naught101's blog

Schweet. I've moved off wordpress.com. Finally.

I've been meaning to do this for years. You may notice that this site is based on drupal. I use drupal for most website designs, and it's far more expandable than wordpress. Which is what I plan to do. I've been meaning to put up a bunch of random things that wouldn't be suited to a blog. Now I can. Read more »

We'd better use it wisely:

• http://www.lithgowmercury.com.au/news/local/news/general/action-launched-against-mt-piper/1849954.aspx
• http://www.lithgowmercury.com.au/news/local/news/general/activist-court-action-challenges-power-station-expansion-concept/1849961.aspx

Yeah, that's me.

Here's a straightforward approach to dealing with denial. Most of these points make sense to me:

Tips for dealing with denial

• Communicate a consistent message. Do not attempt to “soften the blow” too much, by making the issue seem less than it is.
• Try not to provide too much information at one time. This sometimes can overwhelm [deniers]. Keep the first meeting as brief and succinct as possible, and end with the scheduling of a follow-up meeting.
• Ask open-ended questions, and allow [deniers] plenty of time to talk.
  

The IPCC is being reviewed by the Interacademy Council (which represents dozens of national science academies). And they're taking public comment. This might be a good chance to get some improvements. The comments form is at:
http://reviewipcc.interacademycouncil.net/comments.html

If you can't think of anything, here's what I wrote:

• The IPCC needs to report more frequently. Interim reports, or even annual updates would be very useful.
• More focus on possible tipping points.
  

If you needed any more proof that Frank Sartor is scum, try this:
https://www.npansw.org.au/website/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=657&Itemid=495

Labor are trying to open up National parks for developments. What more can be said?

Of the three announced national carbon targets I've heard of lately, two are arithmetically worse than Kyoto targets, and one is technically worse. The latter is Australia's target, already discussed here.

The others are the recent US announcement, and the recent China announcement.

The US announcement was for a 17% cut, which sounds a bit better than the Kyoto US commitment (or non-commitment, as it turned out) of 7%. But it's not really better, because it's on 2005 levels, where as Kyoto was based on 1990. Read more »

There's a pigeon nesting in the apple tree in my yard. The pigeon has already laid its eggs - two creamy pink ones. The apple tree hasn't dropped it's leaves yet - some are yellow, some are still green. It's the 7th of July - the middle of winter.

Granted, both species are introduced, and the apple is some bastardised cross-breed grafted Frankenstein, each graft of which seems to bud, fruit and drop leaves at different times (which makes it very difficult to know when to prune it). But the image is pretty bizarre. Read more »

This is in response to a discussion about population control and climate change on an e-list I'm on. In particular, it's in response to a line by a mate, Jono:

it's not the number of people that is important, but rather the power of the argument. Population control arguments need to be challenged wherever they occur, because they turn the climate movement into a war against human rights rather than for human rights.

Terry Pratchett notes in one of his discworld books that politics is fundamentally about the running of the city. Politics - from Aristotle's ta politika "affairs of state,", from the Ancient Greek polis - the city state. Read more »

CFMEU rejects carbon trading job claims - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Electrical Union (CFMEU) says the release of figures warning that emissions trading will cost thousands of jobs is part of a scare campaign.