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Open Thread

Take a Deep Breath

On this subject of carbon trading and suggestions that the government is not doing enough. Well, I’m not convinced. Thing is there is a bunch of legislation already passed that deals with the obligations of organisations to publish data about the energy levels they are consuming, the energy they are producing, and the emissions they are generating as a by-product. That legislation has a significant impact on these bigger companies out there (and ok, it’s a smaller number of companies but it is the industries that matter when we do the numbers). So right now those big industries (including those constitutional companies that we don’t talk about much) are doing the stuff necessary to meet the legislative reporting requirements (and this is both a cost for those organisations and a economic stimulus for those other organisations providing the info-technology to support this).

So if we project out into the future a couple of years from now – we will be seeing the emergence of data coming from out from major industry players. For any one of these players chances are we are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars in potential liabilities (with or without an ETS). Factor into this equation the emergence of an ETS irrespective of targets (because the target is partially academic if we look at the end-game). What is more important is the putting in place of the mechanisms – because once you have the reporting mechanisms in place then, and only then can you start playing policy with the economic configuration (a.k.a. tweaking taxation dials and whatnot). With those mechanisms in place (and I can’t emphasise enough that the establishment of those reporting mechanisms is what is really important here) you turn a page of the management equation – only then can you actually start to manage the problem – and only then can we start to be responsible – companies (even the big polluters) will start to understand and factor into day to day decisions the economic consequences of operational decisions.

The reduction target does not matter (at least today) – because today – today we are just grappling with the problem of capturing the information about what we are doing. Two years from now and the federal government will start to see numbers that are meaningful (as in the Australian Federal Government will have the initial numbers of the flows of energy and the emissions from individual companies and those constitutional corporations at a level of granularity that will make your head spin). But that time-point is important but it’s not what we need – what we actually need is trend lines. We need a few years to get to the point of understanding the picture of what is happening in Australia. It is from this perspective that I think that less is more – because what Australia does in emissions production is not the issue, what is much more important is what Australia does in establishing the regulatory framework from which we can demonstrate a national comprehension and from that – grounded and concrete actions – based on national facts that are linked to national corporate entities – that implicate national employees – that change union policies – that generate informed local opinion.

Australia is not a global leader on this issue – but the Australian Federal Government is working on fundamentals that are critical for a responsible solution. Targets and levies are just numbers and dials – what is more important is establishing the machinery capable of responding to adjustments, and the machinery capable of returning accurate and reliable feedback on changes.

We are heading in the right direction.

And take a deep breath – because we still have a way to go.

774 replies on “Take a Deep Breath”

Hope this groundbreaking research actually goes somewhere real quick.
It is good to read a bit of good news amongst all the crap.

Professor Carlos Caldas, from Cancer Research UK’s Cambridge Research Institute called the research “groundbreaking”.

“Like molecular archaeologists, these researchers have dug through layers of genetic information to uncover the history of these patients’ disease.

“What is so new in this study is the researchers have been able to link particular mutations to their cause.

“The hope and excitement for the future is that we will eventually have detailed picture of how different cancers develop, and ultimately how better to treat and prevent them.”

http://www.opednews.com/populum/linkframe.php?linkid=103255

Mark Newton weighs into the Internet filter debate with some good questions for Conroy and Rudd.

Stephen Conroy’s clean feed report was released on Tuesday and at first glance, it doesn’t make a strong case for the technical feasibility of net filtering, writes Mark Newton

In the end, it took Senator Stephen Conroy and the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy a whole year to manage a six-week trial of ISP-level filtering.

Coincident with the 215th anniversary of the US Bill of Rights, swamped in news coverage of Copenhagen and office Christmas parties, Conroy finally released the report he’s been sitting on since September…………………….more

http://newmatilda.com/2009/12/16/conroys-clean-feed-wont-block

Dear Mr Conroy, these bastards are going to be extremely cruel and make fun of your stupid filter.
What’s worse, they’ve got much more time on their hands than you and are way more inventive when it comes to creative chaos.
Happy xmas and a “pie in the face new year” minister. :mrgreen:
http://stephen-conroy.com/news.php

I am sure the AFP report on utegate was due to be released today.
I can not find any info on it.
Anyone seen or heard anything?

We might not effect the outcome of the election but we WILL make it hard for the Government to work.

Poll: Voters Reject Health Care Mandate Without Public Option, Medicare Buy-In.
==============================================

A new poll suggests that voters are not pleased by the idea of health insurance mandates without a public option or a Medicare expansion.

Conducted by Research 2000 for the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) and Democracy for America (DFA), the survey finds only 33 percent of likely voters favor a health care bill that does not include a public health insurance option and does not expand Medicare, but does require all Americans to get health insurance. Slightly more Democrats — 37 percent — favor the idea, while only 30 percent of Republicans and 31 percent of independents do.

Meanwhile, if the public option and Medicare buy-in are added, 58 percent of people support the idea. The number of Republican supporters drops to 22 percent, but independent support rises to 57 percent and Democratic support to a whopping 88 percent.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/18/poll-health-care-reform-w_n_396990.html

President Obama Loses His Base: He Just Ran Out of Slack.
============================================

The media was quick to declare the Obama honeymoon over this summer. Yet supporters exhilarated by Barack Obama’s stunning win in November 2008 were still willing to cut him a lot of slack. That slack just ran out.

The simplest, most comprehensive health insurance reform — single payer — was off the table before the legislative effort on the matter even started. It was replaced with an amorphous “public option.” David Sirota and others like-minded called this a violation of negotiating 101: compromise comes at the end of the process, not at the beginning.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-sullivan/president-obama-loses-his_b_395835.html

At this stage the 2010 elections David will be right and I will be wrong. I doubt very much that things will stay like this. Time will tell.

U.N. Women’s Treaty Can Not Wait for U.S. Senate.
========================================

Today is an important 30th anniversary for women’s rights.

On Dec. 18, 1979, the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, or CEDAW, making it a watershed day for women around the globe.

This international agreement was Eleanor Roosevelt’s dream and is one of the pillars of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The world community went on the record to challenge every government to protect the human rights of women and girls by working together.

In those heady days, I was deputy assistant to President Jimmy Carter for women’s concerns. We expected speedy action after he sent the treaty to the Senate.

That isn’t what happened.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-tarrwhelan/un-womens-treaty-can-not_b_396449.html

Obama brokers climate deal. Gets China, India and South Africa to sign on to the Climate Change bill in Copenhagen. Next thing to do is go home and do the same thing for the Health Bill.

Despite disappointment re the climate change targets , Copenhagen proves that even our watered down versions were never going to be accepted globally.
I’m optimistic that despite political grandstanding, all participants will be more aware and proactive. Suspect that there were those who are angry with Obama for his Afghanistan decision and they used this forum to show their displeasure.
Back in our own backyard. I’m going to be shot down for writing this but I think we need to seriously look at the enormous concentration of flammable eucalypts with its enormous cost and consider replacing some of these with swathes of native fire-resistant trees so that we can at least slow down these extreme fires.
Sacriligeous ,I know, but intervention may be needed, just as we do when human organisms cause problems.

Facebook has already added another 1,000 to the group against Internet censorship. The ALP has no idea what it has started. That’s what happens when you pit a MR Dick Head against the Einsteins of the Internet.

megan, after hearing Jerry Coleby-Williams speak at Cooroy Hall on Wednesday evening I think you’re right on the pace re eucalypts. He said some of the trees have a 150 year cycle and their seed just won’t have the wherewithal to be able to survive in a vastly different ecolgy to the last time they germinated. Jerry didn’t mention the propagation of fire resistant natives as an alternative. He was concerned about the lack of overall shade accelerating water loss due to increased evaporation in our CO2-enhanced hothouse nouvelle.

Jerry and his partner have converted their Brissy home into a self sustaining jewel for less than the cost of a brand spanking wanker-mobile or SUV.

(maybe shout yourself “After The Flood” for the season of the commercial megarort šŸ™‚ )

http://www.bellis.info/Site_3/Home.html
————————————————-

http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog-images/misc/waiting-for-godot.jpg

http://news.yahoo.com/comics/tom-toles

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/79602

http://news.yahoo.com/comics/tony-auth

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/79734

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/79717

http://news.yahoo.com/comics/ted-rall

519
Megan
I hear what you are saying.
Gee up here there are a lot of gum trees. Yes they weep the oil under heat and explode when the fire gets to them.

Dont ya just love it.
Malcolm has just left a nice little dog turd under a London Gum Tree for Tony to try and polish over Xmas. He is spreading the deniers resumes around the world just in case they may wish to apply for a trustworthy job somewhere. :mrgreen:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6962198.ece

Thanks, Ecky,nice link.
Love bushwalks,trees and find bushfires distressing . There is also an increasing need of tree canopies for shade, to keep sun off hard surfaces as these retain the heat , especially at night.
Will pay to park under trees!!
Have been an advocate of sustainability for a long time and impressed by Michael Mobbs’ house in inner Sydney.
Have subscription of the “Renew”magazine, and it is interesting to read the back issues over the years to see how far technology has progressed.
Must say I’ve been really disappointed at the lack of a legal target in Copenhagen, but it sure wasn’t for lack of trying by Rudd & co. They worked their butts off.!

523
Goodness me Gaffy! That’s not a *little* dog turd.
That’s an enormous steaming pile of *very* smelly elephant shit. :mrgreen:
Cheers to Malcontent for keeping their feet to the fire. šŸ‘æ

“Onward Christian Athletes”: Tom Krattenmaker’s Book Explores Evangelical Monopoly In Sports World.

BOSTON ā€” A toss left, a quick break past the defense, and it was obvious Philadelphia Eagles running back Herb Lusk was headed to the end zone. The real surprise came when he arrived 70 yards later.

Lusk dropped to a knee in the NFL’s first public end zone prayer.

High-profile expressions of faith by athletes have become routine in pro sports since Lusk’s October 1977 run. A new book by religion writer Tom Krattenmaker explores how it happened, and asks whether it’s a good thing.

“Some love it, some really resent it. The comedians have a field day with it,” said Krattenmaker, author of “Onward Christian Athletes.”

more here…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/19/onward-christian-athletes_n_398059.html

David. In the South Republicans always paint the Democrats as pinko’s etc. Most of the Repugs wouldn’t have a clue as to what shade of blue a Democrat is. At this next election I expect they will scream commo or socialist at any candidate they come up against. We aren’t talking about mental giants in the South. So I would be very pleased if a liberal succeeded in Arkansas against Blanche Lincoln.

paddy at 528

But I did stumble on this (slightly) OT gem via twitter while watching the Copenhagen disaster unfold.
Well worth an hour of anyoneā€™s time.

Oh golly … it’s going to be better than Christmas!

šŸ™‚

Enemy Combatant at 534

Clues anyone?

It’s obvious EC!

Your just not looking at it in the right way. It’s ‘S’ for sex and the image speaks for herself, while just twisting your head a little to the left and it’s ‘S’ for science and the expression tells you everything – on the other-hand that could have been an ‘S’ for socialism (whatever – same expression).

534
Never mind the “small things”. Ecky.
(Despite the fact it’s a beautifully written book by a Goddess.) šŸ™‚
I’ve just watched a truly awesome movie about “Wild Things”.
“Where the wild things are.” is a true gem.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386117/
(Though perhaps a bit scary for very small children.)
It sings to the heart like Linda Ronstadt on mescaline. :mrgreen:
Well worth a trip.

I must be having an imaging problem, Cat………

At first I saw a startled face. Next try was a stylised well-glutealed lady bending forward. Next try was boobs with funny nipples. I can’t connect the “s” to the main Rorschach and tie it all in to the last decade. Thanks for trying to wise me up but it’s still about as obvious to me as the Mandelbrot equation.

All available cerebral circuitry was brought to bear trying to get a handle on this Rosetta Stone of Toondom but my corpus callosum couldn’t handle the inter-hehmispheric tarffic and mercifully shut down moments before my head exploded. My brain seems to have weathered the “contre-coup” but it hurts real bad and my medulla oblongata has whiplash so I’m gonna soothe it with some of Sammy Coleridge’s special favourite. Afghani, I believe. :mrgreen:

Ecky of Ticster out-crypticked! Curse thee, Sheffius, though simply adore most of his other work. He such a mensch. šŸ™‚

My attorney says he wants to sue Sheffius for damages, but I told him not to worry because I’m not a Sep and we “goddamn Aussies” take all this in our stride.

EC at 539 and GWV at 538
To bring you guys up to date: (and I’m only focussing on 2009)

Mike Duvall, a Republican politician and a former member of the California State Assembly, resigned after his sex comments were broadcast. In the video, the married family-values crusader from Yorba Linda talks in graphic detail about women he said he slept with — at least one of whom appeared to be a lobbyist with business before the utilities committee on which Duvall sat as vice chairman.

Paul Stanley, Republican former member of the Tennessee Sen., resigned from the state Senate effective Aug. 10, after his affair with a 22-year-old intern and a subsequent extortion attempt was revealed to the public.

Mark Sanford, governor of South Carolina, disappears during Father’s Day weekend, returning to confess an extramarital affair in Argentina.

John Ensign, Senator from Nevada, refuses to resign after confessing to an extramarital affair with a married staffer, claiming she was trying to extort him. Later, it was learned he was attempting to pay her and her husband off through his parents and finding them jobs

Alan David Berlin, He is an aide for Senator Jane Orie of Pennsylvania. He is also a furry who contacted a fifteen year old boy over the internet, and offered to “yiff” the boy in a panda outfit, while his parents weren’t home. The parents discovered the graphic emails on the boy’s computer and called the attorney general’s child predator unit sometime in May. Police raided his home and discovered various furry outfits such as a wolf costume, as well as a cat outfit; all complete with two holes cut out at the undersides of the costumes. He is now arraigned in Dauphin County jail on a $250,000 bail.

http://www.dkosopedia.com/wiki/Republican_Sex_Scandals#2009

Righto, paddy, Wild Things it is to scare the bejesus outta the littlies on boxing night.

Yes indeed, the eyes seem to have it, Ghostie. Well done, Espiritu Suffragia!
Pending imprimatur from our Editrix-In-Chief, naturellement. šŸ™‚

537

Oh those heady days ā€“ the summer of 2004.

Wow Cat!! Just imagine if your health Insurance covered your mescaline bill as well as the boring stuff. (Like hospitals.) :mrgreen:

Speaking of which. I just noticed this link over the fence.

WASHINGTON ā€“ Jubilant Democrats locked in Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson as the 60th and decisive vote for historic health care legislation Saturday, putting President Barack Obama’s signature issue firmly on a path for Christmas Eve passage.

At the White House, Obama swiftly welcomed the breakthrough, saying, “After a nearly century-long struggle, we are on the cusp of making health care reform a reality in the United States of America.”

http://tinyurl.com/ybxvwep

542
Good grief Cat!!
It looks like the Bishop twins have finally had it out at dawn.
Extra points for guessing which is which without the hair and eyes. šŸ‘æ

540
Catrina
But that all happened in the last couple of years. Your writings would have to be ten pages long if it were to cover the decade.

Cat, in the ten percent temporal framework of 2009 you are 100% correct in pumping the sex angle. But Sheffie has framed the toon over the decade. And yes, those representative degenerates couldn’t keep their frisky paws off anyone attractive who wasn’t connected up the wazoo or had a major in martial art in the fulsomeness of the last ten years going forward as we review that selfsame decade.

Gonna see if Mr S. has an email and get clarification.

Another worrying sign from the US Supreme court?
(I’d like a second opinion before we send Ecky over there for a dose of waterboarding.)

Supreme Court Guts Due Process Protection
The development? If the president or one of his subordinates declares someone to be an ā€œenemy combatantā€ (the 21st century version of ā€œenemy of the stateā€) he is denied any protection of the law.

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2009/12/supreme-court-guts-due-process-protection.html

549
Just read that Paddy and have had my vomit.
How disgusting is that.
Mind you The Rodents legislation here is about on a par with that and Labor has made no attempts to give it back to us.
Anyone arrested in Oz under those conditions gets the three wise monkey trick.

543
Paddy

There are some that are not very happy Jane with the current bill as it is.

Insurance Exec Reid Comes Out of the Closet with Fellow Senate Criminals;

It is time for people to get out into the streets, into the offices of their members of congress– house and senate. It is time to reject all the shills and sellouts and betrayers of constituents. Joe Lieberman is in some ways the most honest of them all– he’s a transparent shill, unlike Reid and Pelosi, who pretend they are doing good for the American people while they are doing a marketing job, trying to sell us not only damaged but toxic, dangerous goods as good for us. Put a pretty bow on this package, say we’re doing two good things and then throw in 2000 pages of damage and destruction. The hell with that.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Insurance-Exec-Reid-Comes-by-Rob-Kall-091219-90.html

551
Gaffy.
I constantly have to remind myself, that whatever bill the senate finally passes, it won’t look much like the eventual result.
I’m assuming they’ll be doing it via a joint sitting of both houses.

I gather the senate is expected to pass this version sometime tomorrow. (our time)

552
Paddy

Yeah, i suppose you can’t change the tyres on the car if you haven’t got one.

Al Franken is giving it the thumbs up over on Huffpo.

Bazza may have been caught with his pants down after what he said Super Tuesday about mandates. He may have to veto the bill.

“If a mandate was the solution, we could try that to solve homelessness by mandating everybody buy a house,” he said during a CNN morning show on Super Tuesday during the election. “The reason they don’t have a house is they don’t have the money. So our focus has been on reducing costs, making it available. I am confident that if people have a chance to buy high quality health care that is affordable, they will do so. And that’s what our plan does, and nobody disputes that.”

HMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!! Maybe there will have to be changes.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/20/obama-health-care-mandates_n_398380.html

Slipping back into “local” political mode for a moment.
Ad astra has a bloody good last post for 2009 over on Political Sword.
Well worth a read. (Even if I’m not quite as enthusiastic about Kev as he is.) šŸ™‚

As the Rudd Government begins its third year, it seems an appropriate time to review its first two. As a mental exercise letā€™s imagine the words or phrases that might best describe the progress of the Government towards its stated goals, and similarly those that characterize the performance of the Opposition.

http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/post/2009/12/20/The-Rudd-years.aspx

S is for Sad, Ecky –
and Stupid.
and Slowly Sinking.
And Soooo fucking Self Serving.
(or else boobS. šŸ˜‰ )

Must say though, while the pollies play footsies over everything from climate change to internet filters, it is heartening to see that the intertubes are playing havoc with the Old Order. They simply can’t get away with the power games for too long anymore- Obama’s election is testament to that ( I still think he is doing ok – as Paddy’s link about Rudd points out… the complexities of dealing these issues are enormous, and incredibly frustrating for those of us who want action NOW … me, for one).
So despite the seemingly bleak outcome in Copenhagen I also have a sense that change is afoot.

Dean No Longer Urging Dems To ā€˜Killā€™ The Bill: ā€˜Letā€™s See What They Add To This Bill And Make It Workā€™
===============================================

This morning, Howard Dean walked back from earlier statements encouraging Democrats to ā€œkillā€ the Senate health care bill. On Thursday, Dean wrote that ā€œthis bill would do more harm than good to the future of America,ā€ but during his appearance on Meet The Press, Dean argued that yesterdayā€™s managerā€™s amendment significantly improved the legislation. ā€œI would let this thing go to conference committee and letā€™s see if we can fix it some more,ā€ Dean said:

continued on Think Progress…
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/12/20/howard-dean-senate-bill/

Looming retirements could smooth rough votes for House Democrats.
==============================================
There’s a silver lining for House Democratic leaders in the growing list of retirements in their caucus — it could make it easier to round up votes for contentious bills like healthcare.

Four centrist Democratic House members are retiring this year without seeking higher office. More are expected, and analysts see the number of departures as omens of the Democrats’ fortunes in the November election. One of the four, Rep. Brian Baird (D-Wash.), took one for the team last week. He switched his vote after time ran out to pass a short-term increase in the debt limit. Baird had announced his retirement earlier this month.

The other three — Reps. Bart Gordon (Tenn.), Dennis Moore (Kan.) and John Tanner (Tenn.) — also voted to increase the debt limit. That was surprising as they’re all Blue Dog Democrats, dedicated to fighting deficit spending.

Tanner was particularly surprising. He’s a Blue Dog founder who’d bucked his party leadership in the 1990s to oppose increases in the debt limit. Tanner called a 2002 increase in the debt limit a “generational mugging.”

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/73117-looming-retirements-could-smooth-rough-votes-for-house-dems

I watched a great HBO doco on the weekend called “By the People”. It was basically cameras following the Obama campaign – from before the primaries up until election day. They weren’t just focused on Obama, but also on a few state campaign managers, his chief speechwriter, Axelrod, Plouffe and general campaign workers. Highly recommended.

And a big “woot” for the announcement of 60 senate votes for health care reform, though I want to see it pass before I’ll believe it. It’s a great start, and more than anyone’s beeen able to achieve since US Medicare was introduced in the 60’s.

Dear Santa

Can you please deliver us all a break from religious political interference in 2010 and……..
Can you please deliver us a break from pious pandering politicians dumping their religion on us all and……..
Can you please deliver us a break from hearing the Australian Christian Lobby and the Australian Family Association and Bill Muelembourg and Angela Conway and Fred Nile and George Pell and Steven Fielding and Tony Abbott and Kevin Rudd and Kevin Andrews and Stephen Conroy and………

It’s all just getting very tiresome and annoying.

Can you please ask religious people to be privately and collectively religious but not pubicly and domineeringly religious.

It’s all getting very tiresome and annoying.

And Dear Santa

Can somebody in major Party political life please stand up for the irreligious when the above mentioned inevitably don’t listen to you.

Thanks for listening Santa. Enjoy your biscuits and milk.

562 Me as well Harry. Fortunately the Internet will help us win. The questions is how long? 5-10 years, maybe? Those troglodytes don’t like or use technology at all or properly.

561
Katielou

The United States took a major step closer to the rest of the industrialized world shortly after 1:00 a.m. on Monday morning, voting 60-40 to move forward on far-reaching health care reform that will provide subsidies to million of Americans to purchase health care — and require all citizens to purchase health insurance or prove that they can not afford to do so. (More on the details of the bill here.)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/21/senate-health-care-bill-c_n_398910.html

It will be interesting to see what appears from here. I doubt whether a watered down health care bill will get support from the public. Mind you if they could pull off some sort of reasonable half measure and a landslide in 2010 gives them bigger leverage to soup it up further. But this is a lot of ifs later.

Preaching to the converted on this one..
================================

Prayers offered by strangers had no effect on the recovery of people who were undergoing heart surgery, a large and long-awaited study has found.

And patients who knew they were being prayed for had a higher rate of post-operative complications like abnormal heart rhythms, perhaps because of the expectations the prayers created, the researchers suggested.

Because it is the most scientifically rigorous investigation of whether prayer can heal illness, the study, begun almost a decade ago and involving more than 1,800 patients, has for years been the subject of speculation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/31/health/31pray.html

Woah! Didn’t see this one coming. I wonder if the state will over rule it somehow.

Mexico City Approves Gay Marriage.
Mexico City lawmakers on Monday made the city the first in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage, a change that will give homosexual couples more rights, including allowing them to adopt children.

The bill passed the capital’s local assembly 39-20 to the cheers of supporters who yelled: “Yes, we could! Yes, we could!”

Leftist Mayor Marcelo Ebrard of the Democratic Revolution Party is widely expected to sign the measure into law.

The bill calls for changing the definition of marriage in the city’s civil code. Marriage is currently defined as the union of a man and a woman. The new definition will be “the free uniting of two people.”

The change would allow same-sex couples to adopt children, apply for bank loans together, inherit wealth and be included in the insurance policies of their spouse, rights they were denied under civil unions allowed in the city.

“We are so happy,” said Temistocles Villanueva, a 23-year-old film student who celebrated by passionately kissing his boyfriend outside the city’s assembly.

more here…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/21/mexico-city-approves-gay_n_399797.html

Chris B,

My suspicion is that it will take a lot longer than 5-10 years before religion no longer dominates politics, given that 80 per cent of the Australian population believe in a deity of some sort.

David

I’d like to see the vague, lazy census and poll questions about religion defined a little more. For instance i’d like to see all people who profess to some vague connection to Christianity when asked by a pollster , asked the question:

Q: Do you actually believe a baby was born to a virgin mother?

or

Q: Do you actually believe a man was dead for 3 days and then came back to life?

I’d like to see the % of Australian citizens who actually answer yes to those questions.

If anything, I’d say religion will play a greater part in Australian politics in the next 5-10 years, not a lesser one.

I’m not old enough to speak about the Whitlam or Fraser governments but in my life time I’d say that the Hawke government was the peak of Australian enlightenment. Under Keating then Howard then Rudd, we have seen a steady recession back into superstition and piety.

HSW,

Do you think current Labor will allow irreligious Julia Gillard to be its next leader?

I don’t.

The fight for the next Leadership of the Labor Party will be very instructive. Labor are stacking itself with as many God botherers as the Coalition. For example i have always felt Peter Garrett’s decision to join Labor over The Greens had zero to do with environment and everything to do with religion.

Not sure about Gillard, Harry. Even if she does become PM, she will have to appease the forces you are talking about, so I don’t see her Prime Ministership changing the trajectory of the country in any case.

573 David Gould Yeah, maybe 20 at the most. But it depends on the way the Internet is utilised by us at the other end.

I’ll let you guys know when I have a program that will help change all that religion thing. After all it was the Internet that gave us Obama. It will be the Internet that helps put more liberals in US politics.

If the internet can ressurect Rage Against The Machine to fight pop music, then it can do anything. šŸ™‚

Obama Naming Hispanics To Top Posts At Record Pace.
==========================================

President Barack Obama is on track to name more Hispanics to top posts than any of his predecessors, drawing appointees from a wide range of the nation’s Latino communities, including Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans and Colombians.

That won’t necessarily give the president a free pass on issues such as immigration, but it may ease Hispanics’ worries about whether Obama will continue reaching out to a group that was key to his winning the White House.

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor is by far Obama’s most famous Hispanic appointee. In less than a year in office, the president has also tapped at least 48 other Hispanics to positions senior enough to require Senate confirmation. So far, 35 have been approved.

continued on the Huffington Post.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/21/obama-naming-hispanics-to_n_399799.html

That won’t harm the 2010 vote at all.

Dec 21:
http://news.yahoo.com/comics/pat-oliphant

Dec 21:
http://news.yahoo.com/comics/tom-toles

Merry Christmas to all you Yemeni Raghead women and kiddies and civvies . May our mangered Prince of Peace bless you most fulsomely this Yuletide. Baby Jesus Akbar too!!
So cop this from Alfred Nobelā€™s current Main Man Peacemaker.

In addition to our occupation of Iraq, war escalation in Afghanistan, and secret bombings in Pakistan, President Obama late last week ordered cruise missile attacks on two locations in Yemen, which “U.S. officials” say were “suspected Al Qaeda hideouts.” The main target of the attacks, Al Qaeda member Qasim al Rim, was not among those killed, but: “a local Yemeni official said on Sunday that 49 civilians, among them 23 children and 17 women, were killed in air strikes against Al-Qaeda, which he said were carried out ‘indiscriminately’.”

ā€œWhatever else is true, and even if one believes it’s justified to lob cruise missiles into more countries where we claim “suspected Al Qaeda sites” are located, one thing seems clear: all of the causes widely recognized as having led to 9/11 — excessive American interference in the Muslim world, our alliance with their most oppressive leaders, our responsibility for Israel’s military conflicts with its Muslim neighbors, and our own military attacks on Muslims — seem stronger than ever. As we take more actions of this sort, we will create more Terrorists, which will in turn cause us to take more actions of this sort in a never-ending, self-perpetuating cycle. The U.S. military, and the intelligence community, and its partners in the private contractor world will certainly remain busy, empowered, and well-funded in the extremeā€

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/index.html?story=/opinion/greenwald/2009/12/21/terrorism

Borrowed from elsewhere.

Two Woodpeckers…
A Mexican woodpecker and a Canadian woodpecker were in Mexico arguing about which country had the toughest trees.
The Mexican woodpecker claimed Mexico had a tree that no woodpecker could peck.
The Canadian woodpecker accepted his challenge and promptly pecked a hole in the tree with no problem. The Mexican woodpecker was amazed.
The Canadian woodpecker then challenged the Mexican woodpecker to peck a tree in Canada that was absolutely ‘impeckable’ (a term frequently used by woodpeckers ).
The Mexican woodpecker expressed confidence that he could do it and accepted the challenge.
The two of them flew to Canada where the Mexican woodpecker successfully pecked the so-called ‘impeckable’ tree almost without breaking a sweat.

Both woodpeckers were now terribly confused. How is it that the Canadian woodpecker was able to peck the Mexican tree, and the Mexican woodpecker was able to peck the Canadian tree, yet neither was able to peck the tree in their own country?

After much woodpecker pondering, they both came to the same conclusion:

Apparently,Tiger Woods was right when he said – your pecker gets harder when you’re away from home.

Yuletide greetings to all my fellow non-devout christians here, who nevertheless have to spend a week or more paying homage and spending stupid amounts of money on a whole lot of shit that no one needsin the name of Peace on Earth. (which according to Ecky’s post is as far from reality as is a global agreement on emission cuts)
šŸ™„
Bring on secularism
but have fun anyway.
I guess it does make one think about the need to contact people – not that one necessarily acts on it…

Two articles from the Guardian on the washup to Copenhagen.
The first by George Monbiot which comes across as a little disingenuous and even a tad naive when apportioning blame for the clash of the superpowers.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/dec/21/copenhagen-failure-us-senate-vested-interests
The second by Mark Lynas seems (to me at least) a bit more insightful as to what actually went down at the bunfight in Copenhagen.
But both are worth a read.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/22/copenhagen-climate-change-mark-lynas

The Lynas article is excellent. I noted the following:

To those who would blame Obama and rich countries in general, know this: it was China’s representative who insisted that industrialised country targets, previously agreed as an 80% cut by 2050, be taken out of the deal. “Why can’t we even mention our own targets?” demanded a furious Angela Merkel. Australia’s prime minister, Kevin Rudd, was annoyed enough to bang his microphone.

Hmmmm. He’s entitled to be annoyed, of course, but sometimes Rudd is such a tool.

I think it would be difficult to sort out the issues at Copehagen. For example Lynas saying that China blocked stronger stuff on 1.5 degrees knowing that Obama would get the blame sounds a bit silly when its done in public.
Most countries could be forgiven scepticism about US in this debate. Still the only one of the Kyoto group not to formally commit, with a pretty weak proposal to date of only about 5% reduction on 1990 and a Senate with a track record of heading in the other direction.
At the same time some pressure needs to be put on China and India and if 100 UN members want 1.5 then thats a start.

597
Damn you Hussy…Now I suppose I’ll have to watch this, instead of ABC1’s gripping account of

“STAR STORIES: HEATHER MILLS PRESENTS MILLS AND MCCARTNEY: WHY PAUL IS A TOTAL BASTARD”

Bless you HW. :mrgreen:

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