Saturday, December 5, 2009

EEEEEUUUUW just EEEEEUUUUWWWWWW

Wait a minute... did I just imagine I saw that finger post...

No, I think not. Yuk! Though the street name is appropriate.

Update:
On second thoughts, perhaps the street name should be changed to Pristine Place.

Who says "Size doesn't matter"?

Well, what about:
LARGE HADRON COLLIDER.
I rest my case.

Naughty puppy

Hm

Popped out today, hoping to be home in a few hours. Floyd has managed to pull a thread in his bed from Aldi. I phoned head office and found out I can still take it back for replacement or a refund, but they were sold a long time ago, and there's not many still around. I had to visit one about 30ks away. I'd organised to meet MDFD for a coffee or lunch and when I got to Aldi I realised that I hadn't switched my phone back on after it had turned itself off on Wednesday... or Tuesday! When I switched the phone on again I received a message, from OPSM about my specs. They're ready (again). So there was a change of plan.

I found two dog beds medium (not large like I already have), so I purchased them, they'll be OK for Bundy and Meg, who currently sleep on the dirt or in their box (Meg was always a chewer, she chewed up three hessian bag beds... I think she'd be OK with one now... maybe...)

Anyhoo, specs were no good, I have to go back next week. I shopped my card to almost melting point. (Chrissy pressies for the family, and some clothes for me on special.) OMG! I found the cutest thing in Big W today. Checking out folding chairs, I need a new one, the old one is about 20 plus years old and it's cracking up, I looked in the camping section of Big W. You gotta go there and look at the tent section and the sleeping bags. Scale Models! Wish I had one for my Barbie! (When I was a kid!)

When I arrived home I fridged the stuff that needed fridging (has that still got a 'd' in it?), and gave all the dogs a piece of marrowbone each. Then I unpacked the rest of the car. I put the dog beds out the back, showed them to Floyd, he watched me assemble his original bed when I brought it home, I'm sure if he coulda he'da helped me.

I thought I should feed the dogs and when I went outside I found this:









Naughty puppy!
I must tell you about Meg. During the week I checked Bundy and Meg's water and noticed that Meg's collar was off, she kept going back to a bit of an excavation she's dug which is about curl-up-in-it size. She kept nosing something in the dust, and I realised then it was her collar. She kept going back to it, trying to pick it up out of the dust. When I'd finished changing the water for them she came over to me and I told her to get me the collar, the same way as I tell her to get the ball. She picked it up and brought it to me, like she does with the balls. It's the only smart thing she's ever done. Poor Meg, Floyd runs rings around her in the smart stakes. When 48 was really old and deaf and blind Bundy and his Sister would get him for me, I'd say to them "Where's Forty-eight? Get him." He'd usually be sleeping in the dog box, and being deaf didn't know it was chow time. Silly Meg, just looks at you when you say "Get Bundy... where's Bundy?"

Child Abuse and the death cult

Found this while looking up "posed pictures of little soldiers" cooked up by the MSM... I know, it'd be pretty hard to find posed pictures of the little soldiers, they don't need to be posed, when taught to hate and kill from the womb.

The ice is not melting

Melting and climate

On July 21, 1983, the lowest reliably measured temperature ever recorded on Earth was at Vostok with -89.2 °C. The highest recorded temperature at Vostok is -19° C, which occurred in January 1992, and during the month of July 1987 the temperature never rose above -72.2° C. At these temperatures ice cannot flow under the pressures that prevail near the surface. Warming has no effect at such low temperatures because ice will not flow faster at -60°C than at -70° C.

In the case of ice sheets it may take many thousands of years for ice to flow from the accumulation area to the melting area. That is why meteorites such as the one from Antarctica that was thought to contain Martian fossils take thousands of years to reach places where they can be collected from the surface. The balance between movement and melting therefore does not relate to today's climate, but to the climate thousands of years ago.

Glaciers and precipitation

We have seen that glaciers and ice sheets are in a state of quasiequilibrium, governed by rates of melting and rates of accumulation. For a glacier to maintain its present size it must have precipitation as snowfall at its source. This leads to a slightly complex relationship with temperature. If the regional climate becomes too dry, there will be no precipitation, so the glacier will diminish. This could happen if the region became cold enough to reduce evaporation from the ocean.
If temperatures rise, evaporation is enhanced and so therefore is snowfall. Paradoxically a regional rise of temperature may lead to increased growth of glaciers and ice sheets. Today, for example, the ice sheets of both Antarctica and Greenland are growing by accumulation of snow.
More here, pp 22 - 24. A fascinating piece on glaciers, the age of the ice, how ice flows, the temperature where glaciers are, and the warming to hell of earth (OK, I lied about the warming to hell of earth bit).

Thanks to Wand.

Friday, December 4, 2009

So called

Just caught a piece on the late TEN news. About a bloke who "wrangles" sharks. WTF? It's a study about sharks and they "lasso" them and then they tire them out by fluffing around with them on the end of a rope, then they attach some radio transmitter thing to... do whatever the hell they want to do.

I'm sure that aggravating animals wouldn't be condoned by the powers that be who control the Ethics Committee... and I know how some of them work, too. The rules, etc.

Anyway, the news announcer talking head was rabbitting on about the sharks and the danger, and she called them "so-called killers of the sea" or some such. Do these idiots realise that the "so-called" before naming something really means that the something isn't widely known or referred to as whatever the name/term is they're using? It drives me nuts. Right now I can't remember an example, but there are so many grating references to "so-called" whatevers, and it's a widely known and used scientific name or terminology.

Oh, now, Mt Everest is melting at an alarming rate, proof of Glowball Warming - someone needs to wake these wankers up! Oh, we're doomed. The ice at the top of the world is melting. The Himalayas are melting... arrgh! They found what was obviously an stream of water, frozen solid, and this was proof that the ice was melting. HELLO? Glaciers don't last forever, they do melt... the underneath of a glacier is moving, dragging all under it down the mountain... they should remember the hanging valleys caused by glaciers. And now some knob is saying that the melt is causing the crevasses which are opening up on the glacier... HELLO? Crevasses open up on glaciers everywhere because the glacier IS MOVING.

Bloody hell. I'll have to dig up the comment by Wand about how the ice melts at the poles and in cold, mountainous climes - it happens all the time. The sun comes out, it's hot, it melts the ice, then the sun goes down, the water freezes again, until the sun comes out again... ARRRGH!

Imponderables

1. If you take an Oriental person and spin him around several times, does he become disoriented?

2. If people from Poland are called Poles, why aren't people from Holland called Holes?

3. Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery?

4. If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled?

5. If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?

6. Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?

7. When cheese gets its picture taken, what does it say?

8. Why is a person who plays the piano called a pianist but a person who drives a racing car not called a racist?

9. Why are a wise man and a wise guy opposites?

10. Why do overlook and oversee mean opposite things?

11. Why isn't the number 11 pronounced onety one?

12. 'I am' is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. Could it be that 'I do' is the longest sentence?

13. If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn't it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted, cowboys deranged, models deposed, tree surgeons debarked, and dry cleaners
depressed?

14. What hair colour do they put on the driver's licences of bald men?

15. I thought about how mothers feed their babies with tiny little spoons and forks so I wondered what do Chinese mothers use? Toothpicks?

16. Why do they put pictures of criminals up in the Post Office?
What are we supposed to do, write to them? Why don't they just put their pictures on the postage stamps so the postmen can look for them while they deliver the mail?

17. You never really learn to swear until you learn to drive.

18. No one ever says, 'It's only a game' when their team is winning.

19. Ever wonder about those people who spend $2.00 apiece on those little bottles of Evian water? Try spelling Evian backwards: NAIVE

20. Isn't making a smoking section in a restaurant like making a peeing section in a swimming pool?

22. OK ... so if the Jacksonville Jaguars are known as the 'Jags' and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are known as the 'Bucs,' what does that make the Tennessee Titans?

23. If 4 out of 5 people SUFFER from diarrhoea, does that mean that one enjoys it?

24. Why if you send something by road it is called a shipment, but when you send it by sea it is called cargo?

25. If a convenience store is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, why are there locks on the door?

PREGNANCY, ESTROGEN AND WOMEN

PREGNANCY Q & A & more!

Q: Should I have a baby after 35?
A: No, 35 children is enough.

Q : I'm two months pregnant now. When will my baby move?
A: With any luck, right after he finishes college.

Q : What is the most reliable method to determine a baby's sex?
A: Childbirth.

Q: My wife is five months pregnant and so moody that sometimes she's borderline irrational.
A: So what's your question?

Q : My childbirth instructor says it's not pain I'll feel during labour, but pressure. Is she right?
A: Yes, in the same way that a tornado might be called an air current.

Q: When is the best time to get an epidural?
A: Right after you find out you're pregnant.

Q : Is there any reason I have to be in the delivery room while my wife is in labour?
A: Not unless the word 'alimony' means anything to you.

Q: Is there anything I should avoid while recovering from childbirth?
A: Yes, pregnancy.

Q : Do I have to have a baby shower?
A: Not if you change the baby's diaper very quickly.

Q : Our baby was born last week. When will my wife begin to feel and act normal again?
A: When the kids are in college.

'ESTROGEN ISSUES'

10 WAYS TO KNOW IF YOU HAVE 'ESTROGEN ISSUES'

1. Everyone around you has an attitude problem.
2. You're adding chocolate chips to your cheese omelet.
3. The dryer has shrunk every last pair of your jeans.
4. Your husband is suddenly agreeing to everything you say.
5. You 're using your cellular phone to dial up every bumper sticker that says: 'How's my driving-call 1- 800-'.
6. Everyone's head looks like an invitation to batting practice.
7. Everyone seems to have just landed here from 'outer space.'
9. You're sure that everyone is scheming to drive you crazy.
10. The ibuprofen bottle is empty and you bought it yesterday.

TOP TEN THINGS ONLY WOMEN UNDERSTAND
10. Cats' facial expressions.
9. The need for the same style of shoes in different colours.
8. Why bean sprouts aren't just weeds.
7. Fat clothes.
6. Taking a car trip without trying to beat your best time.
5. The difference between beige, ecru, cream, off-white, and eggshell.
4. Cutting your hair to make it grow.
3. Eyelash curlers.
2. The inaccuracy of every bathroom scale ever made.

AND, the Number One thing only women understand:

1. OTHER WOMEN

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Medical services and highway robbery

I am supposed to have bloodtests fairly regularly because of the medications I am on for my heart. Kidneys and liver need to be checked.

I visited the doc a couple of weeks ago and he asked "When was your last blood test?"

"Hmmmmm. I had one done about, er, oh, coupla years ago?"

The doctor said "Who do you want to go to for your blood test?"

I said "Oh, X, I always go to X. They'll do."

It was a Wednesday so I decided to get the blood test before the end of the week. This pathologist's collection rooms are now open on Saturday, but it was one of the Saturdays I was faffing around organising my glasses (which I still haven'tgot!).

Off I traipsed to X at lunchtime the next day. The phlebotomist (look that up in your Funk & Wagnalls), quickly explained to me:

"You can make a co-payment of $40 now, or we can send you an account."

I thought aloud for a while, it was off pay week, the cash account was drained and I didn't want to put more on my credit card. I asked about paying via B-pay and she was clueless, she gave me a slip of paper about paying on the phone or something, but it wasn't B-pay. I opted for the sent account. I figured it would be an account for the co-payment. (The account had a B-pay option.)

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt. Wrong again.

The blood taking was painless, very good! The account arrived about a week later... $136. WTF? I hit the roof. I wasn't told that the account would be more than three times the co-payment. I phoned them a day or two later and explained that the co-payment/account option as far as the cost, was not explained to me. The pathology order was checked Y for bulk-bill. I explained that I was told that the co-payment could be made on the spot, or I could receive an account. Had I known the amount of the account I would have found the co-payment. The woman was polite, she said it was basically my word against theirs, but I should tear up my account for $136 (which included consideration for a $9 discount), and they would send me another one.

I know that pathologists up here no longer bulk bill and accept that as payment in full. Fair enough.

The second account arrived yesterday. Now it's only $96 with a slightly larger discount.

Can someone explain to me how they have two schedules of fees? If they can afford to provide this service for $96 a pop why is that not the fee they charge?

There has, apparently, been quite a bit on the media about this. People are not happy.

Speaking with someone in a doctors' surgery on a campus I was told that the pathology provider they'd used for 20 years had been dropped. They wouldn't bulk bill the students and wanted to send them a bill. A lot of the students live on campus and many don't have transport, so they'd have to fork out $136 (or $96 depending on whether they complained or not), and then get a pittance refunded by Medicare via mail. I don't know too many people on wages who have a loafing $136 (or even $96) for a medical bill, let alone a student.

Good thing he wasn't a tree lopper*


* Stolen from a commenter at Blair's after I said that it was a good thing he wasn't a baseball player...

(The pic was received in an email.)

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

twits don't like Abbott

Gee. Too bad. I like him better than Turnbull and Hockey...

How old and from what demographic vote-wise would your average twitter be?

Your mobile phone is killing gorillas and chimps in the Congo

I really, really dislike chimps and gorillas. I don't find them cute, or funny. I hated the chimps in any movie ever made with chimps, and Clyde, whatever he was. YUK.

There's a substance mined in the congo which is used in mobile phones, coltan, and we shouldn't be buying new mobile phones made from a new supply of coltan but recycling the coltan from old phones into the new phones. This from some Zoo ranger somewhere (maybe in the Congo, but she sounded Aussie and looked like she was wearing an Australia Zoo khaki uniform...).

What they neglect to say that this substance is used, from the looks of what I can see, in every modern electronic device we use. (no link, I'm not sending anyone to the sites, but you can google and read up... it's only been a problem since 2001, or before)

I guess we should just pack it all up and toss it away.

We won't need it when

a) we can not afford to buy power, and
b) there is no power

ponder...

Monday, November 30, 2009

Climategate deniers - they're everywhere!

On the radio (ABC Local 612 Brisbane) this morning was a caller who branded non-believers in climate change "troglodytes". He sounded like an old-timer and so I would have imagined he had more life (and weather/climate experience), and therefore more sense.

There were also callers who were talking about Hockey and the "deniers" bringing down the Liberal party and what a catastrophe that would be - can't they see the catastrophe if the ETS is allowed to happen? It won't achieve anything to save the planet from AGW/CC, but will make many people richer, and many more poorer.

It makes me so angry.

There were those discussing the campaign of phoning and sending emails to their federal members and to senators, and whether it was "orchestrated" (the consensus was that it is some kind of conspiracy, not people raising their own concerns that this is obviously some kind of conspiracy.

So now those who don't believe in AGW/CC, or who wish to err on the side of caution, or who can patenly see that the ETS will not change a thing, who don't understand the ETS or know what the implications of this new tax will be for them (much more than $1,000 per annum to pay out), can not think for themselves?

God help us all!

Sunday, November 29, 2009

No wonder I'm roasting here!

It's 38.9 degrees outside. Only 35 inside.

I wish my credit card wasn't maxed... I'd be getting aircon, for sure!

It's now dropped to 38.6 degrees.

There's a severe thunderstorm warning out, too. Maybe it will cool things down?

BoltA on Insiders today

This might be interesting... or a fizzer.

I've received an email from a Sydney friend telling me that

Bolt is on Insiders
Sparks flying...

I'm watching the end of Meet the Press, Christine Milne is dribbling about being the first to adopt and ETS, save money, be in at the start on the jobs created and the excitement... she's and idiot. (Transcripts of previous shows here... and the video should be available here soon.

I have noticed that some pollies pushing the AGW/ETS barrow have now begun to call the jobs in climate change industries etc preserved jobs, not created jobs.

Here it goes.... starting off with ETS and the Liberal Party...

Fielding can't spell, but Turnbull can't count... Good one, Sen Fielding!

Lenore Taylor - Joe Hockey in the Sunday papers competing with the Tiger Woods scandal for the front page.

Phil Coorey - Same, Joe Hockey v Turnbull

Andrew Bolt - Attacks Turnbull because of Turnbull's attack on Hockey over Hockey's support of the ETS.

I think Turnbull is looking out for Turnbull and hang the party... But we knew that.

Shut. Up. Lenore. Coorey is correct, Turnbull is going to burn the show down on his way out.

Weighted and projected the opinions of the electorate - just like the science behind AGW... good one, Andrew Bolt.

Lenore doen't know where the compensation to families will come from, she thinks that the compensation from the government will ensure that families will be no better off. Where, exactly, does she think that the money for the compensation will come from? Hullo Lenore? It will come from Taxpayers...

Julia Gillard, Acting PM is in the studio. Turnbull and the Libs must pass the CPRS because they agreed to do it. We had a deal. We had a deal.

Gillard's talking about managing climate change. Oh please. Too many motherhood statements... where's my bucket, I need to vomit.

Gillard et al seem not to be aware of the revelations of the Climategate scandal. They're going to act on "today's know when facts", which is what Julia and the government are "gunna" do.

Gillard is doing a good job of undermining Joe Hockey so that if he changes his mind on the done deal to go with the ALP on the ETS he's irrational etc.

(Crikey, it's hot here. Only 9:30 -though really 10:30 - and already it's 32 degrees.)

Gillard: delay is denial. I think that's a good thing!
Responsible action on Climate Change - WTF is that? It's certainly not the ETS.

Your Shout from Old Parliament House in Canberra.
ETS and Malcolm Turnbull has staked his leadership on the ETS - 1 for Mal, 1 against. 1 undecided, he's brave... "undignified rabble in the Libs"... scratch that against Mal, she's a Warmenist. "There's proof," she said. "You can see it happening around the world." These people have been brainwashed. Thanks MSM! Bastards.

Paul Kelly has Turnbull and the Libs sussed. Turnbull is crash or crash thru. Hockey will not challenge Turnbull, Turnbull must step back, and Hockey will not be the one to make the decision on the ETS, if he wins leadership it must be with the ETS decision made. A very interesting assessment of the Libs and the leadership brouhaha and the ETS by Paul Kelly, I'll post the link to the transcript when the show finishes, then you must look it up. I wonder if Joe Hockey has looked at all his anti ETS tweets and emails? I wonder if that has swayed him. Oh dear, Bolt's not been able to make Joe aware of the science etc behind AGW. He said Joe's not interested. Scratch that sentence beginning "I wonder...".

If you don't understand the ETS don't support it, if you do understand it you wouldn't support it! (No apology to Paul Keating.)

Well said about the Emperor and the three AGW authorities which Turnbull's quoted... Howard, Thatcher & Murdoch.

Talking Pictures
Special Liberal "Fight Club" edition...
Zanetti cartoon with knives.
Nicholson, black knight...
David Roth? For whom the bell tolls...

(It's now 9:53 and it's 34 degrees, and it's humid. 56 percent. I have no aircon. I'm going to die.)

Okay, it's over. Back to the job application... arrgh!

UN scientists turn on each other (Canada Free Press)

A UN scientist is declaring that his three fellow UN climate panel colleagues “should be barred from the IPCC process.” In a November 26, 2009 message on his website, UN IPCC contributing author Dr. Eduardo Zorita writes: “CRU files: Why I think that Michael Mann, Phil Jones and Stefan Rahmstorf should be barred from the IPCC process.”

Zorita writes that the short answer to that question is: Short answer: “Because the scientific assessments in which they may take part are not credible anymore.”

Zorita indicates that he is aware that he is putting his career in jeopardy by going after the upper echelon of UN IPCC scientists. “By writing these lines I will just probably achieve that a few of my future studies will, again, not see the light of publication,” Zorita candidly admits, a reference to the ClimateGate emails discussing how to suppress data and scientific studies that do not agree with the UN IPCC views.
More here.

Climategate in Australia

The MSM in Australia is still catching up with climategate.... it has republished an article by Frank Ferudi which first appeared in Spiked online.

Climategate is being discussed widely in the British and international media. It has involved the publication of private emails sent by employees of the University of East Anglia's climatic research unit, emails that appear to show scientists colluding to ensure that facts do not stand in the way of their science.

Of course there is little doubt that advocacy research - research that is driven by an already desired policy goal - plays a key role in framing the discussion of climate change. But whatever one thinks of the morality of climate-change alarmism, it is important to understand that the people involved in this campaign honestly believe in their cause. This is not a movement that seeks to deceive or that conspires to fiddle the figures. It is a lobby driven by powerful convictions, which need to be taken seriously if the issues are to be clarified and understood.

I have my doubts that the second paragraph is entirely correct.

Then the last four paragraphs:
In any case, no objective observer should be surprised by what the emails reveal. The emails do remind us, however, of one regrettable development in recent years: the politicisation of peer review. The emails reveal scientists having discussions about whose work should get the peer-review stamp.

In an ideal world, the system of peer review - where scholarly work is subjected to the scrutiny of other experts in the field - would ensure disinterested science informed public debate. Through peer review, the authority of science may inject public discussion with some useful ideas and facts. Unfortunately, however, this ideal is rarely realised. Even at the best of times the system of peer review is not entirely free from vested interests. Peer reviewing is often conducted through a mates' club, and all too often the matter of who gets published and who gets rejected is determined by who you know and where you stand in a particular academic debate.

Nevertheless, peer reviewing worked for many years as a more or less adequate system of quality control. In the end, the damage caused by cliquishness tended to be overcome through debate and the triumph of scientific integrity. But the situation has changed. Unfortunately, in some disciplines peer reviewing has become politicised. The way peer review is now used in public debate as a form of divine revelation - where we are told peer-reviewed science shows we must believe and do certain things - indicates how this institution risks being corrupted by advocacy researchers.

The politicisation of peer review in the climate-change debate raises issues that concern all scientists. We must depoliticise the peer review system and encourage scientists to think of themselves as disinterested researchers. That does not mean scientists can't have opinions or must not participate in political campaigns. It means that they do not confuse science with ideology. That way, they would not have to worry every time they send an email.
I have my doubts that the second paragraph is entirely correct.

Email lists for Lib MPs and Senators

Visit Jo Nova for email addresses of MPs and Senators and some ideas on content of your emails.