Penny Wong earns her salary in the face of boys club opposition

With so much Federal Labor promise threatening to turn into ashes, it is heartening to see The Australian report the following last Friday:

TENSIONS are emerging between major greenhouse emitters and Climate Minister Penny Wong after a number of hostile meetings before the release of the Government's green paper on emissions trading in July.
Senator Wong has told small groups of chief executives from major power and other energy-intensive companies that the Rudd Government's election promise of a renewable energy target was "not negotiable".
One of these meetings in Melbourne last Tuesday completely broke down, with Senator Wong reportedly furious at the way she was being treated by the eight business leaders present, telling them "you wouldn't treat (former Treasurer) Peter Costello the way you are treating me".
Those present at the meetings, described by a spokesman for Senator Wong as "frank and robust," included Rio Tinto Australia managing director Stephen Creese, International Power executive director Tony Concannon, Alumina Limited chief executive John Marlay and senior executives from Exxon Mobil, CSR and BHP Billiton.
Big business and economists are growing concerned about the Government's refusal to budge on its 20 per cent renewable energy target by 2020 on top of an emissions trading scheme.

Senator Wong appears to have the spine her leader sometimes fails to publicly show when faced with those multinational bully boys.
If it's any consolation for the senator; these captains of industry would have treated her with even more contempt if she had knuckled under and won't ever respect her for any stand she takes (even if it favours them) because she is after all, shock and horror, a female.

A couple of tips for Federal Labor MPs on media presentation

Whenever I take a guernsey at newspaper photos or watch a doorstop interview on the teev, it's not just the human subject of the column or news clip I notice.
I always look carefully at those others behind or beside who have been captured by the digital moment.
In the case of the interviewed pollie, these 'extras' are often there to show support.

Now the gloss is well and truly coming off the Prime Minister's image, it might be wise for Labor MPs to pick their media exposure with some care lest they find themselves tarnished by Kev's inability to hide his increasingly self-righteous and self-satisfied stance.
So here's a rough guideline.

• If Rudders is expressing his nation's condolences for a natural disaster or death of a respected statesman - stand steadfastly beside him. Likewise if he is making a commitment to a UN treaty or donating a large sum to international relief efforts.
• If he is talking about 2020 summit outcomes, clean coal, fuel or privatisation of state assets - try to be busy somewhere else in the building or discover an urgent message on your mobile and move out of camera range.
• If Rudders is giving his opinion on photographic art, troop entertainers, binge drinking teenagers or what long hours he works - run like hell and hope that you make it back into your electorate before anyone notices that you have gone.
• If he makes any statement about a possible change to the Constitution - quietly retire to your parliamentary office and 'confidentially' leak a dissenting view.

Otherwise voters may begin to think that you too are turning into a smug smart ar**e and decide that you need to be taken down a peg or two.

Best blog pic found this week

A truly frightening pictorial comment on John McCain as a future US president.
Displayed by Club Troppo in its regular Missing Links feature.

You vs George W. Bush

Yesterday Barack Obama tried to make his e-mail money drive personal with this subject title:
You vs George W. Bush.

Right now you have a unique opportunity to go head-to-head with George W. Bush.
This week, John McCain and George Bush gathered behind closed doors, away from the cameras, to raise money for McCain's campaign.
McCain used Bush to raise a reported $3.5 million from a group of about 500 Republican contributors.
That's a lot of money that will undoubtedly be used to attack us and make the case to continue George Bush's failed policies.
But I have an idea about how we can match it. And we don't need George Bush.
Right now, someone who has already given once to the campaign is ready to give again -- but only if you make your first donation right now.
If you take the next step and decide to own a piece of this campaign, that supporter will double your gift.
You'll see the name and hometown of the person who matched your donation. And you can even choose to exchange a personal note about why you've decided to support a different kind of politics.
Double your impact -- your donation of $25 will equal $50 for our cause.
Now is the perfect time to make your first donation:
https://donate.barackobama.com/match
As the presumptive nominee of his party, John McCain has had a three-month head start to build his campaign. In that time, he's made his fundraising strategy clear.
In the words of one reporter, the gala fundraiser with Bush was "part of McCain's delicate effort to find the balance between embracing an unpopular president and taking advantage of his huge continuing draw with well-heeled Republicans."
We'll see more of this dance in the weeks and months ahead, but we already know the steps.
As we prepare to take on John McCain, now is our first chance to show that a grassroots movement of people giving only what they can afford can go toe-to-toe with the Bush-McCain fundraising machine.
And with the last three contests of the Democratic primary coming up in the next five days, the resources we're building right now are an urgent necessity.
Help build our movement by making a matching donation today:
https://donate.barackobama.com/match
John McCain can run from the cameras, but he can't hide from the fact that he's aiming to continue George Bush's policies for a disastrous third term.
Let's show that we're ready to take him on.
Thank you,
Barack

Exxon runs but it can't hide from DeSmogBlog

DeSmogBlog lays bare Exxon's claim that it no longer funds climate change denialist groups.

Exxon Mobil Corp. has cut funding to groups raising questions about climate change from human-generated carbon dioxide, a move taken on the eve of its annual meeting in the face of criticism that the oil giant isn't as green as some of its rivals.
Spokesman Gantt Walton confirmed Tuesday that in 2008, Exxon Mobil (XOM) scrapped funding for the Capital Research Center, the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, the Frontiers of Freedom Institute, the George C. Marshall Institute and the Institute for Energy Research.
"We discontinued contributions to several public-policy research groups whose position on climate change could divert attention from the important discussion about how the world will secure the energy required for economic growth in an environmentally responsible manner," Walton said.

On the surface, this looks somewhat promising, especially considering that Exxon cut funding to the notorious climate change skeptics at the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) last year.
But a healthy dose of skepticism on our side is important. Let's dig below that glossy corporate surface and follow the money.
Last year, Greenpeace pointed out that although Exxon stopped its handouts to the CEI, it was still up to no good:
ExxonSecrets has obtained the company's Exxon Foundation 2005 report to the IRS. Exxon told the IRS that that it funded 14 groups specifically for their climate change work. But somehow the company didn’t mention this in public.
[Emphasis added.]
In addition to those 14 groups, Exxon was also still giving millions to other front groups that faithfully pump out global warming denier propaganda (pdf , pp. 10-15).

Full article here.

farm machinery

I found a rotary hoe out in one of the machine dumps that that old farms seem to accumulate. It was covered with rust, crud and years of sediment. The basic structure looked sound enough, so I pulled it out and brought it into the house yard then hosed it off for closer inspection.

When I had taken the hoe arm out and removed the bearings, to my surprise the chain drive worked and looked in good condition, the gear box did not look to bad either. The bearing would need replacing since they had considerable wobble in them. I started to think that may be I could get this hoe working again.

I called an engineering place for their advice; they will be out next week. I also started an internet search for parts.

Then it struck me the hoe was a Howard Rotovator and I could not help comparing the hoe to the ex prime minister. Both are old, carrying the crud and rust of many years and both have lost their bearings.

This started me thinking what sort of farm equipment the current batch of politicians would b like.

Peter Garrett sprung to mind, he is defiantly a fence strainer, spare lean and under pressure.

Brendan Nelson's a star picket, extremely useful but mainly overlooked, place every where as a temporary support and bashed around a lot.

Malcolm Turnbull caused me some problems because as hard as I tied the best I could come up with was a ride on mower. Too much of a silvertail to be a true farm machine.

Kevin Rudd is obviously a laser level, sharp and to the point could miss the bigger picture?

If you have other examples I would be keen to hear them.