Scheiss Wissenschaft

Suchen Sie schlechte Informationen über Klimawandel? Lesen Sie, bitte:
Der CO2-Betrug, der groesste Skandal der Wissenschaftsgescichte der Neuzeit?

Escape from Gitmo

After more than five years in the tropical paradise known as Guantanamo Bay, David Hicks is back in Australia. He'll serve several more months at a prison in South Australia, before being released outright.

America Rules. . .Almost

The world's hotels love Americans. Maybe not as much as Japanese, but clearly quite a bit, as the Yanks pulled the #2 spot in a survey of the world's best tourists. Granted, Americans came in dead last in the "best dressed" poll, but who's surprised by that. The Australians came in seventh overall.

The trouble-makers appeared to hail from France, India,China and Russia. Oh, and the Germans took bottom marks in the generosity category. This is starting to make me think this was more a survey of international stereotypes. . .

Structural Argument

Victoria has released its climate change risk assessment of the state's infrastructure.

Part I
Part II

Liz Minchin covered the initial release (which of course has the word "shock" in the title - seems to be one of the most overused words in Australian journalism), and the follow-up story on what the gov plans to do about it.

Hallelujah

The federal government's faith-based drought management strategy, known affectionately as "Pray for Rain," appeared to be achieving some success this week as significant rain fell throughout much of southeast Australia. In response, John Howard reiterated the importance of national support for his policy by requesting Australians to "keep praying." Not sure how robust of a risk managment strategy prayer really is, but at least it certainly has a long history of implementation.

A Three Hour Tour

Strange things are always afoot on the Frankston Line. I'm used to the break downs, cars stalled on the tracks, the "signal failures," as well as the colourful passengers who keep me company on my rides to and from work (today it was a pleasant chap drinking a VB - at 8:30 in the morning). But this evening, mental illness and train malfunctions joined forces to create a perfect commuter storm. Some poor duffer opted to climb a signal tower at Glenhuntly Station and treatened to off himself. As a result, Connex shut down the trains, just in time for peak hour traffic. Chaos ensued as masses of people scrambled to get on board the occassional bus chartered to rescue stranded commuters. Now I know what it was like when Saigon fell. I left work at 4:15 to head for karate training. Three hours later, I arrived home, having already missed training and wondering why I bother with public transport (incidentally, this is about the sixth transit mishap I've experienced in the past month - it's getting a bit absurd). Melbourne's starting to make the rail services in America look down right efficient.

By the way, Youth Group have a song entitled The Frankston Line. . ."

"The Frankston Line's full of teenage crime
and the cops can't do no more
Hooded tops, cigarettes at stops,
I don't love you anymore"

Achtung!

Travel warning for Germany
May 9, 2007 - 1:43PM

"The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade tonight reviewed its travel advice for Germany, alerting travellers that the German government had warned terrorist attacks might be possible."

You Can Take an Asshole Out of America. . .

. . .but you can't take the asshole out of an American.

Outrage over Virginia Tech game
Stephen Hutcheon
May 16, 2007 - 1:33PM

"A Sydney youth who created an uproar with an online game based on the Virginia Tech massacre, says he will remove the game if he receives $US2000 in 'donations'."

Hardball

In a respectable demonstration of principle, the Howard government has banned the Australian cricket team from a scheduled tour of Zimbabwe. Given Australia's love of sport, it's a painful decision, and one not without critics. But for fair play and sportsmanship to mean something on the playing field, it has to present off the field as well. Clearly, that's not the case under the current regime.

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

Another year, another Eurovision song contest. The damn thing gets stranger and stranger every year, as it struggles with itself in attempting to decide whether it should be taken serious. Anyway, Serbia won. Go Serbia! But does this mean that the Balkans are the last bastion for truly cheesy pop music (with former Soviet republics running a close second)?

Youth Group

We wrapped up the working week last night by catching Youth Group (see also here) at Richmond's own Corner Hotel. The Corner is Melbourne's premier small venue for music, and despite having lived in the neighbourhood for over two years, we only now found a reason to drop in. The venue reminded me quite a bit of the old 9:30 Club in DC, but a little bit cleaner and with a huge rooftop beer garden. The show was short and sweet - YG's set was only an hour, preceeded by 45 minutes from Gersey (which seems like an unnecessarily avante garde spelling of Jersey, but I'm sure there's another connection I'm missing). For $20, we couldn't go wrong, and the music didn't fail to please. But, I have to admit, when I walked in the door and saw the schedule for the evening "Youth Group - 11:15 to 12:15", I thought to myself, "man, I'm too old for this shit. . ."

Aussie Hotel Foxtrot

WilcoWorld is currently streaming the band's 21 April show in Sydney on their website. I caught their earlier show on the 18th in Melbourne, and what a treat it was. The grizzled guys keep getting better with age (at least their live shows). And a rather amusing audience as well - 7,500 Jeff Tweedy look-alikes (except for me of course). The new album is also available for a listen.

New Climate Blog

There's many on the market, but Nature (through Nature Reports)has launched a new climate change blog designated Climate Feedback.

Hidden Costs of Addressing Climate Change

In Mexico, it was tortillas, but in Germany the rapid rise of biofuels is affecting the price of a more precious commodity: beer.

A Campus Fit for a Queen

It's not everyone that can claim a 314 year old academic institution as his alma mater, much less visits to his alma mater by, say, a Queen or something. But good old William and Mary has always had a close connection with England (it was the throne of England that started the humble institution, after all). As a student, I remember standing in a parking lot one afternoon when Margaret Thatcher (the Uni's chancellor at the time) walked by. However, I took a pass on the visit from Prince Charles, when he rocked up for the institution's 300th birthday. But all of that pales in comparison to Friday's visit by Queen Elizabeth, who returned to the campus after a 50 year abscence as she celebrated the 400 year anniversary of the colony of Jamestown. Some things never change. Some things change a lot.

Brisbane

While most folks spent last Wednesday doing the ANZAC Day/Gallipoli rembrance thing, I jetted off to sunny Brisbane to get a bit of rest and rendezvous with Die Frau, who's been sequestered up there for a few weeks for work. We used the ANZAC holiday to check out the up-and-coming James Street in Fortitude Valley (not the most promising name I've heard for a neighborhood), cruise down the river on the Citycat, grab a refreshing beverage in the Botanic Gardens, and stroll through Southbank which was packed with Queenslanders enjoying the holiday.

Thursday and Friday I was left to entertain myself - most of that time was spent in coffee shops doing work, but certianly strolled around the city a fair amount. I checked out the impressive Roma Street Parklands and its collection of subtropical vegetation (as well as its collection of vagrants who were being sent packing by surly gardeners as I arrived), picked up a new digital camera to replace the bit of rubbish Kodak doomed us to suffer through for the past two years, and glanced briefly at St. John's Cathedral which is still under construction (allegedly the last gothic cathedral to be built in the world. It's pretty young to be comparable to the great gothic cathedrals of Europe, but they've been building it for over a century, so it has some history. In the evenings, we had our choice of emerging hip eateries, and took in a showing of Das Leben der Anderen (which was awesome) at the James Street cinema.

Saturday, we broke out of Brisbane and headed to the ever beautiful Gold Coast - Australia's greatest example of untouched wilderness. Oh, wait. I've got that wrong. How about Australia's greatest imitation of Orlando, Las Vegas, and Atlantic City all rolled into one (which I previously visited back in June of 2005). No shortage of people, high rises, and it's one of the few places we've found in Australia where one can go shopping at night, because the Gold Coast is the city (or rather, sprawling metroplex) that never sleeps. Well, OK, it sleeps, but not until about 10 pm. We booked a hotel with the friendly tourist information office, ending up with a cozy room on the 17th flood of one of the many towers in Surfer's Paradise. We cruised around the strip in the afternoon, walked on the beach (which really is impressive, despite the buffoonery of the neighboring community), and dined at a little cafe called Marmalade. Sunday brought beautiful Gold Coast weather so we ate breakfast at the Northcliffe Surf Life Saving Club and then joined all the European backpackers on the beach before cutting out early to return to Brisbane via the Harbour Point outlet mall.

Shizzle

Snoop barred from Australia? How can you bar a pimp from a country where prostitution is legal? First Rocky was run out of town on a rail and now this.

OK all you American celebrities out there. If you want a tip on how to be welcomed in OZ, try rocking up with wads of cash. Case-in-point, Spielberg and Hanks are set to shoot a Pacific follow-up to Band of Brothers, which will undoubtedly mean heaps of additional sales of coffee and donuts to the city of Melbourne.

Group Think

The Age recently ran an interesting article on the growing phenomenon of "crowdsourcing", whereby companies and organisations draw on the collective wisdom of the massed public to generate ideas and solve problems.

Carbon Credability

John Howard has once again overlooked some fundamentals about climate change and climate policy in a recent speech. As usual, he warned his audience of the potential risks of greenhouse gas emissions reductions, and reminded them of his determination to avoid lasting economic damage that such policies might create. On the other hand, he apparently didn't make any mention of the lasting economic damages associated with the persistent drought that has settled over the nation, or the findings of any number of assessments that the costs of climate damages will be equal to or greater than the costs of reducing emissions. As the public increasingly perceive that they are paying the costs of climate change right now, the spectre of potential economic damages from emissions reductions is going to appear more and more transparent.

Pirates of the Coral Sea

Ships off the Queensland coast have lately had a habit of turning up without their crews. . .

Granny Got a Gun

With the shootings on the VA Tech campus now a week behind us, America's fair and balanced media outlets have apparently been in search of a "positive" gun story. What'd they find? A comical yarn about a little old lady (and former Miss America to boot) who put two caps in the wheel of an escape car, allowing police to capture would-be thieves. Yes, yes, another demonstration of how guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens is a strong deterrent of crime. We should give guns to all of America's elderly to ensure they never become defenseless victims. Yet it's a bit comical that the Constitution doesn't guarantee an old duffer the right to continue driving his car after frailty and dementia set-in, but it does guarantee that same old duffer the right to blaze away with a handgun. And they call that security?

Article can be found here, and a light-hearted video here.

Halt Climate Change

Brought to you by Climate Movement.Org

Guns

In the wake of last week's shootings on the campus of VA Tech, Newley has assembled a collection of insights on the incident and America's gun culture in general. I was flattered he asked for my input, which you can find at Newley.com. In addition to simply ranting away, I provide a quick summary of Australia's experiences in this arena and its policies on gun control.

Also, here's an opinion piece from The Age, which offers a wholly Aussie look at the issue.

Water, Water. . .Nowhere

We're approaching crunch time for water availability in southeast Australia. John Howard indicated last week that unless the nation gets rain in biblical proportions in the next 6 to 8 weeks, the irrigators in the Murray Darling Basin would have to go without water next season (to which the irrigators responded - "duh, John"). In addition, John's gone as far as to suggest the Murray River may be effectively turned off, as environmental flows are cut-off to maintain water in the dams and weirs along the waterway.

Melbourne got a good soaking yesterday, last night, and this morning. Just 39 more days and nights to go. . .

Ode to a Q-Club

OK, I've been a member of Qantas Club for all of two weeks, and given the numerous trips I've made over the past ten days, I've had ample opportunity to take it for a spin.

First, I must acknowledge that my membership is provided for by the fine folks at CSIRO out of respect for those of us burdened to jet around the country (or world) for the sake of science in the public interest. After listing the 14 trips I made in the last 12 months and the 12 already scheduled over the next 9, I was deemed worthy.

Now you're all familiar with airline clubs - special back rooms located in airport terminals where frequent travelers and VIPs can hide out and soak up some perks while they await their flights. The Qantas Club is Australia's most ubiquitous and upmarket of these - you walk through the doors and there's lots of genuine wood, comfy chairs, brie, espresso machines, and wine. Very nice. Every elite. Very exclusive.

Well, nice, yes. But exclusive? No way. From what I gather, Australian's are granted a membership at birth, because it appears more people are members than aren't. For example, while waiting in Melbourne for a flight to Canberra a few weeks ago in my pre-Q-Club days, I was quite shocked to find that I was one of about 5 people at the gate. But once the flight started boarding, the Q-Club masses came a running, and thus something like 95% of the flight's passengers had been hanging out together in 'Da Club. Last Tuesday, I was in the Q-Club in Townsville and I couldn't find a seat. The place was packed (granted, there was only seating for about 30 people, it is Townsville after all). So except for the free beer, brie and reading material, I would have been better off out with the small number of proletariat travelers soaking up the space in the main terminal.

Don't get me wrong. I love the Club. It does make frequent flying a bit easier. But the bottom line is Australians act like the Q-Club is hot shit and if you're inside, you're a far sight more elite than everybody on the other side of the door. The only problem is this - there's no one out there. The reason why people join the Q-Club is so they won't be lonely. So enjoy the beer, but drop the attitude. Any place that lets my chronically under-dressed ass in can't be that highbrow.

Back to the Beach

Sometime in 2005, I ventured off to the great state of South Australia to join the Adelaide crew for Easter buffoonery on the beach. I played Trivial Pursuit (South Australia edition - a game at which I truly excelled), watched a bizarre U.S. film called "The Wanderers", and came within inches of spewing all over the SS Minnow on a fishing expedition at a quiet coastal spot called Death from Below Bay (or something like that).

Easter 2006, we, uh, hell I don't know. My blog is barren as is my Outlook calendar. Oh well, obviously we didn't do much. . .

But Easter '07, it was back to SA, different beach (Aldinga), same crew (well, not really, Uta was there this time along with our kid, and various other folks came and went, but I was there and that's all that matters, right).

All manner of beach-side buffoonery was pursued - beach cricket, walks on the beach, fishing from the beach, running on the beach, lying on the beach, and so on. Trivial Pursuit was replaced by Jenga, and although much was made of my allegedly shaky hands, I opened up the schoolhouse to allow my competitors to learn a thing or two. Just like the good old days of our youth, we busted the place up a bit. A bottle was broken within minutes of our arrival, and a number of other glasses met their maker on the hardwood floors. But with the ladies vacuuming the floor 8 to 10 times per day, the place remained immaculate.

And of course, we found time for cultural pursuits. The ladies took-up a short study of language, whereupon we discovered that Uta's name, when translated into English, means "Cindy". I suppose that explains some things. They also got their intellect on by attempting to power their way through a pirated copy of Babel - one which lacked sub-titles. They got about half-way through before they gave up. And apparently without translation, the movie can be completely misinterpreted, as they walked away convinced it was a documentary about the international child sex trade.

Ryan took the award for most productive house member, slaving through the weekend to write an essay on post-war urban planning in Australia. He also took the award for the greatest contribution to the region's biodiversity as he diligently fed the fish off Cape Jervis during Sunday's fishing outing. But this award was promptly revoked once his heaving off the starboard side was determined to be a clever ruse to attract more fish, ultimately contributing to our efforts to deplete the region's snapper stocks. Herbie walked away with the prize catch. Despite hooking my fair share, I couldn't land anything of legal size (so I had to remain satisfied with clubbing the odd baby seal). During our expedition, we also had a crash course on what to do when you're in an overloaded fishing boat in open water, the bilge pump doesn't work and you can't get the engine started. Answer: keep trying until the bloody thing starts.

All in all, another successful escapade. Granted, these days every one's going to sleep and rising earlier and the alcohol consumption is falling off. But on the other hand, the quality of cooking is rising, and what could be more important than that?

My only concern is about the quality of care our kid's receiving. Kerry and Mike tried to convince us that Ava's wounds were the result of mosquito bites, but I'll let you draw your own conclusions from the evidence. Any more of this nonsense, and we'll have to bring her back to Melbourne.

Security Alert!!!

The UN Security Council took time off from its usual agenda of doing nothing to debate the issue of climate change in a security context. Some apparently consider this to be an inappropriate encroachment on the council on other UN bodies, but hey, let's face it, the Security Council needs something to do other than sitting around talking about what they're not going to do in the various insecure parts of the world, so I say give them a break.

Around Australia in 8 Days

This time last week, we were flying back from sunny Adelaide after an Easter retreat on the SA coast. 12 hours after landing, Uta was off to Brisbane, while I flew off to Sydney, followed later in the week by Canberra. We regrouped back in Melbourne Friday night, but were off again on Sunday - Uta back to Brisbane, while I headed out to the novel destination of Townsville.

Townsville. What to say? Nestled on the coast of northern Queensland, it's a small tropical paradise (of sorts). It's an important military town, used by both the navy and the army. With under 200,000 residents, there's not much going on, just sunshine, beach, and water. Arriving yesterday on a Sunday night, I was a bit taken aback by how quiet the town was - I mean, I'm accumstomed to sleepy Aussie towns on Sunday evenings, but this was absurd. It's the kind of place where the local news reports on scandals at the local primary school or thefts of street signs. Two of the commericals I saw on TV this evening featured a medication to rid cattle of parasites and a public service announcement asking people to be vigilant against pools of standing water on their property to aid in the prevention of dengue fever. The pedestrian mall next to the Holiday Inn (the tallest building in town) features as many vacant store fronts as occupied ones, so it appears that the rapid economic boom that's plauging southeast Queensland has yet to make it this far north.

That said, it's actually somewhat of a picturesque little community. The cliffs backing the beachfront have a diverse array of quaint houses perched on their sides, commanding what I'm sure are wonderful views. Meanwhile, the town is an excellent jumping off point for other spots such as the wet tropics, Magnetic Island, or the Great Barrier Reef. And I'm guessing the cost of living here isn't nearly as high as Australia's more famous and populous seaside communities, yet there's no shortage of late 19th century tropical architecture (some of it reminiscent of New Orleans, only here they've got enough sense to put things on stilts). I'd be interested in coming back at some point in the future and exploring a bit more of the city and the surrounding region.

Another Deadly Creature

As if there weren't enough things in Australia that can kill you, now it turns out that even the stuff that can't kill you can, apparently, kill you. How nice.

'Harmless' snake proves deadly
Dan Harrison
April 16, 2007 - 4:34PM

"Friends of a reptile enthusiast who died after being bitten by a snake have expressed their shock that a man who knew snakes so well had been killed by a species generally regarded as harmless."

Climate $$$

At today's meeting of the Council of Austrlian Governments, the PM announced a new climate change adaptation centre to the tune of $126 million as well as an additional $44 million to CSIRO to support a ramping up of research efforts on climate change and its consequences. This represents a significant boost to the nations' efforts to understand climate change consequences. However, the PM balked at committing the nation to greenhouse emissions reduction targets. So the States are left again to go it alone.

Blue Skies

The Age's expose today on Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy (currently touring Australia).

House Party

In the universe of profoundly stupid acts, this must rank fairly high:

MySpace invite sees party home trashed
April 13, 2007 - 10:15AM

"Two British parents were left with a $48,000 bill after a party advertised by their teenage daughter on MySpace attracted hundreds of revellers who trashed their home."

The Grates

Recently watched a live concert by Australia's "the Grates". Loved it. Here they are via YouTube with "Rock Boys."

Live Earth a Go!

The Live Earth global concert to raise awarneness about climate change is set to do it's rock & roll thing on July 7th. The-line up for the U.S. show is as follows:

AFI
AKON
ALICIA KEYS
BON JOVI
DAVE MATTHEWS BAND
FALL OUT BOY
JOHN MAYER
KANYE WEST
KELLY CLARKSON
KT TUNSTALL
LUDACRIS
MELISSA ETHERIDGE
RIHANNA
ROGER WATERS
SHERYL CROW
SMASHING PUMPKINS
THE POLICE

Can't say that's inspiring me to fight climate change, but the line-up for the UK is a bit more promising:

BEASTIE BOYS
BLACK EYED PEAS
BLOC PARTY
CORINNE BAILEY RAE
DAMIEN RICE
DAVID GRAY
DURAN DURAN
FOO FIGHTERS
GENESIS
JAMES BLUNT
JOHN LEGEND
KEANE
MADONNA
PAOLO NUTINI
RAZORLIGHT
RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS
SNOW PATROL

Still waiting to hear who'll rock up for the Sydney show. . .

Go Dollar Go

The Aussie dollar (not what one would normally consider a titan among developed world currencies) has surged in recent months, gaining almost ten cents on the U.S. greenback.

Boom Town!

The Age ran an interesting article over the weekend describing how the resources boom is transforming regional communities in WA.

"Many workers earn more than $100,000 a year, have pay TV and get six days straight off work. So what is it really like in a remote Western Australian mining boom town? David Cohen reports on life in Tom Price."

Kill the Rabbit

"WELLINGTON, New Zealand (Reuters) -- A New Zealand environmental body is targeting the Easter bunny in a renewed war against one of the country's worst natural pests. Environment Canterbury on the country's South Island wants people to come up with an alternative Easter symbol as part of a campaign to highlight the damage caused by the non-native pest.

"They're like an environmental curse," Mark Oldfield of Environment Canterbury said.

"We did have a similar competition a number of years ago and we came up with the Easter Kiwi," Oldfield said, referring to the flightless bird that is the country's national bird."

Cities on Top

The the long-fought battle for urban supremecy, yet another annual quality of life/living survey has been released, this one from Mercer. Once again, if you live in a highly taxed city in Europe, your livestyle is apparently fabulous (despite the cold), and if you're in New Zealand or Australia, you're not doing to badly either. A list of the top 50 for 2007 can be found here.

CO2=Pollution

It's official. That bastion of liberal ideology, the U.S. Supreme Court, has ruled that carbon dioxide can be regulated as an air pollutant, clearing the way for the U.S. EPA to take up the regulatory cause. In fact, the old agency even received a bit of a rebuke:

""EPA has offered no reasoned explanation for its refusal to decide whether greenhouse gases cause or contribute to climate change," Justice John Paul Stevens wrote for the majority. The agency "identifies nothing suggesting that Congress meant to curtail EPA's power to treat greenhouse gases as air pollutants," the opinion continued.""

I guess it's back to the drawing board for the climate policy obstructionists in the U.S. Wonder what gem of policy logic they'll come up with next.

Kids

What better way to spend a Sunday morning than running one's ass around the city of Melbourne. I joined 25,000 or so of my close personal friends on the annual Run for the Kids benefit tour-by-foot of the city. Having not run in oh, I don't know, let's say many moons, I was a bit intimidated by the 15.2km distance (especially since I usually ahve enough sense not to sign up for anything over 10 km), but managed to plod my way through with little or no hardship (thanks in part to a kind granny who paced me around the course). Final damage - a time of 1:27:45, almost ten solid minutes behind Uta's time from last year (but then she only had to run 14.7 km. . .).

Earth Hour

Enlightened City Knocks the World's Lights Out
Sunanda Creagh, Urban Affairs Reporter
April 2, 2007

"MORE than half of Sydneysiders - as many as 2.2 million - switched off their lights to celebrate Earth Hour on Saturday night, a poll has found."

The Real Cause of Global Warming

Courtesy of Kevin

News Bar

Look to the right and you'll see a new addition, courtesy Google's News Bar Wizard.

Aussie Go Home

The Age's Travel Blog has an article on the end of the honeymoon for Aussie travelers.

"It's a real worry that Aussies in Europe are now being tagged "New Yanks". No offence to the old Yanks, but that's not something I want to be."

Ben Meets Parliament

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday of this week participating in the annual Science Meets Parliament event in Canberra - a joyous time when Australia's scientific elite dust off their suits (assuming they have one) and march into Parliament House to speak one-on-one with the nation's leadership about science.

In addition to enjoyable meetings with two labor MPs (Anthony Albanese and Daryl Melham), I scored a seat at the speaker's table at the dinner Tuesday (populated with folks like Minister Julie Bishop, Will Steffen, and current and former presidents of FASTS), attended question time in both the Senate and the House (catching a well-publisised blunder by Peter Garrett as it happened), and gave a short talk on climate change and risk.

I also cemented my opinons regarding transport in Canberra (it's rubbish, save yourself time and trouble and rent a car) as well as hotels (also rubbish, but you've got to sleep somewhere).

Photo Updates

A few snapshots of events from weeks gone by are now available at Flickr.

Moomba Festival
Camping at Wilson's Promontory

Melbourne Grand Prix

Flying Carbon Free

Numerous businesses are now jumping on the carbon offset bandwagon, with travel agencies as well as airlines offering the option of paying an additional fee to offset the carbon emissions associated with travel itineraries. Participants include the Swiss-owned STA Travel , Scandanavian Airlines, British Airways, the Association of British Travel Agents, and Australia's Virgin Blue.

Oxfam Trailwalker

As I write this, Uta and the rest of Tab Sportsbet Team 226 are headed to the starting line of Melbourne's Oxfam Trailwalker. Over the next 24 hours, the team of four will trek 100 km across the hills and dales of suburban Melbourne. It promises to be a hot one, with temperatures currently 28C at 6:00am, rising to 33C, before cooling off (and raining) tonight. I'll be catching up with the team and the rest of the support crew later tonight. . . certainly should be some stories out of this one.

UPDATE 24/7/07, 16:46: Mission Accomplished! After approximately 28 hours (including 23 hours of walk time), team 226 crossed the finish line. There were highs and lows, tears and cheers. They faced boiling temperatures and driving rain. They overcame hunger, fatigue, sunburn, and blisters. They're sleepy and sore (and their feet look like objects your neighbor's dog drags under the porch and chews on), but proud.


Additional photos are available at Edouard's blog.

1, 2, 3. . .3 and a half. . .

In an attempt to postpone the implementation of Level 4 water restrictions on Melbourne, the city has introduced a new level of restrictions known as Level 3a. The move hopes to avoid the complete banning of outdoor watering (including sports fields), which would threaten the footy season for many leagues as ground deterioration and hardness would exceed levels insurers are willing to cover.

As critics pointed out, there are 26 letters in the alphabet. So how many new levels will be developed to keep the dread Level 4 at bay?

Exit Strategy

Bush Announces Iraq Exit Strategy: 'We'll Go Through Iran'
March 9, 2005

WASHINGTON, DC—Almost a year after the cessation of major combat and a month after the nation's first free democratic elections, President Bush unveiled the coalition forces' strategy for exiting Iraq.

"I'm pleased to announce that the Department of Defense and I have formulated a plan for a speedy withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq," Bush announced Monday morning. "We'll just go through Iran."

More

Mr. Gore Goes to Washington

Gore gave Congress (including its skeptical members) an earful yesterday in testimony. He's a pit preachy and makes the mistake of assuming that evidence of a problem necessarily dictates the policy response to that problem (which is obviously not the way it works), but he's still effective. I particularly like his analogy to flame retardant babies.

C&L

While a big fan of Crooks and Liars, I found the following comment/question to be a dark commentary on the state of U.S. journalism. In response to an alleged statement from a White House reporter regarding the absurdity of partisan bloggery, C&L asked:

"While it's clear that there are some in the media that inject their own biases into stories, and there are some flat out lazy journalists, is it dishonest of us to ascribe more malevolent motives when we don't see stories covered the way we think they should be?"

Translation: Is it dishonest of a blogger to subjectively speculate regarding the cause or intent of a journalist's actions when that journalist's reporting doesn't conform to the blogger's subjective worldview?

It's not dishonest. It's just bad journalism, but that's no big deal unless bloggers seek greater presence and credibility in the mix of U.S. media. If so, well, biased hackery is biased hackery - doesn't matter what the underlying ideology is. If everyone gets journalism delivered to them in their own personal frame of reference, then it's no longer journalism. It's custom entertainment.

Rivers at Risk

WWF has released a report identifying the top 10 at-risk rivers in the world, and citing the key source of risk for each. Though the report assembles a respectable list of troubled waterways, I found the prioritisation of drivers a bit cavalier. For example, climate change is listed as the key threat to the Nile-Victoria system, but by my reading of the report, over-extraction and geopolitical conflict are the major challenges. Discussion of likely future changes in the regional climate aren't even mentioned. Similarly, the report cites invasive species as a big threat for the Murray-Darling system in Australia. Yep, big problem. But what about the fact that due to drought and irrigation the Darling River is currently not a river but a creek (if that), the Murray is one of the most heavily developed stretches of river in the nation, and climate projections suggest significant declines in catchment runoff in the future (by my calculations 1-37% by 2070). Even the invasives are going to be doing it tough.

Yes, yes, WWF was trying to communicate the diversity of threats facing water resources all over the world, but a little more rigour in their examination of drivers would have made for a more useful (and accurate) presentation of risk.

Happy Anniversary, George!

Mazel Tov

The U.S.-based Hooters chain takes its family dining to the Holy Land, opening a restaurant in Tel Aviv. I reckon those with a predisposition to strapping explosives to themselves will be lining up to pay the establishment a visit.

Thunder Down Under

A recent international poll of public perceptions of climate change places Aussies at the top when it comes to taking climate risk seriously as well as willingness to invest to address the problem.

I-Tunes

Interesting, but sloppy, investigation into the randomness of I-Tunes randomization. Sure to illicit further examinations in the future. . .

Lucky Charms

We had a rip-roaring St. Paddy's day, joining all the convict offspring at the Dan O'Connell Hotel in Carlton. Huge street party, cheap beer, and even U2 showed up to play a show.

And if you're looking for a heart-warming story on the luck of the Irish, check out this story: Backpacker survives rooftop plunge

F1

Saturday, I joined the Irish and English expats for a day at the races, F1 that is. Opting not to splurge on Sunday's final, we settled for Saturday's qualifying runs and other assorted vehicular buffoonery (e.g., F3 events, celebrity races). The key to any Grand Prix event appears to be noise - if it's loud, it's welcome. In addition to the cars themselves (which are extraordinarily loud), there were fly-overs by various bits and pieces of Australia's military arsenal, and rock and rollers such as Wolfmother were on the scene as well.

One of the more amusing (albeit complete time-filler) events of the day was a "speed comparison." Essentially, they let a production BMW set off down the track, followed 1.5 minutes later by a V8 Supercar, followed another 1.5 minutes later by an F1 auto. Guess which won?

I'll post some photos from the track as soon as I get around to it - can't guarantee good quality. It's tough to take pictures of objects moving at 300 kph.

Big Weekend

It's a weekend of big sports action, with both the FINA World Championships (splash, splash)and the Melbourne Grand Prix (zoom, zoom).

Harbour Bridge Turns 75

Today marks the 75th birthday of Sydney's Harbour Bridge, still the longest single-span and highest steel arch bridge in the world.

Frat Boy Tackles Complex Policy Issues

Check out the latest publication from the Heinrich Boell Foundation entitled: "The Debate over Fixed Price Incentives for Renewable Electricity in Europe and the United States: Fallout and Future Directions."

One of the authors, Wilson Rickerson, was a fellow brother of the Phi Beta chapter of Psi Upsilon (suspended as of 2006 due to buffoonery). He wooed the ladies, he rocked the world as the frontman for The Velveteens, and now:
"Wilson Rickerson is a Boston-based energy consultant focusing on renewable energy policy and markets. He assists state and municipal governments with policy development,consults to businesses seeking to invest in the renewable energy industry, and helps organizations with energy program management and planning.

Good on ya, Wilson!

Hummer

How to greet a Hummer.

Nod to Jeremy. . .

Australia Unlimited

I took part in the Global Foundatin's Australia Unlimited Roundatable last week, which gave me the opportunity to hear opposition leader Kevin Rudd speak (a man, by the way, who appears poised to knock Howard and the Liberal party out of Canberra), mix with various corporate leaders from around the nation, and meet Victoria's governor,Professor David de Kretser (which subsequently caused me to go look up what it is that the governor does. . .).

Best of all, I finally managed to get a media quote that makes me sound half-way reasonable on climate change as opposed to predicting the end of the world and other such apocolyptic stuff that is often attributed to my name:

"A CSIRO scientist who works on climate impact, Ben Preston, told the roundtable that while those attending had been asked to consider the environment and trade as potentially conflicting forces, the real way to consider them is to regard them as being allied, for example, as a potential market in Asia for Australian technologies that can control pollution and help promote sustainable growth."

Sweet. . .

Public Service Announcement

Only in Australia (or Las Vegas, or certain parts of Russia):

"The man who lined the Gateway Motorway with bikini models in a bid to convince drivers to keep left will take his message directly to the office of Parliamentary Secretary for Transport, Andrew McNamara."

On what planet do have naked chicks on the side of the road alleviate traffic congestion? The only way this works is if thousands of motorists pull off the road entirely to get a better look at those, er, signs.

Yo!

Stallone on growth hormone charge
Leonie Lamont
March 13, 2007 - 10:41AM

"Hollywood star Sylvester Stallone denied having restricted drugs shortly before 48 vials of human growth hormone were found in his luggage, a Sydney court has been told."

Now we know what's responsible for his "eye of the tiger". Imagine he won't be heading back down under any time in the near future.

Sgt. Jarvis

The following is spam that ended up in my inbox today:

"From: Jarvis Jr [mailto:sgt-jarv.rjr@ usarmy.com]
Sent: Tuesday, 6 March 2007 4:06 PM
To: Subject: Can I trust you??

Hello Friend,

I am in need of your assistance. My name is Sgt. Jarvis Reeves Jr. I am a military attache with the Engineering unit here in Ba'qubah Iraq for the United States, we have about $14 Million dollars that we want to move out of the country.

My partners and I need a good partner someone we can trust to actualize this venture.The money is from oil proceeds and legal.But we are moving it through diplomatic means to your house directly or a safe and secured location of your choice using diplomatic courier services.

But can we trust you? Once the funds get to you, you take your 30% out and keep our own 70%. Your own part of this deal is to find a safe place where the funds can be sent to. Our own part is sending it to you.

If you are interested I will furnish you with more details. Awaiting your urgent response.

Your Buddy.
Sgt Jarvis Reeves

God Bless America!!!"

Granted, it's spam, but amusing on so many different levels:
1) Despite the appearance of a .com email address, it actually goes to a yahoo account in Denmark (not very patriotic!)
2) Jarvis? Brilliant (the jr. is a nice touch as well).
3) The U.S. military can't move 14 million dollars out of Iraq without the help of Australian civil servants? You're kidding right?
4) The U.S. government wants me to keep 30% of anything? That'll be the day. . .
Pretty dopey, but more entertaining the usual Nigerian nonsense.

Waarom?

Nude workouts? No sweat, says gym
"THE first clothing-free workout at a Dutch gym went ahead as planned — and participants and observers said it met expectations."

Queens

The QEII and QMII rocked up in Sydney Harbour yesterday. And then promptly left, but not before making a spectacle of themselves.

New Qantas Club

So how many frequent flier miles does it tack to earn sex with a flight attendant? Unfortunately, I can't answer that question, I've looked through all the terms and conditions in my Qantas Club account, but can't find any reference to said benefit. But then, I only have Bronze status - I reckon I've got to at least earn Platinum before I can get perks like that. . .

Man catches shark with his bare hands

Man catches shark with his bare hands
February 16, 2007 - 3:59PM

"Phillip Kerkhof says it was the vodka that made him catch a 1.3 metre shark with his bare hands."http://www.theage.com.au/news/NATIONAL/Man-catches-shark-with-his-bare-hands/2007/02/16/1171405427401.html

Storm rider's miracle survival

Storm rider's miracle survival

"A German paraglider survived lightning, pounding hail, minus 40-degree temperatures and oxygen deprivation after a storm system sucked her to an altitude higher than Mount Everest."

New Snapshots

Here's a few photos from recent events:

Australian Open 2007

Sorrento

Yarra BBQ

Sean & Ryan's Visit

England the Most Unfriendly Country?

The Age's Travel Blog argues why England is the most unfriendly nation to travel in:

"trying to get a smile out of an English shop assistant is like trying to find Osama bin Laden - ie, we're not even sure if it's possible. Ever tried making eye contact and smiling at someone in the Tube? No? Funny, neither has anyone else..."

Oi! Ghost Rider

Hollywood's latest comic book blockbuster, Ghost Rider, was filmed in none other than Melbourne, Australia.

New Bloc Party

Call the Cops

The Police plan first tour since '80s

"WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. - The Police announced their first tour in decades Monday at a rehearsal at the Whisky a Go-Go as a throng of fans crowded near the legendary Sunset Strip nightclub."

Hard to believe. And after so many years, the question is, do I care?

Greetings Vegetarian Lobby. . .

In addition to other, sometimes odd, unsolicited comments I've received as of late, the oddest must be those that have emerged from pro-Vegan advocates:

"Global warming poses one of the most serious threats to the global environment ever faced in human history. Yet by focusing entirely on carbon dioxide emissions, major environmental organisations have failed to account for published data showing that other gases are the main culprits behind the global warming we see today. As a result, they are neglecting what might be the most effective strategy for reducing global warming in our lifetimes: advocating a vegetarian diet."

"Why is it that with all this talk about global warming, no one is talking about the impact of meat eating on the environment?If you would like, I could send you a copy of a leaflet I recently came across titled 'Think you can be a meat-eating environmentalist? Think again'. There is also another publication called "Go vegan' which I could send as well. If scientists wish to talk about climate change, I think it would be better to put the WHOLE story on the table."

Anyone who knows me knows that I am not the appropriate poster child for vegetarianism. Addressing climate change is hard enough without hitching every other wagon of social issues to it.

Skeptics, Opportunists, and Nuts. . .

As one's public profile increases, he/she is inevitably exposed to the slings and arrows of outrageous people. I am puzzled as to why one would take the time to look up a perfect stranger's email address and give them shit. Here is some samples of the fan mail I've received as of late - some of it benign, some of it harsh, some unintelligible:

"If NSW continues with coal exports on a business as usual basis we'd better start planting baobab trees now. Is peak oil our only hope? Who joins me in this research?"

"Your negative quote of greenhouse gas and damage to our environment in today's Australian makes it clear that both you and the paper are Howard puppets, the oddity is that Howard only looks after the top 2% of Australia's wealthy people , so how does a paltry scientist fit into the equation and become a Howard mouthpiece? Do you think you'll wake up tomorrow in a chauffer [sic] driven Rolls?"

"Please publicise the fact that animal agribusiness is a major contributor to global warming and the drought. A recent UN report reveals that cattle rearing is worse for global warming than driving cars. Also, the drought is intractable, and animal agribusiness uses great amounts of water compared to other agribusiness. The waterways pollution is also a problem as well as land clearing, not to mention the great cruelty to animals in intensive farming."

". . .you are prostituting science - the NSW, QLD, VIC or other Greenhouse Office or dept. comes along with fistfull of government dollars and you obediently package up a report liberally sprinked [sic] with "may", "might", "could" to suport [sic] their political position - you admited [sic] yourself you modified the disclaimer to disguise the dubious science."

and the same guy:

"You may have noticed a flurry of Global Warming activity - The Great Barrier Reef is bleaching, glaciers are melting. polar bears are drowning etc. etc. It's because its state-of-the-union time for the cult. The Conclave of elders of the Global Warming cult - the IPCC - is about to issue the new doctrine - the fourth pronouncement of faith. It will leaked and then released with great fanfare accepted as a fait acompli and then everyone will duck for cover when the criticism has time to form. Nobody in the cult will debate it - why should they? They hold the high moral ground - why allow doubt? What exactly will happen? On Friday the IPCC will release a summary of the up-coming 1600 page Fourth Assessment Report on climate change. The press will report it as gospel with huge sensational claims and headlines. Meanwhile the panel will sit on the actual science for another 2 months, doctor it up a bit to make sure it all fits the summary and then release it. This will of course be too late for any reasonable debate, discussion, or protest - it will be old news by then.We saw the same process for the now widely discredited Stern Report."

-He's got a whole website of this stuff. . .