Labor’s charge is twofold. One is that Mal Brough misled parliament, the other that Turnbull showed poor judgement in putting him in charge of integrity within the parliament as Special Minister of State, that he is unsuitable and should go. Continue reading Saturday salon 5/12
China is being blamed for a major cyber attack on the computers at the Bureau of Meteorology, which has compromised sensitive systems across the Federal Government. Continue reading Climate clippings 158
As our leader flew into town to give a 2.5 minute speech at the Paris climate talks, and Le Monde still branded Australia a climate “dunce”, the French lit up the Eiffel Tower with 3D pictures of forests, and protesters clashed violently with police, Sara Phillips said “the vibe is the thing”.
Sentiment has changed markedly in recent years, she says. Continue reading Talking climate in Paris
Every three months or so JWS Research does a True Issues survey. Voters are presented with a list of 11 issues, asked to rate them in order of importance, and then rate the government’s performance on each. In every case the government’s performance has been marked down since Tony Abbott was replaced, according to the AFR. Continue reading Voters rate Turnbull government performance below Abbott’s
Labor says its goal is to reduce Australia’s net greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050. Labor is also beginning consultations on an interim goal of reducing emissions by 45 per cent by 2030.
Predictably, this has started a war of words. Continue reading Labor announces long-term climate goals
Kerry O’Brien is moving on from Four Corners after 40 years of working for the ABC. He says he is not retiring from journalism, just moving on to other things.
He’s being replaced by the redoubtable Sarah Ferguson. Amanda Meade at The Guardian backgrounds Sarah Ferguson and her making of the series on domestic violence Hitting Home. Continue reading Saturday salon 28/11
Continue reading Ciggies at $40 a pack and Shorten’s Labor tanks in QLD
Scientists carefully monitored a coral reef in Bermuda for five years and what they found surprised them. According to the New Scientist, they
I’d like to establish a separate post on Karen Armstrong’s ideas, which entered the discussion here on the earlier thread and point towards the important issue of the secular state.
I want to make it clear that I’ve been defending the book Fields of Blood as an impressive piece of scholarship. I’m not saying Armstrong is right. Continue reading Karen Armstrong, ‘the myth of religious violence’ and the secular state
River Doce translates as “Sweet River”. After two tailings dams burst the focus was on the local town of Mariana, much of which was swept away. Now the concern has shifted to downstream where 500 km of river is becoming biologically dead, the silt is affecting nearby farmlands and is expected to contaminate fishing grounds when it reaches the sea. Continue reading Saturday salon 21/11
About 20 million children are born each year in China, and all but a quarter are bottle fed. Several brands of formula in Australia and New Zealand are disappearing from the shelves and being shipped to China, where they are selling for up to $100 per tin, five times the price in Australia. Continue reading The strange case of baby formula and the Chinese
No place is safe. You can be hit anywhere where people gather. This seemed to be the message of the six co-ordinated attacks in Paris on a sports stadium, a concert hall, three restaurants and a shopping centre. As the Paris metro ground to a stop, as air and sea ports were closed, as the streets emptied, as France closed its borders, and as the army fanned out onto the streets of Paris the terrorists’ strikes seemed to be successful. Continue reading Paris attacks
