A daft Sunday post with feathers

Photo from Adorablog:Penguins Archive

This is Nils Olaf, an Emperor Penguin.

According to BBC News Scotland on Friday:

A penguin who was previously made a Colonel-in-Chief of the Norwegian Army has been knighted at Edinburgh Zoo.
Penguin Nils Olav has been an honorary member and mascot of the Norwegian King's Guard since 1972.
Over the years, he has been promoted through the ranks after being adopted by Royal Guard who visited the zoo.
During the ceremony, Nils had a sword dubbed on each side of his head, where his shoulders should be, to confirm his regimental knighthood.
A crowd of several hundred people joined the 130 guardsmen at the zoo. A citation from King Harald the Fifth of Norway was read out, which described Nils as a penguin "in every way qualified to receive the honour and dignity of knighthood".

I suspect that Nils may be brighter than many human knights of the realm I have known.

Water diversion as an act of terrorism?

With the Murray Darling Basin news growing gloomier by the day, South Australian Premier Mike Rann has called Queensland Government-approved private water diversion and storage on the Paroo River treacherous and "environmental terrorism".

A recent Murray-Darling Basin Commission audit said that of 23 rivers tested, only the Paroo was in good health.

Let us hope that Mr. Rann remembers the terms he employed if there is another push, from local government or individuals in his state, to dam and divert fresh water from the NSW North Coast Clarence River catchment.

Communities in the Clarence Valley do feel sympathy for those dependent on the Murray Darling river system, but the writing is now on the wall for many with the need for further water buybacks, illegal water extraction still rampant, water-greedy crops underproducing, a Federal Government delaying the inevitable need to turn-off water to irrigators by deciding to replicate the CSIRO water audit, and therefore wrecking the economy, health and environmental flows of the Clarence River or its tributaries would not halt the train wreck occurring in the Murray Darling Basin.

Taking the p*ss out of the IOC, Beijing's running man and that 'sacred' flame

Just when you think that the world has decided that everything worthwhile comes from elite sports, an Aussie comes along to tilt at the tall poppies of the International Olympic Committee.

Toohey's has an online ad campaign For the Love of Beer which pokes fun at the Olympic torch relay using a little sketch of a running man.

Flashplayer link here.

Logo found at Media Channel

US08: gathering those campaign dollars can be h*ll

Dear [edited] --

Barack Obama is about to make one of the most important decisions of this campaign -- choosing a running mate.

You have helped build this movement from the bottom up, and Barack wants you to be the first to know his choice. Sign up today to be the first to know: http://my.barackobama.com/vp

You will receive an email the moment Barack makes his decision, or you can text VP to 62262 to receive a text message on your mobile phone.

Once you've signed up, please forward this email to your friends, family, and coworkers to let them know about this special opportunity.

No other campaign has done this before. You can be part of this important moment.

Be the first to know who Barack selects as his running mate.

Thanks,

David David Plouffe,

Campaign Manager

Obama for America

This email turned up in my Inbox this week.

The links lead through to yet another request for donations.

Inventive money raising must be getting harder for both presidential candidates.

Most amusing climate change diagram found on a blog this week

Tim Lambert writing at Deltoid gave us this diagram in an article titled:The Australian's War on Science XVII - hysterical knavish Nazi inquisition edition.

Keep up the good work, Tim.

An American view of global warming and energy costs: new poll

An August 2008 ABC NEWS/PLANET GREEN/STANFORD poll on the environment and energy:

Overall, even with broad conservation efforts underway, 64 percent now rate “finding new energy sources” as more important than improving conservation – up 9 points since 2001. Previous polls have shown broadest support for alternative energy such as wind, solar and hydro power; today’s support for oil drilling, and lessened objection to nuclear power, indicate the level of concern raised by the current energy situation.....
Another element is global warming; with concern still running high –
albeit slightly down from a year ago – most Americans support a so-called cap-and-trade system intended to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
And two-thirds say the U.S. government should act on global warming even if other countries do less. Nearly three-quarters believe global warming can be reduced only if individuals make major changes in their lifestyles.
Fewer, though, 44 percent, think addressing the issue also will cause them financial hardship, and fewer still foresee “serious” hardship.
Many do see reason to act: Eight in 10 believe both that global warming is happening and that it poses a threat to future generations, and about six in 10 think it’s caused mainly by things people or businesses do.

Interestingly, the conservative climate change denialist 'industry' in the U.S. courtesy of Joseph Farar has a very different view in WorldNetDaily last Thursday:

The latest ABC News/Planet Green/Stanford University poll on "global warming" suggests more Americans are beginning to understand they are being manipulated by one of the biggest hoaxes in the history of the world.
Though one must read carefully between the lines of this survey conducted by three entities entirely committed to perpetuating the fraud, it's clear fewer Americans are buying in to the notion that the world is on the precipice of man-made, catastrophic climate change.

These competing views represent the continuing problem - how to bring the United States of America into the fold when it comes to tackling climate change.
The Australian Prime Minister needs to direct more energy into convincing the next U.S. president that continuing good international relations rely on the American response to climate change as much as any other factor.
Should the Democrats win the White House at the end of the year, in theory this task should be a little easier than in the past.

In the jungle, the mighty jungle....

In a U.S. presidential race which is turning into a same old, same old campaign, it was a bit of a laugh to peek at Barack Obama's official MySpace page.

It naturally has all the bells and whistles possible, as well as 449,126 'friends' proudly listed as of yesterday.

Suppose with all those friends it was easy to miss the fact that one, Mani the Philosopher, posted a thumbnail pic of two lions h*mping on the savannah.

Mani (a self-professed former gang member from Nevada) cheerfully tells us on his MySpace page:

BUT DONT GET IT TWISTED,I BELIEVE IN KILLING PEOPLE, I JUST DONT BELIEVE IN MURDER. and KEEP IN MIND I AINT A G*D DAMN CHRISTIAN SO I DONT TURN THE OTHER CHEEK.EVER.

Pic courtesy of Barack Obama!