Gillard should demand US apology for threats to Assange

When is the Gillard Govt going to get a backbone and carpet the US ambassador, to demand the POTUS apologise publicly to Julian Assange, Australia and its people, for the death threats and calls for "extrajudicial measures" in the US media and by elected officials, that are being directed against a citizen (who has not broken any US law inside or outside of that country, as far as anyone can tell so far), of a country supposedly considered "no better partner and no stronger ally"?

And while Mr President is at it, he can tell everyone stateside including psyops, policy wonks, elected representatives and the media to take.a.cold.shower.

While I was aware of the hysterical hyperbole and public threats, perhaps it should not have been a surprise while watching 4 Corners "The Forgotten Man" on Monday night, to see in an excerpt from Fox TV, a commentator suggesting of Assange ..."illegally shoot the son-of-a-bitch", and another, "you should take this guy out, have the CIA take him out", and a third person interviewed say "that we may have to consider extrajudicial measures in order to detain him and stop him from proceeding". [Full transcript]

What the frak is in their Kool-Aid?!

Don't they have any idea of how they are presenting themselves, and by default, their nation to the rest of world, when they jump on that bandwagon, and make stupid, inflammatory and dangerous remarks like that?

And as a more pleasant aside and a demonstration to all the wingnuts and political wannabes out there, of how it's really done; winner of the evening goes to .... Senator the Hon. Helen Coonan on QandA. Just when you think you have her pegged, she displays true stateswomanship.

Reply to Heartbreaking denialism by Joshua Gans

Reply to Heartbreaking denialism by Joshua Gans via 1petermartin: Sharing... They are environment haters; pure and simple - Gans http://bit.ly/87pLXy

But don't you see?  It's the extra layer of government, and the extra taxes (although they'll happily spruik for their constituencies and special interests to get tax payer funded "compensation"), and the jobs that will be lost, and the end of the economy as we know it.

What I wonder is, how is it then that the European Union, which has arguably had an even more flawed ETS for 6 years now, seems to be surviving?

Including in Germany alone, the directly attributable creation of 230, 000 plus jobs in the renewable energy industries (R&D, manufacture, sales - domestic and international, and installation of wind, solar, biomass, tidal technologies), and creation of an additional, invaulable income stream to (especially) farmers, from energy production.

You know, from all those solar panals and wind turbines they've planted in the paddocks where the livestock graze.

Good grief.  Who knew?  The sun shines and the wind blows and the tide goes in and out in Europe!

And they're (SHOCK! HORROR!) progressively decommissioning nuclear power stations, as more renewable energy sources come on line.

Oh well, guess we should just get used to a nice balance of trade deficit with the Euro zone over the next few years, importing technology and know-how, what with having sold off, closed down and driven out most of our world class renewables R&D technologies and intellectuals, to everywhere else during the last two federal administrations.

No, Joshua, they're not haters, they're just humans stuck in the oldest human dilemma.  Having to change their minds about a belief they hold dear, rather than admit to a mistake.

Like King Canute trying to hold back the tide, this is (I hope!) their last hurrah.  Just as the GST became the inevitable "tax reform" we had to have, so will the ETS and/or carbon tax be part of the new reality of the carbon constrained and oil depleted future of the Australian and global economy.

The sooner we all face this fact, regardless of our belief, the sooner we can start getting results.

Links:

• Emissions trading schemes by country
• Emission Trading System (EU ETS)
• Nuclear Europe: Country guide
• Decommissioning nuclear facilities
• Going where the green jobs are
• Green Jobs: The Future of America’s Economy?
• Cnut the Great
  

Green makeoever to create jobs

I don't read the papers every day, not even online, but I reckon this got lost in the mainstream noise generated by the financial gurus running around like chooks with their heads cut off.  (Thanks to Kwoff for the heads up.)

Homes 'should get free green makeovers' | NEWS.com.au

By Cathy Alexander
September 21, 2008 03:25pm

UNIONS want a "green revolution" to sweep the country's homes, saving more than $400 on annual household electricity bills.

They have called on the Federal Government to pay for a mass retrofitting of homes to slash electricity use.

Homes would be kitted out with insulation, double glazing and smart appliances at a cost to the Government of $5500 apiece. ...

Not a bad start Sharon, but a solar hot water system and/or grid connect solar system as well, would be even better.

It's nice to know I'm not alone

I was going to post about Germaine Greer appearing on ABC TVs Q&A last night (one of the best so far, always has a lot to do with the calibre of the guests), but others have beaten me to it, so ....

OK, I could embed the cartoon here, but then you wouldn't visit the page and read all the comments, would you? (Thanks to Stilgherrian for the throw, it usually depends on whether I read your RSS or Andrew Bartlett's first! ;-)

Crikey - First Dog on the Moon - Why does everyone hate Germaine Greer?

Dare I say - the thinking man's pin-up girl?

Besides as MOH said, she is totally Australian; opinionated, rowdy, unimpressed by rank, wealth, possessions or any of those other modern yardsticks of "success", funny when she wants to be, and doesn't give a (Tawny) hoot about what other people think of her.

Olympians & Spectators Offered Support In Speaking Up In Beijing

Monday, 14 July 2008

Australian Olympian Michelle Engelsman joined Simon Bradshaw, ATC’s Campaign Coordinator, for the media launch of the Beijing 2008 Tibet Resource Pack, aimed at athletes and spectators heading to next month’s Olympics in Beijing.

...

With tough regulations in place to discourage athletes and others heading to the Games from speaking out, the options for those wishing to show their support for Tibet without facing consequences are limited. The educational resource, T-shirt and badge in this pack have been carefully designed in accordance with restrictions imposed by the Olympic charter and the Australian Olympic Committee. However, individuals need to be aware that they may not be permitted to carry certain other items in the pack to Beijing.

Bartlett's blog post about blogs

"Andrew Bartlett has been active in Australian politics for over 20 years, including serving as a Senator for Queensland from 1997-2008. He started this blog in 2004. It reflects his own views and thoughts, independent of any political party or organisation."

High value blogs - a human rights example

... there is plenty of overlap and we’re really just talking about people writing words and providing information and/or opinion. It’s the content that should matter, not the label attached to the provider of the content.

The credibility and value of those words is up to the reader/consumer, and they will usually assess its credibility based on their own judgement as to whether they think the person writing it knows what they’re talking about. But one aspect of the blogosphere which I find gets insufficient recognition is just how highly credible and skilled some of the bloggers out there are, and how useful their material can be.

Peak oil - suck it up people!

I am getting really annoyed with all the hand wringing and "woe is me" talk about petrol prices.

Suck it up people!

It's not like we haven't be warned - for the last 50 years.

Industry insiders, forward thinking politicians, conservationists and environmentalists have been talking about Peak Oil since before the first "oil shocks" in the early 1970's.

And what have our politicians and industry "leaders" done?

BUPKIS!

So now we have our pollies talking about reducing the fuel excise by 10 cents a litre - great idea, show me where the money is coming from to replace the shortfall, if you insist on providing this kind of knee jerk "relief" to the "battlers".

And as for "taking a blowtorch to OPEC" Oh Puuleease! Don't you lot get it? There ain't no more easy oil left!

Not to mention the "diplomatic" tone of the sound bite. I'm beginning to wonder about this mob.

And our motoring organisations! "More roads - more roads!", is the catchcry. Such foresight. Haven't you heard of the basic Murphy's Law of "more"?

That is, "The amount of junk you've got, will expand to fit the space you've got to put it in."

"Junk" in this case, being vehicles on roads.

A little vision and leadership goes a long way. Unfortunately, all we have been prepared to vote for, are people with the vision of Mr Magoo and a leadership style based on the "Peter Principle".

Oh, to have a leader like the "Governator" right now! (Wait a minute ... did I *really* just write that?!)

The Golden Age of the Iced Vovo

In the afterglow of such a resounding Labor victory this 2007 federal election, we the people, have a few modest requests .... (thanks to Stilgherrian, safe and happy travels).

It's just a jump to the left and a step to the right ...

So here's an Oz politics political inclinations (in beta testing) result for moi. Surprise surprise, NOT! Good to see an Aussie version. Now go have some fun of your own. ;-)

Sorry Kermit, now it's easy being green

At the National Press Club last week, Senator Bob Brown GRN, announced (among other things) that he'd use some of the 34 billion dollars slated by Liberal and Labor parties for tax cuts, to put a solar hot water system on every residential household roof in Australia, all 7 million of them. If the carbon emissions from my off peak hot water bill is anything to go by (about 3000 tonnes per year, or a third of my total electricity bill carbon load before I had a grid connect solar power station put on my roof recently), this would make a huge dent in Australia's greenhouse emissions and targets straight away. Not to mention lower household electricity bills, especially for families with members who like long showers. Why then, has there been absolutely no coverage of this in the mainstream media, while the PMs Road to Damascus (I'm not a climate change skeptic anymore) announcement mid leaders' debate last night, that he'd use money from a carbon credit auction to "do something", get kudos this morning? Can't remember what it was, something vague about reducing the impact of the increased cost of electricity for low income earners. What ever it was, it sure didn't ring my chimes the way the prospect of finally seeing a solar hot water system on every roof in Australia, did! Go figure ....

Australian Federal Election 2007

"I am their leader, they are my people, which way did they go? I must follow them!" My YouTube playlist dedicated to the event, with policy announcements, "Pick Me Pick Me" pleas, mainly from the Greens and Australian Democrats, because theyre the only ones that really have their eyes on the future as far as I'm concerned, And the major parties are going to do their best to muscle them out. Plus original youtuber commentary posts, and the usual suspects like Chaser and comedians. Because lets face it, if it wasn't so serious, you'd have to larf -right? Make your vote count - learn how to preference your vote at the AEC page about it. And if you're really desperate to see how the "major" parties are going, check out my YouTube subscription list, they're in there with everything else I'm interested in. admin edit 24/06/08: YT playlist deleted.