January « 2010 « JoNova: Science, carbon, climate and tax

Peter Spencer’s story is getting media (finally)

What’s interesting is that finally–after 45 days without food–Peter Spencer is starting to get some serious national attention. Today Tonight is a prime time “current affairs” show and this cover was fairly sympathetic. The British Financial Times has also run a story, both of these were serious enough to actually interview Peter Spencer. Finally it seems there is some investigation. A few new facts have been filled in, and also a very strong theme linking his actions to the Kyoto agreement.

The saddest point is that Peter Spencer has been trying to get some attention for at least three years, and probably over a decade. He wrote The War On Farmers in January 2006 and it lays it all out. He was already facing foreclosure in 2006.

The farm consists of about 14,000 acres, about 60 per cent of which was cleared before World War II. When I bought it in the 1980s, I had been working overseas to earn the money to buy the place. Unfortunately, I was unable to farm it for some time so extensive regrowth occurred. When I returned to Australia to begin to farm, I found that various laws to preserve native vegetation had been [...]

How not to do journalism

Watch the whitewash– so white it’s Green. The Peter Spencer story has finally broken into the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Two “journalists” paired up to put together almost identical stories as a joint effort, and do their best to add doubt and smear to every part of the Spencer story. It’s a text book case in PR. These two journalists might make passable press secretaries for a Labor government. (Which is a well worn career path).

The big-picture situation, where farmers are asking for $10 billion in compensation for land that was stolen from them, was turned into a story about how the Coalition might be split by a guy on a hunger-strike over land-clearing laws. In reality Peter Spencer could drive one heck of a wedge into the Labor Party, who paint themselves as “helping the little guy” and simultaneously claim they are good economic managers. The Labor government can’t find $10 billion easily anymore, but less than a year ago they gave out $42 billion fairly randomly as a supposedly “clever” economic policy and another $43 billion to get into the broadband business.

Here’s how these major dailies “carried” the story: The Age’s [...]

Peter Spencer rally a big success

Over 300 people have rallied in support of Peter Spencer outside Parliament House today, and the ABC* have covered it (at least on their website).

Nationals Senator Barnaby Joyce also addressed the crowd, calling for a Royal Commission into vegetation laws. He says the state laws have robbed farmers across Australia of their assets.

“It might have been legally possible but it was totally unjust,” he said.

Senator Joyce says Mr Spencer should cease his hunger strike but the fight for justice should continue.

“This is obscene,” he said. “The Government became the thief of an asset and when the Government becomes a thief of an asset – when the individual is divested of an asset without payment – there is a word for that and unfortunately without being too dramatic the word is communism.”

Some of the protesting farmers are now travelling to Mr Spencer’s property to offer their support.

Unmentioned on the ABC story was that there are allegations that the interstate chartered buses for this event were targeted by Road Traffic Authority (RTA) inspectors. Bus inspections were suddenly arranged, which can take up to [...]

The CommonFascism of Australia

NEWS: PROTEST IN CANBERRA Mon 4th (see below)

It’s Day 43 without food, and Peter Spencer grows weaker. For those who don’t know, Peter Spencer’s farm has been stolen from him by our government through Native Vegetation Legislation — which locked up 80 – 90% of his entire farm but paid him no compensation. The regrowth on his farm holds “carbon credits” of supposed value to the Commonwealth, yet Peter has been obliged by law to pay the rates on that land-that-holds-these-carbon-credits, and the mortgage for the right to do nothing with this land that really belongs to the Commonwealth. Is this not an extortionate tax?

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has declined all requests to meet Peter.

In a grand failure of journalism, our largest dailies apparently think angry tweeting travelers is more important than that a $10 billion dollars crime, and a life in the balance.

Peter Spencer tried ingenious means to work within the rules. But he has been driven into bankruptcy. The 200 days he spent in court, with all costs associated with just trying to have his case heard, added to the burden. (200 days!) After there was no other route left open to [...]

Unthreaded #1: evangelical flavour

There’s obviously a desire to debate and discuss religious leanings. It’s not science. But if it helps some people grow their climatic world view or it reaches a new audience it has a use — perhaps just as a form of mental-tennis. Though even the most illogical recalcitrant commentors sometimes bring out brilliant replies (and there are a few, especially far down). Like minded comments from other threads will be moved here as it is off-topic on every other post on this site. This whole topic breaks basic rules of logic and reason. But in the interests of free speech and to declutter other important threads, this is home to those comments that do not belong elsewhere.

Is there any evidence?

UPDATE, Feb 2011. This post, this question has been out for over two years, and yet still remains as valid as ever. Most of the evidence still cited is irrelevant. — Jo

The all important question that rises above and before ALL other questions is the one of evidence.

Is there any evidence that carbon dioxide causes major warming?

In science, “evidence” has a very specific meaning and for a very good reason. In a court of law or a game of football, the label “evidence” can be plastered all over the place. If 500 footballers signed a petition to change a rule, that would be “evidence” the rule needed changing. But if 5 billion people signed a petition to make it rain in Mumbai on Thursday, that’s a waste of paper.

[...]

Thanks for the clicks, links, tweets and stumbles

Where would we be without the internet?

The Skeptics Handbook II was released on Nov 20. If you google the phrase “Skeptics Handbook II”, there are 19,200 hits. Even I am surprised. That is a very specific phrase.

Site traffic has been spectacular in the last two months. Thank you for your help.

For the full year of 2009:

Visitors: 238,435 Page views: 868,491 Comments: 11,852

For December: 66,000 visitors, 270,000 pageviews. About 3000 people each day.

To put this in perspective, New Scientist has 170,000 subscribers, but when I hit back at them I’m reaching 15,000 a week, and it’s salubrious company. Ex-IPCC reviewers, NASA-Apollo program people, DoE experts, Engineers in California (and Florida, and Norway, and Canada) Surgeons in Sydney, Lawyers in London and a whole host of independent thinkers and people who are searching for answers.

Thank you to all those who have helped to inform me, add research, or edit my work. Apologies if I don’t always manage to thank people, sometimes it’s because I’m swamped by the emails.

Thanks to all the people who emailed their political leaders, and just as much to those who emailed their friends. It’s sometimes more [...]

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