I pray to the god who doesn’t exist that I can look back 18 months hence, and shake my head at the ‘hysterical’ position I was in back in June 2023. I hope I can join in the jeers of those climate denialists and ‘lukewarmists’ who say with condescension that fear of imminent collapse/apocalypse are... Continue Reading →
S/he flew across the canal (10m or so?) which is a fair effort, if you know anything about moorhens. The wings are not decorative, but neither are they the wings of an albatross. I was walking homewards along the canal towpath, with high reeds and plants between me and water. I was just coming (another... Continue Reading →
The judge was scathing. As the Sydney Morning Herald reported - "Passing sentence, Mr B. Riley, SM, said he agreed people had a right to demonstrate. "But that right is restricted to a proper place, a proper time and proper conditions, and never at the inconvenience of other people." Sydney Morning Herald, September 17... And... Continue Reading →
Steve Biko was a smart guy. And as far as the apartheid regime in South Africa was concerned, a dangerous one. Here's an excerpt from an essay called Fear - An Important Determinant in South African Politics. My premise has always been that black people should not at any one stage be surprised at some... Continue Reading →
The following blog post is about Bob Brown (the Australian activist and politician), documentaries and their function in wider social movements. Readers of a nervous - or G/green - disposition may want to look away... Two disclaimers/scene setters. First up, Bob Brown. The man is clearly a mensch, with oodles of physical and moral courage,... Continue Reading →
I have written a lot of articles for the website The Conversation. Mostly they are about climate change. Here, to mark seventy years since Gilbert Plass's warning to the AGU, is the latest. (Gratifyingly, it's lead on the convo website!)
There are LOTS of reasons to be critical of XR. No doubt. But when you set up strawmen and regurgitate petro-propaganda, you waste everyone's time. Letter in the Adelaide Advertiser today. The letter offering free advice to Extinction Rebellion ("Plastic Problem", Advertiser, 9 May) was a classic of its type. It finishes with the profoundly... Continue Reading →
Yomp #04 0710-1215 on 04 05 2023 = 305 mins 18kgs of weights in the backpack Well, that's the longest yomp I have done since about the middle of 2021, when I was relatively SuperFit. I am not yet SuperFit - it will take another 6 months of regular yomping at this distance/time on a... Continue Reading →
The Australian Labor Party is going to get us all killed. Either slowly - via climate change - or quickly, as collateral damage in a war between China and the USA. And there is an interesting parallel in the policy processes underlying both disasters. I just finished reading 'Sleepwalk to War: Australia’s Unthinking Alliance with... Continue Reading →
Mike Seccombe's customarily excellent reporting ("electric vehicles policy stuck in low gear") put me in mind of a front page story on the Adelaide Advertiser I recently encountered. Under the headline "Addiction to cars must go - Minister" the relevant federal minister said "everyone has his role to play, even if it's to wal to the shop instead of... Continue Reading →
