| Date | Activity |
| 13th May | Fly our from Melbourne Airport 2235 QR 31 via Doha to Manchester QR 45 |
| 14th May | Arrive in Manchester 1325 |
| 14th May to 22nd May | Preston including Hayley’s birthday 21st May |
| 22nd May to 4th June | Self-organised touring of Sommerset and Cornwall |
| 4th June to 11th June | Devoncourt Resort, Exmouth Devon. +44(0)1395 272277 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +44(0)1395 272277 end_of_the_skype_highlighting |
| 11th June | Overnight stay between Exmouth and London |
| 12th June to 19th June | London. Barkston Gardens Hotel. +44 20 7581 2322 (34-44 Barkston Gardens) |
| 19th June to 24th June | Travel to Preston and stay in Preston for Bronwyn’s birthday 23rd June |
| 24th June | Fly from Manchester to Madrid SN2174 via Brussels SN3727 |
| 24th June to 25th June | Our own time in Madrid |
| 26th June to 10th July | Tour of Spain, Portugal and Morocco |
| 10th July to 13th July | Stay with friends of Philip in Madrid |
| 13th July | Fly from Madrid to Paris LA 722 |
| 13th July to 20th July | Paris. Holiday Villa LaFayette. +33 1 4770 6707 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +33 1 4770 6707 end_of_the_skype_highlighting |
| 20th July | Leave Paris. QR 20 via Doha QR 30 |
| 21st July | Arrive Melbourne 21:30 |
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Europe Holiday 2011
Here is an outline of our holiday itinerary
Laughing at the deniers
It is important to continue to point out the absurdity of the climate deniers, but sometimes all we can do is laugh at them.
The video below is the Hungry Beast's take on climate denier stupidity.
In a similar vein here is a post laughing at the Muslim Haters.
Here are the lytics:
The video below is the Hungry Beast's take on climate denier stupidity.
In a similar vein here is a post laughing at the Muslim Haters.
Here are the lytics:
In the media landscape there are climate change deniers and believers, but rarely are those speaking about climate change actual climate scientists...
yo....we're climate scientists.. and there's no denying this Climate Change Is REEEEALL..
Who's a climate scientist..
I'm a climate scientist..
Not a cleo finalist
No a climate scientist
Droppin facts all over this wax
While bitches be crying about a carbon tax
Climate change is caused by people
Earth Unlike Alien Has no sequel
We gotta move fast or we'll be forsaken,
Cause we were too busy suckin dick Copenhagen: (Politician)
I said Burn! it's hot in here..
32% more carbon in the atmosphere.
Oh Eee Ohh Eee oh wee ice ice ice
Raisin' sea levels twice by twice
We're scientists, what we speak is True.
Unlike Andrew Bolt our work is Peer Reviewed... ooohhh
Who's a climate scientist..
I'm a climate scientist..
An Anglican revivalist
No a climate scientist
Feedback is like climate change on crack
The permafrosts subtracts: feedback
Methane release wack : feedback..
Write a letter then burn it: feedback
Denialists deny this in your dreams
Coz climate change means greater extremes,
Shit won't be the norm
Heatwaves bigger badder storms
The Green house effect is just a theory sucker (Alan Jones)
Yeah so is gravity float away muther f**cker
Who's a climate scientist..
I'm a climate scientist..
I'm not a climate Scientist
Who's Climate Scientists
A Penny Farthing Cyclist
No
A Lebanese typist
No
A Paleontologist
No
A Sebaceous Cyst
No! a climate scientist! Yo! PREACH~!
Written and performed by Climate Scientists, Dan Ilic, Duncan Elms and production by Brendan Woithe at Colony NoFi.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
The new Australian complacency
The video below is of a talk that Robert Manne gave at the Wheeler Centre.
Mann describes a historical culture of Australian self criticism and a sense of “hoping to reinvent the nation”, which came to an end with the Howard Era.
A very important part of the change of attitude involves Climate Change. His comment that Climate Change is “in some ways the simplest public issue I’ve ever had to think about”, whilst also one of the most complex from a political and international relations perspective, is telling.
See this post for an explanation of the obviousness of the public policy issue - ie the science, and this post for a take on the politics.
He closes with the comment:
“For the rest of my life — and for the rest of my children’s lives — the issue will be whether humans have the capacity to act on climate change, it seems to me. I don’t think any other issue is even remotely as significant now.”
Here is the Wheeler Centre summary of the talk.
Mann describes a historical culture of Australian self criticism and a sense of “hoping to reinvent the nation”, which came to an end with the Howard Era.
A very important part of the change of attitude involves Climate Change. His comment that Climate Change is “in some ways the simplest public issue I’ve ever had to think about”, whilst also one of the most complex from a political and international relations perspective, is telling.
See this post for an explanation of the obviousness of the public policy issue - ie the science, and this post for a take on the politics.
He closes with the comment:
“For the rest of my life — and for the rest of my children’s lives — the issue will be whether humans have the capacity to act on climate change, it seems to me. I don’t think any other issue is even remotely as significant now.”
Here is the Wheeler Centre summary of the talk.
In his first Lunchbox/Soapbox, public intellectual Robert Manne speaks of his disappointment in observing the arrival of a cultural and especially political complacency in contemporary Australia.
Manne applauds the manner in which Australia’s shift to a non-discriminatory migration policy was “not really a contentious matter”, but argues that we are yet to come to terms with the racism inherent in the (White Australia) policy that preceded the era of multiculturalism.
Referring to a quarter century of cultural nationalism and quirky, exciting and unique popular artworks which came to a close around the time of the Sydney Olympic Games, Manne contends that the values which made this period creatively robust — namely a culture of self criticism and a sense of “hoping to reinvent the nation” — are, in the present, painfully absent.
Instead, he argues, the Howard epoch saw Australia taking membership in the “triumphalism” of the anglophone West. Militarised nationalism grew alongside the rise of a “right-wing commentariat” (in which he includes Bolt, Akerman and Albrechtson and others) who backed the common sense of ordinary people.
Manne laments our failure to act despite our knowledge that climate change exists; a challenge he describes as “in some ways the simplest public issue I’ve ever had to think about”, whilst also one of the most complex from a political and international relations perspective.
In fact, Manne believes that climate change will not be solved on an international level, but rather by individual nation states taking independent steps to ensure their own longevity, creating a “benign domino effect” of shaming the largest carbon producers into action.
In closing, he offers the following as a testament to the importance of the challenge at hand:
“For the rest of my life — and for the rest of my children’s lives — the issue will be whether humans have the capacity to act on climate change, it seems to me. I don’t think any other issue is even remotely as significant now.”
Saturday, May 7, 2011
A quotation from Martin Luther King Jr
A quote from Martin Luther Kink Jr has been doing the rounds lately. The quote has been slightly mangled.
Here is the accurate quotation:
“Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction.”
See this link for more discussion of the quotation.
Here is the accurate quotation:
“Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction.”
See this link for more discussion of the quotation.
Pop-up paper sculptures
The video below demonstrates the technique for making a pop-up sculpture:
You can download the template for the demonstration sculpture here .
Monday, May 2, 2011
Post-truth politics
Climate science going back almost two hundred years makes it clear that:
This is Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW). There are multiple lines of evidence supporting AGW. See this post for examples of this evidence.
Consequently it is not a surprise that virtually all scientific organizations support the AGW view. See this post for the evidence of the AGW consensus.
The only response for those who are desperate to cast doubt on the science is conspiracy theorizing. Recently I came across an example of this while in conversation with an acquaintance. I made the point that the Australian Academy of Science, Australia's peak science organiaation supports AGW; that the CSIRO, Australia's peak science research body, supports AGW; and, that the Bureau of Meteorology, Australia's main atmospheric research body, supports AGW. The immediate answer that I received was "but those are corrupt organizations."
It is hardly a surprise then that when emails were stolen from the Climate Research Unit, at the University of East Anglia, the contents of the emails were scrutinized for anything that could be distorted to indicate mendacity on the part of the scientists.
The video below describes some of the deceit by those who would cast doubt on the science. (Although there are many examples like this video that debunks the "skeptic" arguments, this one is interesting as it included Dr Muller, of Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature project.)
When five official inquiries demonstrated that the claims of the "skeptics" were baseless, the "skeptics" did not reconsider their positions, instead they just enlarged the conspiracy to include "the inquiries" as well as "the scientists". Here is an example of this conspiracies wrapped up in conspiracies thinking from Australia's premier climate denier.
This conspiracy theorizing is evident in more areas than climate science. Another example are the claims of "birthers" in the US. The video below provides some interesting discussion of conspiracy theories, emphasising that those who hold such views are impervious to truth.
How has modern politics came to this amazing pass where large sections of the electorates in advanced countries believe demonstrable nonsense. David Roberts has investigated this issue in an article called, Policy in the Age of Post Truth Politics. His conclusion is:
Roberts agrees with Jonathan Kay (in the video above) that thanks to the Internet people can intellectually live in a bubble of like minded people, who reinforce their beliefs. In this environment crazy, un-factual ideas are not challenged.
There are problems in the main stream media as well, involving the way journalists describe the political process. Most people receive their information about issues and current events from journalists, but it seems that journalists are more interested in describing politics - the day to day machinations of politicians - rather explaining and discussing policy. Lindsay Tanner, Australia's Finance Minister before his retirement, has written a book that discusses these issues. The book has not been formally released yet but here is a post covers the issues well.
If the crazies are immune to reason and evidence then maybe all we can do is laugh at them. President Obama did this brilliantly at the 2011 White House Correspondents Dinner recently:
- the planet is warming
- the major cause of the warming is very likely (better than 90%) human activities, and,
- the warming is dangerous.
This is Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW). There are multiple lines of evidence supporting AGW. See this post for examples of this evidence.
Consequently it is not a surprise that virtually all scientific organizations support the AGW view. See this post for the evidence of the AGW consensus.
The only response for those who are desperate to cast doubt on the science is conspiracy theorizing. Recently I came across an example of this while in conversation with an acquaintance. I made the point that the Australian Academy of Science, Australia's peak science organiaation supports AGW; that the CSIRO, Australia's peak science research body, supports AGW; and, that the Bureau of Meteorology, Australia's main atmospheric research body, supports AGW. The immediate answer that I received was "but those are corrupt organizations."
It is hardly a surprise then that when emails were stolen from the Climate Research Unit, at the University of East Anglia, the contents of the emails were scrutinized for anything that could be distorted to indicate mendacity on the part of the scientists.
The video below describes some of the deceit by those who would cast doubt on the science. (Although there are many examples like this video that debunks the "skeptic" arguments, this one is interesting as it included Dr Muller, of Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature project.)
When five official inquiries demonstrated that the claims of the "skeptics" were baseless, the "skeptics" did not reconsider their positions, instead they just enlarged the conspiracy to include "the inquiries" as well as "the scientists". Here is an example of this conspiracies wrapped up in conspiracies thinking from Australia's premier climate denier.
This conspiracy theorizing is evident in more areas than climate science. Another example are the claims of "birthers" in the US. The video below provides some interesting discussion of conspiracy theories, emphasising that those who hold such views are impervious to truth.
How has modern politics came to this amazing pass where large sections of the electorates in advanced countries believe demonstrable nonsense. David Roberts has investigated this issue in an article called, Policy in the Age of Post Truth Politics. His conclusion is:
But the crucial fact of post-truth politics is that there are no more referees. There are only players.
Roberts agrees with Jonathan Kay (in the video above) that thanks to the Internet people can intellectually live in a bubble of like minded people, who reinforce their beliefs. In this environment crazy, un-factual ideas are not challenged.
There are problems in the main stream media as well, involving the way journalists describe the political process. Most people receive their information about issues and current events from journalists, but it seems that journalists are more interested in describing politics - the day to day machinations of politicians - rather explaining and discussing policy. Lindsay Tanner, Australia's Finance Minister before his retirement, has written a book that discusses these issues. The book has not been formally released yet but here is a post covers the issues well.
If the crazies are immune to reason and evidence then maybe all we can do is laugh at them. President Obama did this brilliantly at the 2011 White House Correspondents Dinner recently:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)