EVIDENCE for climate change has grown stronger and it is now ”virtually certain” that human greenhouse gas emissions trap energy that warms the planet, according to a leaked draft of the next major Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report.
Prepared on behalf of the United Nations every five or six years to summarise climate change research, the panel report draws on hundreds of peer-reviewed papers.
The draft expresses even more confidence than the 2007 report that changes being observed across the planet are historically ”significant, unusual or unprecedented”.
It says that carbon dioxide is the biggest cause of climate change, far outweighing natural causes. The concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide is the highest in 800,000 years.
The draft document – due to be released next year – was leaked by climate sceptic Alec Rawls, who runs a website called ”Stop Green Suicide” and volunteered as a report reviewer.
Mr Rawls claimed the report contained an ”admission” that galactic cosmic rays were having a strong influence on the Earth’s climate.
But a lead author of the relevant section of the report, Professor Steve Sherwood of the University of NSW, said the theory had been rejected later in the report after a review of peer-reviewed research.
John Church, a lead author of the report and a senior CSIRO scientist, said: ”The report is still a working draft and these people have had access under conditions of not releasing the draft and not passing it on, and they have broken that agreement.”
Dr Church said the weight of evidence linking human activity and climate change had strengthened since the previous report……
And so in response the SMH prints the story above.
John Church just happens to be a promoter of a “low carbon” economy so why wouldn’t he prostitute his science to that end. These geezers not only are reared on the public tit but do a bit of sidelining to bolster their coffers.
Inaugural Tasmanian Climate Action Council (2009 to 2011)
The inaugural Tasmanian Climate Action Council was established on 25 March 2009 with Associate Professor Kate Crowley as the Chair. The Council consisted of ten members, representing expertise across the range of disciplines essential action on climate change.
Membership of the Council comprised:
Professor Kate Crowley (Chair); Dr John Church; James Walch; Rhys Edwards; Roger Jaensch; Professor Rob Adams; Noel Purcell; Adam Kirkman; Ben Kearney and Nel Smit.
In announcing the establishment of the Council, the Premier of the day, Paul Lennon, noted that he was looking for it to help generate the bold ideas that will place Tasmania in a leadership position in the emerging low-carbon economy.
Note that this statement: “EVIDENCE for climate change has grown stronger” is true, there is overwhelming evidence that the climate is changing all the time.
This statement: “and it is now ”virtually certain” that human greenhouse gas emissions trap energy that warms the planet” is only partially true because greenhouse gases don’t trap energy, they only retard its propagation which slows down cooling of the planet.
A cause and effect relationship between the two statements, while implied is not stated – very sleazy word smithing.
Yes, well when the Sydney Morning Herald digs up some “scientist” who can explain the Venus dilemma then I might start buying it again – for the first time in three or four decades.
The small amount of solar energy absorbed by the Venus atmosphere would very easily exit the surface the next night by conduction (diffusion) and radiation. Then, when this small amount of energy is back in the atmosphere there is plenty of carbon dioxide to radiate it away. There is absolutely no possible way by which such energy would be trapped in the surface and somehow add hundreds of degrees. The problem is, if you follow the “First School of Thought” (the IPCC bluff) then you are at a complete loss to explain Venus temperatures, because, if you think like the IPCC it is because you have been subjected to Ignorant Promulgation of Chaotic Consensus.” You need a paradigm shift to the “Second School of Thinking” in my paper.
Please respond to this comment on another thread..
I have a whole heap of Chinese in-laws, with many of the younger family members now in tertiary education.
Over there, in the universities and places of higher learning, the western concept of a carbon-based life-form attempting to create a zero-carbon environment for itself, is something of a standing joke.
More nonsense from the West:
A young relative aged 9 was recently given some homework by his schoolteacher here in the UK.
The task was to list the ingredients needed for a ‘low carbon breakfast’.
No wonder the Chinese are laughing.
In case you’re wondering, I wrote to the head teacher and explained some basic biochemistry.
Not too sure that teachers’ in the UK know much of any subject.
When my son’s teacher asked him the best way to half one’s carbon footprint he answered “Amputate a leg!”
The teacher was unamused.
Or one billion Indians (that’s 2 billion footprints… give or take a few one legged Indians).
“Over 97% of all greenhouse gases are natural and there is nothing we can do about them. For example, India’s population of one billion people produces more carbon dioxide just by breathing than is produced by all the coal-burning power plants in the United States. Moreover, termites are said to produce more carbon dioxide each year than all other living organisms combined.”
(The above site is an interesting hotch potch of “facts”. Not sure how much is accurate or scientifically correct).
Notice the maddies over at SS tell us that human exhalation does not increase the net CO2 in the system as the carbon is being cycled from plants to humans to CO2 back to the plants. More rational others think the net contribution of 7 billion exhaling humans is about 2 to 2.5 billion tonnes of CO2 per year).
I stated in my letter that I thought it important that in science children should see a question from various angles, and be encouraged to think for themselves.
I also sent a reading list (books by Robert Carter and others) as well as a few figures relating to CO2.
I got a reply reassuring me that the children were encouraged to think for themselves, the head teacher going so far as to suggest that I might at the end of term like to go in and give a talk on man-made global warming.
Would you be surprised to know that I heard no more about it?
Not just carbon compounds in it but made of carbon compounds and very little else.
No carbon, no life! When they talk about the basic building block of life they don’t talk of oxygen or hydrogen compounds. They talk about those evil carbon compounds.
I apologise to international readers but I have to get ths off my chest:
Imagine this. In the 2006/7 financial year you were on a salary of $118,500 pa. Your total living expenses, all payments and taxes, and even allowing for some retirement savings was $109,500, so you had a decent buffer. You also owned every asset you had with no debts and in fact you had cash in the bank of about $15,000.
Now imagine that since then, you had pay increases up to the end of last financial year (30 June 2011) totalling 39.2% so that your current income is a very healthy $165,000 pa.
a) Can you imagine that you would allow your expenses to creep up to $185,500 pa, that’s 69.4% more than your 2006/7 expenditure?
b) Can you imagine that this higher level of expenditure doesn’t even include putting any money away for your retirement since 2006 so that you are now way behind on funding your retirement?
c) Can you imagine that in ADDITION to this higher level of expenditure, you have also gone out and borrowed money so that your net worth is now -$123,600 and you have no apparent means of paying that debt back? This means you are just going to have to borrow even more money!
That would be a totally unbelievable scenario right?
Yet that is the equivalent of what Wayne Swan, our Treasurer has done while managing Australia’s finances. While there has been a healthy increase in income, he and the Labor Party have dramatically increased expenditure, and have also borrowed billions of dollars we have no way of paying off for a very long time and without incurring some significant pain.
And what do we have to show for it? Some new airports and shipping facilities? Some great new highways or railroads? Maybe we have resolved some major social problems such as Indigenous disadvantage, people smugglers and refugees dying or improved the health and education of the nation? No wait – on all of those measures we have actually declined, as we have with labour productivity and industrial disputation!
No doubt the huge debt will only be repaid, and savings to meet the unfunded superannuation payments of retired and retiring public servants will only be made, when the Labor party has been thrown out of office and all the pain will be blamed on the heartless Coalition Government.
But Greece and Italy and Spain and Portugal and Ireland are finding out the hard way that you can’t live beyond your means indefinitely. The longer you put off financial responsibility, the harder and harsher it will be to recover.
Note: To equate budget figures with salary figures I just turned $Billions into hundreds of thousands and halved it. E.G. $237B became 237,000/2 = $118,500.
So that Dear Leader can maintain/improve her lifestyle. It won’t be long before the dedicated traffic lanes are created, so she can sweep past the queues in her hand built limousine. The acolytes will be given yuan to spend in the better, exclusive stores, while the rest of us will be lining up for bread baked from wheat grown in Argentina. The only thing she’s overlooked is the military backup needed, as we no longer have one.
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This subject was raised in part, in an earlier thread.
What happens to plant growth if CO2 increases and temperatures keeps the same or drops?
There are no easily found studies that consider both of these factors.
Most comprise of the following:
1. Increase in CO2 & temperature.
2. Increase in CO2
3. Increase in temperature.
I believe some tropical pawpaws and hemp – tend to produce more male plants if temperature is reduced but what happens if both. It just may turn out that the increase in CO2 may aid the temperature drop in plant survival.
Shouldn’t some of the CAGW money pot be spent on an alternative as when proved wrong – they may as well cover their deceptive Ars*es.
Senior Deutsche Bank lawyer detained after raid -sources
FRANKFURT, Dec 14 (Reuters) – A senior in-house lawyer at Deutsche Bank is among those being held by police following a raid at the bank’s headquarters on Thursday, two sources familiar with the proceedings told Reuters… http://www.pointcarbon.com/news/reutersnews/1.2103115?&ref=searchlist
EU law could ban firms from using 44 pct of offsets in circulation
LONDON, Dec 14 (Reuters Point Carbon) – Almost half of U.N. carbon offsets in circulation could be banned from the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) in just over five months, triggering a rush to use them for compliance while potentially starving U.N. carbon markets of investment for a decade… http://www.pointcarbon.com/news/1.2103480?&ref=searchlist
EU 1.5-bln euro CCS competiton to end without a winner: MEP
LONDON Dec 14- (Reuters Point Carbon) – An EU competition to subsidise new carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects will close next week without a winner after it raised less money than expected and government funding fell short, said an EU lawmaker instrumental in setting up the scheme… http://www.pointcarbon.com/news/1.2103179?&ref=searchlist
I have a new Post at my site with analysis for Wind Power for the last 12 Months in the U.S. and it raises some interesting points showing how Wind Power again fails to deliver electrical power for the scale required.
The most accurate information on Wind Power comes from the U.S. Currently there is almost 52,000MW of Nameplate Capacity for Wind Power. Now, while earlier turbines on top of towers could only generate less than 1MW, recent large scale turbines can generate up to 6MW. The average however is around 1.75 to 2.25MW, and these are the most common currently installed turbines. So, using 2MW as the average, and now with 52,000MW of Nameplate, that average would be around 26,000 individual wind towers, and that would be for new construction Plants. The actual number of existing towers of all power generation size is much higher than that average, and there are currently more than 40,000 wind towers in the U.S.
How much power is actually being generated by all those 40,000+ wind towers?
As I have often said, using Nameplate Capacity is erroneous, and the more correct indicator is that actual power being generated and sent to the grids for consumption.
In the analysis I construct a comparison, and for that purpose I use Nuclear Power, and while not many Countries do have Nuclear Power Generation, large scale coal fired power could quite reasonably be substituted for Nuclear Power.
That Nameplate Capacity for Wind is currently closing in on half the Nameplate Capacity for Nuclear Power.
However, Nuclear Power currently delivers almost 6 times the total power from all those Wind Towers. There are 104 reactors in the U.S. and each Plant has 2 reactors, hence 52 Nuclear Power Plants.
It works out that the total power delivered from all those 40,000 Wind towers is the same total power delivered from just 9 of those Nuclear Power Plants.
The comparison between the erroneous use of Nameplate Capacity and actual delivered power is eye opening.
Wind has 4.5% of total U.S. Nameplate and Nuclear has 9.3%.
For generated power, Wind delivers 3.3% of total generated power, while Nuclear delivers 19.4%, the third largest supplier of electrical power in the U.S.
See now why total generated power is more important than Nameplate.
That 52,000MW is the equivalent of 26 large scale power plants, be they Nuclear or Coal Fired. So how many large scale coal fired power plants have closed with that huge amount of Wind Power available?
The simple answer is not one of them.
Now, while that analysis is specific to the U.S. could this indicate anything for Australia? Currently Australia has just less than 1000 of those wind towers.
That Nameplate Capacity just for Wind Power in the U.S. is almost the same as the total Nameplate Capacity for electrical power from every source here in Australia.
However, all those wind towers are only delivering 55% of Australia’s total power requirement. So, even though these wind towers are spread across the whole Continental U.S. which is basically the same size in area as mainland Australia, they still cannot deliver the power that would be required absolutely.
While the US currently has 26 times the Nameplate for Wind that Australia has, the Capacity Factor for all those towers is running at just under 30%, which is the same as here in Australia, so more does not mean better.
Wind Power may have many other drawbacks, all of them important in their own way, but Wind Power fails the most at its primary objective, that of the supply of electrical power on the scale required.
Today, here in the UK, the temperatures have just about crawled above zero, after a night of hard frost.
And how much electricity have our obscenely subsidised windmills contributed to the grid over the last 24 hours?
0.6% !
This is about a tenth of their normal output, and about 3% of their rated capacity.
it is always so funny when the MSM tries this kind of manipulation:
14 Dec: Bloomberg: Mark Drajem: Defeated Republican Preaches Heresy Backing a Carbon Tax
On a soggy evening in Tallahassee, Florida, Bob Inglis stood before three dozen college Republicans and urged them to support what he calls his “greatest heresy” as a congressman: a tax on carbon emissions.
Inglis blames his efforts to combat global warming for the intra-Republican challenge that cost him his South Carolina congressional seat in 2010. Since the loss, he has traveled the nation making the case to students and grassroots Republican activists that a carbon tax is both good policy and politics.
“This really is a conservative position,” Inglis told the classroom of students at Florida State University last month. “An energy and climate answer might not just unite the Republican Party, but it also allows us to get some independents and progressives to support us as well.”
Inglis advocates a specific answer: a carbon tax, which would apply to the carbon-dioxide emissions from coal, oil or natural gas. He says the revenues should be used to offset cuts in other taxes. A tax would let the market develop the best way to cut emissions, and replace regulation by the Environmental Protection Agency and costly energy subsidies, he said…
Outside analysts say Republican voters may be more open to Inglis’s proposal than his former colleagues in Congress.
“Many Republicans are much more moderate in their views,” Edward Maibach, director of the Center for Climate Change Communication at Virginia’s George Mason University, said in an interview. “Depending on the trade-off, you see more or less support” for a carbon tax, he said…
October was the 332nd consecutive month in which global temperatures exceeded the 20th century average, according to U.S. government data…
With the support of groups such as the Rockefeller Family foundation, Inglis established the Energy and Enterprise Initiative at Virginia’s George Mason University in July. At the moment Inglis has one aide, 27-year-old policy maven, photographer, youth envoy and straight man Alex Bozmoski…
“Once you’re branded a heretic you might as well go out on the street and proclaim it,” he said.
A study by the St Vincent de Paul Society says that with smart meters changing billing from a flat rate to one based on the time of use, average bills will rise by 35 per cent, or about $263 a year.
For pensioners, the increase will be even bigger – 42 per cent, or an extra $254 a year.
At the COAG meeting on Friday, the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, again pushed for a national rollout of smart meters, saying they would save families $250 a year on bills.
Dust particles in the atmosphere result in an increase of CO2 due to reduction in plant capability to turnover carbon. Light is the key.
Look at this series of Temperature, CO2 concentration and dust concentration in the atmosphere over a period of 400,000 years. The CO2 increases follow the dust increase concentration as a result of reduced photosynthesis. This is where volanic activity would have played a part in CO2 update by the plant kingdom. So with this nice clean dust and pollution free atmosphere (economically induced manufacturing decline) are we in for the big freeze. MattyB said there was no chance of the “Earth getting colder” – but maybe we just need to reduce our dust to reduce temperature or increase if we need it higher??
Do any of the climate models include dust particle concentration?
Plants are the key.
But the CAGW crowd are a few Gum Trees short of a Eucalyptus Forrest.
Article: Mr Freundsaid families with young children were particularly at risk of incurring huge bills as they could not control when they consumed electricity.
Anything that is supposed to be smarter than a person, is inevitably a dumb idea.
Smart things are governed by computer programs, and those programs are limited in functionality by the depth of experience of the designer – who is usually in their mid-to-late twenties.
The Maldives are so concerned about sinking under the sea that they have opened 4 new airports this year and plan to lease out 14 uninhabited islands for tourist development.
“The event provided organizers of the California King Tides Initiative an opportunity to get California residents thinking about and preparing for the future. The 3-year-old initiative, sponsored by government and nonprofit groups, enlists camera-toting volunteers to photograph the King Tides as an illustration of what low-lying coastal areas could look like if predictions about the Earth’s climate come to pass.”
Sponsored by government?
Yahoo.com has the “king tides” wikipedia shoved down to page 6, after 5 pages of alarmism.
“King tides” have been around since man started noticing tides.
We find a 12% or 86 Gt y-1 increase in ice sheet accumulation rate from the end of the Little Ice Age in ~1840 to the last decade of the reconstruction. This 1840-1996 trend is 30% higher than that of 1600-2009, suggesting an accelerating accumulation rate.
What exactly are they saying? I assume they’re not saying that the ice sheet mass is actually increasing, because they would have made that clear – right?
Without reading the whole paper I can guess that the final conclusion is that “We cannot draw any significant conclusions from these results and recommend further research be done to isolate other causational factors.”
Basically the results are all over the place, they are saying:
1. Snow accumulation rate (precipation) has accelerated since the LIA.
2. This is positively correlated with the surface air temperature in the Northern Hemisphere(SATNHt).
3. But the snow accumulation rate is inconsistently correlated with local near-surface air temperatures.
But the crazyiest result for which they offer no explanation is:
“The reconstuction, Ât(G), correlates consistently highly with the North Atlantic Oscillation index. Yet, at the 11-year time scale, the sign of this correlation flips four times in the 1870-2005 period.”
In other words it goes from a positive correlation to a negative correlation or vice versa.
That to me says that the North Atlantic Oscillation Index likely has a significant impact on the SATNHt, which will also have a more localised impact on local near surface air temperature which will also impact on snow precipitation which will be positively or negatively correlated with the North Atlantic Oscillation Index depending on other factors which I would only be guessing about.
If I was a researcher I could put forward a few hypothesis upon which to base further research and none would have anything to do with AGW!
I would like to hear from anyone who has had a complete change of career as to how they went about it and what their experience was.
Also, anyone who has had to move to a city for work where they didn’t know anybody there before moving. How do you meet people, stay sane, and socialise when starting from scratch?
I went from a technical role (Process Engineering) into technical sales – chemicals. Not my choice, industry turnaroud.
How did I go? S/house, actually. Still trying to take problem solving skills into a sales environment, which meant I got ripped off by customers and management.
Lesson? Play to your strengths and locate yourself in a position where your attributes can add value to the organisation. If your new position won’t let you play your strong suit, then you either have to develop a new set of skills or get a new position.
Don’t burn bridges, of course, but be critical of and relocate from positions that don’t meet your skill sets.
Looking after Mrs McRae and all the little McRaelings is job #1, of course, so think about them before you shoot your mouth off!
Andrew–not sure what county you are in, but I’ll answer with my experience. I changed careers at 26. I moved to a new state, and found work through an employment service. I went from social work to computer operator. I’m a quite ambitious person and just started from the bottom and worked up through the ranks. I really don’t have a career path after that–unless a highly meandering trail counts!
With the internet, in the US there are all kinds of sights that will tell you about the place you are moving. When I moved, there was no such thing as internet. We wrote the realtors in the town we were moving to in order to gauge cost of living, etc. You could check out the tourist bureau website for where you are going, plus most businesses have websites.
As for meeting people, can’t really help much on that one since I’m not a people person. I meet people through church and employment.
Hope this helps.
Andrew, Speedy and Sheri gave sound advice, My 2 cents is for meeting people, when i moved to a different state 20 some odd years ago. If you fancy a cold one once in a awile, your local tavern. If not then volenteer in you community or churche activitys. Personally i have found a smile and hello is always an ice breaker that gets things off to a good start. Good Luck!
Andrew, as far as meeting new people, probably the best way is through a sport or hobby that you have a genuine interest in. Find the local organisation that runs that sport or hobby and get involved. You will be able to start from a position of mutual interest.
As far as changing careers, what my advice is, and it has been already said in this conversation, is to stick with your skill set. You can still change industries because skill sets can transcend industrial boundaries, especially if you define your skill sets in more generic terms rather than as industry specific ones.
The local Chambers of Commerce, if they have “public” meetings, are good places to meet people, even if you prefer employment in a business, rather than owning a business.
If your skill set matches some of the problems being discussed in these fora, then that may give you an opportunity to make your mark in an environment that is different to the normally competitive employment frenzy.
Professionally, I an my colleagues attend lots of these types of industry and business meetings. They are a good source of real-world pragmatic information, that you never see in the MSM.
Sounds like things have gone a bit awry in your life – if so, my condolences.
I”m going to assume from the level of maturity of your writing, that you don’t have pre-school or young primary school age kids. That being the case, go to seek.com.au and type fifo into the keywords box. Leave everything else blank.
Right now that will give you 4,666 hits. Somewhere in that list there will be something to match your skill set, or that you can adapt to. Today people fly in, fly out, from just about anywhere to anywhere. Initially you may have to pay a component of the air-fare yourself, but usually the money is good enough to warrant it.
When you get onsite you will find yourself surrounded by people in pretty-much the same boat as yourself, so finding people to socialise with is easy – they find you – and for the same reason.
If you are married and older than late thirties, and you handle it right, you will find your time at home is like an extended honeymoon. Get yourself a wireless internet account, and instal Skype on your laptop for when you are away.
The downside is you usually get to live in an eight foot by seven foot air-conditioned tin box called a donga, and the food is invariably lousy.
Do not even consider fifo if you have pre-school, or young school age children. Some couples make it work, but more often than not it leads to divorce, or juvenile delinquents, or both.
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While I disagree with much that you post here, you nonetheless write with an excellent command of English – spelling, grammar, syntax, sentence construction etc. Assuming you can find your way around in MS WORD, or have the sense to Google for help when you need it, consider becoming a Technical Writer.
If you have any interest in pursuing that path, drop Jo a line and get her to send you my Memoryvault email address, and we’ll discuss it further.
Darn, I wish I’d read this thread before reading the IPCC one today.
:-S
I thank you for being benevolent enough to set our other issue aside and focus on this very different dimension.
Your offer is kind and I’ll think about it though I doubt I will be changing jobs in a hurry; perhaps in few months. I hadn’t considered technical writing before.
The situation I’m in (and motivation for asking the question) probably deserves a short explanation to all the other well-meaning souls who replied, so I’ll write more below.
Andrew, wherever you may move too, consider asking here if there are like-minded locals. We are setting up informal social events, (mostly what we need is one person with an email address in each location) and quite a few people emailed me from around the world to say they’d like to meet people in their area. I must do that social events page…
What stuff do you need in your new location? Schools, shops, public transport, work etc.
Get a map and mark up a (say) 10 km circle that encompasses these attributes.
Investigate rental and real estate prices in that area. If you can afford it, go for it.
Talk to the local cops – do they get lots of “trade” in your candidate position?
Involve the other half. If you buy it and she hates it, she’ll let you know forever…
Get involved in the local community. Schools or St Vinnies etc are excellent starting points.
The other guys seem to be across this as well – good luck!
Yes I’ve been there Andrew. Didn’t have to move but in hindsight, that probably would have been the better choice.
Stay up-beat, enjoy any time off you have. If you re-locate, it is stressful. Accept that, be aware of it, find an outlet for it.
Meeting people is easy, meeting the right people slightly harder. Consider groups meeting over a shared hobby, faith, music, poetry, games and even politics. Get out often and strike up conversations with anyone you come across. Visit with older people, and very young people. The former have a wealth of experience the latter are unburdened by it. If you are observant both can provide insights and delight. Soon enough you’ll have a list of people to call friends.
I’m bowled over by the number of people who’ve replied with lessons and advice. Thanks.
I must confess that the question about moving was asked rather whimsically, I don’t have a definite job in another city to move to specifically. In fact, for the time being I have a development job in Brisbane but… I don’t know… wanderlust second edition… the project only has a few months left in it… wanting to get out of a rut… feelings of unfulfilled potential… delusions of genius unrecognised 🙂 … call it what you will.
No wife, no kids, and no mortgage does mean I’m free to do anything I like whenever I like. But… I’m 34 and got the first grey hairs last year. Yes I know the rest of you are smirking now and laughing “are grey hairs ALL you’re worried about…” but it’s a wakeup call.
And now you’ve figured out why the question about socialising was a trick question. The answers should apply equally well to the city I’m already in. Sneaky eh?
I could say more but considering The Internet Never Forgets I have probably said too much already.
I’ve been advised that a change of scenery – i.e. moving to another city (or country) – might be the best thing to recharge batteries. Australia is the best damn place to live right now. If I moved countries it would just be temporarily as a sort of “boot camp” to stimulate more flexible thinking and resilience. It would be my Mount Everest.
Yet I can’t help thinking that is still like a holiday. It’s an artifice, a skateboard for a fish. A physical journey offered as cheap substitute for the inner journey that’s really needed.
Yeah, real Zen stuff here, heheh.
But does a sea change help?
People’s advice above has been helpful in highlighting the costs of moving and some crafty ways of sniffing out a job. Thanks.
Ultimately one cannot plan one’s life, because life is unpredictable. But the opposite approach of sitting around like a lump, not thinking positively about the future, and not challenging myself with goals has not been working either. How DO you normal people do it?
I mean, think of Steve Jobs and Richard Branson. You can’t tell me those guys just took the path of least resistance in life.
One last thought: When I was going to move, I was kind of bummed out, leaving the state I was born in, my job, everything. A coworker said to me “I am so jealous of you moving. Think of all the new people you will meet. All the new places you will see.” That really got me to thinking that too often we dwell on what we are leaving and not what we will gain in the new place. After that, I really started looking at things I would gain, not what I would lose.
Watch your Emissions, because if you aren’t somebody else is. Boffins About.
But rather than measuring you directly they ‘ll me making all sorts of inferrences about how much is likely down to you, from your habits, consumption patterns and anything you might have said on the internet.
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Don’t sweat it, Roy, nature is in the process of winning the war, and what a terrible victory it will be.
Most of the world is dependent one way or another on one of three cereal crops – wheat, rice and corn. These crops are all either season-length, or rainfall dependent. We here in Australia think it’s all about rain, but for much of the world, growing season length is the critical factor.
Contrary to the cultists’ wild claims, global “average” temperatures warming a degree or two (actually largely minimum overnight temperatures rising), or even cooling a degree or two (actually largely daytime maximum temperatures dropping), are neither here nor there when it comes to these crops. There are varieties of all three capable of growing at a wide range of temperatures. Length of season available for growth and moisture are the critical factors.
For the next thirty or so years it is going to get colder. Of itself this is neither here nor there. However, it will also mean a shortening of the growing season from the thaws at the end of one winter, to the frosts of the following Autumn. Within the next five years, probably sooner, the great wheat harvests in Russia, the Ukraine, central China, and Canada, will fail.
That’s 20% plus of the world’s current population, or one and a half billion souls, dead, all by itself. Death by starvation.
Eastern Australia will enjoy bumper harvests, but the wheat crops in WA and SA will fail due to lack of rain, thereby largely cancelling themselves out.
Central USA will enjoy bumper corn crops, but most of Africa will be in permanent drought.
Most of the major tropical rice growing areas will get all the rain they need – and more – resulting in crops destroyed by torrential monsoon floods.
NONE of this is idle speculation – it is recorded history.
Actually my point was about the political environment, not the natural one. But I agree with you about the trend in climate, though I’m not as sure about the time scale as you are.
Is there something in people that requires the future be apocalyptic? If we skip the warming of the climate scientists and go for cold, apocalypse. If we go with warm, apocalypse. As far as I can see, the belief is the world is going to crash and either freeze or burn and a whole bunch of people are going to die.
There are short-season varieties for at least corn. Very short season. GMO’s should yield other options. Maybe fast enough, maybe not. Maybe we learn to cultivate something that does do well in the areas in which food can be grown. Just because we eat corn, rice and wheat does not mean we HAVE to eat these.
Yes, bad things happen and historically all of the things you mentioned have happened–though I’m not sure they happened all at once. How is your prediction of apocalypse any more scientific that the warmists? “It happened before” is not predictive. Where is the data that shows the pattern exists and has had the same result every time? Can no one imagine that people actually can adapt and the world is not going to behave like a bad scifi movie?
To which periods of recorded history do you refer?
Would that be 1890-1920? (That would be my guess based on cooling at the end of 19th century and two iterations of a 60 year cycle.)
Handjive asks whose lying when one report tells us that energy bills will rise by c $260 while the Oz PM claims that they will go down by a similar amount.
Possibly both accounts are ‘correct’
It is certain that prices will rise but all that Jules has to do is offer an incentive to have a ‘smartie’ installed that will reduce the tariff!
Simples, really, the pledge gets honoured and the poorer members of society gets to subsidise the better off once again.
What’s not to like?
Handjive asks whose lying when one report tells us that energy bills will rise by c $260 while the Oz PM claims that they will go down by a similar amount.
I’m in a serious mood, (unusual for me) and am slightly peeved about our beloved PM. It seems she is now complaining that her opposite number in opposition is not providing straight answers about the Slipper case. Given she has spent many a long hour dissembling the truth, a big call. And my understanding is that she was the one who promoted “Slippery Pete” into high office as Speaker…
Talk about chutzpah! If there was any justice in this country, she’s be in gaol, not the Lodge. Her only consolation being that she wouldn’t be lonely. Slipper, Thompson, Shorten, Wilson, Roxon etc.
Last night on the news, I heard that The Economist says Australia is the second best place to be born, after Sweden. This was rather surprising to me, having read several blogs from Australia on which the tone was less than enthusiastic. Any comments on why the Economist says Australia is the place to be born?
Sometimes people get confused between Australia and New Zealand. A simple enough mistake to make, they are both at the bottom right hand corner of a Euro-centric map, and so a long way from Europe.
The original European settlers in New Zealand, were pragmatic farmers, and that culture continues today, in New Zealand politics.
The original European settlers in Australia were petty crooks and felons, and that culture continues today in Australian politics, except that in Australia it has almost developed into an art form.
.
Once upon a time an Aussie and a Kiwi were beach combing at Bondi, when they both spotted and old brass lamp at the same time. Both men ran for it and grabbed it, and a squabble broke out. As they fought, grabbing at the lamp, there was a bang, and a cloud of smoke, and a genie appeared.
“Thank you for freeing me from the lamp” said the genie. “I have been trapped in there for a thousand years. To show my gratitude, I’ll grant you both one wish”.
“Great”, said the Kiwi. “Build a wall a thousand feet high, all the way around New Zealand, so we can keep those Awwwstralian rabble out”.
“Done” said the genie. “Your turn now”, he added, turning to the Aussie.
“That wall you just built around New Zealand – is it watertight – you know, like a swimming pool?” asked the Aussie.
jThats because the Economist is a Socialist Rag and in the cradle to grave model of Socialism, if Sweden is the cradle then Julia is taking Aus. straight to the grave.
It is being reported this morning that Fairfax is selling it’s remaining stake in Trademe which has been it’s cash cow. Obviously the debt Fairfax had built up has got the better of it or the bankers are tightening the screws.
So while Fairfax made a good return on it’s investment
(based on the asking price for the remaining shares ) here they are selling their major asset in the new “online world” to keep it’s non performing old world media assets which continue to push the AGW propoganda.
Is it simply a case of the executives not being able to recognise a lost cause !!
Is it simply a case of the executives not being able to recognise a lost cause !!
No, like all good socialists they are implementing their policy of monopolising opinion. And like ALP Socialism at its best, Fairfax is only getting it half right. They are well on the way to making Ausatralia and one media company nation, it’s just that they are so incompetent the one player will be Rupert. In a similar vein the ALP is well down the road to making Australia a one party Nation, and once again they are implementing it in such a way that it will be a one party conservative Nation.
I say, in both cases, let them have their heads, let them continue “moving forward” out of existence.
Sheri’s astute question? #21: Any comments on why the Economist says Australia is the place to be born?
Sheri reports that she heard this from the (MSM) news.
In my view this is perhaps an example of the MSM positive feedback mechanism in action, where it reinforces a certain construct.
WHEN Superstorm Sandy roared ashore in late October and the lights of lower Manhattan went out, New Yorkers were given a stark vision of a possible future. Climate-change science is still a realm of great uncertainty but there is consensus that the planet is warming dangerously and that people are to blame
Messrs Desmet and Rossi-Hansberg build a model economy, and then batter it with different temperature increases to see how it reacts.
Given the current administration in Australia, it would seem that The Economist and The Lucky Country are either in perfect synchrony or experiencing a moment of Jungian ‘meaningful coincidence’. Perhaps this is why The Economist was enthusiastic to report Australia to be such a superb place to be born, albeit worryingly second to Sweden.
Rereke #21.1 highlights the “…it has almost developed into an art form” phenomena.
For my money then, I’d go with Van Gogh, a post impressionist artist who rejected the constraints of impressionism and embarked on his own unique style, particularly when considering the symbolism of removing his own ear.
We are in the throes of a unique and dominant view of the world promulgated by national administrations and echoed by organs of the MSM that obdurately remain unfettered by science and deaf to reason. Little wonder then that The Economist reports Australia as the place to be born…where one might have a second best future.
I only just heard about this the other day. Do you all remember that footage that finds it’s way into CSIRO Goreball warming reports showing bent railway tracks in the heat in melbourne?
Gosh – bent railway tracks! – something must be going on there people think.
Well there was something going on there and it had little to do with the planet supposedly frying itself.
Anyways, this is apparently what happened
1) Some politician contemplating things in their escorted limo one day decided that the clickety clack noises must be annoying the peasant train commuters in melbourne.
2) Some Rocket scientist said “we can fix that – we’ll just weld the railway lines together – problem solved – see aren’t I clever?”
3) Said railway tracks got welded together.
Of course, a little thinking up front would dictate leaving in some of the rail joints to allow for expansion. Duh!
The real reason for the move to welded rail is not noise, or even political, however. Those “noisy” rail joints are high maintenance because not only does the train give every joint a hellofa pounding but the joints give wheels and bearings the same pounding in return. Every “wheel click” is a sledgehammer blow from a heavy moving object like a train.
Everything lasts longer with welded rail. The lack of noise is just a bonus.
Of course you would think that maybe if you did want to weld the rails you would first ensure the sleepers were strong enough – at the time a large number of the sleepers here in melbourne were rotten wooden rails (not concrete).
But honestly, this sort of engineering stupidity by politicians here is the norm. Here in victoria we have many many recent expensive disasters which are a mix of political ignorance combined with engineering incompetence.
I wouldn’t be giving any effort which combines politics with engineering here in victoria the benefit of the doubt. We have sooo many examples here it just beggars belief.
The railway lines that take the iron ore trains some hundreds of km to ports are welded. They are set on concrete sleepers, bolted down so hard that expansion is contained. The axle loads are among the highest in the world. We lead the technology.
The cost of a derailment is so high that a great deal of money is invested in design, testing, etc. Even emergency braking is hazardous. One can lock up wheels and cause a flat to be ground on each. The cost and time to remove thouse hundreds of wagons with multiple wheels, to machine the wheels back to high quality circular, is enormous.
A colleage invented a device to detect emerging cracks in tracks. He ran an ultrasound beam on a wagon from outside the track through a coupled, rolling rubber ball of silicone and imaged the echo in real time. If the echo pattern was irregular, the line was marked by a squirt of paint on the run and logged on the on-board computers. This system requires welded tracks to work. When it was tested in various States, he discoverd that over the years, 4 different definitions had been used for the length of a mile or furlong or whatever and the mile markers set in the ground were unreliable. To locate the crack, he found it easier to describe the location in the computer log in terms like “15.5 km east of the datum point at Hamilton station.” This was before GPS, when science was conducted with success in the absence of GPS.
It is daunting to think that a full train, when emergency brakes are applied, will almost always be going downhill. The force that stops it acts finally on those two ribbons of steel, the tracks. I have horrible images of those tracks snapping and going on to resemble long, boiled spaghetti.
Stories say there used to be a road crossing sign saying something like “The train that passes here tahes 11 minutes and 32 seconds precisely, whether your car is on the track or not.”
Ah! Climate change is full of interest. I await the paper that will claim that rising global temperatures will cause the closure of iron ore mining in the Pilbara through an increase of disaster breaks in weakened rail lines. Typically, there will be no optimistic paper that says that breaks will be less frequent because the greatest stress happens on cold nights.
It sounds like an operation a rail fan like me would like to get a good look at — and a ride.
We have some steep grades that present similar challenges to what you describe. I’m always wondering when I’ll hear news of a runaway.
There are surpisingly few mishaps except for stupit stuff like the Metrolink 111 engineer who was texting some teenage kids instead of paying attention, ran a red signal and then ran head on into a freight train at 40 MPH. The freight was also doing 40. An 80 MPH impact telescoped the Metrolink locomotive almost completely int the first passenger car. 25 died in that crash.
The poltiticians have been all over the Metrolink wreck like flies on a dead carcass. It’s a mad scramble to accumulate points with the voters on Election Day. They can’t let the engineers do their jobs here any more than there.
Climate change maybe causes carelessness? I don’t know.
LOL. Scotsman touches on carbon (dioxide) fraud, then goes to a carbon cowboy to give advice!
15 Dec: Scotsman: Jeff Salway: Investors need to beware the boiler room scammers
CARBON credit investments aren’t the only schemes being promoted by unscrupulous firms aiming to catch investors unawares.
Some carbon credit scams are operated by the same firms behind notorious boiler room investments that have conned apparently sophisticated investors out of millions of pounds in recent years.
These are scams that target experienced and often sophisticated investors with seemingly attractive share offers that turn out to be worthless or even non-existent…
Barry O’Neill, investment director at Carbon Financial Partners, said: “One simple question to ask yourself to establish if something is a bona fide investment or whether you are simply exposing yourself to pure price speculation is ‘am I owed a return for investing my money’?
“Bank accounts, government bonds, corporate bonds, property and shares all generally pay something to investors as compensation for allocating their capital to them.”
Another solid rule is not to invest in anything as a result of a cold call or e-mail. O’Neill added. “You must do sufficient due diligence into any investment so you can understand where the risks really lie and how the returns are to be generated.”… http://www.scotsman.com/business/personal-finance/investors-need-to-beware-the-boiler-room-scammers-1-2694001
hide the Jackson story in a blog, then shill for the EPA, for CAGW fantasies such as “extreme weather events” blah blah:
14 Dec: Bloomberg BNA Climate Blog: Regina Cline: The Week Ahead: EPA Administrator Faces House Committee Deadline to Provide Information on Use of ‘Secret’ Email Accounts
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson faces a Dec. 21 deadline to turn over to a House committee information on the use of secondary email accounts to conduct agency business…
McCarthy to Give Keynote Address
EPA Assistant Administrator Gina McCarthy is scheduled to give the keynote speech Dec. 21 at the New England Electricity Restructuring Roundtable in Boston on what to expect in terms of climate, air, and energy policy during the Obama administration’s second term. As covered in a Nov. 7 article, curbing greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, cars, and light trucks has been a top initiative for Obama, and he is expected during the next four years to rely on EPA’s existing regulatory authority to address climate change and focus on clean energy issues…
FHWA Webinar
On Dec. 18, the Federal Highway Administration will hold a webinar on its 2013-2014 “Climate Change and Extreme Weather Vulnerability and Adaptation Pilot Program.” As detailed in a Dec. 4 article, FHWA is seeking pilot projects from state departments of transportation, metropolitan planning organizations, federal land management agencies, and tribes to conduct analysis in one of two areas: assessments of transportation vulnerability to climate change and extreme weather events, and developing options for improving the resiliency of transportation facilities or systems to climate change or extreme weather events…
DOE Webinar
The Department of Energy’s Wind Powering America program will hold a webinar Dec. 19 on plans and activities for 2013, including a proposal for a National Collegiate Wind Competition and new Regional Resource Centers…
World Bank Group Event
The World Bank Group will hold an event Dec. 17 in Washington, D.C., to discuss climate change activities, including the release of a report, Adapting to Climate Change: Assessing World Bank Group Experience. Ken Chomitz, the bank group’s senior adviser for independent evaluation, will be the featured speaker. http://www.bna.com/week-ahead-epa-b17179871422/
14 Dec: AFP: Deutsche Bank co-CEO ‘won’t quit’ over fraud probe
FRANKFURT — Deutsche Bank’s co-chief executive Juergen Fitschen, in newspaper interviews Friday, said he saw no reason to resign over allegations of suspected tax fraud, insisting he is innocent.
“I’m shattered over the accusations against me. I firmly believe they will prove to be groundless,” Fitschen told the mass-circulation daily Bild.
“I feel I am being unjustly treated and will defend myself,” he said.
Asked whether he would resign over the allegations, Fitschen said: “I see no reason to.”
Fitschen made similar remarks in a different interview published in the business daily Handelsblatt…
Fitschen and Krause are under investigation because they signed off the bank’s 2009 valued-added tax (VAT) declaration.
He told both newspapers that he felt the prosecutors’ reaction was “totally exaggerated”.
“As soon as we realised that we’d been duped by fraudulent clients, we corrected the tax declaration. At no point was any tax money unlawfully paid to Deutsche Bank,” he said.
Fitschen has been a member of Deutsche Bank’s management board since 2009 and took over as co-chief executive, alongside Anshu Jain, earlier this year.
Prosecutors said a total 25 Deutsche Bank employees were being investigated and arrest warrants had been issued for five suspects on suspicion of money laundering and perverting the course of justice.
According to Der Spiegel magazine in its online edition, the suspects evaded hundreds of millions of euros (dollars) in tax.
In December 2011, six businessmen — three British citizens, two Germans and one Frenchman — were sentenced to between three and seven years in prison for not paying taxes from trading in carbon emission certificates. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iWeCBKkbb3U9ak_ozHzuTRCu4lnQ?docId=CNG.bc1996b4c5d246823187a40b7524ed37.711
13 Dec: Der Spiegel: Tax Evasion Probe: Why Deutsche Bank Will Emerge Unscathed
By Stefan Kaiser
German prosecutors are investigating Deutsche Bank CEO Jürgen Fitschen. But does this mean he will be forced to step down? Probably not. The bank has survived far worse episodes in the past. Fitschen’s predecessor even went to trial and still kept his job…
What may seem like automatic grounds for stepping down in the world of politics is handled a bit differently in business. In contrast to political leaders, executives are capable of withstanding quite a bit more. Indeed, quarterly reports can be far more dangerous for most executives than a team of prosecutors. That makes it unlikely that Fitschen or Krause would immediately step down…
Nevertheless, it seems like a bitter twist of fate that Fitschen would now be the subject of investigation. One of the main reasons he was crowned as chairman of the board at Deutsche Bank is that he makes such an earnest impression… http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/tax-evasion-probe-why-deutsche-bank-will-emerge-unscathed-a-872732.html
Salway on carbon dioxide fraud again, quoting the same carbon cowboy, O’Neill, telling us CAGW is now “centre stage”, and ends the piece with a recommendation to invest in the “clean energy” scams:
15 Dec: Scotsman: Jeff Salway: Con artists open a new criminal front with scams based around carbon credits
VICTIMS of the UK’s fastest growing investment scam are being left heavily out of pocket as fraudsters shift their attention from land banking and “boiler room” schemes.
Investors have been warned to be vigilant about dodgy carbon credit investments after a massive rise in the number of regulatory investigations against firms in the sector.
Police recently arrested several people linked to carbon credit trading firms, while the City watchdog this week issued the latest in a series of warnings over the investments after reporting “deep misgivings” about the way in which carbon credits are sold…
However the market has been targeted by fraudsters that often have links to boiler room and land banking schemes.
Tens of thousands of people were conned into investing in worthless or overpriced carbon credits by the firms at the centre of the recent arrests.
Matthew Bradford, detective inspector for the City of London Police, said: “Carbon credits are the latest in a growing list of products marketed by fraudsters as a sure-fire way to make maximum profits with minimal risks.”
The market itself is perfectly legit and can have its advantages for high-risk investors, with a number of reputable firms in the sector. However, it has also emerged as an easy target for mis-selling, with unscrupulous firms targeting often vulnerable investors with seemingly above-board offers that are ultimately too good to be true…
The certificates bought from dodgy salesmen tend to be impossible to trade or even non-existent. Alternatively, the offers can be in the form of “opportunities” to invest in green projects where carbon credits are generated as a return on the investment, according to the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The regulator has begun almost 80 enquiries into carbon credit firms this year and published a list of more than two dozen unauthorised firms believed to be operating carbon credit scams. It claims the average victim loses around £10,000.
It has focused on two types of carbon credits – certified emission reductions (CERs) and voluntary emission reductions (VERs). The latter are becoming particularly prominent in fraudulent offers and are harder to trade.
Jonathan Phelan, head of unauthorised business at the FSA, said: “We continue to have deep misgivings about carbon credits and have yet to see any convincing evidence that investors can make money from investing in them…
The scams trade on their status as an “edgy” next-big-thing investment, with investors shown glossy presentations referring to government green developments and industry carbon offsetting targets.
“Climate change and global greenhouse gas emissions are now centre stage so it’s no surprise that some investors have been tempted into schemes which claim to be able to help address the issue,” said Barry O’Neill, investment director at Carbon Financial Partners, a financial planner…
Credit trading is not a regulated activity unless it is being promoted as part of a regulated investment, such as a collective investment scheme or futures contract…
Some fraudulent firms try to get around this by claiming they are Sipp-approved, referring to self-invested pension plans, and that they are “settled” through an FSA-regulated custodian in the UK, but this is deliberately misleading.
“This is something entirely different to being compensated if things go wrong,” said Munro. “Investors will not have access to the FOS or the FSCS.”
All this is not to say that carbon credit investing doesn’t have its place. However it is only suitable to those with a high appetite for risk and preferably with some experience of, or knowledge in, the sector.
Munro added: “If you are interested in carbon-related investments, you are probably better off gaining exposure to the sector via an investment trust, unit trust or exchange-traded vehicle which invests in clean energy. There are plenty to choose from, but investments of this type should never account for more than 3 to 5 per cent of your portfolio.” http://www.scotsman.com/business/personal-finance/con-artists-open-a-new-criminal-front-with-scams-based-around-carbon-credits-1-2694003
had to repost this post by Markx on WUWT regarding Stephan Lewandowsky.
by Walter Olson on January 17, 2012
Checking out a published report, Erik Magraken contacted former New Mexico state senator Duncan Scott and found that it was true, the lawmaker had indeed introduced a legislative amendment in 1995 providing that:
When a psychologist or psychiatrist testifies during a defendant’s competency hearing, the psychologist or psychiatrist shall wear a cone-shaped hat that is not less than two feet tall. The surface of the hat shall be imprinted with stars and lightning bolts. Additionally, a psychologist or psychiatrist shall be required to don a white beard that is not less than 18 inches in length, and shall punctuate crucial elements of his testimony by stabbing the air with a wand. Whenever a psychologist or psychiatrist provides expert testimony regarding a defendant’s competency, the bailiff shall contemporaneously dim the courtroom lights and administer two strikes to a Chinese gong…
The amendment — intended satirically, one should hasten to add –”passed with a unanimous Senate vote” but was removed from its bill before consideration by the state house and never became law. (& Coyote, Above the Law)
If we ever give psychiatrists so much power that they themselves begin to believe they can know the unknowable, a new kind of hellish nightmare will be unleashed upon our society.
To stop this we merely need to remind the psychiatrists of Thomas Nagel’s landmark paper. (You don’t know what it’s like to be any other sentient being, and you never can.)
We are told we are a rich developed country and as such we got there by fouling the air and we now have to pay recompense to all those poor countries.
Could someone say how this recompense is going to be calculated.
Before we started to monitor our emissions how would we know how much our emissions were.Were they more than China,India,Rhodesia,Brazil,Argentina,Mexico.Or are the Greens just going to pluck a figure out of thin air.After all you can be very generous with other peoples money.
They price carbon on the manufacturing industries – then wonder why they move to countries outside the EU. But now they decide to give free carbon permits to keep them in the EU. Is this a comedy or a joke?
From Reuters EU sources said that the cost of carbon on the Emissions Trading Scheme has collapsed to record low levels under the burden of excess supply. Earlier this month, it hit a new low of EUR 5.61 a tonne. The fall in price has reduced any additional costs for major polluters. It is, however, expected to rise. Some in heavy industry complain that, in any case, it does not lead to emissions cuts but only to relocation of industry to pollute other nations, where it does not have to buy the permits. A senior Commission official told Reuters that “The Commission is planning to draw up a list of sectors most affected by the ETS regulations and that are, therefore, at risk of relocating their activities outside the EU.”
Problem – CO2 tax Solution – relocate inductry where there is no CO2 Tax. EU Solution – charge CO2 Tax then pay it all back to stop them relocating. Real Solution – drop the stupid CO2 Tax.
. Real Solution: should also include the RET.
Here’s The Windmill is over here! in 2007 . Kevin wasn’t the brightest brick in the pallet – but he knew how to draw a crowd. Australia voted in Kevin 07 with his promise of a 20% renewable energy target to be reached by 2020.
What really gets me is all the parties agreed to this garbage. Lets have 20% of out energy supplied by renewables? I’ve writen to John Connelly (our LNP member for Fairfax) and been duck shoved to Greg Hunt – the wimp of environment and backer of RET? WTF
If Abbott gets rid of the CO2 Tax – that’s one step – but this RET is still the go ahead for all the windmills and solar panels to eat up Australian Tax payer money.
The only way to solve this is to get rid of the CO2 Tax and the RET – then Australia will boom again.
Mean while the physical environment (state & federal) in relation to forests and reserves have gone to SH*T – full of weed and vermin. Property owners with boundaries onto National or State Parks are spending a fortune to contain the infestation of weed and feral animal invasion to their properties.
Propaganda department:
Did anyone else out there see the UK’s Channel 4 shock horror programme last week – ‘Is our Weather Getting Worse?’
Here are just two gems I spotted:
Apparently the last decade has been ‘colder, wetter, and hotter than since records began’ (!)
We were also told that December 2010 was the coldest ever (- 0.7 degrees C), however the Central England Temperature Record gives a December average of minus 0.8 C in 1890, plus a handful of sub zero Decembers (in 1676, 1788, 1796, 1874,and 1878). None are below – 1 Centigrade.
So, is the UK’s climate changing? Your answers please!
Carbon500 wrote:
“Apparently the last decade has been ‘colder, wetter, and hotter than since records began’ (!)”
This reminds me of Michael McIntyre’s little routine about weather records: Michael Mcintyre Live at the Apollo Part 3 (time 3:52 if it doesn’t open at that point automatically for you)
At least this guy’s comment actually made sense, and he’s just a comedian. ;^)
are “smart meters” now “in-home displays”? note parties blaming each other, as if the who gamut of CAGW policies isn’t responsible for most of the increase in prices:
17 Dec: SMH: Peter Hannam: Energy savings push extended to low-income families
As many as 25,000 low-income households will receive federal government support to cut their energy use in the first round of energy efficiency grants paid for by funds from the carbon tax.
The government will spend about $39.8 million – equivalent to almost $1,600 per household – on 11 projects involving trade unions, charities, welfare groups and companies. The projects will seek to lower the barriers to the energy savings, such as upfront costs and behaviour patterns…
“Investment in smart energy use now will help to lower our energy use in the future and help households to lower their electricity bills,” Mr Combet said.
Funding will include outlays over four years for retrofitting some homes with more efficient appliances, installing ***in-home displays*** to show energy use, and financial training.
Rising energy bills have become a major political issue this year with the major parties blaming each other for the 50 per cent increase in the past three or four years…
Other recipients of funding include the South East Councils Climate Change Alliance in Victoria, Mission Australia Housing and Indigenous Essential Services, serving East Arnhem indigenous communities… http://www.smh.com.au/environment/energy-smart/energy-savings-push-extended-to-lowincome-families-20121217-2bip6.html
18 Dec: Australian: Rick Morton: It’s OK to link climate denial to pedophilia, ABC tells ex-chairman Maurice Newman
A COMPLAINT by former ABC chairman Maurice Newman over a radio program that linked scepticism about human-induced climate change to advocacy of pedophilia has been dismissed by the national broadcaster.
Mr Newman, who retired from the ABC’s top job in March when his five-year term ended, said the broadcaster had been “captured” by a “small but powerful” group of people when it came to climate change groupthink – a claim rebuffed by the broadcaster.
He said comments by the network’s science reporter Robyn Williams in a November 24 broadcast of The Science Show were indicative of a broader failure of the “public interest” test at the taxpayer-funded ABC…
“Speaking up publicly is not the sort of thing you do lightly,” he told The Australian yesterday.
“I still have a deep affection for the ABC but at some point someone has got to make a stand. The ABC is not being frank and open about the way global warming is portrayed on its various platforms, although the sense of imbalance is becoming more overt, I feel.”…
An ABC spokeswoman said the complaint was dismissed because the editorial context of the segment was reasonable, meaning “harm and offence” was justified.
“ABC Audience and Consumer Affairs have carefully considered the complaint, reviewed the program and assessed it against the ABC’s editorial standards for harm and offence which state in part: 7.1 Content that is likely to cause harm or offence must be justified by the editorial context,” the spokeswoman said.
“ABC Audience and Consumer Affairs have also sought and considered a response from ABC Radio. Audience and Consumer Affairs have concluded that there has been no breach of the ABC’s editorial standards for harm and offence.” The former chairman said he had not made the complaint to the ABC to air a personal grievance; rather he wished to highlight that the national broadcaster had a duty to all taxpayers to provide more considered and balanced reports…
The ABC spokeswoman said the network did broadcast and publish views from dissenting scientists.
“Unlike the BBC, the ABC acknowledges there are climate scientists who question the core thinking about climate science,” she said.
“The ABC gives them and their views air time.”… http://www.theaustralian.com.au/media/broadcast/its-ok-to-link-climate-denial-to-pedophilia-abc-tells-ex-chairman-maurice-newman/story-fna045gd-1226538690358
is the above the reason why Spigelman defended the right to offend recently?
Steady there Pat, Spigelman is right about laws that make offensive statements a crime.
It’s basically a Thoughtcrime (1984 style) – not because of the thoughts of the offender but because of the thoughts of the victim.
Firstly, as a legal practicality, like all throughtcrimes it’s unprovable. How can anyone tell if a person really was offended or whether they are just fishing for a compo claim?
Secondly, as a matter of principal, it is a limitation of free speech and such limitations must be narrowly constrained to avoid “chilling effects” on expression. It’s only unpopular speech which needs protection as a Right, which is just the kind of speech likely to cause offence to somebody somewhere.
There’s also something to be said for rewarding the resilient and letting the fragile wallow in their own imagination.
Williams should not have said what he said because it was unjustified by editorial context, it’s unjustified by facts and scientific evidence, and it is clear Williams is pushing his own agenda in contradiction to the ABC’s charter.
To create a law forbidding upset would be the most enormous backwards step because abuses of such a law would be the only uses it would ever get.
i wasn’t referring to the broader argument against censorship, but to the specific defense of being “offensive”, precisely as this pedophile slur was being excused by said same ABC.
The Sydney Morning Herald
Man’s role in climate change ‘virtually certain’
EVIDENCE for climate change has grown stronger and it is now ”virtually certain” that human greenhouse gas emissions trap energy that warms the planet, according to a leaked draft of the next major Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report.
Prepared on behalf of the United Nations every five or six years to summarise climate change research, the panel report draws on hundreds of peer-reviewed papers.
The draft expresses even more confidence than the 2007 report that changes being observed across the planet are historically ”significant, unusual or unprecedented”.
It says that carbon dioxide is the biggest cause of climate change, far outweighing natural causes. The concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide is the highest in 800,000 years.
The draft document – due to be released next year – was leaked by climate sceptic Alec Rawls, who runs a website called ”Stop Green Suicide” and volunteered as a report reviewer.
Mr Rawls claimed the report contained an ”admission” that galactic cosmic rays were having a strong influence on the Earth’s climate.
But a lead author of the relevant section of the report, Professor Steve Sherwood of the University of NSW, said the theory had been rejected later in the report after a review of peer-reviewed research.
John Church, a lead author of the report and a senior CSIRO scientist, said: ”The report is still a working draft and these people have had access under conditions of not releasing the draft and not passing it on, and they have broken that agreement.”
Dr Church said the weight of evidence linking human activity and climate change had strengthened since the previous report……
And so in response the SMH prints the story above.
And the average person grows more confused……..
[This should be on previous thread – Mod]
60
John Church just happens to be a promoter of a “low carbon” economy so why wouldn’t he prostitute his science to that end. These geezers not only are reared on the public tit but do a bit of sidelining to bolster their coffers.
Inaugural Tasmanian Climate Action Council (2009 to 2011)
The inaugural Tasmanian Climate Action Council was established on 25 March 2009 with Associate Professor Kate Crowley as the Chair. The Council consisted of ten members, representing expertise across the range of disciplines essential action on climate change.
Membership of the Council comprised:
Professor Kate Crowley (Chair); Dr John Church; James Walch; Rhys Edwards; Roger Jaensch; Professor Rob Adams; Noel Purcell; Adam Kirkman; Ben Kearney and Nel Smit.
In announcing the establishment of the Council, the Premier of the day, Paul Lennon, noted that he was looking for it to help generate the bold ideas that will place Tasmania in a leadership position in the emerging low-carbon economy.
40
Site for Tasmanian Climate Action Council.
http://www.dpac.tas.gov.au/divisions/climatechange/action_council/inaugural_tasmanian_climate_action_council_2009_to_2011
10
Note that this statement: “EVIDENCE for climate change has grown stronger” is true, there is overwhelming evidence that the climate is changing all the time.
This statement: “and it is now ”virtually certain” that human greenhouse gas emissions trap energy that warms the planet” is only partially true because greenhouse gases don’t trap energy, they only retard its propagation which slows down cooling of the planet.
A cause and effect relationship between the two statements, while implied is not stated – very sleazy word smithing.
80
“they only retard its propagation which slows down cooling of the planet. ”
NO !.. The actions of convection and conduction IMMEDIATELY compensate if any part of the atmosphere becomes warmer than the pressure gradient allows.
Try it sometime, light a match and hold your finger just above it ! 😉
00
Yes, well when the Sydney Morning Herald digs up some “scientist” who can explain the Venus dilemma then I might start buying it again – for the first time in three or four decades.
The small amount of solar energy absorbed by the Venus atmosphere would very easily exit the surface the next night by conduction (diffusion) and radiation. Then, when this small amount of energy is back in the atmosphere there is plenty of carbon dioxide to radiate it away. There is absolutely no possible way by which such energy would be trapped in the surface and somehow add hundreds of degrees. The problem is, if you follow the “First School of Thought” (the IPCC bluff) then you are at a complete loss to explain Venus temperatures, because, if you think like the IPCC it is because you have been subjected to Ignorant Promulgation of Chaotic Consensus.” You need a paradigm shift to the “Second School of Thinking” in my paper.
Please respond to this comment on another thread..
Doug Cotton
Sydney
00
Sorry – typo: The small amount The small amount of solar energy absorbed by the Venus surface …
00
IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC
IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC
IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC
IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC
IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC
IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC IPCC
Why? … because I can …
70
Only here in the “West”, Jim.
I have a whole heap of Chinese in-laws, with many of the younger family members now in tertiary education.
Over there, in the universities and places of higher learning, the western concept of a carbon-based life-form attempting to create a zero-carbon environment for itself, is something of a standing joke.
430
More nonsense from the West:
A young relative aged 9 was recently given some homework by his schoolteacher here in the UK.
The task was to list the ingredients needed for a ‘low carbon breakfast’.
No wonder the Chinese are laughing.
In case you’re wondering, I wrote to the head teacher and explained some basic biochemistry.
110
Did you receive a response?
50
Not too sure that teachers’ in the UK know much of any subject.
When my son’s teacher asked him the best way to half one’s carbon footprint he answered “Amputate a leg!”
The teacher was unamused.
90
Amputate the school!
40
Or one billion Indians (that’s 2 billion footprints… give or take a few one legged Indians).
“Over 97% of all greenhouse gases are natural and there is nothing we can do about them. For example, India’s population of one billion people produces more carbon dioxide just by breathing than is produced by all the coal-burning power plants in the United States. Moreover, termites are said to produce more carbon dioxide each year than all other living organisms combined.”
http://www.akdart.com/warming21.html
(The above site is an interesting hotch potch of “facts”. Not sure how much is accurate or scientifically correct).
Notice the maddies over at SS tell us that human exhalation does not increase the net CO2 in the system as the carbon is being cycled from plants to humans to CO2 back to the plants. More rational others think the net contribution of 7 billion exhaling humans is about 2 to 2.5 billion tonnes of CO2 per year).
10
I stated in my letter that I thought it important that in science children should see a question from various angles, and be encouraged to think for themselves.
I also sent a reading list (books by Robert Carter and others) as well as a few figures relating to CO2.
I got a reply reassuring me that the children were encouraged to think for themselves, the head teacher going so far as to suggest that I might at the end of term like to go in and give a talk on man-made global warming.
Would you be surprised to know that I heard no more about it?
10
I laughed as you might expect. Yet I have a sinking feeling in my gut, even as I’m still chuckling.
Any chance that you asked what the teacher’s list of ingredients would be?
30
No, I didn’t ask the teacher for a list of ‘low carbon’ ingredients. It would have been interesting to do so!
10
Can anyone think of any food that does not have carbon compounds in it ?
30
Not just carbon compounds in it but made of carbon compounds and very little else.
No carbon, no life! When they talk about the basic building block of life they don’t talk of oxygen or hydrogen compounds. They talk about those evil carbon compounds.
20
Salt, H2O.. hardly foodstuff…
I cannot think of one single foodstuff that is not CHOCK FULL of those evil carbon compounds.
Seriously, the world has gone moronically loopy in its demonisation of CO2 !!
20
A Big Mac? Oh, wait, you said food, didn’t you.
30
J, Cardboard is made from wood.
And yes I did say food.. but there are many things that cannot be classed as food that contain just as much carbon.
30
I apologise to international readers but I have to get ths off my chest:
Imagine this. In the 2006/7 financial year you were on a salary of $118,500 pa. Your total living expenses, all payments and taxes, and even allowing for some retirement savings was $109,500, so you had a decent buffer. You also owned every asset you had with no debts and in fact you had cash in the bank of about $15,000.
Now imagine that since then, you had pay increases up to the end of last financial year (30 June 2011) totalling 39.2% so that your current income is a very healthy $165,000 pa.
a) Can you imagine that you would allow your expenses to creep up to $185,500 pa, that’s 69.4% more than your 2006/7 expenditure?
b) Can you imagine that this higher level of expenditure doesn’t even include putting any money away for your retirement since 2006 so that you are now way behind on funding your retirement?
c) Can you imagine that in ADDITION to this higher level of expenditure, you have also gone out and borrowed money so that your net worth is now -$123,600 and you have no apparent means of paying that debt back? This means you are just going to have to borrow even more money!
That would be a totally unbelievable scenario right?
Yet that is the equivalent of what Wayne Swan, our Treasurer has done while managing Australia’s finances. While there has been a healthy increase in income, he and the Labor Party have dramatically increased expenditure, and have also borrowed billions of dollars we have no way of paying off for a very long time and without incurring some significant pain.
And what do we have to show for it? Some new airports and shipping facilities? Some great new highways or railroads? Maybe we have resolved some major social problems such as Indigenous disadvantage, people smugglers and refugees dying or improved the health and education of the nation? No wait – on all of those measures we have actually declined, as we have with labour productivity and industrial disputation!
No doubt the huge debt will only be repaid, and savings to meet the unfunded superannuation payments of retired and retiring public servants will only be made, when the Labor party has been thrown out of office and all the pain will be blamed on the heartless Coalition Government.
But Greece and Italy and Spain and Portugal and Ireland are finding out the hard way that you can’t live beyond your means indefinitely. The longer you put off financial responsibility, the harder and harsher it will be to recover.
Official Budget Outcomes
Howard/Costello 2006/7
Total Government Receipts $237 Billion
Total Government Expenditure $219 Billion
http://www.budget.gov.au/2006-07/fbo/html/index.htm
Gillard/Swan 2011/12
Total Government Receipts $330 Billion 39.2% greater than 2006/7
Total Government Expenditure $371 Billion 69.4% greater than 2006/7
http://www.budget.gov.au/2011-12/content/fbo/html/part_1.htm
Note: To equate budget figures with salary figures I just turned $Billions into hundreds of thousands and halved it. E.G. $237B became 237,000/2 = $118,500.
260
great
kk 🙂
30
KK
The greatest of all faults is to unaware of any. Under this scenario. a typical response would be “I have done nothing wrong.”
Such an environment is likely only to lead to dysfunctional government and society.
I hope I’m wrong.
Cheers,
Speedy.
80
Ah, but the cure for failed Socialism always seems to be more Socialism. Why is that?
100
It is wrong to question, Comrade.
60
So that Dear Leader can maintain/improve her lifestyle. It won’t be long before the dedicated traffic lanes are created, so she can sweep past the queues in her hand built limousine. The acolytes will be given yuan to spend in the better, exclusive stores, while the rest of us will be lining up for bread baked from wheat grown in Argentina. The only thing she’s overlooked is the military backup needed, as we no longer have one.
40
.
This subject was raised in part, in an earlier thread.
What happens to plant growth if CO2 increases and temperatures keeps the same or drops?
There are no easily found studies that consider both of these factors.
Most comprise of the following:
1. Increase in CO2 & temperature.
2. Increase in CO2
3. Increase in temperature.
I believe some tropical pawpaws and hemp – tend to produce more male plants if temperature is reduced but what happens if both. It just may turn out that the increase in CO2 may aid the temperature drop in plant survival.
Shouldn’t some of the CAGW money pot be spent on an alternative as when proved wrong – they may as well cover their deceptive Ars*es.
20
Yes, we can only hope that all this luvly extra CO2 actually has some benefit in cold weather as well as the huge benefits in warmer weather.
20
Senior Deutsche Bank lawyer detained after raid -sources
FRANKFURT, Dec 14 (Reuters) – A senior in-house lawyer at Deutsche Bank is among those being held by police following a raid at the bank’s headquarters on Thursday, two sources familiar with the proceedings told Reuters…
http://www.pointcarbon.com/news/reutersnews/1.2103115?&ref=searchlist
EU law could ban firms from using 44 pct of offsets in circulation
LONDON, Dec 14 (Reuters Point Carbon) – Almost half of U.N. carbon offsets in circulation could be banned from the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) in just over five months, triggering a rush to use them for compliance while potentially starving U.N. carbon markets of investment for a decade…
http://www.pointcarbon.com/news/1.2103480?&ref=searchlist
EU 1.5-bln euro CCS competiton to end without a winner: MEP
LONDON Dec 14- (Reuters Point Carbon) – An EU competition to subsidise new carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects will close next week without a winner after it raised less money than expected and government funding fell short, said an EU lawmaker instrumental in setting up the scheme…
http://www.pointcarbon.com/news/1.2103179?&ref=searchlist
10
I have a new Post at my site with analysis for Wind Power for the last 12 Months in the U.S. and it raises some interesting points showing how Wind Power again fails to deliver electrical power for the scale required.
That analysis is at the following link.
Wind Power Fail – 2012 – Same As Always
The most accurate information on Wind Power comes from the U.S. Currently there is almost 52,000MW of Nameplate Capacity for Wind Power. Now, while earlier turbines on top of towers could only generate less than 1MW, recent large scale turbines can generate up to 6MW. The average however is around 1.75 to 2.25MW, and these are the most common currently installed turbines. So, using 2MW as the average, and now with 52,000MW of Nameplate, that average would be around 26,000 individual wind towers, and that would be for new construction Plants. The actual number of existing towers of all power generation size is much higher than that average, and there are currently more than 40,000 wind towers in the U.S.
How much power is actually being generated by all those 40,000+ wind towers?
As I have often said, using Nameplate Capacity is erroneous, and the more correct indicator is that actual power being generated and sent to the grids for consumption.
In the analysis I construct a comparison, and for that purpose I use Nuclear Power, and while not many Countries do have Nuclear Power Generation, large scale coal fired power could quite reasonably be substituted for Nuclear Power.
That Nameplate Capacity for Wind is currently closing in on half the Nameplate Capacity for Nuclear Power.
However, Nuclear Power currently delivers almost 6 times the total power from all those Wind Towers. There are 104 reactors in the U.S. and each Plant has 2 reactors, hence 52 Nuclear Power Plants.
It works out that the total power delivered from all those 40,000 Wind towers is the same total power delivered from just 9 of those Nuclear Power Plants.
The comparison between the erroneous use of Nameplate Capacity and actual delivered power is eye opening.
Wind has 4.5% of total U.S. Nameplate and Nuclear has 9.3%.
For generated power, Wind delivers 3.3% of total generated power, while Nuclear delivers 19.4%, the third largest supplier of electrical power in the U.S.
See now why total generated power is more important than Nameplate.
That 52,000MW is the equivalent of 26 large scale power plants, be they Nuclear or Coal Fired. So how many large scale coal fired power plants have closed with that huge amount of Wind Power available?
The simple answer is not one of them.
Now, while that analysis is specific to the U.S. could this indicate anything for Australia? Currently Australia has just less than 1000 of those wind towers.
That Nameplate Capacity just for Wind Power in the U.S. is almost the same as the total Nameplate Capacity for electrical power from every source here in Australia.
However, all those wind towers are only delivering 55% of Australia’s total power requirement. So, even though these wind towers are spread across the whole Continental U.S. which is basically the same size in area as mainland Australia, they still cannot deliver the power that would be required absolutely.
While the US currently has 26 times the Nameplate for Wind that Australia has, the Capacity Factor for all those towers is running at just under 30%, which is the same as here in Australia, so more does not mean better.
Wind Power may have many other drawbacks, all of them important in their own way, but Wind Power fails the most at its primary objective, that of the supply of electrical power on the scale required.
Tony.
130
TonyfromOz is all over this like a fat kid on an iced donut so this link will be no surprise to him showing the input from various sources:
U.K. National Grid Status
Plus:
Today, here in the UK, the temperatures have just about crawled above zero, after a night of hard frost.
And how much electricity have our obscenely subsidised windmills contributed to the grid over the last 24 hours?
0.6% !
This is about a tenth of their normal output, and about 3% of their rated capacity.
Just enough to boil a kettle.
110
Still, rather more than Hydro I see.
While Power from Hydro is just like printing money now, what did Hydro cost to install I wonder ?
30
it is always so funny when the MSM tries this kind of manipulation:
14 Dec: Bloomberg: Mark Drajem: Defeated Republican Preaches Heresy Backing a Carbon Tax
On a soggy evening in Tallahassee, Florida, Bob Inglis stood before three dozen college Republicans and urged them to support what he calls his “greatest heresy” as a congressman: a tax on carbon emissions.
Inglis blames his efforts to combat global warming for the intra-Republican challenge that cost him his South Carolina congressional seat in 2010. Since the loss, he has traveled the nation making the case to students and grassroots Republican activists that a carbon tax is both good policy and politics.
“This really is a conservative position,” Inglis told the classroom of students at Florida State University last month. “An energy and climate answer might not just unite the Republican Party, but it also allows us to get some independents and progressives to support us as well.”
Inglis advocates a specific answer: a carbon tax, which would apply to the carbon-dioxide emissions from coal, oil or natural gas. He says the revenues should be used to offset cuts in other taxes. A tax would let the market develop the best way to cut emissions, and replace regulation by the Environmental Protection Agency and costly energy subsidies, he said…
Outside analysts say Republican voters may be more open to Inglis’s proposal than his former colleagues in Congress.
“Many Republicans are much more moderate in their views,” Edward Maibach, director of the Center for Climate Change Communication at Virginia’s George Mason University, said in an interview. “Depending on the trade-off, you see more or less support” for a carbon tax, he said…
October was the 332nd consecutive month in which global temperatures exceeded the 20th century average, according to U.S. government data…
With the support of groups such as the Rockefeller Family foundation, Inglis established the Energy and Enterprise Initiative at Virginia’s George Mason University in July. At the moment Inglis has one aide, 27-year-old policy maven, photographer, youth envoy and straight man Alex Bozmoski…
“Once you’re branded a heretic you might as well go out on the street and proclaim it,” he said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-13/defeated-republican-preaches-heresy-backing-a-carbon-tax.html
20
Who would you reckon is telling lies here?
August 23, 2009
A study by the St Vincent de Paul Society says that with smart meters changing billing from a flat rate to one based on the time of use, average bills will rise by 35 per cent, or about $263 a year.
For pensioners, the increase will be even bigger – 42 per cent, or an extra $254 a year.
December 8, 2012
At the COAG meeting on Friday, the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, again pushed for a national rollout of smart meters, saying they would save families $250 a year on bills.
80
Gillard couldn’t tell the truth to save her life.
142
Cohenite.
Disagree. She would tell the truth to save her own life. But not yours.
Cheers,
Speedy.
80
“She would tell the truth to save her own life”
But it would feel very unnatural to her. 😉
but only more lies can save her now..
so that’s what we are going to get !!!!!
41
Red Rover wouldnt nknow the truth if it bit her [snip]
00
.
New Idea:
Dust particles in the atmosphere result in an increase of CO2 due to reduction in plant capability to turnover carbon. Light is the key.
Look at this series of Temperature, CO2 concentration and dust concentration in the atmosphere over a period of 400,000 years. The CO2 increases follow the dust increase concentration as a result of reduced photosynthesis. This is where volanic activity would have played a part in CO2 update by the plant kingdom. So with this nice clean dust and pollution free atmosphere (economically induced manufacturing decline) are we in for the big freeze. MattyB said there was no chance of the “Earth getting colder” – but maybe we just need to reduce our dust to reduce temperature or increase if we need it higher??
Do any of the climate models include dust particle concentration?
Plants are the key.
But the CAGW crowd are a few Gum Trees short of a Eucalyptus Forrest.
20
.
I don’t want a Smart Meter.
Article:
Mr Freund said families with young children were particularly at risk of incurring huge bills as they could not control when they consumed electricity.
Isn’t it my right to refuse this?
51
Whakaaro’s Observation:
Smart things are governed by computer programs, and those programs are limited in functionality by the depth of experience of the designer – who is usually in their mid-to-late twenties.
80
Artifical intelligence is no match for natural stupidity!
90
Speedy, hope i can atribute that to you. Beautiful! Right up there with “You cant fix Stupid”!
20
Grayman
I’m afraid it isn’t one of mine, but it is certainly worth repeating. Chalk it up for Mr/Ms “Anon”.
Cheers,
Speedy
10
Doesn’t ‘smart’ come from how it feels after getting the bill.
But call anything smart if you want to sell it to greedy, gullible politicians.
30
The Maldives are so concerned about sinking under the sea that they have opened 4 new airports this year and plan to lease out 14 uninhabited islands for tourist development.
http://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2012/12/13/maldives-opening-four-new-underwater-airports/
70
Apologies Moderator – posted on the wrong thread!
So…..when’s the federal election going to be called?
Before or after the budget deficit admission??
82
http://www.aikenstandard.com/article/20121214/AIK0106/121219750/1013/california-sees-unusually-high-king-tides
“The event provided organizers of the California King Tides Initiative an opportunity to get California residents thinking about and preparing for the future. The 3-year-old initiative, sponsored by government and nonprofit groups, enlists camera-toting volunteers to photograph the King Tides as an illustration of what low-lying coastal areas could look like if predictions about the Earth’s climate come to pass.”
Sponsored by government?
Yahoo.com has the “king tides” wikipedia shoved down to page 6, after 5 pages of alarmism.
“King tides” have been around since man started noticing tides.
http://www.msq.qld.gov.au/Tides/King-tides.aspx
Now they are proof of global warming?
40
Has anyone read this paper in it’s entirety?
Greenland ice sheet mass balance reconstruction. Part I: net snow accumulation (1600-2009)
Quote from the abstract:
What exactly are they saying? I assume they’re not saying that the ice sheet mass is actually increasing, because they would have made that clear – right?
30
Without reading the whole paper I can guess that the final conclusion is that “We cannot draw any significant conclusions from these results and recommend further research be done to isolate other causational factors.”
Basically the results are all over the place, they are saying:
1. Snow accumulation rate (precipation) has accelerated since the LIA.
2. This is positively correlated with the surface air temperature in the Northern Hemisphere(SATNHt).
3. But the snow accumulation rate is inconsistently correlated with local near-surface air temperatures.
But the crazyiest result for which they offer no explanation is:
“The reconstuction, Ât(G), correlates consistently highly with the North Atlantic Oscillation index. Yet, at the 11-year time scale, the sign of this correlation flips four times in the 1870-2005 period.”
In other words it goes from a positive correlation to a negative correlation or vice versa.
That to me says that the North Atlantic Oscillation Index likely has a significant impact on the SATNHt, which will also have a more localised impact on local near surface air temperature which will also impact on snow precipitation which will be positively or negatively correlated with the North Atlantic Oscillation Index depending on other factors which I would only be guessing about.
If I was a researcher I could put forward a few hypothesis upon which to base further research and none would have anything to do with AGW!
40
Thanks Jaymez – much appreciated!
Just btw, I discovered that paper on another blog – I didn’t find it myself.
00
Ah, audience participation time.
I would like to hear from anyone who has had a complete change of career as to how they went about it and what their experience was.
Also, anyone who has had to move to a city for work where they didn’t know anybody there before moving. How do you meet people, stay sane, and socialise when starting from scratch?
On this occasion I will just… listen and learn.
20
Andrew
I went from a technical role (Process Engineering) into technical sales – chemicals. Not my choice, industry turnaroud.
How did I go? S/house, actually. Still trying to take problem solving skills into a sales environment, which meant I got ripped off by customers and management.
Lesson? Play to your strengths and locate yourself in a position where your attributes can add value to the organisation. If your new position won’t let you play your strong suit, then you either have to develop a new set of skills or get a new position.
Don’t burn bridges, of course, but be critical of and relocate from positions that don’t meet your skill sets.
Looking after Mrs McRae and all the little McRaelings is job #1, of course, so think about them before you shoot your mouth off!
Good Luck!
Speedy.
30
I’d ask today’s climate scientists, in a few years time.
40
Andrew–not sure what county you are in, but I’ll answer with my experience. I changed careers at 26. I moved to a new state, and found work through an employment service. I went from social work to computer operator. I’m a quite ambitious person and just started from the bottom and worked up through the ranks. I really don’t have a career path after that–unless a highly meandering trail counts!
With the internet, in the US there are all kinds of sights that will tell you about the place you are moving. When I moved, there was no such thing as internet. We wrote the realtors in the town we were moving to in order to gauge cost of living, etc. You could check out the tourist bureau website for where you are going, plus most businesses have websites.
As for meeting people, can’t really help much on that one since I’m not a people person. I meet people through church and employment.
Hope this helps.
30
Andrew, Speedy and Sheri gave sound advice, My 2 cents is for meeting people, when i moved to a different state 20 some odd years ago. If you fancy a cold one once in a awile, your local tavern. If not then volenteer in you community or churche activitys. Personally i have found a smile and hello is always an ice breaker that gets things off to a good start. Good Luck!
40
Andrew, as far as meeting new people, probably the best way is through a sport or hobby that you have a genuine interest in. Find the local organisation that runs that sport or hobby and get involved. You will be able to start from a position of mutual interest.
As far as changing careers, what my advice is, and it has been already said in this conversation, is to stick with your skill set. You can still change industries because skill sets can transcend industrial boundaries, especially if you define your skill sets in more generic terms rather than as industry specific ones.
Good luck with the change.
20
Andrew,
The local Chambers of Commerce, if they have “public” meetings, are good places to meet people, even if you prefer employment in a business, rather than owning a business.
If your skill set matches some of the problems being discussed in these fora, then that may give you an opportunity to make your mark in an environment that is different to the normally competitive employment frenzy.
Professionally, I an my colleagues attend lots of these types of industry and business meetings. They are a good source of real-world pragmatic information, that you never see in the MSM.
50
Hi Andrew,
Sounds like things have gone a bit awry in your life – if so, my condolences.
I”m going to assume from the level of maturity of your writing, that you don’t have pre-school or young primary school age kids. That being the case, go to seek.com.au and type fifo into the keywords box. Leave everything else blank.
Right now that will give you 4,666 hits. Somewhere in that list there will be something to match your skill set, or that you can adapt to. Today people fly in, fly out, from just about anywhere to anywhere. Initially you may have to pay a component of the air-fare yourself, but usually the money is good enough to warrant it.
When you get onsite you will find yourself surrounded by people in pretty-much the same boat as yourself, so finding people to socialise with is easy – they find you – and for the same reason.
If you are married and older than late thirties, and you handle it right, you will find your time at home is like an extended honeymoon. Get yourself a wireless internet account, and instal Skype on your laptop for when you are away.
The downside is you usually get to live in an eight foot by seven foot air-conditioned tin box called a donga, and the food is invariably lousy.
Do not even consider fifo if you have pre-school, or young school age children. Some couples make it work, but more often than not it leads to divorce, or juvenile delinquents, or both.
.
While I disagree with much that you post here, you nonetheless write with an excellent command of English – spelling, grammar, syntax, sentence construction etc. Assuming you can find your way around in MS WORD, or have the sense to Google for help when you need it, consider becoming a Technical Writer.
If you have any interest in pursuing that path, drop Jo a line and get her to send you my Memoryvault email address, and we’ll discuss it further.
30
Darn, I wish I’d read this thread before reading the IPCC one today.
:-S
I thank you for being benevolent enough to set our other issue aside and focus on this very different dimension.
Your offer is kind and I’ll think about it though I doubt I will be changing jobs in a hurry; perhaps in few months. I hadn’t considered technical writing before.
The situation I’m in (and motivation for asking the question) probably deserves a short explanation to all the other well-meaning souls who replied, so I’ll write more below.
30
Andrew, wherever you may move too, consider asking here if there are like-minded locals. We are setting up informal social events, (mostly what we need is one person with an email address in each location) and quite a few people emailed me from around the world to say they’d like to meet people in their area. I must do that social events page…
60
Andrew
We’ve done a few moves and here’s some tricks:
What stuff do you need in your new location? Schools, shops, public transport, work etc.
Get a map and mark up a (say) 10 km circle that encompasses these attributes.
Investigate rental and real estate prices in that area. If you can afford it, go for it.
Talk to the local cops – do they get lots of “trade” in your candidate position?
Involve the other half. If you buy it and she hates it, she’ll let you know forever…
Get involved in the local community. Schools or St Vinnies etc are excellent starting points.
The other guys seem to be across this as well – good luck!
Cheers,
Speedy
20
Yes I’ve been there Andrew. Didn’t have to move but in hindsight, that probably would have been the better choice.
Stay up-beat, enjoy any time off you have. If you re-locate, it is stressful. Accept that, be aware of it, find an outlet for it.
Meeting people is easy, meeting the right people slightly harder. Consider groups meeting over a shared hobby, faith, music, poetry, games and even politics. Get out often and strike up conversations with anyone you come across. Visit with older people, and very young people. The former have a wealth of experience the latter are unburdened by it. If you are observant both can provide insights and delight. Soon enough you’ll have a list of people to call friends.
10
I’m bowled over by the number of people who’ve replied with lessons and advice. Thanks.
I must confess that the question about moving was asked rather whimsically, I don’t have a definite job in another city to move to specifically. In fact, for the time being I have a development job in Brisbane but… I don’t know… wanderlust second edition… the project only has a few months left in it… wanting to get out of a rut… feelings of unfulfilled potential… delusions of genius unrecognised 🙂 … call it what you will.
No wife, no kids, and no mortgage does mean I’m free to do anything I like whenever I like. But… I’m 34 and got the first grey hairs last year. Yes I know the rest of you are smirking now and laughing “are grey hairs ALL you’re worried about…” but it’s a wakeup call.
And now you’ve figured out why the question about socialising was a trick question. The answers should apply equally well to the city I’m already in. Sneaky eh?
I could say more but considering The Internet Never Forgets I have probably said too much already.
I’ve been advised that a change of scenery – i.e. moving to another city (or country) – might be the best thing to recharge batteries. Australia is the best damn place to live right now. If I moved countries it would just be temporarily as a sort of “boot camp” to stimulate more flexible thinking and resilience. It would be my Mount Everest.
Yet I can’t help thinking that is still like a holiday. It’s an artifice, a skateboard for a fish. A physical journey offered as cheap substitute for the inner journey that’s really needed.
Yeah, real Zen stuff here, heheh.
But does a sea change help?
People’s advice above has been helpful in highlighting the costs of moving and some crafty ways of sniffing out a job. Thanks.
Ultimately one cannot plan one’s life, because life is unpredictable. But the opposite approach of sitting around like a lump, not thinking positively about the future, and not challenging myself with goals has not been working either. How DO you normal people do it?
I mean, think of Steve Jobs and Richard Branson. You can’t tell me those guys just took the path of least resistance in life.
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One last thought: When I was going to move, I was kind of bummed out, leaving the state I was born in, my job, everything. A coworker said to me “I am so jealous of you moving. Think of all the new people you will meet. All the new places you will see.” That really got me to thinking that too often we dwell on what we are leaving and not what we will gain in the new place. After that, I really started looking at things I would gain, not what I would lose.
20
Andrew, with this extra informaton, the activity you want to take up is social tennis. Definitely the place to go looking for life partners.
10
yes but to get my Brooke Shields I’d have to be as good as Andre Agassi. OTOH she did divorce him after 2 years.
Whilst I’d consider a Sharapova clone I don’t want to annoy the neighbours with all that screeching… 😉 😀 😀
00
Spend lot’s of time shopping for (inexpensive) articles such as groceries. Don’t buy them all at once. Ask questions at the checkout, and be polite.
Having said that, I’m probably not the best model for sanity.
00
Today global warming became the most talked about scientific theory of all time.
How do I know? I made it up.
30
Watch your Emissions, because if you aren’t somebody else is.
Boffins About.
But rather than measuring you directly they ‘ll me making all sorts of inferrences about how much is likely down to you, from your habits, consumption patterns and anything you might have said on the internet.
From another report in Nature, timed to coincide with the recent Warmfest in Doha.
Megacities move to track emissions
30
Now you can begin to see why I’m thinking we’ve won the science battle but lost the real war.
20
.
Don’t sweat it, Roy, nature is in the process of winning the war, and what a terrible victory it will be.
Most of the world is dependent one way or another on one of three cereal crops – wheat, rice and corn. These crops are all either season-length, or rainfall dependent. We here in Australia think it’s all about rain, but for much of the world, growing season length is the critical factor.
Contrary to the cultists’ wild claims, global “average” temperatures warming a degree or two (actually largely minimum overnight temperatures rising), or even cooling a degree or two (actually largely daytime maximum temperatures dropping), are neither here nor there when it comes to these crops. There are varieties of all three capable of growing at a wide range of temperatures. Length of season available for growth and moisture are the critical factors.
For the next thirty or so years it is going to get colder. Of itself this is neither here nor there. However, it will also mean a shortening of the growing season from the thaws at the end of one winter, to the frosts of the following Autumn. Within the next five years, probably sooner, the great wheat harvests in Russia, the Ukraine, central China, and Canada, will fail.
That’s 20% plus of the world’s current population, or one and a half billion souls, dead, all by itself. Death by starvation.
Eastern Australia will enjoy bumper harvests, but the wheat crops in WA and SA will fail due to lack of rain, thereby largely cancelling themselves out.
Central USA will enjoy bumper corn crops, but most of Africa will be in permanent drought.
Most of the major tropical rice growing areas will get all the rain they need – and more – resulting in crops destroyed by torrential monsoon floods.
NONE of this is idle speculation – it is recorded history.
10
MV,
Actually my point was about the political environment, not the natural one. But I agree with you about the trend in climate, though I’m not as sure about the time scale as you are.
It will all certainly be terrible.
10
Is there something in people that requires the future be apocalyptic? If we skip the warming of the climate scientists and go for cold, apocalypse. If we go with warm, apocalypse. As far as I can see, the belief is the world is going to crash and either freeze or burn and a whole bunch of people are going to die.
There are short-season varieties for at least corn. Very short season. GMO’s should yield other options. Maybe fast enough, maybe not. Maybe we learn to cultivate something that does do well in the areas in which food can be grown. Just because we eat corn, rice and wheat does not mean we HAVE to eat these.
Yes, bad things happen and historically all of the things you mentioned have happened–though I’m not sure they happened all at once. How is your prediction of apocalypse any more scientific that the warmists? “It happened before” is not predictive. Where is the data that shows the pattern exists and has had the same result every time? Can no one imagine that people actually can adapt and the world is not going to behave like a bad scifi movie?
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To which periods of recorded history do you refer?
Would that be 1890-1920? (That would be my guess based on cooling at the end of 19th century and two iterations of a 60 year cycle.)
00
Handjive asks whose lying when one report tells us that energy bills will rise by c $260 while the Oz PM claims that they will go down by a similar amount.
Possibly both accounts are ‘correct’
It is certain that prices will rise but all that Jules has to do is offer an incentive to have a ‘smartie’ installed that will reduce the tariff!
Simples, really, the pledge gets honoured and the poorer members of society gets to subsidise the better off once again.
What’s not to like?
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I think it’s called taking the rise.
10
Evening all.
I’m in a serious mood, (unusual for me) and am slightly peeved about our beloved PM. It seems she is now complaining that her opposite number in opposition is not providing straight answers about the Slipper case. Given she has spent many a long hour dissembling the truth, a big call. And my understanding is that she was the one who promoted “Slippery Pete” into high office as Speaker…
Talk about chutzpah! If there was any justice in this country, she’s be in gaol, not the Lodge. Her only consolation being that she wouldn’t be lonely. Slipper, Thompson, Shorten, Wilson, Roxon etc.
Cheers,
Speedy
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Last night on the news, I heard that The Economist says Australia is the second best place to be born, after Sweden. This was rather surprising to me, having read several blogs from Australia on which the tone was less than enthusiastic. Any comments on why the Economist says Australia is the place to be born?
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Sometimes people get confused between Australia and New Zealand. A simple enough mistake to make, they are both at the bottom right hand corner of a Euro-centric map, and so a long way from Europe.
The original European settlers in New Zealand, were pragmatic farmers, and that culture continues today, in New Zealand politics.
The original European settlers in Australia were petty crooks and felons, and that culture continues today in Australian politics, except that in Australia it has almost developed into an art form.
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Yep, born and raised in NZ, then move to Australia to make a living! 🙂
30
me too – Rereke, South Australian’s would disagree with you.
20
Trouble is, you bring that ridiculous accent with you !!! 😉
10
I heard it was Switzerland, not Sweden. Sounds a bit like climate science to me.
10
.
Once upon a time an Aussie and a Kiwi were beach combing at Bondi, when they both spotted and old brass lamp at the same time. Both men ran for it and grabbed it, and a squabble broke out. As they fought, grabbing at the lamp, there was a bang, and a cloud of smoke, and a genie appeared.
“Thank you for freeing me from the lamp” said the genie. “I have been trapped in there for a thousand years. To show my gratitude, I’ll grant you both one wish”.
“Great”, said the Kiwi. “Build a wall a thousand feet high, all the way around New Zealand, so we can keep those Awwwstralian rabble out”.
“Done” said the genie. “Your turn now”, he added, turning to the Aussie.
“That wall you just built around New Zealand – is it watertight – you know, like a swimming pool?” asked the Aussie.
“But of course”, responded the genie.
“Good. In that case, fill it up”.
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jThats because the Economist is a Socialist Rag and in the cradle to grave model of Socialism, if Sweden is the cradle then Julia is taking Aus. straight to the grave.
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Sheri,
Did they state the criteria by any chance? What are they measuring to come up with that pronouncement?
00
No IPCC? Meh, boring. Doesn’t leave a lot …
Have some Dandy Warhols http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU3mc0yvRNk
Pointman
20
I listened to the end…
God, what a great song, good choice Pointman !!
At least 3 & 1/2 minutes of pleasure, not thinking about:
– the IPCC.
– the Carbon Tax.
– the lies from people in authority.
– the Renewable Lie.
I could go on and on but I like you. I like you I like you I like you…
🙂
00
George Carlin on saving the planet. One of his best.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eScDfYzMEEw
Language is a bit ripe but at least you can have a giggle and agree with a lot of his jokes and some of his more serious stuff.
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“Language is a bit ripe ”
You aren’t an Aussie, are you ! 🙂
10
Kinda puts things in perspective, doesn’t it?
00
It is being reported this morning that Fairfax is selling it’s remaining stake in Trademe which has been it’s cash cow. Obviously the debt Fairfax had built up has got the better of it or the bankers are tightening the screws.
So while Fairfax made a good return on it’s investment
(based on the asking price for the remaining shares ) here they are selling their major asset in the new “online world” to keep it’s non performing old world media assets which continue to push the AGW propoganda.
Is it simply a case of the executives not being able to recognise a lost cause !!
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Or conversely, is it simply a case of the executives only being able to cause loss?
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No, like all good socialists they are implementing their policy of monopolising opinion. And like ALP Socialism at its best, Fairfax is only getting it half right. They are well on the way to making Ausatralia and one media company nation, it’s just that they are so incompetent the one player will be Rupert. In a similar vein the ALP is well down the road to making Australia a one party Nation, and once again they are implementing it in such a way that it will be a one party conservative Nation.
I say, in both cases, let them have their heads, let them continue “moving forward” out of existence.
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Sheri’s astute question? #21: Any comments on why the Economist says Australia is the place to be born?
Sheri reports that she heard this from the (MSM) news.
In my view this is perhaps an example of the MSM positive feedback mechanism in action, where it reinforces a certain construct.
A recent article published in The Economist entitled: ‘Heated debate – The costs of climate change can be mitigated if economic activity moves in response’ Dec 8th 2012 appears to depict the disposition of this journalistic organ.
http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21567887-costs-climate-change-can-be-mitigated-if-economic-activity-moves
Given the current administration in Australia, it would seem that The Economist and The Lucky Country are either in perfect synchrony or experiencing a moment of Jungian ‘meaningful coincidence’. Perhaps this is why The Economist was enthusiastic to report Australia to be such a superb place to be born, albeit worryingly second to Sweden.
Rereke #21.1 highlights the “…it has almost developed into an art form” phenomena.
For my money then, I’d go with Van Gogh, a post impressionist artist who rejected the constraints of impressionism and embarked on his own unique style, particularly when considering the symbolism of removing his own ear.
We are in the throes of a unique and dominant view of the world promulgated by national administrations and echoed by organs of the MSM that obdurately remain unfettered by science and deaf to reason. Little wonder then that The Economist reports Australia as the place to be born…where one might have a second best future.
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So now we have an imaginary economy to tell us how to cope with imaginary climate change. What will they think of next?
The blind leading the blind used to be a metaphor. Now it’s daily reality.
00
Ok,
I only just heard about this the other day. Do you all remember that footage that finds it’s way into CSIRO Goreball warming reports showing bent railway tracks in the heat in melbourne?
Gosh – bent railway tracks! – something must be going on there people think.
Well there was something going on there and it had little to do with the planet supposedly frying itself.
Anyways, this is apparently what happened
1) Some politician contemplating things in their escorted limo one day decided that the clickety clack noises must be annoying the peasant train commuters in melbourne.
2) Some Rocket scientist said “we can fix that – we’ll just weld the railway lines together – problem solved – see aren’t I clever?”
3) Said railway tracks got welded together.
The result – it gets hot and the railway tracks expand just a little bit. The Tracks get buckled under the strain on some curved locations.
And as a bonus – we have an emblem for every Gorebal warming paper for the next X number of years.
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Of course, a little thinking up front would dictate leaving in some of the rail joints to allow for expansion. Duh!
The real reason for the move to welded rail is not noise, or even political, however. Those “noisy” rail joints are high maintenance because not only does the train give every joint a hellofa pounding but the joints give wheels and bearings the same pounding in return. Every “wheel click” is a sledgehammer blow from a heavy moving object like a train.
Everything lasts longer with welded rail. The lack of noise is just a bonus.
00
Of course you would think that maybe if you did want to weld the rails you would first ensure the sleepers were strong enough – at the time a large number of the sleepers here in melbourne were rotten wooden rails (not concrete).
But honestly, this sort of engineering stupidity by politicians here is the norm. Here in victoria we have many many recent expensive disasters which are a mix of political ignorance combined with engineering incompetence.
I wouldn’t be giving any effort which combines politics with engineering here in victoria the benefit of the doubt. We have sooo many examples here it just beggars belief.
10
The railway lines that take the iron ore trains some hundreds of km to ports are welded. They are set on concrete sleepers, bolted down so hard that expansion is contained. The axle loads are among the highest in the world. We lead the technology.
The cost of a derailment is so high that a great deal of money is invested in design, testing, etc. Even emergency braking is hazardous. One can lock up wheels and cause a flat to be ground on each. The cost and time to remove thouse hundreds of wagons with multiple wheels, to machine the wheels back to high quality circular, is enormous.
A colleage invented a device to detect emerging cracks in tracks. He ran an ultrasound beam on a wagon from outside the track through a coupled, rolling rubber ball of silicone and imaged the echo in real time. If the echo pattern was irregular, the line was marked by a squirt of paint on the run and logged on the on-board computers. This system requires welded tracks to work. When it was tested in various States, he discoverd that over the years, 4 different definitions had been used for the length of a mile or furlong or whatever and the mile markers set in the ground were unreliable. To locate the crack, he found it easier to describe the location in the computer log in terms like “15.5 km east of the datum point at Hamilton station.” This was before GPS, when science was conducted with success in the absence of GPS.
It is daunting to think that a full train, when emergency brakes are applied, will almost always be going downhill. The force that stops it acts finally on those two ribbons of steel, the tracks. I have horrible images of those tracks snapping and going on to resemble long, boiled spaghetti.
Stories say there used to be a road crossing sign saying something like “The train that passes here tahes 11 minutes and 32 seconds precisely, whether your car is on the track or not.”
Ah! Climate change is full of interest. I await the paper that will claim that rising global temperatures will cause the closure of iron ore mining in the Pilbara through an increase of disaster breaks in weakened rail lines. Typically, there will be no optimistic paper that says that breaks will be less frequent because the greatest stress happens on cold nights.
20
Geoff,
It sounds like an operation a rail fan like me would like to get a good look at — and a ride.
We have some steep grades that present similar challenges to what you describe. I’m always wondering when I’ll hear news of a runaway.
There are surpisingly few mishaps except for stupit stuff like the Metrolink 111 engineer who was texting some teenage kids instead of paying attention, ran a red signal and then ran head on into a freight train at 40 MPH. The freight was also doing 40. An 80 MPH impact telescoped the Metrolink locomotive almost completely int the first passenger car. 25 died in that crash.
The poltiticians have been all over the Metrolink wreck like flies on a dead carcass. It’s a mad scramble to accumulate points with the voters on Election Day. They can’t let the engineers do their jobs here any more than there.
Climate change maybe causes carelessness? I don’t know.
00
LOL. Scotsman touches on carbon (dioxide) fraud, then goes to a carbon cowboy to give advice!
15 Dec: Scotsman: Jeff Salway: Investors need to beware the boiler room scammers
CARBON credit investments aren’t the only schemes being promoted by unscrupulous firms aiming to catch investors unawares.
Some carbon credit scams are operated by the same firms behind notorious boiler room investments that have conned apparently sophisticated investors out of millions of pounds in recent years.
These are scams that target experienced and often sophisticated investors with seemingly attractive share offers that turn out to be worthless or even non-existent…
Barry O’Neill, investment director at Carbon Financial Partners, said: “One simple question to ask yourself to establish if something is a bona fide investment or whether you are simply exposing yourself to pure price speculation is ‘am I owed a return for investing my money’?
“Bank accounts, government bonds, corporate bonds, property and shares all generally pay something to investors as compensation for allocating their capital to them.”
Another solid rule is not to invest in anything as a result of a cold call or e-mail. O’Neill added. “You must do sufficient due diligence into any investment so you can understand where the risks really lie and how the returns are to be generated.”…
http://www.scotsman.com/business/personal-finance/investors-need-to-beware-the-boiler-room-scammers-1-2694001
00
hide the Jackson story in a blog, then shill for the EPA, for CAGW fantasies such as “extreme weather events” blah blah:
14 Dec: Bloomberg BNA Climate Blog: Regina Cline: The Week Ahead: EPA Administrator Faces House Committee Deadline to Provide Information on Use of ‘Secret’ Email Accounts
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson faces a Dec. 21 deadline to turn over to a House committee information on the use of secondary email accounts to conduct agency business…
McCarthy to Give Keynote Address
EPA Assistant Administrator Gina McCarthy is scheduled to give the keynote speech Dec. 21 at the New England Electricity Restructuring Roundtable in Boston on what to expect in terms of climate, air, and energy policy during the Obama administration’s second term. As covered in a Nov. 7 article, curbing greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, cars, and light trucks has been a top initiative for Obama, and he is expected during the next four years to rely on EPA’s existing regulatory authority to address climate change and focus on clean energy issues…
FHWA Webinar
On Dec. 18, the Federal Highway Administration will hold a webinar on its 2013-2014 “Climate Change and Extreme Weather Vulnerability and Adaptation Pilot Program.” As detailed in a Dec. 4 article, FHWA is seeking pilot projects from state departments of transportation, metropolitan planning organizations, federal land management agencies, and tribes to conduct analysis in one of two areas: assessments of transportation vulnerability to climate change and extreme weather events, and developing options for improving the resiliency of transportation facilities or systems to climate change or extreme weather events…
DOE Webinar
The Department of Energy’s Wind Powering America program will hold a webinar Dec. 19 on plans and activities for 2013, including a proposal for a National Collegiate Wind Competition and new Regional Resource Centers…
World Bank Group Event
The World Bank Group will hold an event Dec. 17 in Washington, D.C., to discuss climate change activities, including the release of a report, Adapting to Climate Change: Assessing World Bank Group Experience. Ken Chomitz, the bank group’s senior adviser for independent evaluation, will be the featured speaker.
http://www.bna.com/week-ahead-epa-b17179871422/
so much time, energy & money wasted…
20
a CAGW scammer resign? not on your life…
14 Dec: AFP: Deutsche Bank co-CEO ‘won’t quit’ over fraud probe
FRANKFURT — Deutsche Bank’s co-chief executive Juergen Fitschen, in newspaper interviews Friday, said he saw no reason to resign over allegations of suspected tax fraud, insisting he is innocent.
“I’m shattered over the accusations against me. I firmly believe they will prove to be groundless,” Fitschen told the mass-circulation daily Bild.
“I feel I am being unjustly treated and will defend myself,” he said.
Asked whether he would resign over the allegations, Fitschen said: “I see no reason to.”
Fitschen made similar remarks in a different interview published in the business daily Handelsblatt…
Fitschen and Krause are under investigation because they signed off the bank’s 2009 valued-added tax (VAT) declaration.
He told both newspapers that he felt the prosecutors’ reaction was “totally exaggerated”.
“As soon as we realised that we’d been duped by fraudulent clients, we corrected the tax declaration. At no point was any tax money unlawfully paid to Deutsche Bank,” he said.
Fitschen has been a member of Deutsche Bank’s management board since 2009 and took over as co-chief executive, alongside Anshu Jain, earlier this year.
Prosecutors said a total 25 Deutsche Bank employees were being investigated and arrest warrants had been issued for five suspects on suspicion of money laundering and perverting the course of justice.
According to Der Spiegel magazine in its online edition, the suspects evaded hundreds of millions of euros (dollars) in tax.
In December 2011, six businessmen — three British citizens, two Germans and one Frenchman — were sentenced to between three and seven years in prison for not paying taxes from trading in carbon emission certificates.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iWeCBKkbb3U9ak_ozHzuTRCu4lnQ?docId=CNG.bc1996b4c5d246823187a40b7524ed37.711
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13 Dec: Der Spiegel: Tax Evasion Probe: Why Deutsche Bank Will Emerge Unscathed
By Stefan Kaiser
German prosecutors are investigating Deutsche Bank CEO Jürgen Fitschen. But does this mean he will be forced to step down? Probably not. The bank has survived far worse episodes in the past. Fitschen’s predecessor even went to trial and still kept his job…
What may seem like automatic grounds for stepping down in the world of politics is handled a bit differently in business. In contrast to political leaders, executives are capable of withstanding quite a bit more. Indeed, quarterly reports can be far more dangerous for most executives than a team of prosecutors. That makes it unlikely that Fitschen or Krause would immediately step down…
Nevertheless, it seems like a bitter twist of fate that Fitschen would now be the subject of investigation. One of the main reasons he was crowned as chairman of the board at Deutsche Bank is that he makes such an earnest impression…
http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/tax-evasion-probe-why-deutsche-bank-will-emerge-unscathed-a-872732.html
20
Salway on carbon dioxide fraud again, quoting the same carbon cowboy, O’Neill, telling us CAGW is now “centre stage”, and ends the piece with a recommendation to invest in the “clean energy” scams:
15 Dec: Scotsman: Jeff Salway: Con artists open a new criminal front with scams based around carbon credits
VICTIMS of the UK’s fastest growing investment scam are being left heavily out of pocket as fraudsters shift their attention from land banking and “boiler room” schemes.
Investors have been warned to be vigilant about dodgy carbon credit investments after a massive rise in the number of regulatory investigations against firms in the sector.
Police recently arrested several people linked to carbon credit trading firms, while the City watchdog this week issued the latest in a series of warnings over the investments after reporting “deep misgivings” about the way in which carbon credits are sold…
However the market has been targeted by fraudsters that often have links to boiler room and land banking schemes.
Tens of thousands of people were conned into investing in worthless or overpriced carbon credits by the firms at the centre of the recent arrests.
Matthew Bradford, detective inspector for the City of London Police, said: “Carbon credits are the latest in a growing list of products marketed by fraudsters as a sure-fire way to make maximum profits with minimal risks.”
The market itself is perfectly legit and can have its advantages for high-risk investors, with a number of reputable firms in the sector. However, it has also emerged as an easy target for mis-selling, with unscrupulous firms targeting often vulnerable investors with seemingly above-board offers that are ultimately too good to be true…
The certificates bought from dodgy salesmen tend to be impossible to trade or even non-existent. Alternatively, the offers can be in the form of “opportunities” to invest in green projects where carbon credits are generated as a return on the investment, according to the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The regulator has begun almost 80 enquiries into carbon credit firms this year and published a list of more than two dozen unauthorised firms believed to be operating carbon credit scams. It claims the average victim loses around £10,000.
It has focused on two types of carbon credits – certified emission reductions (CERs) and voluntary emission reductions (VERs). The latter are becoming particularly prominent in fraudulent offers and are harder to trade.
Jonathan Phelan, head of unauthorised business at the FSA, said: “We continue to have deep misgivings about carbon credits and have yet to see any convincing evidence that investors can make money from investing in them…
The scams trade on their status as an “edgy” next-big-thing investment, with investors shown glossy presentations referring to government green developments and industry carbon offsetting targets.
“Climate change and global greenhouse gas emissions are now centre stage so it’s no surprise that some investors have been tempted into schemes which claim to be able to help address the issue,” said Barry O’Neill, investment director at Carbon Financial Partners, a financial planner…
Credit trading is not a regulated activity unless it is being promoted as part of a regulated investment, such as a collective investment scheme or futures contract…
Some fraudulent firms try to get around this by claiming they are Sipp-approved, referring to self-invested pension plans, and that they are “settled” through an FSA-regulated custodian in the UK, but this is deliberately misleading.
“This is something entirely different to being compensated if things go wrong,” said Munro. “Investors will not have access to the FOS or the FSCS.”
All this is not to say that carbon credit investing doesn’t have its place. However it is only suitable to those with a high appetite for risk and preferably with some experience of, or knowledge in, the sector.
Munro added: “If you are interested in carbon-related investments, you are probably better off gaining exposure to the sector via an investment trust, unit trust or exchange-traded vehicle which invests in clean energy. There are plenty to choose from, but investments of this type should never account for more than 3 to 5 per cent of your portfolio.”
http://www.scotsman.com/business/personal-finance/con-artists-open-a-new-criminal-front-with-scams-based-around-carbon-credits-1-2694003
00
Er…
I am not sure that agreeing with each other on blogs advances the cause. Bombard your MPs!
40
had to repost this post by Markx on WUWT regarding Stephan Lewandowsky.
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If we ever give psychiatrists so much power that they themselves begin to believe they can know the unknowable, a new kind of hellish nightmare will be unleashed upon our society.
To stop this we merely need to remind the psychiatrists of Thomas Nagel’s landmark paper. (You don’t know what it’s like to be any other sentient being, and you never can.)
10
climate scientists too
10
We are told we are a rich developed country and as such we got there by fouling the air and we now have to pay recompense to all those poor countries.
Could someone say how this recompense is going to be calculated.
Before we started to monitor our emissions how would we know how much our emissions were.Were they more than China,India,Rhodesia,Brazil,Argentina,Mexico.Or are the Greens just going to pluck a figure out of thin air.After all you can be very generous with other peoples money.
40
Why should you even care what your emissions are?
00
.
EU ETS is close to collapse.
They price carbon on the manufacturing industries – then wonder why they move to countries outside the EU. But now they decide to give free carbon permits to keep them in the EU. Is this a comedy or a joke?
From Reuters
EU sources said that the cost of carbon on the Emissions Trading Scheme has collapsed to record low levels under the burden of excess supply. Earlier this month, it hit a new low of EUR 5.61 a tonne. The fall in price has reduced any additional costs for major polluters. It is, however, expected to rise. Some in heavy industry complain that, in any case, it does not lead to emissions cuts but only to relocation of industry to pollute other nations, where it does not have to buy the permits. A senior Commission official told Reuters that “The Commission is planning to draw up a list of sectors most affected by the ETS regulations and that are, therefore, at risk of relocating their activities outside the EU.”
Problem – CO2 tax
Solution – relocate inductry where there is no CO2 Tax.
EU Solution – charge CO2 Tax then pay it all back to stop them relocating.
Real Solution – drop the stupid CO2 Tax.
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“Real Solution – drop the stupid CO2 Tax.”
Amen. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Real Solution: should also include the RET.
Here’s The Windmill is over here! in 2007 . Kevin wasn’t the brightest brick in the pallet – but he knew how to draw a crowd. Australia voted in Kevin 07 with his promise of a 20% renewable energy target to be reached by 2020.
What really gets me is all the parties agreed to this garbage. Lets have 20% of out energy supplied by renewables? I’ve writen to John Connelly (our LNP member for Fairfax) and been duck shoved to Greg Hunt – the wimp of environment and backer of RET? WTF
If Abbott gets rid of the CO2 Tax – that’s one step – but this RET is still the go ahead for all the windmills and solar panels to eat up Australian Tax payer money.
The only way to solve this is to get rid of the CO2 Tax and the RET – then Australia will boom again.
Mean while the physical environment (state & federal) in relation to forests and reserves have gone to SH*T – full of weed and vermin. Property owners with boundaries onto National or State Parks are spending a fortune to contain the infestation of weed and feral animal invasion to their properties.
When will this madness STOP?
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“Real Solution: should also include the RET.”
Amen, Amen !!!!!!!
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Propaganda department:
Did anyone else out there see the UK’s Channel 4 shock horror programme last week – ‘Is our Weather Getting Worse?’
Here are just two gems I spotted:
Apparently the last decade has been ‘colder, wetter, and hotter than since records began’ (!)
We were also told that December 2010 was the coldest ever (- 0.7 degrees C), however the Central England Temperature Record gives a December average of minus 0.8 C in 1890, plus a handful of sub zero Decembers (in 1676, 1788, 1796, 1874,and 1878). None are below – 1 Centigrade.
So, is the UK’s climate changing? Your answers please!
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Carbon500 wrote:
“Apparently the last decade has been ‘colder, wetter, and hotter than since records began’ (!)”
This reminds me of Michael McIntyre’s little routine about weather records:
Michael Mcintyre Live at the Apollo Part 3 (time 3:52 if it doesn’t open at that point automatically for you)
At least this guy’s comment actually made sense, and he’s just a comedian. ;^)
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What !! he forgot drier !!!!!!!!!
colder, wetter, and hotter and drier.. will these catastrophists NEVER get it right !!!!
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Andy,
What he forgot is that the weather has been “more normal” than ever before.
It’s so easy when you find the right terms, isn’t it?
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Apparently, those old measurements need to be corrected by professional climatologists before being used.
Makes one wonder how long it’ll be before yesterday’s temperatures are “valid”.
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\
IPCC = I Promulgate Confusing Consensus
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I Piss Carbon Constantly…
🙂
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Is that a euphemism for Complete Carp ?
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.
This year 2012, December has 5 Saturdays, 5 Sundays and 5 Mondays.
When will it happen again?
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The next December in which that combination occurs is December 2018.
I didn’t calculate anything, I just clicked the mouse 12 times. 🙂
it’s a handy web site, by the way.
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Ok get this: the 1995 film Heat (Pacino, De Niro, Kilmer) was written and directed by Michael Mann.
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Are you sure it was Michael Mann, and not somebody else with the same name?
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Nah, he’s the same Michael Mann he’s always been.
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So if there was someone else with the same name (quite possible) – who would they be??
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Ahh, well now, if this is the same someone else that Rereke was talking about then that would be Michael Mann. If not, then it’s not the same bloke.
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are “smart meters” now “in-home displays”? note parties blaming each other, as if the who gamut of CAGW policies isn’t responsible for most of the increase in prices:
17 Dec: SMH: Peter Hannam: Energy savings push extended to low-income families
As many as 25,000 low-income households will receive federal government support to cut their energy use in the first round of energy efficiency grants paid for by funds from the carbon tax.
The government will spend about $39.8 million – equivalent to almost $1,600 per household – on 11 projects involving trade unions, charities, welfare groups and companies. The projects will seek to lower the barriers to the energy savings, such as upfront costs and behaviour patterns…
“Investment in smart energy use now will help to lower our energy use in the future and help households to lower their electricity bills,” Mr Combet said.
Funding will include outlays over four years for retrofitting some homes with more efficient appliances, installing ***in-home displays*** to show energy use, and financial training.
Rising energy bills have become a major political issue this year with the major parties blaming each other for the 50 per cent increase in the past three or four years…
Other recipients of funding include the South East Councils Climate Change Alliance in Victoria, Mission Australia Housing and Indigenous Essential Services, serving East Arnhem indigenous communities…
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/energy-smart/energy-savings-push-extended-to-lowincome-families-20121217-2bip6.html
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just when u think CAGW-think can’t get crazier!
18 Dec: Australian: Rick Morton: It’s OK to link climate denial to pedophilia, ABC tells ex-chairman Maurice Newman
A COMPLAINT by former ABC chairman Maurice Newman over a radio program that linked scepticism about human-induced climate change to advocacy of pedophilia has been dismissed by the national broadcaster.
Mr Newman, who retired from the ABC’s top job in March when his five-year term ended, said the broadcaster had been “captured” by a “small but powerful” group of people when it came to climate change groupthink – a claim rebuffed by the broadcaster.
He said comments by the network’s science reporter Robyn Williams in a November 24 broadcast of The Science Show were indicative of a broader failure of the “public interest” test at the taxpayer-funded ABC…
“Speaking up publicly is not the sort of thing you do lightly,” he told The Australian yesterday.
“I still have a deep affection for the ABC but at some point someone has got to make a stand. The ABC is not being frank and open about the way global warming is portrayed on its various platforms, although the sense of imbalance is becoming more overt, I feel.”…
An ABC spokeswoman said the complaint was dismissed because the editorial context of the segment was reasonable, meaning “harm and offence” was justified.
“ABC Audience and Consumer Affairs have carefully considered the complaint, reviewed the program and assessed it against the ABC’s editorial standards for harm and offence which state in part: 7.1 Content that is likely to cause harm or offence must be justified by the editorial context,” the spokeswoman said.
“ABC Audience and Consumer Affairs have also sought and considered a response from ABC Radio. Audience and Consumer Affairs have concluded that there has been no breach of the ABC’s editorial standards for harm and offence.” The former chairman said he had not made the complaint to the ABC to air a personal grievance; rather he wished to highlight that the national broadcaster had a duty to all taxpayers to provide more considered and balanced reports…
The ABC spokeswoman said the network did broadcast and publish views from dissenting scientists.
“Unlike the BBC, the ABC acknowledges there are climate scientists who question the core thinking about climate science,” she said.
“The ABC gives them and their views air time.”…
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/media/broadcast/its-ok-to-link-climate-denial-to-pedophilia-abc-tells-ex-chairman-maurice-newman/story-fna045gd-1226538690358
is the above the reason why Spigelman defended the right to offend recently?
11 Dec: AFR: It’s OK to offend, says Spigelman
ABC chairman and former NSW Chief Justice Jim Spigelman has criticised proposed laws protecting people from offence, saying hurting another person’s feelings should not be outlawed…
http://www.afr.com/p/national/it_ok_to_offend_says_spigelman_gHjDcUUIJnqfREOThoshXN
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Steady there Pat, Spigelman is right about laws that make offensive statements a crime.
It’s basically a Thoughtcrime (1984 style) – not because of the thoughts of the offender but because of the thoughts of the victim.
Firstly, as a legal practicality, like all throughtcrimes it’s unprovable. How can anyone tell if a person really was offended or whether they are just fishing for a compo claim?
Secondly, as a matter of principal, it is a limitation of free speech and such limitations must be narrowly constrained to avoid “chilling effects” on expression. It’s only unpopular speech which needs protection as a Right, which is just the kind of speech likely to cause offence to somebody somewhere.
There’s also something to be said for rewarding the resilient and letting the fragile wallow in their own imagination.
Williams should not have said what he said because it was unjustified by editorial context, it’s unjustified by facts and scientific evidence, and it is clear Williams is pushing his own agenda in contradiction to the ABC’s charter.
To create a law forbidding upset would be the most enormous backwards step because abuses of such a law would be the only uses it would ever get.
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Andrew McRae –
i wasn’t referring to the broader argument against censorship, but to the specific defense of being “offensive”, precisely as this pedophile slur was being excused by said same ABC.
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Oh, a sort of “right for the wrong reasons” kind of judgement.
Strange, but okay.
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