Florence Nightingale had feet of clay and nothing much has changed in nursing since then if Calvary Mater is any indictation

By the time I was in my teens it had become apparent that historical figures were not always as presented in popular history tomes considered suitable for high school students.

A case in point is Florence Nightingale, whose admirable drive to establish the nursing profession also hid an individual with almost as many prejudices and erroneous preconceptions as the average person walking the streets of London in Victorian England.

Nothing much has changed over time. The nursing profession is still quick to judge and slow to examine its own assumptions, if hospital patients I have spoken with over the years are to be believed when they complained of the degree of 'labelling' they experienced.

The latest example of this to come to light is this effort by a nurse who should have known better than to mention werewolves at all when being interviewed by The Sydney Morning Herald last Sunday:

There were 91 emergency patients rated as having violent and acute behavioural disturbance at the Calvary Mater Newcastle hospital from August 2008 to July 2009.
Leonie Calver, a clinical research nurse in toxicology, said almost a quarter of the cases (23 per cent) occurred on a night of full moon and this was double the number for other lunar phases.
The patients all had to be sedated and physically restrained to protect themselves and others.
"Some of these patients attacked the staff like animals - biting, spitting and scratching," Ms Calver said.
"One might compare them with the werewolves of the past, who are said to have also appeared during the full moon."
Ms Calver said werewolf mythology included reports of people rubbing "magic ointment" onto their skin or inhaling vapours to induce the shirt-rending transformation from man to beast.
The main ingredients were belladonna and nightshade, she said, both substances that could produce delirium, hallucinations and delusion of bodily metamorphosis.
Ms Calver said it appeared the "modern-day werewolf" preferred alcohol or illicit drugs, as more than 60 per cent of the patients reviewed in the study were under the influence.
"We don't know if its more fun to use drugs and alcohol under a full moon or if their behavioural disturbance is directly influenced by the moon," she said.
"Our findings support the premise that individuals with violent and acute behavioural disturbance are more likely to present to the emergency department during...full moon."

Calvary Mater Hospital should have looked at two things which may have influenced the raw data producing these so-called findings.
One - a full moon means more light in the landscape, which in turn means that vulnerable homeless people have less shadowed urban public space in which to conceal themselves from the predators in our society, so stress levels for some of these marginalised individuals may be higher during this time as a reaction to perceived increased threat levels rather than to a bigger moon in the sky.
Two - full moon during 10 out of the 12 months covered by this particular study fell on or within seven days of at least one type of fortnightly Centrelink payment, which meant that many individuals with long-term substance abuse problems were more likely to have had the cash to purchase alcohol and/or street drugs during a full moon. Those with serious levels of abuse and those self-medicating due to psychiatric disability are also perhaps more likely to turn up at a hospital A&E during the acute intoxication phase.

Not exactly the moon-influenced scenario favoured by the werewolf-loving Catholic hospital in Newcastle, which so foolishly sought a bit of easy publicity for a very limited study which could almost be called bureaucratic time wasting if one was inclined to be unkind.

Less mythology and more empathy required there.

The Big Dry continues and basically we're stuft for another year

Eighty percent of New South Wales is in drought once more as The Big Dry threatens to continue its relentless ten-year roll on into another decade of unreliable rainfall across the state and the rest of Australia.
El Nino predictions mean that water security may get quite desperate, for many on the land and in country towns already under pressure, before May 2010 hopefully brings an easing of this weather pattern.
While the big metropolitian areas across Australia may again have to severely ration water consumption.
Our national food bowl, the Murray-Darling Basin, will fail if this long dry continues.
Here's what NSW looked like at the end of November according to NSW Dept of Primary Industries:



















And here are four Bureau of Meteorology maps to show just how stuft we are as 2009 ends:



Click maps
to enlarge

The Not Evil Just Wrong! team are at it again

The anti-global warming Not Evil Just Wrong team are presently at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen busily trying to live up to their brag You helped us make history! Now help us redefine it!

According to one Standford University view at Fiat Lux:

Professor Stephen Schneider, leader of the Stanford delegation to COP 15 and co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 with the IPCC, was yesterday verbally assaulted by an Irish documentary filmmaker at the UN event in Copenhagen.....
The culprit is one Phelim McAleer, a little-known Irish filmmaker who recently completed "Not Evil, Just Wrong" a feature-length documentary attacking the environmental movement. Judging from the man's tremendously disrespectful behavior, one could easily distinguish that he views environmentalists with disdain, contrary to what his restrained film title might suggest....
With McAleer apparently intent on pursuing his harassment of Schneider, a security guard escorted the irate Irishman away from the professor upon completion of the Q&A.

Alternatively the Not Evil Just Wrong team over at Jennifer Marohasy's blog:
"A Stanford Professor has used United Nation security officers to silence a journalist asking him "inconvenient questions" during a press briefing at the climate change conference in Copenhagen.
"Professor Stephen Schneider's assistant requested armed UN security officers who held film maker Phelim McAleer, ordered him to stop filming and prevented further questioning after the press conference where the Stanford academic was launching a book…

The Huffington Post reported:

Nobel laureate, renowned climate scientist and good friend of former US vice-president Al Gore, Dr. Stephen Schneider, was verbally attacked today during a press conference at the United Nations Climate Talks in Copenhagen.
Dr. Schneider, an outspoken proponent of climate legislation, was announcing his latest book, "Science as a Contact Sport: Inside the Battle to Save Earth's Climate , " when an unidentified man jumped on stage and began to intensely interrogate Schneider. The man became angry after Schneider addressed the leak email controversy from The University of East Anglia's world renowned Climate Research Unit. He repeatedly shouted, "do you approve of deleting data, Dr. Schneider? Do you approve of deleting data?" The man then accused the professor of attempting to censor the press.

As these particular climate change denialists have a recent history of being very loose with the truth, I know who I'm inclined to believe when it comes to what actually happened at this press conference.

Japan's Foreign Minister makes an understatement about an overstatement on whaling

From an interview with The Australian and ABC on 11th December 2009:
"When I met with your Foreign Minister Mr. Smith, I said to him when I described the situation: 'For the Japanese, whaling is equivalent to the Australian beef". I may have overstated, maybe I shouldn't have said that."
Yeah, talking up whaling in that way is definitely an overstatement - whale meat is getting harder to sell to the general public in Japan and beef consumption is on the rise over there with imported beef dominating the market - and "I shouldn't have said that" gets my prize for understatement of the month.

Climate 1 Stop website should settle some of those arguments about climate change impacts

Climate 1 Stop is a new search tool which "provides a single location to access proven climate change tools, resources and information, with a primary focus on adaptation in developing countries.The Climate 1 Stop is a partnership of southern and northern organizations working at all levels, from grass roots to global.
We envision a just and equitable world, where learning and collaboration overcome climate change barriers to development. To that end, we seek to build climate resilience in all sectors. We are open to all and driven by user needs."

The Institute for the Application of Geospatial Technology appears to be acting as webmaster and information co-ordinator for a diverse group of twenty partners which include the United Nations and NASA.

This site is still evolving and it would be nice to see it live up to claims that it is a one-stop shop for climate change information for those vulnerable nations and island groups in the developing world.

Just for the sheer joy of it. Pictures of Antarctica

Emperor Penguins from the UK Telegraph photo gallery:

Extreme diver Norbert Wu's journey into the Antarctic underworld

Coalition super-duper accountant's obsession with China

Nats senator and Coalition front bencher Barnaby Joyce has become a trifle obsessed with the ol' yellow peril it seems.
If you believe this former Queensland accountant from St. George we're all in danger of being seriously in hock to China, which is coincidentally one of our more significant export markets.
Small problem for Joyce though - China doesn't figure as anywhere near our biggest creditor because that honour is reserved for the UK and US.
Hong Kong (which is China's only representative on the creditor list) holds around 3% of Australia's total foreign debt, but Britain holds in the vicinity of 24% and America 22% of the $114 billion or so red ink still on the books racked up by federal or state governments, financial institutions and private companies.
Less than a quarter of Australia's foreign debt is contractually long term if this Australian Parliament Library 2009 research paper has a good handle on the subject.
Barnaby mentions China so often that it's almost a nervous stutter.
Here is an abbreviated list of his comments on China over the last three years from Hansard and the media:

This is money that people want back. Most of them are from overseas. How much more money do you want to owe to these people? The biggest one being the Communist People's Republic of China.
Under this massive new tax of the Australian Labor Party, they will be signing us up to an agreement as a result of which we will be borrowing money from China to pay the interest to China to send back to China to develop China.

The Labor Party cannot tell you exactly how this tax is going to do anything to the temperature of the globe by itself. They aspire to grab America and China.

We have this ridiculous proposition that if we pass this bill we are going to be borrowing money from China to send back to China to help develop China. We will be borrowing money from China and from Saudi Arabia to send to African despots.

We have no money. We are in debt up to our eyeballs. We will be borrowing money from countries such as China to send back to China to help China develop, when we thought they were already doing a pretty good job at it.

So we will be borrowing money from China to pay back to China to develop?

It has stacked us up with debt to the eyeballs so that we could go out on some spending spree and have the stimulus of the nation spread across the carpet on Christmas Day with 'made in China' written on the back.

I have clearly stated that I have no problems dealing with China—I have no problems with the trade to China. I have clearly stated that over and over again.

When this legislation came forward, there was only one other nation on earth that had legislation like this, and that was the communist People's Republic of China, which I thought was peculiar.

In fact, I stated that the stimulus would be spread across the carpet on Christmas Day with 'Made in China' written on the back of it and that it was a complete and utter waste of money. Time has proven us correct.

We will develop a plant in China. We will develop another plant in the United States. But we're not going over there, because those people are half crazy.

Do we implicitly, by association in legislation, say that ovaries are now commercial property disassociated from the person and as property can be extracted from prisoners in China or aborted foetuses in Australia?

The Australian Government would never be allowed to buy a mine in China. So why would we allow the Chinese Government to buy and control a strategic asset in our country? Stop the Rudd Government from selling Australia.

Animalia......(5)

A tail tale of Patsy and the tramp.......

The Daily Examiner, 9 December 2009

Click on image to enlarge

NASA maps global warming 1880 to 2008

NASA has mapped annual changes in global temperature over a 128 year span.
Dark blue indicates areas of greatest cooling and dark red indicates areas of greatest warming.

1881-1885

2003-2007

NASA Goddard Institute of Space Studies animated mapping here and supporting data here.

A Christmas Plea: Have you seen our Sam?

Have you seen Sam?

OUR beagle 'Sam', pictured above, went missing just north of Coffs in the floods at the beginning of November.

He is a little timid, loves to play chasie, loves his food, loves to lie on your bed, loves cuddles and children.

He is tan and white and is five years old. He is microchipped.

He is very much loved and missed. He is our baby - we have no children.

I plead to anyone who has him to please contact us on: 6656 2833.

Thank you so much for your help, I desperately want my little Sam back.

Forever in your debt,

VIVIENNE TREACY-CHANDIER,

Emerald Beach

[Letter to the Editor and photo in The Daily Examiner 10 December 2009]

You know it's December 2009 when......

Clarence Valley thunderstorm on 8 December
from The Daily Examiner 10 December 2009

.......the days are getting too close to 40C for comfort, an acrid smell of bushfire is on the back of each wind, afternoons are regularly troubled by thunderstorms, you start the evening by kicking a large cane toad out of the cat's water bowl in the kitchen and follow that up at 2am in the morning by evicting its mate from the bedroom - then stumbling into the garden at 6am the next day to see how the vegies are surviving you find yourself doing a quick skip to avoid a young brown snake playing summer refugee in the backyard.

I'm almost looking forward to winter next year except heavy rains and flooding bring their own unique problems in the Northern Rivers.

Is this Kristina Keneally for real?

Is this amatuerish Twitter page legitimate or not?
Why is there no link in the first bald tweet announcing the new Keneally Government cabinet?
Who is the "KS" who signed the second tweet?
How on earth did this page acquire 2,757 followers in its first couple of days and only 24 followers since?
And what happened to those two original Keneally tweets which were removed?
Oh, and while I'm at it, if this Twitter account is a government endorsed site for the NSW Premier why were all former Premier Ree's tweets removed? A bent for revisionist history? Spite?

Well when a friend phoned the Premier's minsterial office to check she was assured that Ms. Keneally did have a Twitter account and premierofnsw was probably it, though there was nobody around at that moment who could actually confirm or deny.
Kristina me gurl, you're not off to a good start on the digital communication front.

Walk Against Warming in all Australian capitial cities, Saturday 12 December 2009

Get out your walking shoes, slip, slop, slap & wrap - then march to show that you are concerned about positive outcomes for the planet at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenahgen.

March meeting points on Saturday 12 December 2009:

SYDNEY 1pm, Martin Place

MELBOURNE 12pm, State Library, Swanston St

BRISBANE 10am, King George Square

ADELAIDE 11am, Victoria Square/Tarndanyangga

PERTH 11am, Perth Cultural Centre, Russell Square

HOBART Timbs Track, Upper Florentine, Gordon River

CANBERRA 11.30am, Federation Mall

DARWIN 5pm, Nightcliff Jetty

Can't walk on that day? Sign the petition being sent to Kevin Rudd at Walk Against Warming website.

This is The Greens Senator Christine MiIlne writing from Copenhagen:

I'm writing to you from freezing Copenhagen, where so many world leaders and negotiators are still frozen in the past, working towards a deal that simply won't cut it, according to the latest science.But you can help change that.

This Saturday, let's Walk Against Warming to send a strong message to Kevin Rudd and world leaders in Copenhagen.

Everywhere I go across Copenhagen, there are reminders that the time for real action is now. Artworks, displays and protests all show that the people of the world won't settle for distractions and false solutions.

But inside the conference centre it's a different story.

The thousands of delegates queuing for security, cloak rooms and meals are frozen in negotiations which are deadlocked by the two deal breakers – how much and how fast to cut emissions, and how much rich nations should help finance poor nations to deal with the climate crisis.

There is a palpable tension across the whole city. Everyone here knows that, despite the fine words, the emissions targets and financing figures currently on the table are utterly inadequate.

There is one easy thing you can do to help drag our leaders into the real world.

Join me walking against warming this Saturday.

If millions of people around the world join walks to demand real action, it will send a wake up call to Kevin Rudd and all the other leaders heading to Copenhagen in the next few days.

It will show them that the community is ready to do what it takes and won't be swayed by excuses.

I'll be walking with tens of thousands of others here in Copenhagen, but there is a Walk Against Warming in every Australian capital city and some regional centres.

Click here to find your nearest walk. Let's make it huge!

Yours in hope,

Christine Milne