across the world. 

A picture paints 1000 words

Lies, Damn Lies and politicians

In the throes of an upcoming election, politicians are sometimes forgiven for 'gilding the lily'.

But IMHO, our Labor government is setting records on the eve of the upcoming May 3 election. Pinocchio could no longer walk into a room had he chosen to tell so many porkies.

Of course it is not just the Albo, the current PM, it is his entire team. Nor is it just the Labor party, or its close acolytes. It includes the media, always left-leaning, failing to do their due diligence to ensure the electorate knows the 'facts'. Yes, I know 'facts' are elusive. Yet in this campaign, there has been scant scrutiny by the free press to ensure honesty. This would be somewhat forgivable if they applied an equal standard to right-leaning parties. But it is not so. There remains a blatant bias in our left leaning media. 

SO what are these 'untruths'? Lets look at a few ; -

• Labor have repeatedly claimed the LNP coalition's nuclear program will cost $600B. the only basis for this figure, sort of, is a costing supplied by an anti-nuclear lobby group who claim the cost not at $600B but within the range $110 B to $ 600 B. 
• Labor then claims the LNP opposition will pay for this $600B by cutting services
• Labor claims the LNP is going to cut Medicare, with absolutely NO justification
• Labor claims the LNP will cut the public service with NO justification
• Labor claims the coalition will cut the number of 'urgent care' clinics. LNP say no it will not
• ... and many more

And, it is working! The lies may not be believed, but they have been effective in deflecting scrutiny, of their own record, which has been abysmal.

I guess that is politics, and it is a challenge that every opposition leader faces. How to control the narrative. How to ensure your own policy agenda wins hearts and minds. At this stage, Labour seems to be in the ascendant, but there are two weeks to go.