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

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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

Clarence Valley Conservation Coalition wants Rudd Government to scrap current CPRS and start over

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The Daily Examiner, 7 December 2009

Copenhagen Climate Change Conference 2009: you've heard the rumours now read leaked Draft Agreement #271109

Hysterical rumour abounds since it was discovered this week that friends and allies amongst the developed nations had put their heads together last September and come up with a wish-list draft of what the COP15 political agreement on climate change should look like.

When one discounts the rumour mill it can clearly be seen that a New World Order is not in the offing and the World Bank is not in charge of the One Ring To Rule Them All.

That the 'big boys' at the United Nations table want to steer outcomes shouldn't come as a shock - it happens at every big UN conference and the smaller countries as a bloc are quite capable of forestalling the more offensive measures proposed as these tensions play out both within the conference and outside for the media's benefit.

Did anyone really expect the biggest emitters, as well as those countries which have historically benefited most from the Industrial Revolution, to not try to pass responsibility onto others while keeping their own national climate change commitments fluid?

Time to remember that this agreement when it comes is not legally binding and, is cynically only for show as business goes on as usual for multinational corporations and global industries.

Here is what the draft actually states about finance:

19. Substantially scaled up financial resources will be needed to address mitigation, adaptation, technology and capacity building. It is essential to strengthen the international financial architecture for assisting the developing countries in dealing with climate change and to improve access to financial support. Resources will derive from multiple sources and flow through multiple bilateral and multilateral channels.

20. The Parties share the view that the strengthened financial architecture should be able to handle gradually scaled up international public support. International public finance support to developing countries [should/shall] reach the order of [X] billion USD in 2020 on the basis of appropriate increases in mitigation and adaptation efforts by developing countries.

21. The Parties confirm climate financing committed under this agreement as new and additional resources that supplement existing international public financial flows otherwise available for developing countries in support of poverty alleviation and the continued progress towards the Millennium Development Goals. In this regard:
- Developed country parties commit to deliver upfront public financing for 2010-201[2] corresponding on average to [10] billion USD annually for early action, capacity building, technology and strengthening adaptation and mitigation readiness in developing countries as set forth in Attachment C;
- From [2013] The Parties commit to regularly review appropriateness of contributions and the circle of contributors against indicators of fairness based on GDP and emissions levels and taking into account the level of development as set forth in Attachment C.

22. Recalling article 4 of the Convention, Parties decide that a Climate Fund be established as an operating entity of the Financial Mechanism of the Convention, which should function under the guidance of and be accountable to the COP as set forth in article 11 of the Convention. The Fund should be operated by a board with balanced representation, which will develop the operational guidelines for the Fund and decide on specific allocation to programmes and projects. The COP will formally elect members of the Fund Board and endorse the operational guidelines and modalities for the Fund. The Fund should complement and maximise global efforts to fight climate change through up-scaled support for climate efforts in the developing countries, including mitigation, adaptation, technology and capacitybuilding. Support from the Fund may be channeled through multilateral institutions or directly to national entities based on agreed criteria. Parties commit to allocate an initial amount of [$x] to the Fund as part of their international public climate support. Medium term funding should be based on a share of no less than [y%] of the overall international public support. Parties decide to operationalise the work of the Fund following the modalities set forth inannex/decision [Y].

23. In the context of the commitment in paragraph [14] Parties commit to global financing contributions from international aviation and international maritime transport generated through instruments developed and implemented by the ICAO and IMO respectively should be channeled through the Climate Fund from [2013], [mainly for adaption purposes], taking into account the principle of common but differentiated responsibility.

24. To enhance transparency and overview The Parties decide to establish an International Climate Financing Board under the UNFCCC to monitor and review international financing for climate action and in this context identify any gaps and imbalances in the international financing for mitigation and adaptation actions that may arise. The Board will consist of [x] representatives from developed countries and [y] representatives from developing countries.
[Z] Representatives from international institutions will participate in the Board as permanent observers. Decision making will be by consensus. [If all efforts to reach a compromise have been exhausted and no agreement has been reached, decisions shall be taken by a two-thirds majority]. The UNFCCC Secretariat will serve as secretariat for the International Climate Financing Board. Parties endorse the further guidelines as set out in attachment D and decision X7/CP.15.

Full text here courtesy of Wikileaks.

In the Liberal Party everything old is new again

It's official. The Liberal Party is jaw droppingly stupid.
Not only has it installed Tony Abbott as its latest leader, he's missed the chance of presenting his shadow ministry as generational change rather than as a return of Howard Government dinosaurs and a reward to his backers in the leadership stoush.
The Opposition is now fronted by politicians who on their former watch allowed the elderly to be neglected and abused, all but dismantled human rights in Australia, institutionalised the 'let's rip off our workers' mentality, dragged the nation into two wars to please George Bush, subverted parliamentary process, turned xenophobia into high art, endorsed racism in welfare delivery, decided that religion rather than science is the better tool for policy decisions and now want another chance to reprise the lot.
To make matters worse Abbott obviously thinks that being The Opposition is nothing but a game.
Some sort of mano a mano contest offering a return to government as first prize and with no consequences for the nation.
Party leadership being no more than a long running series of debating tricks and an orgy of one liners.
At this rate it's not Kevin Rudd or the Labor Party Abbott will give "the fright of its life" - its the Australian electorate which will be quaking in its boots.
I never even remotely thought I would ever feel sorry for Joe Hockey and Julie Bishop but I do - they're going to wish they'd never been elected in the first place by the time Abbott is through making a buffoon of the party.

The information Yahoo! keeps about you

Wikileaks has published the Yahoo! COMPLIANCE GUIDE FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT which helpfully assists in identifying what information is available on its users, how to request that data storage on a particular individual be extended and how much it is willing to 'sell' this information for.

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MySpace also has a Law Enforcement Investigators Guide, now available on Wikileaks along with Microsoft's Computer Online Forensics Evidence Extractor.