Friday, March 28, 2008
COLUMN OF POWER
The hour will soon be upon us:
Sparkly illustration by Sturt Krygsman. SMH darkenistas are hostile to our plans:
On the internet, a handful of commentators are attempting to stage spoiler events under banners such as “Anti Earth Hour” and “Hour of Power”. They encourage sceptics to leave their lights on and run all their appliances, while simultaneously revving their four-wheel-drives, between 8 and 9 tonight.
It sounds so wicked and wrong. A member of the Australian Defence Forces emails: “Further to your earlier post, as well as being sent the same text the serviceman received, we were encouraged to print out this flyer and stick it up around the workplace.
“Note the exhortation to act at home. Oh, I’ll be acting all right: all lights on deck for the Hour of Power!”
It’s not by accident that our armed forces are held in such high regard.
(Insty link via Corey H.)
UPDATE. This Sky News poll is running pro-Power. Via Doug Cox, who reports: “Sky is advertising live coverage of Earth Hour. Somehow I don’t think they get the idea.”
UPDATE II. They’ve pulled a Blanchett in Tel Aviv:
The Mediterranean city turned off its lights at 8 P.M. on Thursday night ... Because of Shabbat, Tel Aviv decided to bring Earth Hour forward.
Thus a clash of faiths is avoided.
UPDATE III. Earth Hour is dangerous:
“We know that candles that are not extinguished properly can actually catch fire to nearby objects such as curtains and clothing,’’ he said.
That’s some impressive knowledge. (Via Becky)
UPDATE IV. Google goes dark:
Google Uk turned its home page black today in an effort to raise awareness for “Earth Hour”.
Great move, Google:
Unfortunately, on LCD monitors sized 22 inches or less, Google’s new black actually consumes more energy than its usual white one.
UPDATE V. The EcoChic (“Learning How to Love Mother Earth”) writes:
I was on a plane from Savannah to Atlanta when I read an article reminding me about Earth Hour.
How ... beautiful. By the way, our anti-warming Prime Minister (whose government has instructed all departments and offices to observe Earth Hour) is marking the occasion by flying around the planet. He’s an Hour of Power champion!
UPDATE VI. Google knows that black backgrounds eat more energy:
Our own analysis as well as that of others shows that making the Google homepage black will not reduce energy consumption. To the contrary, on flat-panel monitors (already estimated to be 75% of the market), displaying black may actually increase energy usage. Detailed results from a new study confirm this.
(Via Doug)
UPDATE VII. This Earth Hour deal is bigger than we thought:
At the Lake Bolac Eel Festival, lights and amplifiers will be turned off for a special “acoustic showcase”.
UPDATE VIII. Fiji is on full Earth Hour alert:
The police force is committed to make its presence felt when Fiji observes Earth Hour from 8-9pm tonight.
Corporate Communications Officer Ema Mua says the force wants to ensure that no one takes advantage of the Earth Hour Initiative to break the law ... “A big number will be patrolling on foot and those who will be on motor vehicle.”
Similar concerns in Manila:
Chief Supt. Roberto Rosales ordered all station commanders to make sure all their men are in the field.
It’s Authority Hour. Anyone who gets beaten up or robbed should contact Earth Hour founder Andy Ridley to discuss compensation.
UPDATE IX. Earth Hour is underway. Ignite! Nigel W. emails:
I won’t be at work tonight at 8pm, so I won’t be surrounded by equipment that toasts more coal in a couple of hours than your average Al Gore house does in a year.
But the attached photo hopefully shows that I have been doing my bit to warm the heavens of late. There are two of these suckers in the area that I am working in at the moment, and this is what they look like with about 30% of the equipment installed.
And from Louis Hissink:
Herewith the 2000 watt bitumen-melting light that will be switched on tonight at 8pm WSDT for one hour. That is me under the hat in front of our diamond core shed.
UPDATE X. Thrill to the darkness.
UPDATE XI. Fun for the whole family!
UPDATE XII. The horror of Earth Hour is at an end, at least locally. Now we await this year’s propaganda images from Fairfax - and further acts of electrical dissent as Earth Hour crawls into new time zones.
RUDDLERS NAMED
Kevin Rudd’s list of 2020 Summiteers is revealed, combining several fine choices with dozens of loudmouths, seat fillers and net losses, many of them known to readers of this site. Among the Cuddly Ruddly One Thousand:
• Robert Manne Academic. Doesn’t believe in dissent. Faulty football memory. Greater than normal capacity for caring.
• Andrew Jaspan Foreigner. Small and sensitive, just like his newspaper’s readership.
• Marieke “Nice flag, fuckhead” Hardy Granddaughter. Low-rating, critically-reviled TV writer. Paid by the government to entertain a small number of morning radio listeners. Unethical. Refuses to befriend anybody with whom she disagrees politically.
• Phillip Adams Broadcaster. Broad fancier. Remembers things that never happened. Assisted wife’s vanity political career. Not good with facts. No, not good with facts at all. Easily frightened.
• Tanya Ha Sustainable living advocate. Joke.
• David Marr Moralist. Silenced under the Howard regime. Believes Australians are innately racist. Outrageous sense of humour. Thinks all Christians are white.
• Professor Ross Garnaut Warmenist. Column generator.
• Barry Jones Senior citizen. Who could ever have imagined Barry would still be turning up at these sorts of things?
• Tim Flannery Geothermian. Spellcaster. Fridge magnate. Lofty disdainer. Idiot.
• Nicholas Gruen Paralysingly dull writer, even for an economist. Thinks we should be polite to terrorists. Wanted to send Malcolm Fraser to Camp X-Ray on a mission to free David Hicks - who was no longer there.
• Corinne Grant Comedienne. Star of The Glass House, John Howard’s crushing of which was a major election issue and caused children to be upset.
• Barrie Kosky Theatricalist. Hates Australia.
• Claudia Karvan Actress. Recycler.
UPDATE. Andrew Bolt rounds ‘em up.
UPDATE II. The summit’s best names:
• Indigo Willing
• Fiona Quality Wood
• Eric Ronald Wing-Fai Knight
I’m expecting a lot from these three.
UPDATE III. Want someone disinvited? Click.
FOUR BULLETS DODGED
With all these good intentioners involved, we could have ended up at war with Mars:
Israel this week issued a formal rejection of a recent offer by former US President Jimmy Carter and former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to mediate a ceasefire between the Jewish state and the Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip.
It’s not just President Rabbit and Truly, Madly, Deeply Concerned Kofi who wanted in on this. Dizzy Desmond and The Pertayter Lady also put their hands up:
Carter and Annan sent their proposal to Israel several weeks ago, and noted that South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former Irish President Mary Robinson would also be part of the mediation team.
Israel probably rejected the proposal out of sympathy to the Gazans. They’re tough, but they’re not unfair.
NO REWARD WITHOUT EFFORT
India’s Economic Times reports:
It’s easy to poke fun at Sydney’s Earth Hour ...
True, but it still requires more work than actually observing Earth Hour - especially if you’re Cate Blanchett. (Note to the Economic Times: that quote should be credited to Contrail.)
UPDATE. We used to be able to push around the Chicago Tribune. Now they laugh at us:
The latest bright idea from the country that gave us “Crocodile Dundee” is to have everyone across the globe turn off their lights for an hour at 8 p.m. Saturday.
Apparently, a bunch of neo-Luddites in Sydney did this last year and it made them feel good about themselves, so they’ve decided to give the rest of the world a chance to achieve a similar sense of self-worth.
We’ve become an international pariah.
NO PESTICIDES, NO GENETIC MODIFICATION
All out of organic soup at your local store? Here’s an alternative supplier.
COALITION OF THE PURRING
This is shameful:
ROBERTSON BARRACKS – EARTH HOUR
TO ALL BASE PERSONNEL,
I would like to tell you about an important global warming initiative – Earth Hour – taking place in Australia and around the world on Saturday, 29 March 2008.
From 8pm to 9pm on that date, major cities around the world will turn off their lights for one hour to raise awareness of climate change, and show that it is possible to take action on global warming. All households, communities and businesses are being invited to participate by turning off their lights at the time.
Our Department has registered to be involved in Earth Hour and to ensure our success I ask you to take two simple steps.
1. Turn off all non essential lights, monitors and computers not connected to the DSN/DRN.
2. Unplug all appliances and equipment in your office areas (except fridges and freezers) before you leave at the end of the week (Friday 28 March).
Don’t forget Step 3: receive your oestrogen injection, put on a party dress, and sing Sarah McLachlan songs all night with your army girlfriends.
The department is very mindful of Occupational Health and Safety issues and will ensure that all OH&S guidelines and standards are adhered to during the event. Emergency lighting and security systems will remain on as normal ...
Thanking you for your participation and cooperation.
Manager Base Services – Robertson Barracks
Defence Support Northern Territory / Kimberley
Via a disgusted serviceman, who emails: “This is Defence in Ruddtopia - symbolic gestures that really save the world.” Our embarrassed soldiers will be pleased to know they’re joined in this ferocious battle against lightbulbs by a kitty and puppy feeding company:
(Via J.F. Beck, who has an Earth Hour suggestion that might appeal to old wardogs)
UPDATE. A political statement such as has never been uttered before: “Get used to the Eukanuba, woofers.”
FAKE BUT TRUTHER
Difficult to believe such people exist:
... one of the biggest dis-info sites out there ran by some of the biggest dis-info personalities and fake truthers in the movement.
I suppose Bryan Law, Barbra Streisand, Juan Cole and Jeff Alworth all qualify, in a sense. And Piers Morgan. In other transformative people news:
Former cycling champion Tammy Thomas seemed to be in the midst of shaving her face when an Olympic drug tester paid her an unannounced visit in 2002 ...
Test unnecessary. Still, furry Tammy is better off than this bloke:
A New Zealand man who claimed he was raped by a wombat and that the experience left him speaking with an Australian accent has been found guilty of wasting police time.
Alcohol is said to play a “large role” in the man’s life.
(Via Mr Bingley)