I reckon the Australian media has run oddly cold on some of the more outrageous behaviour of the Abbott government.
Sure, Fairfax, The Guardian and then The Australian ran the story of Brandis sending over a big wig to invite the President of the Human Rights Commission to resign - because they didn't like a report she has written. No one in the government has denied it - it is clearly true.
But by today - it gets barely a mention on Insiders, and I haven't seen any TV doorstops with a journalist calling out to Abbott - "Do you really think this is appropriate? How is it different to workplace bullying? Why do it in secrecy - was the message that if she didn't go quietly you would rubbish her in Parliament?"
The behaviour towards her is, in my reckoning, a major scandal that the media seems not all that interested in pursuing.
Which puts in mind of the continuing scandal of the secrecy with which the whole "Operation Sovereign Borders" was untaken, including the imprisonment at sea of people for weeks at a time, and the lack of challenge to the weak justification given for it.
By the way, going back to the HRC - Tim Wilson played a "straight bat" on the matter in his Sky News brief interview on Friday. Yet the hosts deliberately did not invite him to comment on the politics of the government asking his boss to resign.
Weird.
Sunday, February 15, 2015
Saturday, February 14, 2015
A billion years to re-locate
The sun won't die for 5 billion years, so why do humans have only 1 billion years left on Earth?
Apparently, the sun will be hot enough in a billion years to boil off the Earth's oceans. (And a few billion after that, it becomes a red giant that will expand out to the orbit of Mars.)
This reminds me, I was reading somewhere recently about how you could start moving the Earth's orbit outwards. (You swing a lot of things past it, if I recall correctly.) Can't remember where that article was, now.
I don't think it was this article from New Scientist in 2008, but it covers similar territory.
Apparently, the sun will be hot enough in a billion years to boil off the Earth's oceans. (And a few billion after that, it becomes a red giant that will expand out to the orbit of Mars.)
This reminds me, I was reading somewhere recently about how you could start moving the Earth's orbit outwards. (You swing a lot of things past it, if I recall correctly.) Can't remember where that article was, now.
I don't think it was this article from New Scientist in 2008, but it covers similar territory.
Friday, February 13, 2015
Excuse me while I have a fantasy
So, Abbott has dumped Philip Ruddock, and some Liberals are not impressed.
Is anyone running a book on how long Abbott has got left? I mean, I would have guessed a few months; but after this week, I'm looking more at weeks I can count on one hand. Days I can count on hands and feet. You get the idea...
But I'm a bit impatient for this. Can't we try a bit of Thai or Fijian style change of government for the good of the country? I mean, Angus Houston is getting a knighthood, and seems a very restrained and well liked fellow on all sides of politics. Who would really complain if he convinced the Governor General, who I am sure he knows well, to let him lead a delegation of soldiers to imprison Abbott until we can have an election. It would be doing Abbott a favour, really; earning him more public sympathy for the way he lost the job than what he is going to get by waiting for the MPs to attack again.
Pity Canberra doesn't have something like a Tower of London for such purposes.
Wait - I know - lock him up inside the National Carillon. It's on a island, although escape from it would hardly be the same as from Alcatraz. Look - there is plenty of room inside - there is even a function room on the top with a kitchen. (! - I had no idea.) No sign of a toilet that I can see, however. He can tip a bucket over the side.
Here is an illustration:
See - you get to enter into a Steve-grade fantasy, but still learn something in the process!
Is anyone running a book on how long Abbott has got left? I mean, I would have guessed a few months; but after this week, I'm looking more at weeks I can count on one hand. Days I can count on hands and feet. You get the idea...
But I'm a bit impatient for this. Can't we try a bit of Thai or Fijian style change of government for the good of the country? I mean, Angus Houston is getting a knighthood, and seems a very restrained and well liked fellow on all sides of politics. Who would really complain if he convinced the Governor General, who I am sure he knows well, to let him lead a delegation of soldiers to imprison Abbott until we can have an election. It would be doing Abbott a favour, really; earning him more public sympathy for the way he lost the job than what he is going to get by waiting for the MPs to attack again.
Pity Canberra doesn't have something like a Tower of London for such purposes.
Wait - I know - lock him up inside the National Carillon. It's on a island, although escape from it would hardly be the same as from Alcatraz. Look - there is plenty of room inside - there is even a function room on the top with a kitchen. (! - I had no idea.) No sign of a toilet that I can see, however. He can tip a bucket over the side.
Here is an illustration:
See - you get to enter into a Steve-grade fantasy, but still learn something in the process!
Seriously bizarre
The Guardian appears to have confirmed the "the government invited Gillian Triggs to resign" story, yet it appears no one from the government has commented on it yet.
The whole puffed up government and News Limited campaign of outrage on Triggs for not starting her enquiry while Labor was in power is truly baffling. Isn't it obvious that the mere number of children in detention is but one factor - the other crucial one being how quickly they are coming out of detention. With the Labor/Liberal change of policy just before the election, it looked clear that getting children out of detention was going to start taking longer.
Abbott's belligerent demand yesterday that Triggs should be thanking Scott Morrison for stopping the boats just sounded like the churlish attack of a man who can't handle any criticism, and who is crushed when he doesn't get the acclaim that he thinks he deserves. He honestly looks psychologically more fragile (and more like Rudd) every day.
The Abbott government (and Murdoch press) behaviour over this is plainly, completely, out of proportion to the offence of which they are complaining.
Why not simply respond to any alleged bias in the report (if they can point out to factual errors in particular) with a calm rebuttal?
Why not express regret at the fact that children are still in detention? Say that you know it is not good for them and you are doing your best to help alleviate their situation?
Instead, why present yourself as an needy psychological cripple who wants the sacking of a person in a statutory appointment because you don't like being criticised?
The other curious thing about this is the question of Tim Wilson. Could it be that the Abbott/Brandis plan really was to hope to get Triggs to resign so they could elevate the Commissioner for Selfies (and Gays) to the top job? I mean, I think that would be a patently ridiculous plan, given Wilson's complete lack of qualification to be on the Commission at all, but this government looks so incompetent and stupid, who knows?
The other thing I wonder about is whether there is any Wilson connection in terms of the government reaction to Triggs - I mean, would he leak back to Brandis if she said something careless and stupid about (say) plans to hurt the government? Could that explain their intemperate attacks on her? I like to think that Wilson - although I make my disdain for him obvious here - is not so low as to do that; but it strikes me as odd the way this has all blown up since his arrival on the scene.
Wilson apparently spoke on the radio about the report yesterday, but I have found no comment on line about what he said. He is also going to be on Sky this afternoon. Given that his appointment was so blatantly political, he ought to be asked for comment on the obvious politics going on in relation to this report.
Twitter is really running red hot with outrage about the government conduct towards Triggs. It is very clear that their attack is blowing up in their face, and making Abbott's destiny in the dustbin of history all the closer.
The whole puffed up government and News Limited campaign of outrage on Triggs for not starting her enquiry while Labor was in power is truly baffling. Isn't it obvious that the mere number of children in detention is but one factor - the other crucial one being how quickly they are coming out of detention. With the Labor/Liberal change of policy just before the election, it looked clear that getting children out of detention was going to start taking longer.
Abbott's belligerent demand yesterday that Triggs should be thanking Scott Morrison for stopping the boats just sounded like the churlish attack of a man who can't handle any criticism, and who is crushed when he doesn't get the acclaim that he thinks he deserves. He honestly looks psychologically more fragile (and more like Rudd) every day.
The Abbott government (and Murdoch press) behaviour over this is plainly, completely, out of proportion to the offence of which they are complaining.
Why not simply respond to any alleged bias in the report (if they can point out to factual errors in particular) with a calm rebuttal?
Why not express regret at the fact that children are still in detention? Say that you know it is not good for them and you are doing your best to help alleviate their situation?
Instead, why present yourself as an needy psychological cripple who wants the sacking of a person in a statutory appointment because you don't like being criticised?
The other curious thing about this is the question of Tim Wilson. Could it be that the Abbott/Brandis plan really was to hope to get Triggs to resign so they could elevate the Commissioner for Selfies (and Gays) to the top job? I mean, I think that would be a patently ridiculous plan, given Wilson's complete lack of qualification to be on the Commission at all, but this government looks so incompetent and stupid, who knows?
The other thing I wonder about is whether there is any Wilson connection in terms of the government reaction to Triggs - I mean, would he leak back to Brandis if she said something careless and stupid about (say) plans to hurt the government? Could that explain their intemperate attacks on her? I like to think that Wilson - although I make my disdain for him obvious here - is not so low as to do that; but it strikes me as odd the way this has all blown up since his arrival on the scene.
Wilson apparently spoke on the radio about the report yesterday, but I have found no comment on line about what he said. He is also going to be on Sky this afternoon. Given that his appointment was so blatantly political, he ought to be asked for comment on the obvious politics going on in relation to this report.
Twitter is really running red hot with outrage about the government conduct towards Triggs. It is very clear that their attack is blowing up in their face, and making Abbott's destiny in the dustbin of history all the closer.
The ugly Coalition
The attack on Gillian Triggs by the Right, and the Murdoch press, is spectacularly ugly example of bullying and attempt at deflection, and is being carried out by:
I'll spare readers the ugly angry mug of Tony Abbott from yesterday, for now.
It's one of those odd cases where the people involved physically look like the ugly bullies they are. (Something about having a double chin also seems to make a Coalition man prone to Trigg hate.)
Update: well, if true, this is absolutely a case of bullying - there's no mere rhetoric use of the word involved here.
I'll spare readers the ugly angry mug of Tony Abbott from yesterday, for now.
It's one of those odd cases where the people involved physically look like the ugly bullies they are. (Something about having a double chin also seems to make a Coalition man prone to Trigg hate.)
Update: well, if true, this is absolutely a case of bullying - there's no mere rhetoric use of the word involved here.
The Abbott government sought the resignation of the president of the Australian Human Rights Commission Gillian Triggs two weeks before it launched an extraordinary attack on the commission over its report on children in immigration detention.
The request was conveyed orally by an official on behalf of the Attorney-General, Senator George Brandis. It was rejected outright by Professor Triggs, who saw it as an attack on the independence and integrity of the commission and herself.
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Speaking of morons
Andrew Bolt's post today seeking to blame Labor for "letting in" a couple of Muslim guys who have been arrested for (what is alleged) to be their plan to commit a terrorist act is the most stupid attempt at opportunist attack he has ever made. Or is Bolt's policy now just "don't let any more Muslims into Australia, ever"?
The sickening PM
I find the behaviour of this Prime Minister and his government to have moved on from appalling to sickening.
Today's attack on Triggs and her Commission's report on children in detention is really disgusting. It is exactly the same moral worth as those Catholics who, faced with evidence of decades of abuse and failure to take action, bleat on about "But what about the other churches? What about teachers in the State schools?"
And I see that he is continuing to seek to get credit as tough on security by commenting in Question Time on apparent evidence to be used against the two guys who are alleged to have been about to go out and behead someone as a PR stunt for Islamic State. Surely a politician shouldn't be carrying on like this when the matter is months away from trial??
I used to think he was just an incompetent out of his depth.
I am moving towards just considering him a disgusting moral pygmy who is likely to go down as the worst PM we've ever had.
Update: at the end of Question Time, Abbott congratulated himself with a smirk on a "magnificent" answer. (Before having to clearly re-visit his use of "holocaust" in his previous answer.) What an absolute moron.
Only matched by the stupidity of anyone who thinks the government performed well today.
Update 2: the Holocaust comment was crass and stupid, but probably counts as a slip - one that a normal competent politician would never make, but a slip nonetheless. The deliberate reference to evidence that may well be contested in a criminal trial was, however, calculated, cynically used for political benefit, and a much more serious issue:
Today's attack on Triggs and her Commission's report on children in detention is really disgusting. It is exactly the same moral worth as those Catholics who, faced with evidence of decades of abuse and failure to take action, bleat on about "But what about the other churches? What about teachers in the State schools?"
And I see that he is continuing to seek to get credit as tough on security by commenting in Question Time on apparent evidence to be used against the two guys who are alleged to have been about to go out and behead someone as a PR stunt for Islamic State. Surely a politician shouldn't be carrying on like this when the matter is months away from trial??
I used to think he was just an incompetent out of his depth.
I am moving towards just considering him a disgusting moral pygmy who is likely to go down as the worst PM we've ever had.
Update: at the end of Question Time, Abbott congratulated himself with a smirk on a "magnificent" answer. (Before having to clearly re-visit his use of "holocaust" in his previous answer.) What an absolute moron.
Only matched by the stupidity of anyone who thinks the government performed well today.
Update 2: the Holocaust comment was crass and stupid, but probably counts as a slip - one that a normal competent politician would never make, but a slip nonetheless. The deliberate reference to evidence that may well be contested in a criminal trial was, however, calculated, cynically used for political benefit, and a much more serious issue:
Prominent barrister Robert Richter QC has accused the Prime Minister of using parliamentary privilege in an attempt to influence the judicial process for two men accused of a terror plot.
Tony Abbott told Parliament one of the men arrested in Tuesday's terrorism raid in Sydney made a video threatening violence under an Islamic State (IS) flag.
In Question Time, Mr Abbott quoted detailed threats made by the man in the video that have not been aired in court.
Mr Richter said if the statements had been made outside of Parliament, Mr Abbott would have been in contempt of court.
"To make those sorts of inflammatory utterances is calculated to influence the judicial process and it's being done for a political purpose," he said.
Cuteness meltdown
Sloth Sanctuary of Costa Rica photos: Meet the world's cutest animals:
This will cause someone in my house, who is already somewhat fond of sloths, to have a cuteness meltdown.
This will cause someone in my house, who is already somewhat fond of sloths, to have a cuteness meltdown.
Doing it safely
Lowering the Age for HIV Prevention - The Atlantic
I don't think I've ever posted about the issue of the use of Truvada, a drug that is quite successful as a "pre-exposure prophylaxis" for HIV.
This article gives a good background to it, while noting in particular the very depressing figures about how much HIV is still spreading amongst Americans, especially young black Americans:
I find this issue very confusing.
On the one hand, I think: what the hell? You really want to take a powerful (not to mention expensive - $1500 a month, apparently) medicine continually so as to be able to sleep around instead of doing the following: do not have casual unprotected sex. If you want to have regular sex with someone, do it with someone who will have a HIV test, commit to you, or if you have any doubt at all about your or their commitment to monogamy, continue using condoms until you split. That's pretty much how most straight people live vis a vis sex without condoms. Is serial monogamy such a difficult concept for the gay community?
On the other hand, as I have posted many times over the years, I just can't understand how straight men over the centuries continually risked having sex with prostitutes and getting the incurable, horrible, deadly disease of syphilis. If their example is any guide, it seems to indicate you just can't really trust men to be sensible about safe sex at all. But then again, reliable and cheap condoms were not around for most of that time, so I suppose I should factor the difficulty of having safe sex into the equation.
And if syphilis was still incurable, would I oppose men who insist on using prostitutes using a drug to prevent them getting the disease, or feel that they were also kinda pathetic for not being able to let reason put some control on their libido?
Or is there an argument that straight people have become more cautious about sex? Given that (I think) a well regulated sex industry has pretty much stopped prostitution spreading disease, there's at least partial grounds for such an argument. (I mean, I assume men just accept that a visit to a brothel means they have to use a condom, don't they?) On the other hand, the rates of chlamydia amongst the young in Australia is truly startling, and a sign that straight young people really are careless about safe sex. But is their carelessness more excusable if it's a disease that is pretty readily cured if it is caught? And should I feel differently about a 16 year old girl who wants to be sexually active getting a hormonal injection so as to be able to do it with low risk of pregnancy, compared to a horny 17 gay dude (potentially) taking an antiviral to be able to have unsafe sex without condoms? I don't think either of them are of an age that they should be regularly having sex, but the question of drawing lines here as to how "practical" we are to be is arguably pretty fine...
I do not know the answers. It's hard to not get the feeling, though, that in the space of 60 odd years, Western society has swung from being too hypocritical and judgemental about sex to (in some respects) not being judgemental enough. Certainly, any science fiction of the 20th century that assumed that sex would be completely safe, plentiful and without consequences in some sort of utopian, libertine future have proved very naive.
I don't think I've ever posted about the issue of the use of Truvada, a drug that is quite successful as a "pre-exposure prophylaxis" for HIV.
This article gives a good background to it, while noting in particular the very depressing figures about how much HIV is still spreading amongst Americans, especially young black Americans:
The number of new HIV infections in the United States has stabilized at around 50,000 per year, according to the CDC, but new infections continue to increase among gay and bisexual men. The trend is particularly acute among black men, and even more so among those between the ages of 13 and 19. New infections among young gay and bisexual black men increased by almost 50 percent between 2006 and 2009, a rate the CDC has called “alarming.” An estimated 6 percent of black gay and bisexual men in the United States under the age of 30 are HIV-positive, according to data from a longitudinal study conducted by the HIV Prevention Trials Network.It then goes on to talk about the question of whether it is a good idea to actually start letting under 18 year olds use it. (Even though the issue of its use amongst adults is still controversial, including within the gay community, where some complain about being stigmatised by other gays if they let it be known they are on it. There was a very lengthy article about this in Slate a couple of months ago. I think I have read that the Australian authorities are trialling it with a view to its possible use here too.)
I find this issue very confusing.
On the one hand, I think: what the hell? You really want to take a powerful (not to mention expensive - $1500 a month, apparently) medicine continually so as to be able to sleep around instead of doing the following: do not have casual unprotected sex. If you want to have regular sex with someone, do it with someone who will have a HIV test, commit to you, or if you have any doubt at all about your or their commitment to monogamy, continue using condoms until you split. That's pretty much how most straight people live vis a vis sex without condoms. Is serial monogamy such a difficult concept for the gay community?
On the other hand, as I have posted many times over the years, I just can't understand how straight men over the centuries continually risked having sex with prostitutes and getting the incurable, horrible, deadly disease of syphilis. If their example is any guide, it seems to indicate you just can't really trust men to be sensible about safe sex at all. But then again, reliable and cheap condoms were not around for most of that time, so I suppose I should factor the difficulty of having safe sex into the equation.
And if syphilis was still incurable, would I oppose men who insist on using prostitutes using a drug to prevent them getting the disease, or feel that they were also kinda pathetic for not being able to let reason put some control on their libido?
Or is there an argument that straight people have become more cautious about sex? Given that (I think) a well regulated sex industry has pretty much stopped prostitution spreading disease, there's at least partial grounds for such an argument. (I mean, I assume men just accept that a visit to a brothel means they have to use a condom, don't they?) On the other hand, the rates of chlamydia amongst the young in Australia is truly startling, and a sign that straight young people really are careless about safe sex. But is their carelessness more excusable if it's a disease that is pretty readily cured if it is caught? And should I feel differently about a 16 year old girl who wants to be sexually active getting a hormonal injection so as to be able to do it with low risk of pregnancy, compared to a horny 17 gay dude (potentially) taking an antiviral to be able to have unsafe sex without condoms? I don't think either of them are of an age that they should be regularly having sex, but the question of drawing lines here as to how "practical" we are to be is arguably pretty fine...
I do not know the answers. It's hard to not get the feeling, though, that in the space of 60 odd years, Western society has swung from being too hypocritical and judgemental about sex to (in some respects) not being judgemental enough. Certainly, any science fiction of the 20th century that assumed that sex would be completely safe, plentiful and without consequences in some sort of utopian, libertine future have proved very naive.
Mini Rudd
Down periscope: Abbott torpedoes himself | The Australian
I'm sure Niki Savva's column this morning is being re-tweeted all over the place. The amazing thing about it is how it really confirms the picture of Abbott as a mini-Rudd: believing his own publicity; a lack of insight into his own problems; and an office run so as to insulate him from the internal party criticisms.
Perhaps the Parliamentary PM's office needs an exorcism before the next PM takes control...
I'm sure Niki Savva's column this morning is being re-tweeted all over the place. The amazing thing about it is how it really confirms the picture of Abbott as a mini-Rudd: believing his own publicity; a lack of insight into his own problems; and an office run so as to insulate him from the internal party criticisms.
Perhaps the Parliamentary PM's office needs an exorcism before the next PM takes control...
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
And another thing about this Abbott government
Since Parliament resumed, it is spectacularly clear that Bronwyn Bishop as Speaker is damaging the Abbott government - there simply has been no more biased and witless Speaker who cannot control Parliament than her. Sycophantic with the unpopular Pyne, their double act is routinely cringeworthy; she deserves no respect and gets little.
She is a major contribution to the dire public image of an incompetent government.
She is a major contribution to the dire public image of an incompetent government.
Raymond is against it
NRC geoengineering report: Climate hacking is dangerous and barking mad.
Wow. One of the most prominent climate scientists around, Raymond T. Pierrehumbert, has come out swinging hard against even trying geoengineering.
I think he is probably right - at least on the dubious prospects for ever deploying it in a permanent and useful way. As to whether all forms should never be the subject of trial work - not so sure about that.
Wow. One of the most prominent climate scientists around, Raymond T. Pierrehumbert, has come out swinging hard against even trying geoengineering.
I think he is probably right - at least on the dubious prospects for ever deploying it in a permanent and useful way. As to whether all forms should never be the subject of trial work - not so sure about that.
If you ask me...
* The Abbott and Hockey interviews over the last 2 nights of 7.30 have both shown nothing has changed, and they are both incompetent sloganeers with no substance and need to be replaced.
* The submarine issue is a running sore and a matter of potential great embarrassment to this government. Even the Japan Times is reporting that some officials there seemed to think they had a deal (sealed by a handshake?) which Abbott is now backing away from. Would be amazing to think if Abbott was making deals on the quiet like this - would put the Rudd NBN plan on a napkin to shame (given that the NBN at least involved work for lots of Australians.)
* Oh look. The LDP had its conference on the weekend, and it looks like every voter who actually intentionally voted for David Leyonhjelm was in attendance:
* The submarine issue is a running sore and a matter of potential great embarrassment to this government. Even the Japan Times is reporting that some officials there seemed to think they had a deal (sealed by a handshake?) which Abbott is now backing away from. Would be amazing to think if Abbott was making deals on the quiet like this - would put the Rudd NBN plan on a napkin to shame (given that the NBN at least involved work for lots of Australians.)
* Oh look. The LDP had its conference on the weekend, and it looks like every voter who actually intentionally voted for David Leyonhjelm was in attendance:
Listen up, stupid: you're being conned by idiots
What an exercise in the disingenuous nature of the climate change "skeptics" and lukewarmists.
For the umpteenth time, Graham Lloyd at The Australian runs a story promoting the "science" of lone, home based bloggers as parsed by wildly discredited and unreliable denier columnists like Booker and Delingpole.
Within the body of the story will be the response by actual scientists, denying there is anything to it, so that Lloyd can (presumably) hide behind a cloak of "balance". (Entirely false balance, of course.)
I see that Judith Curry has a guest post (on the entire question of homogenisation) by those who worked on the BEST re-working of the temperature record, which, using different methods, entirely confirmed that the homogenisation and adjustments make very, very little difference to the big picture as worked out by the pre-existing groups.
And - Judith Curry makes no comment in support of the post. She will make a vaguely "I wonder if this is right, it might be important" for any speculative papers about cycles and what not, but for a straightforward one in support of the science, she won't. How pathetic.
Richard Tol then makes an appearance in the comments to the effect "oh, that's right, homogenisation is needed, but maybe the question is whether it is done right. In any event, the more important thing is why people believe Brooker instead of scientists. And it's because of alarmists, you ought to attack them!!"
Yes - as with Curry, he will not call out those who are actively and gleefully distorting (some of) the public's view of the science of climate change, because they actually help with his own pet view that nothing major need be done and everyone who disagrees with him is an idiot. Pathetic.
The best response to this whole spate of climate denialist rubbish about temperature adjustments is from Stephen Mosher (from BEST) at the ATTP blog. (It is much better in a general sense than the Curry post he contributed to.) He makes it clear the frustration that he is finding with "skeptics" who spent years demanding adjustments, and are now spending years criticising adjustments and refusing to believe them. (And also ignoring that on a global scale, using the raw figures makes not much difference anyway.)
Sometimes, people just to be told: if you believe Booker, Delingpole and Monckton, you are simply too stupid to know you are being conned by idiots.
For the umpteenth time, Graham Lloyd at The Australian runs a story promoting the "science" of lone, home based bloggers as parsed by wildly discredited and unreliable denier columnists like Booker and Delingpole.
Within the body of the story will be the response by actual scientists, denying there is anything to it, so that Lloyd can (presumably) hide behind a cloak of "balance". (Entirely false balance, of course.)
I see that Judith Curry has a guest post (on the entire question of homogenisation) by those who worked on the BEST re-working of the temperature record, which, using different methods, entirely confirmed that the homogenisation and adjustments make very, very little difference to the big picture as worked out by the pre-existing groups.
And - Judith Curry makes no comment in support of the post. She will make a vaguely "I wonder if this is right, it might be important" for any speculative papers about cycles and what not, but for a straightforward one in support of the science, she won't. How pathetic.
Richard Tol then makes an appearance in the comments to the effect "oh, that's right, homogenisation is needed, but maybe the question is whether it is done right. In any event, the more important thing is why people believe Brooker instead of scientists. And it's because of alarmists, you ought to attack them!!"
Yes - as with Curry, he will not call out those who are actively and gleefully distorting (some of) the public's view of the science of climate change, because they actually help with his own pet view that nothing major need be done and everyone who disagrees with him is an idiot. Pathetic.
The best response to this whole spate of climate denialist rubbish about temperature adjustments is from Stephen Mosher (from BEST) at the ATTP blog. (It is much better in a general sense than the Curry post he contributed to.) He makes it clear the frustration that he is finding with "skeptics" who spent years demanding adjustments, and are now spending years criticising adjustments and refusing to believe them. (And also ignoring that on a global scale, using the raw figures makes not much difference anyway.)
Sometimes, people just to be told: if you believe Booker, Delingpole and Monckton, you are simply too stupid to know you are being conned by idiots.
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
All your national security problems solved!
I've had a brilliant idea: instead of mandatory data retention, the government could just offer a free, Samsung TV to all Muslim families who migrate here as a special "welcome to Australia" gift. (And any single Muslim male gets one as a coming of age gift at 18.)
Why I'm not a consultant to some politician or other I'll never know....
Why I'm not a consultant to some politician or other I'll never know....
Foreign view
Asia Unbound - Tony Abbott Has To Go
Found this harsh but fair assessment on Abbott via the Lowy Institute Interpreter blog.
Found this harsh but fair assessment on Abbott via the Lowy Institute Interpreter blog.
Can you imagine it?
Kevin '17 and the race to be the next UN Secretary-General
Some think Rudd is positioning himself to be a candidate for UN Secretary-General.
Come on - the institution has enough trouble maintaining credibility without inflicting that upon it.
Some think Rudd is positioning himself to be a candidate for UN Secretary-General.
Come on - the institution has enough trouble maintaining credibility without inflicting that upon it.
Joe Hockey takedown
Why the government is a brake on the economy
Peter Martin provides a detailed list of the obviously wrong claims Joe Hockey has made, and in some cases, repeated (despite their error being widely reported.)
It's clear that Hockey is a complete dud of a Treasurer, and really the job just seems beyond him. He, with Abbott, is another living, breathing example of the Peter Principle. (I suppose if there is one thing the government can be credited with, it's for reminding us that that rule of management theory is valid.)
His hopes to be PM one day have completely evaporated. That's life...
Peter Martin provides a detailed list of the obviously wrong claims Joe Hockey has made, and in some cases, repeated (despite their error being widely reported.)
It's clear that Hockey is a complete dud of a Treasurer, and really the job just seems beyond him. He, with Abbott, is another living, breathing example of the Peter Principle. (I suppose if there is one thing the government can be credited with, it's for reminding us that that rule of management theory is valid.)
His hopes to be PM one day have completely evaporated. That's life...
Snugglebunnies served raw fish
My annual guilty pleasure of reality TV - My Kitchen Rules - has started again, but my daughter has started to resent my running deconstruction of how its made.
One aspect which I am really starting to tire of is the "oh my God, how should we serve/cook our first home cooked meal - the one we've had about 8 weeks to rehearse?" line.
Last night, featuring the high school snugglebunny couple (well, they are "high school sweethearts", living in sin as us oldies like to say, from Adelaide) was a particularly annoying example. They debated for about 10 minutes about their bream - whether to leave the tail on or not, what to do about the head, and at what point exactly to cut off the tail. The final decision rendered it into something looking disturbingly like a Thalidomide fish - but seriously, such debates over the first meal served cannot possibly be serious, can they? Surely all of them have rehearsed their dishes several times before this night. How could they possibly be genuinely debating how to serve the sauce?
Last night's fish ended up being served half raw - they were fretting about not over cooking it, when it was basically being steamed in paper - a technique which I thought made serious overcooking actually quite difficult.
Their score was therefore very low, and I presume they will be leaving tonight. I trust their relationship will survive...
I was trying to put my finger on why young Lloyd was annoying me, and then I realised - he both sounds and looks like a young version of Richard E Grant in the short cooking comedy series Posh Nosh:
Posh Nosh is worth catching up on Youtube, if you've missed it...
One aspect which I am really starting to tire of is the "oh my God, how should we serve/cook our first home cooked meal - the one we've had about 8 weeks to rehearse?" line.
Last night, featuring the high school snugglebunny couple (well, they are "high school sweethearts", living in sin as us oldies like to say, from Adelaide) was a particularly annoying example. They debated for about 10 minutes about their bream - whether to leave the tail on or not, what to do about the head, and at what point exactly to cut off the tail. The final decision rendered it into something looking disturbingly like a Thalidomide fish - but seriously, such debates over the first meal served cannot possibly be serious, can they? Surely all of them have rehearsed their dishes several times before this night. How could they possibly be genuinely debating how to serve the sauce?
Last night's fish ended up being served half raw - they were fretting about not over cooking it, when it was basically being steamed in paper - a technique which I thought made serious overcooking actually quite difficult.
Their score was therefore very low, and I presume they will be leaving tonight. I trust their relationship will survive...
I was trying to put my finger on why young Lloyd was annoying me, and then I realised - he both sounds and looks like a young version of Richard E Grant in the short cooking comedy series Posh Nosh:
Posh Nosh is worth catching up on Youtube, if you've missed it...
Jones reviewed
Alan Jones on Q
Here's quite a funny review of Alan Jones' appearance on Q&A last night. I liked these bits in particular (about the Liberal guest's difficult position):
Here's quite a funny review of Alan Jones' appearance on Q&A last night. I liked these bits in particular (about the Liberal guest's difficult position):
The Liberal MP Jamie Briggs didn't fare as well, exhibiting the familiar terror seen in conservative politicians when Jones is in headmaster mode and thinks they should pull their socks up. When Tony Jones pushed Briggs to sign on to some of Alan's economic prescriptions, the MP had the look of a man who wished he was somewhere more relaxing, like a burning house.
"Say yes, Jamie," Alan exhorted him. Later he advised Briggs: "This is really hard-nosed stuff, Jamie!"
All one could think was: Poor Jamie. All avenues of escape blocked by a scary Jones to the left of him and a scary Jones to the right, Briggs settled on a one-liner. "We're always told we have to agree with Alan," said the Assistant Minister for Letting the Cat Out Of
The Bag. Poor Jamie. He'll be hearing that one on a loop for the rest of his days.
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