Thursday, 9 January 2014
Edwards v Ibbotson - Round One Thousand & One
John Ibbotson of 24 Rosella Road, Gulmarrad (author of a ‘vanity press’ book denying climate change) has a heavy dose of irony poured over his head in a letter to the editor in The Daily Examiner on 28 December 2013:
Ice storms in 'hoax'
News from the US (December 24) provides more evidence to the Gulmarrad branch of the Flat-Earth Society, allowing them to expose the clever hoax being perpetrated on the human race by climate change advocates.
News from the US read: "Ice storms wreak Christmas travel chaos from Canada to US mid-west with dangerous storms stretching from Texas to Nova Scotia, leaving 15 killed and more than a million without power. This extraordinary winter weather brings deadly ice storms, flooding and tornadoes, caused when a bitterly cold air system from the west smashed into an unseasonably warm bubble of air moving up the Atlantic coast, creating a swath of dangerous storms."
"This is truly one of the worst ice storms we have ever seen here in Ontario," said Anthony Haines, chief executive of Toronto Hydro. New York governor Andrew Cuomo declared an emergency upstate as a result of the winter ice storm.
Meanwhile, a woman was killed when a "rare winter tornado zipped through Arkansas" with 130mph winds. Five were killed in flooding in Kentucky, and six people perished on the icy roads.
Just to make the hoax even more imaginative, the conspirators arranged well-above-average temperatures in the Mid-Atlantic states, where "New York City and Washington DC experienced unseasonably mild weather, with temperatures hitting a record 71 and 72 degrees Fahrenheit respectively in those cities".
Those tricksters, hundreds of top climate scientists from around the world, even came up with an imaginative explanation for it all, saying it was the result of changing jet streams.
Aren't we lucky there are some level heads around to alert us to this hoax.
John Edwards
South Grafton
Ibbotson replied with his usual farrago of half-truths on 3 January 2014:
Ibbotson replied with his usual farrago of half-truths on 3 January 2014:
Altered mindset
VIV Forbes' "Termite generation" (DEX, 28/12)
was a to-the-point letter, which described where Australia has been and where
it is going.
We've gone from having a mentality of working hard and
productively, developing resources and industries, and building a country to be
proud of to a land where the only productive thing being done is to destroy
this legacy and put us on the scrapheap.
Whether we like it or not, we need to be working on how
we are going to provide for a healthy, wealthy, society of 50million people
(including our future generations as the warmers like to remind us).
Paradoxically, the other letter, John Edwards's rambling
ice-storm in "Hoax" (DEX, 28/12) was nothing but a weather report of
a typical NE US December. I lived in New York City for a number of years and
the kind of weather John described is typical of December in the US.
The US is subject to wild extremes of weather because it
can have hot +30C winds blowing up from Mexico and -30C winds blowing down from
Canada. Where the winds meet, the temperature differential over a few miles can
be amazing.
Next John will be telling us that the research ship stuck
in ice is just a figment of the sceptics' imagination or just another example
of anthropogenic global warming. How could this be when Douglas Mawson's ship,
a wooden schooner with auxiliary engine power made its voyage in 1911, but a
modern ice-strengthened ship full of global warming advocates is stuck in 3m of
ice, when the world has supposedly warmed?
Not only that, but the ice was too thick for a Chinese
icebreaker to reach them, so rescue is now up to an Australian icebreaker,
which is designed to go through only 1m of ice and had itself been trapped in
ice for three weeks in November.
Maybe all this is really due to the fact that the
Antarctic ice has been increasing for 30 years, sea ice has increased by one
million square km and is currently +2 standard deviations (which is a lot),
above the 1980-2010 average and last year they measured the coldest ever world
temperature of -138.8C. .
John Ibbotson
Gulmarrad
NOTE
The western Antarctic Peninsula region has shown a decline in sea ice extent, particularly in the Bellingshausen Sea, consistent with the recent change to more northerly winds and surface warming observed there. In contrast, sea ice in the Ross and Weddell seas is expanding. These changes involve both changes in sea ice extent and in the length of season during which sea ice is present each year......
The western Antarctic Peninsula region has shown a decline in sea ice extent, particularly in the Bellingshausen Sea, consistent with the recent change to more northerly winds and surface warming observed there. In contrast, sea ice in the Ross and Weddell seas is expanding. These changes involve both changes in sea ice extent and in the length of season during which sea ice is present each year......
An ensemble of
numerical climate models predicts that Antarctic sea ice area will reduce by a
third by 2100. Such reductions will be a result of feedback changes between the
sea ice and oceanic and atmospheric circulation. Changes in sea ice seasonality
(the timing of annual sea ice advance and retreat) are also expected, which
will impact on the ecosystems of the Southern Ocean including its wildlife......
In the western Antarctic
Peninsula, sea ice decline has largely been driven by an intensification of
more northerly winds during autumn-spring, leading to wind-induced ice
compaction. The sea ice changes are also coincident with an increase in average
winter air temperature of 5.8°C between 1950 and 2005, attributed to climate
change.
In the western Ross Sea region
the increase in sea ice has been attributed to both a strengthening of westerly
winds and a more frequent southerly outflow of winds from the continent,
associated with the persistence of a deep low-pressure anomaly in the Amundsen
Sea.
Intensive research is
continuing using both modelling and observations to better understand changes
in the large-scale patterns of atmospheric circulation around Antarctica, their
complex impacts on observed changes in sea ice, and possible feedback
mechanisms involved, as well as connections with atmospheric processes in other
parts of the world.
UPDATE
UPDATE
The
Australian 11
January 2014:
Satellite and aerial
reconnaissance by the British Antarctic Survey shows that four colonies of
emperors have been forced to forgo the usual sea-ice breeding grounds and
repair to firmer ice shelves that jut from the continent.
Wednesday, 8 January 2014
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A few bad opinion polls and the old 'Media Tart' is back
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott ended 2013 with the polls firmly running against him and faced with an increasingly sceptical mainstream media.
So despite his very public resolve not to feed the media and remain aloof, Abbott is once more reverting to type.
The Sporting PM on 3 January 2014 hamming it up for a national radio audience:
Action Man obliging the televised medium on 2 January 2014 at busy Queenscliff beach near Manly:
Then there was Abbott on his own social media Twitter account:
Happy New Year! If ever we should enter a New Year full of optimism, it is 2014. #HappyNewYear http://youtu.be/ooo5UgZUeTA
From my family to yours, I wish you a happy, a peaceful and a safe Christmas. #merrychristmas http://youtu.be/mQIm769GxaI
Incredible day for adoption. Deb with PM Tony Abbott. Change is coming. #thedebs #change #AU… http://instagram.com/p/iFppfZChEQ/
Tony Abbott @TonyAbbottMHR
Thanks to everyone who brought almost 500 presents for the @wishing_tree in my office. All gifts going to @salvos. pic.twitter.com/3Cc7sFXw2u
It was good to see fellow members from @DavidsonNSWRFS raising funds in Balgowlah this morning. @NSWRFS pic.twitter.com/3TqL17L41n
Great to be in my electorate @woolworths Balgowlah to help launch the Dick Smith Food Foundation pic.twitter.com/DTGIbEIhQf
Great to catch up with @DarrynLyons & @SHendersonMP at the opening of RACV Torquay Resort pic.twitter.com/TWTRKMKdkd
What a great morning so good to have Prime Minister @TonyAbbottMHR in town @Geelong_Mayor pic.twitter.com/wQnbjJv7VR
Retweeted by Tony Abbott
A quick pit stop at the excellent Laneway 73 in Anglesea. Good brew! pic.twitter.com/Fycys8vUYW
There also appears to be have been one Coalition measure put in place on Twitter by 28 December 2013 to ensure voters didn't forget Abbott while he was on holidays:
Topsy reveals that this December 2013 flurry was at least the second time around that year for this particular form of Abbott spam.
These are a selection of those tweets sent during the federal election campaign:
These are a selection of those tweets sent during the federal election campaign:
Paid Parental Leave is a winner for Tony Abbott.
Paid parental leave is a winner for Tony Abbott.#PaidParentalLeaveIsAWinnerForTonyAbbott. cc @PaidParentalLeaveIsAWinnerForTonyAbbott
Paid parental leave is a winner for Tony Abbott.
Paid Parental Leave is a winner for Tony Abbott
Paid parental leave is a winner for Tony Abbott. Very generous every one gets it. Small levy on business What's not to like #MTP
Paid parental leave is a winner for Tony Abbott. [I'm not a robot]
Paid parental leave is a winner for Tony Abbott #ausvotes #TweetLikeASpamBot
Paid Parental Leave is a winner for Tony Abbott... and women earning more than twice the national average #AusPol
Paid parental leave is a winner for Tony Abbott.
Paid parental leave is a winner for Tony Abbott.
@Bearhusky Let's be crystal clear about this - paid parental leave is a winner for Tony Abbott #auspol #ausvotes
Paid parental leave is a winner for Tony Abbott.
Paid parental leave is a winner for Tony Abbott
Paid parental leave is a winner for Tony Abbott.
Paid parental leave is a winner for Tony Abbott.
Why is a real estate company in the USA saying that? RT @realestateca Paid parental leave is a winner for Tony Abbott. #ausvotes
RT @scottsues: Paid parental leave is a winner for Tony Abbott. HELP! THEY'VE GOT ME! DON'T BELIEVE ANYTH *single gun shot, line goes dead*
Tuesday, 7 January 2014
It didn't take long for advertorials to rear their ugly heads in The Daily Examiner again
A local resident complained to me about what he described as a return to "the Chapman ways" with The Daily Examiner indulging select businesses with free advertorials.
Chapman being an editor who briefly graced Grafton with his presence and left once he realised that the social temperature was dropping in his vicinity.
There are no two ways about this print and online article in The Daily Examiner on 31 December 2013 - it is an advertorial pure and simple masquerading as local news on Page Three:
Not that there are likely to be too many letters to the editor or online comments on the subject which see the light of day, as APN News & Media has recently issued a blanket warning that any criticisms of its journalistic efforts must be written in the mildest of terms or they won't be published or posted.
Apparently, when faced with paying for a print newspaper containing faux news APN would like its readers to be "positive". Oh dear........
So who is this Chairman of the Prime Minister's Business Advisory Council?
Abbott and Newman as seen by Nicholson
So who is this 75 year-old English immigrant from Greater London that Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has appointed Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Council and of whom he states; Maurice is one of a range of voices that the Government takes very seriously.
A man whose publicly expressed views appear to march alongside Abbott’s own:
* climate change.... group-think where contrary views have not been tolerated, and where those who express them have been labelled and mocked
* The CSIRO, for example, has 27 scientists dedicated to climate change,..... It and the weather bureau continue to propagate the myth of anthropological climate change and are likely to be background critics of the Coalition’s Direct Action policies.
* the IPCC resorts to dishonesty and deceit
* Australian wage rates are very high by international standards, and our system is dogged by rigidities....The workplace is an important area of reform....
* There’s no point in beating around the bush, worthy though the causes may be, in the circumstances, it was reckless [to introduce Gonski education funding and NDIS disability insurance reforms]
A man who has been reported as meeting with Tony Abbott on a weekly basis since the September 2013 federal election.
This is what The Sydney Morning Herald of 21 December 1986 said of Maurice Newman:
Click to enlarge
While this is Mr. Newman’s professional background according to Bloomberg Businessweek:
Mr. Maurice Lionel Newman, AC, FSIA, FSDIA has been an Advisor of Newcrest Mining Limited since June 25, 2013. Mr. Newman is an Advisor of Marsh Group of Companies, Patron of CEDA. Mr. Newman was the Chancellor of Macquarie University from 2002 to February 2008. His career spans forty years in stockbroking and investment banking. He served as Managing Director of Deutsche Bank Group in Australia since 1984. He serves as Chairman of Melon Pastoral Pty Ltd He serves as the Chairman of Australian Stock Exchange Limited since November 1994 and has been its Director since 1990. Mr. Newman serves as the Chairman of Taronga Foundation. Mr. Newman serves as Chairman of Macquarie University Foundation; The Bradman Foundation; and The Australian Fathers' Day Council. He has been a Director of Tiger Airways Australia Pty Ltd. since July 08, 2013. He serves as a Director of Queensland Investment Corporation. Mr. Newman served as the Chairman of Australian Broadcasting Corporation from December 14, 2006 to December 2011. He served as an Executive Chairman of Deutsche Bank Australia from 1985 to 1999. He served as the Chairman at ASX Markets Supervision Pty Limited until August 2008 and the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX Limited) until September 2008. Mr. Newman also served as the Chairman of Deutsche Bank Asia Pacific Advisory Board and a Director of Deutsche Bank Asia Pacific from 1999 to July 2001 and as the Chairman of Deutsche Bank Asset Management (Australia) Limited from 1997 to 2000. He served as the Chairman at Acrux Limited. Mr. Newman serves as a Director at QIC Limited since May 2004. Dr Newman has chaired a number of Asian business alliances including the East Asia and Oceania Stock Exchange Federation, and the Australia Taiwan Business Council. Mr. Newman served as the Commissioner of National Commission of Audit 1996. He served as a Commissioner of the National Commission of Audit since 1996; a member of the Business Advisory Panel established by the Minister for Multicultural Affairs from 1997 to 2002; Chairman of the National Judging Panel for Innovation in Local Government from 1997 to 1998, Chairman of the Business Mature Age Workforce Advisory Group from 2000 to 2001; Co-Chair of the Singapore Australia Business Alliance Forum from 1999 to 2002; Chairman of the Federal Treasurer's Financial Sector Advisory Council from 1998 to 2007; Member of the New South Wales Premier's Major Events Board from 2002 to 2004; Chairman of the Sydney Convention & Visitors Bureau from 2001 to 2007; and Chairman of Tourism NSW from 2002 to 2007. In 1997, he was Australia's Private Sector Representative to the First Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting Business Forum held in London; and in 1999 led a delegation of senior Australian executives to New York promoting Australia, the Dynamic Success Story of the Asia Pacific - A Centre for Global Financial Services. He is a Member of Business Council of Australia Chairmen's Panel, Civil Patron, Royal Australian Naval Reserves, and Professional Studies Program. He has been in MARQ Services Advisory Board since August 2012, and Honorary Professor in Public Diplomacy at the Soft Power Advocacy & Research Centre, Macquarie University since September 2012. He is a Fellow of SDIA and a Senior Fellow of Financial Services Institute of Australia (SF Fin). He holds Doctorate in Business from Macquarie University.
There is no mention of Newman’s time as an executive director at Bain & Co in the Bloomberg account, which is also silent about his scriptwriting efforts.
The general view of Maurice Newman’s time at the ABC may be summed up in this Brett Leithbridge cartoon:
http://www.walkleys.com/gallery/90
Wanker apparently being a popular opinion of Mr. Newman's personality and intellectual capacity - though sometimes more diplomatically expressed as his being naive, behind the times, a flat earth thinker or a class warfare warrior.
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