Friday, May 09, 2008
SHALLOW ANALYSIS
You know, Port Phillip Bay could really do with some dredging.
THE REFFOS RUDD REJECTS
In accordance with Labor tradition:
The Rudd Government is rejecting asylum seeker applications at a higher rate than the Howard government, according to an analysis of new figures.
An Asylum Seeker Research Centre report says the immigration department has knocked back 41 of the 42 cases it has had referred to it since Labor took power after the November 2007 election, a rejection rate of 97.6 per cent.
Time for Phillip Adams to start another reader campaign.
(Via Kae)
GOOD NEWS FOR ALL
A positive environmental development.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
PITY THE FUEL
November 2007. Kevin Rudd is worried about the cost of petrol:
Rising food and petrol prices, coupled with recent interest rate rises, were putting extraordinary pressures on families, he said.
"The playback that I get from communities across the country is that families are under real financial pressure,” he said.
May 2008. That pressure will increase, thanks to Kevin Rudd:
An emissions trading scheme is likely to increase petrol prices by about 10 cents a litre ...
HONEYMOON SURVIVED
Michael Rittenhouse recalls his Third World honeymoon. Take this as a cue to describe your own Third World travels (or honeymoon; whichever was more dangerous).
BAD SHOES NOW GOOD
Remember when Nike was despised by the left because of globalisation? Times change:
Nike tops list of climate-friendly companies
UPDATE. Too much climate friendliness! Global cooling is now a flight-safety hazard.
UPDATE II. Rating the airborne celebrity hypocrites.
UPDATE III. Ground-level cool fuel tales from Mike H.:
As a long haul driver in the US I can remember driving through Montana during the winter about ten years ago in -80° F weather. In order to heat the cab of the truck I would put the heater controls on cab heat and watch the windows frost up. Then I would put the controls on window defrost and start freezing my feet. There wasn’t enough heat in the diesel engine to do both jobs at the same time.
I passed a truck on the side of the road that had his fuel jelled and he had to walk a half of a mile to get some alcohol to melt the wax. Fortunately the truck stop in Billings was a balmy -60° F because all the trucks had their engines running, so I was able to sleep without becoming a carbon popsicle. In temperatures like that diesel engines can become so cool that they’ll stop because the compression temp. is too cool for combustion.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
JOCK PAULL
Jock Paull, of TISM and Blind Lemon Chicken, has died at 50.
ENFORCEMENT BRANCH STRIKES
Kyoto trouble in Kyanada:
Canada will be probed on suspicion of violating rules for registering greenhouse gases that are the mainstay of a UN-led fight against global warming, official documents show.
Ottawa could be suspended from rights to trade carbon dioxide if found to be in breach of the rules by the enforcement branch of the UN’s Kyoto Protocol. Greece was suspended last month, the first nation to face such a sanction under Kyoto.
Possibly Canada – lately punching out carbon at a level way above its Kyoto target – was simply trying to avoid committing New Zealand-style Kyotocide. Similar woes in the UK:
Labour’s new green targets will cost every family in Britain more than £3,000, a Government dossier has warned. The decision by ministers to sign up to “unachievable” EU pledges on renewable energy will leave taxpayers with a £75billion bill.
PRIZEWINNER REPLIES
Hillary-hatin’ Bob Ellis has his say in the Daily Telegraph. Biggest audience Bob’s had in years.
UPDATE. Some background to all of this.
HILLARY ALMOST DONE
Obama takes North Carolina, while in Indiana …
… Clinton appeared headed for a more modest 2 point or less victory. There, she won 60-40 among white voters, who made up 80 percent of the turnout, while losing black voters 8-92.
Also it appears that Hillary Clinton may be broke.
Rush Limbaugh’s assistance apparently wasn’t a factor.
UPDATE. According to the Obama campaign, Limbaugh’s work was worth seven per cent in Indiana. NASCAR votes didn’t come through, however.
UPDATE II. The New York Observer:
Tuesday was a decisive night for Barack Obama.
Sure, CBS News called Indiana early for Hillary Clinton (a verdict the network may yet regret, with many precincts still outstanding), and if she does hang on there, she will have won just as many states on the day as Obama did. And she will then soldier on to what should be a landslide win in next week’s West Virginia primary, just as she figures to dominate in Kentucky on May 20.
But tonight made clear one thing: None of that will matter.
KIWIS DOOMED
Terry Dunleavy considers New Zealand’s fate should it pursue carbon reduction:
New Zealand produces about 0.2 per cent of the world’s man-made production of CO2. Even if NZ totally eliminated CO2 emissions, the difference would be to reduce the annual rate of increase in the atmosphere by 0.2 per cent of 1.5ppm, equalling 0.003ppm which equals 3 parts per billion. This of course is a far lower amount than can even be detected.
Are we seriously going to shatter our economy, restrict ourselves to a fragile electricity system, cost every family in the land $1000 to $1500 per year in electricity expenses alone, seriously damage our agriculture industry, etc. by trying to reduce New Zealand’s minuscule CO2 contribution?
But it’s worse than that. The Government’s stated goal is to reduce our CO2 emissions by 20 per cent. So if we were to succeed in this, and thereby reduce New Zealand’s 3 parts per billion contribution to 20 per cent of this figure, the reduction in global CO2 arising from our action would amount to 0.6 parts per billion per year.
Thus will the planet be saved.
(Via Mystery)
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
SAME OLD AL
Where’s Al? Here’s Al, at Ohio State:
He said this, by way of introduction: “I am Al Gore. I used to be the next president of the United States of America."
He’s been using that line for six horrible years.
"The planet has a fever,” he said.
Another Gore classic. Notably, the event was attended by “an ambassador for polar bears”.
Monday, May 05, 2008
RITTER IN A RUT
Scott Ritter, the man who argues with himself, in February 2005:
Ritter said that President George W. Bush has received and signed off on orders for an aerial attack on Iran planned for June 2005.
Ritter, February 2006:
"We just don’t know when, but it’s going to happen."
Ritter, April 2008:
"I think we’ve never been at a greater risk of American military action against Iran."
NATION REWARDED
From the wonderful Wondermark:
(Via Dan Lewis)
O-BOB IN NEWSPAPER
This week’s compact column pays further attention to Oral Robert - and his feminist fan, featured here.