This morning Julia Gillard made her major pre-election address on the subject of climate change.

For reasons best known to her advisers, she chose to give the speech in Queensland on a university campus.

Perhaps Friends of the Earth moles work inside the PM’s office?

University of Queensland climate change protest

That link again? Six degrees.org.au

After two months of helplessly watching a so-far unstoppable torrent of oil gush from a deep-sea oil well in the Caribbean, the American blogosphere is buzzing, to say the least.

Plenty of wild ideas are floating around.

Some folk suggest sealing the leak with a nuclear explosion. Others are concerned it may not work. The consequences of that would be truly biblical.

Religious Zionists have their own ideas. Some blame God Himself.

For Zions Sake Ministries is promoting a video that suggests Yahweh is wrathful as hell with the USA – and He ain’t gonna take it any more!

For Zion’s Sake explains that under Obama’s less-than-100%-servile leadership, America has slipped somewhat below 100% support for God’s chosen State. (People who pay close attention to such things notice subtelties that might  otherwise be lost on the rest of us).

The video informs viewers that the irate God of Judaic extremists picked the disaster site with care. The Gulf stream is likely to carry an ocean-wide plume of oily slime, all the way to the coast of North West Europe. Britain, which has also shown very occasional signs of independence from Tel Aviv, may also cop His anger.

Unbeliever’s have other theories. Some suggest Halliburton may have played a significant role in the disaster (see Halliburton To Blame For Gulf Oil Spill? by MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann).

Quadrant of Belief on Climate Change and 9-11

Many issues divide public opinion around the world. This chart depicts just TWO prominent issues:

1. belief that the International Panel on Climate Change ‘consensus’ is broadly correct on climate change – versus the belief that climate change is NOT a serious threat to humanity’s well being.
2. belief that the official reports on the 9-11 atrocities is broadly correct – versus the belief that the 9-11 atrocities were not orchestrated by ‘Al Qaida’ and consequently the 9-11 attacks were a ‘false-flag’ operation.

A quarter century ago, neither topic was on the agenda.

In 1985, the atrocities of September 11th 2001 lay 16 years in the future. To state the obvious, no-one could have a view about 9-11 at that time.

‘Global Warming’ and ‘Human-Induced Climate Change’ were also topics unfamiliar to most scientists in the mid-1980s – let alone the general public. It’s was only around then that irrefutable evidence became widely available indicating steadily rising carbon-dioxide levels in the global atmosphere.

I was actively involved in the environment movement during the 1980s and took a keen interest in the climate change issue. It came to prominence around the same time that satellite data was confirming an alarming growth in the so-called ‘ozone hole’ over the poles, especially the Antarctic. At the time, hard-to-refute evidence that human activity was changing the entire global atmosphere in significant ways was a novelty.

There was muted outrage from the environment movement when Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd did a back flip a few weeks ago on his Government’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) – a term often used synonymously with ‘Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme‘ (CPRS).

Is this because environmentally-concerned people in our community have suddenly lost interest in climate change?

Have we joined the ranks of so-called ‘climate sceptics’: people so silly or arrogant they’d punt on their own hunch (or the hunch of their favourite shock-jock) about what’s necessary for biospheric security against the overwhelming consensus of the world’s professional scientists who’ve been researching – and freely discussing – the subject for years?

Dr Clive Spash - ex-CSIRO critic of the ETS, gagged by the Rudd Government

I don’t think so.

I’ll speak personally. By the time Rudd shelved the ETS as a legislative priority, I’d become so aghast at that revolting policy, the detail of which was developed by doyen of sneaky greenwash, ‘Climate Change’ Minister Penny Wong, that I saw it as worse than neutral.

Had the ETS gone ahead, in my opinion, it would have been a step backwards on grappling with climate change. That’s because it would have helped lock Australia into grossly unsustainable practices for a considerable period – and most likely would have ended in sheer fiasco, generating in the process widespread disillusionment about any kind of action on the crucial issue of climate change.

My politics are on the green side.

I’ve long been persuaded that without intelligent environmental management – including management at a global level – humanity is on a fast track to wreck the only habitat we have.

I believe climate change is a highly significant issue. To those who think it’s just a media beat-up, I very much hope you’re right – but I wouldn’t gamble the planet on a hunch. I’ve held that view for over 20 years and explained why previously.

Bob Brown: has helped to save some magnificent forests

Other environmental problems must also be tackled with seriousness barely seen so far on a large scale. Most modern agricultural practices are unsustainable. We’re progressively toxifying the global environment. The appalling loss of biodiversity is a tragedy and a disgrace to this generation.

We need politicians in power who understand these issues – and have a strong commitment to do a lot better.

In Australia, a national Greens Party came into being in the 1990s, led by the popular Tasmanian environmentalist Bob Brown.

From the outset, the Australian Greens embraced a commitment to ecological sustainability, social justice and to the peaceful resolution to conflict. Opposition to war is a key issue for many Greens supporters.

In June 2008, the Australian Greens issued a Policy Statement on International Relations. It’s the most recent policy statement I’ve found that mentions Afghanistan. The reference is brief, but leaves no room for ambiguity:

Too much political debate has been imprisoned inside one dimension for far too long.

Since the early 19th century, the major ideological fault line has been between ‘Socialism’ and ‘Capitalism’. Yet these terms are better understood as descriptors of polarity within a single system than entirely separate recipes for complete, well-functioning societies.

Our Common Future

Take Capitalism. A simplistic but commonly held belief is that a free market system works best with little state interference. Taxation and other forms of regulation are regularly portrayed as enemies of capitalism.

That’s may well be true in a village economy. However, it’s been clear from the outset of the industrial revolution that a successful advanced free-market economy requires very effective regulation. Good common infrastructure encourages enterprise to flourish. Advanced capitalism depends on a clear set of legally enforceable rules – rules that curtail absolute individual freedom, yet provide for a better functioning whole. These ‘socialist ideas’ are a prerequisite for capitalist success – and always have been.

Socialism is the other end of the theoretical polarity. In it’s purest form, it’s also known as ‘Communism’.

In the pre-modern world, there certainly were societies with no classes or castes, devoid of private property and without a competitive economic system. These societies were small in scale. Karl Marx referred to them as ‘Primitive Communism’.

A kindly beast, my fly is black
He rarely lies upon his back
And when he does, I note he’s dead
(Stuck in the butter on my bread)

'Flies'

Beware the fly with purple legs!
His buddies are the very dregs
They like to sit around and fart
Because they think it’s cool and smart

The fly who has bright orange wings
Is lots of fun and rarely stings
He likes to jest and wears a vest
(His mother told him, she knows best)

So please don’t crush a fly for fun
And put away that sticky bun
A fly that’s free is full of glee
And buzzes off soon after tea.

_________________

Cartoon by Ian Baker

For several years now, the USA has been spending $75 million per year in “pro-democracy aid to Iranian dissidents”. That’s what’s on the books. One can only guess at the real figure, because so much of the ‘intelligence’ budget of this bloated, bankrupt, parasitized imperial beast is impossible to scrutinize.

These days the United States of America (USA) might be better decribed as the PEI: the Parasitized Empire of Interference.

'US Spider' by Palestinian cartoonist Majed Badra; is the spider carrying a tick?

It would be most out of character if the PEI and MSM (Money-Serving Media) are on the side of the angels this time. Zionist agent Dennis Ross has just moved into the White House to advise Obama on ‘Iran policy’. Not a good sign…

In all the network TV cacophony about Iran in recent weeks, I’ve never once heard use of the elected Iranian President’s academic honorific. It’s a small point perhaps – but did you know that Iran’s President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has a doctorate? Did you know that before becoming Mayor of Tehran in 2003, this man of humble origins gained a degree in civil engineering, followed by a doctorate in civil engineering and traffic transportation planning?

If you live in the USA, you probably do know that Ron Paul is Doctor Ron Paul. If you live in Australia, I bet you’ve heard of Dr Carmen Lawrence. The title of ‘doctor’ is still sufficiently uncommon among leading politicians to be worth noting… usually. But there’s nothing usual about the psy-op directed against Iran. You may have to wait until hell freezes over before any of the MSM tell you anything meaningful about Ahmadinejad’s pre-Presidential background.

In case anyone is inclined to relax for even a moment, I bring you the next great global health scare. It’s a world exclusive.

Mammoth Flu: you feel hot, even on cold days

This latest threat to human survival is like a real-life Jurassic Park scenario, with just enough plausibility to justify an elevated state of alarm!

Be very afraid – and if this turns into the BIG ONE, remember you got your first warning here…

The (as yet) slender factual basis for a Level 5 Alert is in this seemingly inoffensive article in yesterday’s Independent: Microbes found miles beneath Greenland ice given new life. I know, the storyline needs a bit more fleshing in. But I figure the mainstream hacks can do that.

Incidentally, if your dog ever digs up an unusually large bone, you might get it checked out by a paleontologist. You don’t know what might have chewed it last.

A beetle needs to own six boots
Or go barefoot instead
Some beetles gnaw away at roots
While others munch on bread.

Lophostemon grandifloris: a local beneficial beetle (Source: Ken Walker, Museum Victoria)

Though beetles ride on lizards’ backs
If given half the chance
They do resent surprise attacks
Preferring sweet romance.

In many ways, you’ll find your life
Is like the life of beetle
So if you ever take a wife
Don’t lose her in the treacle.