How many mushroom risotto’s does it take to stop a bushfire? Golden Globes goes Vegan “for the planet”

In the light of actual news happening around the world, it is a challenge for a committee of entertainment journalists to give some people who pretend to do things, a prize and make that “news”. It’s even harder for them to waltz down red carpets with wildly expensive fashion-set-pieces and pretend to care about anything other than their image. So veganism for weather control makes “sense”, if not for stopping storms, as a form of advertising.

Et Voila: It’s a big commitment after all —  forgoing smoked salmon for one meal:

The Golden Globes announced Thursday that the menu for attendees at this year’s awards show will not include meat.

In a statement to The Associated Press, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), which hosts the Globes, said that the decision was made to draw attention to the connection between Americans’ diets and climate change.

“If there’s a way we can, not change the world, but save the planet, maybe we can get the Golden Globes to send a signal and draw attention to the issue about climate change,” HFPA President Lorenzo Soria told the AP. “The food we eat, the way we grow the food we eat, the way we dispose of the food is one of the large contributors to the climate crisis.”

Living on the edge:

“It was a little shocking when first mentioned, because of being very close to the actual Globes and having already decided on a menu,” he said

Coming soon, a movie script about how pagan neolithic tribes believed their dinner could stop floods and fires.

h/t Willie

9.7 out of 10 based on 82 ratings

238 comments to How many mushroom risotto’s does it take to stop a bushfire? Golden Globes goes Vegan “for the planet”

  • #
    John F. Hultquist

    a: Menu may be more interesting than the movies (that I don’t go to anyway);
    b: Survey all that go as to whether or not they ate or will eat meat sometime during the day.

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    • #

      I thought I’d ask this question at the top, because it could be missed as the posts grow.

      The question is, has anyone ever done a serious analysis of animal based food vs vegetable based food and how much of each would be required to sustain a healthy life? This also needs to include the amount of farmland, water, feed stock, fetiliser etc required to produce the required amounts of animal based food vs vegetable based food.

      I haven’t come across any analysis that truly looks at the entire picture and how the alternatives compare. I’ve seen some articles saying that meat production requires far more land and resources compared to crops, but these articles have been quite sparse in the actual basis/facts behind the suggestions. They have also been mostly produced by Vegans/Vegan supporting groups/climate change supporting groups, so suspicion is naturally warranted.

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      • #
        Annie

        Good questions to ask bemused. Livestock can be raised on more marginal land than can crops. Just to take growing peas as an example for our beloved vegan friends; the crop needs to be on good land, well fertilised, using pesticides and herbicides against weeds and all manner of chomping creepy-crawlies and hunting to shoot the larger chompers (possums and birds) and so on. Very vegan when you really look into it!

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        • #

          Our rural area has a mix of crop growing (potatoes, peas and what not, the bulk being potatoes) and dairy, beef, sheep and the like (the bulk being dairy, but closely followed by beef and sheep).

          Both take up fair amounts of land, but I’d hazard a guess that dairy and beef/sheep based products would be far more sustaining than potato based products. And in fact, because of the nature of the land (lots of rolling hills), I’m not sure that other forms of crop growing would be very efficient or suited to the area.

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      • #
        Sceptical Sam

        Interesting question bemused.

        If the answer favoured the Vegan option then the obvious conclusion is that the world’s population could be expanded even further and faster, because more food could be produced in a smaller area to feed it.

        I’m sure the Vegans would be in favour of a world population well in excess of the current projections. 🙂 🙂

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        • #
          hatband

          Plants are an unsustainable use of land, because if fields are allowed to lie fallow 2 years after cropping, then you need 3 times as much land.

          If you keep planting every year, then the soil is exhausted, and you end up with desert

          Plants are also a wasteful use of finite resources-land and water.
          Why?
          Most produce is dumped as garbage, either by the grower, who can’t sell it, by the wholesaler, who can’t sell it, by the retailer, who can’t sell it, or by the consumer, who, at some level, rejects the idea of eating it.

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      • #
        hatband

        1. Crops have got to be replanted every season.

        Cattle and Sheep reproduce without any help.

        2. Crops eat up the soil fertility. Then there’s the problem of leaving a cropped field lay fallow. There’s a saying ”Don’t plant peas on top of peas”.

        As long as cattle and sheep movements are controlled, they self fertilise the soil. leading to continuing improvement.

        3. Crop farming is a Green Capitalist’s dream industry, there’s very little labour required.

        Cattle and Sheep are labour intensive at all stages of the process.

        4. Are crops more sustainable than Cattle and Sheep?
        No.
        FDR introduced his [Green] New Deal in 1933.
        Farmers were ordered to slaughter most of their livestock and grow crops.
        By 1935 vast areas of formerly productive farmland was turned into a dustbowl by these policies, causing a mass migration to the West Coast.

        5. Can plant foods be substituted for animal foods?

        Yes, that’s why we have a vermiform appendix, to assist digestion of plants and seeds.

        6. Are humans omnivores or herbivores?
        Humans are carnivores, but can survive on vegetable foods during a famine.
        The horse is a herbivore, though the Danes in Greenland fed their horses fish due to the absence of plants.
        All animals put on condition from eating meat, even herbivores
        That’s why feedlotters were feeding Cattle with blood & bone meal.
        It’s so much better than grain for growth, and it’s cheaper.

        7. Can animal products [Fat and meat] supply essential Vitamins and Minerals?
        Yes.
        Most Animals have the ability to synthesise Vitamin C, cattle and sheep also absorb large quantities of Vitamin D from living outdoors during the day.
        Grass eaters convert vitamins and minerals in the grass into meat.

        8. Can humans thrive on a vegetable diet?
        No.
        Plants and seeds are herbivore food, only those animals can digest those foods.

        Here’s a list of the most dangerous Anti-Nutrients in foods, and all of them are in plant food:

        https://draxe.com/nutrition/antinutrients/

        Bottom Line: Why is the Vegan Diet so heavily promoted?
        1. There’s fortunes to be made for those at the very top in forcing whole populations onto a plant diet.
        Pastoralism is Labor intensive, Agriculture is Capital Intensive.

        Just my opinion:
        The real purpose of the Climate Change Agenda is to force heath destroying Plant ”Food” onto whole populations and reap the rewards from Agriculture and Pharmaceuticals.

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        • #

          I agree with all of that and personally believe that going Vegan is the first step to mental instability and would eventually lead to the deterioration and death of any civilisation. But the argument by the Vegans is that going Vegan has no downsides.

          But here’s an interesting article on bacon (mmm, bacon).

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          • #
            OriginalSteve

            The general push by the NWO mob is going veggie to protect their mythical “gaia”. This is also why meat is becoming so expensive, its all sneaky social engineering IMHO.

            Also, the extreme greens view humans as a parasite.

            You can see the damage done by, FDR who was fully signed up “the cause” from years back. The NWO mob have an activity horizon of 100+ years.

            As to veganism , I wonder if the vegan thing through lack of nutrients really does send them mad?

            If you deprive a human brain of cholesterol, the person becomes aggressive.

            If you look at the cherry picked data from infamous Framingham Heart Study that tried to make animal fat the bad guy ( and this is all wrapped up in the cholesterol sc*m ),you find a lot of the connections going back to the UN.

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            • #

              As to veganism , I wonder if the vegan thing through lack of nutrients really does send them mad?

              I’ve seen first hand where people who have gone Vegan have started to change as far as their personality is concerned. It’s a slow, but seemingly inevitable change and not for the better. I’m convinced that animal protein, especially animal fat, is essential for metabolic balance and brain stability/development.

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              • #
                hatband

                The lies about non-animal food has been going on forever.

                Sounds great at first glance, mushrooms might be full of B12, buthumans can’t absorb any of it.

                Same with carrots, those things are full of Beta Carotene, precursor to VitaminA, but our bodies can’t convert it to VitaminA.

                Here’s the mindblowing thing: we’ve got the best standard of living in all of recorded human history, yet we’re still eating starvation foods because Mummy told us to.

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      • #
        Graeme Bird

        Animal-based foods are much more nutrient dense. With few exceptions plant-based eating has to be considered a form of fasting. People often go very well on a plant-based diet for a little while but they are all going to come unstuck in the end. But if you are concerned about carbon internment, supposing this was important, then its meat production that can inter carbon in the soil better than any other method. But not all types of meat production. White Oaks farm in the US was audited as to the effect of its meat production on carbon emissions. They came out at -3kg of carbon emissions for every kilo of beef. It was a substantial study, with a $60 000 USD budget. You hit a wall if you try and inter carbon into trees. But you can inter carbon into the soil on any desired scale, if that were thought to be a worthy goal. But not without animals and grasses.

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      • #
        shannon

        Perhaps the amount of Chemicals/Pesticides needed to produce/protect crop growing yields v kilos in meat, could also make an interesting study…

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        • #

          But most Vegans insist on ‘natural’ pesticides and the like, which in most cases are extremely ineffective. They also object to GM crops, which are proven to increase crop yields and healthier crops. They want an agrarian society ostensibly based on Medieval life (with a similar population density to feed).

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          • #
            hatband

            But most Vegans insist on ‘natural’ pesticides and the like

            Any evidence for that assertion?

            They also object to GM crops,

            I very much doubt that, but if true, then at least they got something right.

            …GM crops, which are proven to increase crop yields and healthier crops.

            The ”Science” on that is even dodgier than that on ”Climate Change”.

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      • #
        Analitik

        The question is, has anyone ever done a serious analysis of animal based food vs vegetable based food and how much of each would be required to sustain a healthy life? This also needs to include the amount of farmland, water, feed stock, fetiliser etc required to produce the required amounts of animal based food vs vegetable based food.

        Read this by Matthew Evans (The Gourmet Farmer). He must be an embarrassment to SBS, with the clear reasoning he has applied to the consequences of vegetarianism and veganism for farming practices.

        https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-03/vegan-diet-doesnt-mean-no-animals-die-says-matthew-evans/11266420?pfmredir=sm

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        • #
          Analitik

          boo for moderation filter

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        • #

          Analitik, Evans is generally promoting something not far off veganism in any case, However, he is also probably wrong in his claims about the scale of harm from the vegan diet – considered from the everyday point of view, it is almost certainly the case that what we do now is far worse for animals than a vegan system would be. Veganism really is just asking us to give a damn about other animals. Most of us don’t. Look at the concern being expressed for the hundreds of millions of animals killed in the fires, yet hundreds of millions of animals are killed every year in our food industry, mostly for the fun of it.

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          • #
            Analitik

            Are you confusing Matthew Evans with Pete Evans?

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            • #

              Analitik, no. Matt Evans wrote the book On Eating Meat, which is where he expands on the views in that article. I have read it, and as I said largely his view is very close to veganism. I think it would be best described as Ethical Omnivorism, which is a thing too. Both concepts come from the angle that we actually do have an ethical duty to care about, and for, other animals when we have some kind of relationship with them. For example, not supporting cosmetic companies that experiment on animals. Or, choosing to eat ess or no meat and dairy.

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      • #
        Davefromweewaa

        Slightly off your topic bemused, grazing is Carbon neutral.
        Every atom of Carbon emitted by grazing comes from the atmosphere via the plants consumed. It doesn’t even matter wether it’s CO2 or methane that’s emitted either. Methane rapidly breaks down in the atmosphere to CO2 and H2O.

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      • #

        Bemused, I’m not sure quite what you are asking. It should be quite possible to sustain a healthy life on a plant-based diet. Sure, there are plenty of people claiming otherwise for all sorts of reasons, but it’s hard to see how that could be the case more generally. I think something people tend to miss is that according to most nutritionists, the most healthful diet is low in the actual amount of meat we need to eat. Generally speaking, as Michael Pollan has said, “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.” In other words, getting the majority of our calories from plants is regarded as a healthy way to eat. The idea of veganism is that we replace that small amount of meat with plants – I can’t see too many reasons why that would be a bad thing. I would alsobe very surprised if that meant we needed to allocate all that much more land to growing crops than is already the case, however there are plenty of other options apart from broadacre cropping. Still, we should note that we seem to be doing fine to produce all the plants we do produce, which feed us, an overseas market, and a helluva lot of animals besides.

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        • #

          I’ve read lots of claims by nutritionists and most are what I consider part of the Nanny State. To be healthy, starve yourself on mung beans and water. Everything nutritionists advocate is a lifestyle that lacks any form of enjoyment.

          It may sound harsh, but I’ve become very intolerant of the dogooders who more often than not are disingenuous about what they pursue. I wrote about my views on The Nanny State nearly four years ago and gave up on the updates as it was never ending.

          No, I don’t believe for one moment that a purely vegetarian diet is healthy or worthwhile.

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          • #

            Bemused, I think if you imagine a plant-based diet to be purely water and mung beans then you are severely misinformed. You can disagree with something but it’s usually good to at least understand what you disagree with. There is nothing “nanny state” about the concept of veganism, which after all is an ethical stance by and large. It probably is possible for someone to eat meat and still be vegan, at least by a more pragmatic interpretation of the concept. I can see no valid reason for anyone not to be “vegan”, other than just going “nup”.

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            • #

              You need to understand that ‘mung beans and water’ was sarcasm. People, especially Vegans, taking an ‘ethical’ stance are indeed attempting to foist their ‘Nanny State’ lifestyle on others. Nanny State views being that they know what’s best for us. And you can’t be a Vegan and eat meat, that’s like saying you’re an atheist yet believe in God.

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              • #

                Of course it was sarcasm, what I am getting at is that everyone eats vegan food. Most of us most of the time. The small amount of meat and dairy we are recommended to eat can be replaced with other food sources. It’s not the difference between an all meat diet and an all plant diet, it is really just a small change. Whether it’s the best thing for all of us is another question. As for veganism and eating meat, what I am getting at is that veganism is meant to be an ethical position, and in fact a sensible one. Unfortunately a lot of people, vegans included, think of it as a sort of club with a set of rules. For me, I see it as my everyday ethical and moral outlook extended to include other animals. The aim is different from say ethical omnivorism. In that concept, one believes we have to eat meat and so we should do so ethically. Many EMs actively oppose “factory farming” and fish farming for example. Veganism on the other hand has the primary goal of not using/harming animals at all, so it comes from the angle that we do not, by and large, HAVE to eat animals. However, we have to be practical too. If someone lives in a place where they simply cannot get adequate nutrition without meat, in my view they eat meat. That is still aligned with vegan ethics. Their aim is not to do so, but circumstances means they must, and so they do so as ethically as possible in those circumstances. Similarly if you have some condition that means you cannot get adequate nutrition from plants alone, then you eat some meat. With the same sort of proviso.

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              • #

                By the way, I am not trying to say someone can just chow down on a steak and still call themselves vegan. The point is that your honest aim is to not eat meat, and if you remain true to that within the scope of your own circumstances then I think you are essentially practising vegan ethics. If though you think you are vegan but you have a Maccas burger once a week because you like the taste, well, you are perfectly free to do that. But you probably aren’t really living your belief.

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              • #

                Being a Vegan has a very specific meaning:

                Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products, particularly in diet, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals.

                Saying Vegans can eat meat is like saying someone can be half pregnant.

                I oppose animal cruelty in any shape or form, but breeding animals for food is not animal cruelty. And I enjoy meat (protein) in all of its forms (I do draw the line at bugs and insects). I could not imagine a life where you could not eat meat or seafood.

                If scientists came up with a meat substitute that was truly a substitute, not the crap Vegan burgers etc, I would have no objection. Until then, I’ll eat meat and I’m just in the process of making a pasta with bacon and pork as the star elements.

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              • #

                Yeah, that’s more or less the definition, but it isn’t saying that come what may, you can never eat meat. Your first priority is not to do harm to yourself. Veganism maintains one should abstain from animal products and reject the commodity status of animals, but it doesn’t say to do so if that will cause you certain harm. Someone in a place (say a third world nation, or a food desert) where sufficient plant-based food just is unavailable isn’t meant to starve to death. The aim of the philosophy is to treat other animals kindly. If we agree that other animals are subjects of a life then we have some responsibility for their well being. Otherwise it doesn’t matter what we do to them. If you agree with that idea (and you probably do when it comes to say dogs) but you aren’t willing to give up meat, then you’d not be endorsing vegan principles. You could though endorse ethical omnivorism. In which case, you would source your pork and bacon from a decent free-range pig farmer like Jonai Farms. If you buy your pork/bacon from the supermarket, you really aren’t caring about or being kind to the pig. Again, your choice, of course. Some people just think it’s worth giving a damn, I suppose.

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              • #
                Kalm Keith

                After reading all this I went to the kitchen drawer, got hold of a small sharp fork, went to the fridge and laid into a pork chop with the fork.

                It didn’t make me feel better.

                Why do people get involved with this silliness?

                KK

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      • #
        Bertozzi-Sibler Aldo A.

        Have a look at swiss Institution © Forschungsinstitut für biologischen Landbau (FiBL). https://FIBl.ch, … organic farming etc.

        Best regards
        Aldo

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      • #
        ATheoK

        “bemused January 6, 2020 at 9:30 am ·
        I thought I’d ask this question at the top, because it could be missed as the posts grow.

        The question is, has anyone ever done a serious analysis of animal based food vs vegetable based food and how much of each would be required to sustain a healthy life? This also needs to include the amount of farmland, water, feed stock, fetiliser etc required to produce the required amounts of animal based food vs vegetable based food.

        I haven’t come across any analysis that truly looks at the entire picture and how the alternatives compare. I’ve seen some articles saying that meat production requires far more land and resources compared to crops, but these articles have been quite sparse in the actual basis/facts behind the suggestions. They have also been mostly produced by Vegans/Vegan supporting groups/climate change supporting groups, so suspicion is naturally warranted.”

        There are no simple summaries. Those things you read that claim animals require more land are generally prepared by activists who ignore reality.
        Every plot of land is different and needs to be studied to identify what constitutes viable arable land versus land suitable for husbandry.

        Keeping in mind that bottom lands and flood plains are the most fertile croplands and are usually highly productive; except if they are frequently submerged during the crop year. Then it may be best that what appears to be good land for crops.

        Animals, especially the ungulates (cattle, goats, sheep, deer, rabbits, llamas, etc. etc), are extremely good at consuming coarse browse and graze and then turning that coarse vegetative matter into high quality proteins.
        Pigs eat almost anything and are excellent at turning what humans consider wastes into high quality protein.

        Chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, pigeons, etc. are excellent at eating insects, especially the notorious blood sucking kind, along with fallen seeds and vegetative matter. Chickens, ducks and geese are excellent at frequently laying highly nutritious eggs while keeping the property free of insect vermin.

        Ducks and geese thrive in those lands that get frequently flooded.

        Crops vary. Some food plants require well drained soils. Other plants can thrive or at least survive on soils that are less well drained. Many plants neither thrive nor survive well on heavy clay soils.
        Where I live in Virginia, USA; heavy clay soil prevents growing decent crops like corn. Or as the Colonial settlers discovered, horrible at raising tobacco. Many of the heavy clay soil lands are used for raising livestock. Before the Civil War, sadly these lands were also used for slave pens.

        These kinds of lands require that erstwhile farmers learn, the hard way, exactly what kinds of vegetative crops they can grow on every square inch of land. A problem that most farmers encounter.
        Where it is difficult to impossible to grow human food crops, animals thrive. Fortunately, many of these animals enjoy the coarse weeds and plants that do grow.

        Summed, there is far more land suitable for husbandry than there is for human food crops. Especially those tender plant crops favored by vegetarians and vegans.

        What you should do is read history.
        Read about the health of populations over time and what foods they had to consume, year round.
        Humans require a complete slate of amino acids from both animals and plants. Several of the amino acids are difficult to find in plants. Vegetarian and especially vegan diets walk a knife edge between nutrition deficiency and good health.
        Read about how people gain height and strength as they added more meat to their diets.

        My parents lived during the Great Depression in the 1930s. Across history, depressions and severe recessions are frequent. Droughts, floods, crop failures cause their own problems for civilizations.
        Before committing to a pure vegetarian/vegan lifestyle, ask yourself how a person can support such a lifestyle during severe economic downturns and famines…

        Everyone should raise their own foods and learn exactly what is involved before they start trying to force their beliefs on others. If you don’t know the effort it takes to grow and harvest crops and animals, you have no right to tell others what they should eat.

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        • #

          I understand what you say, my father came from a farming background and I lived on farm for a while. We now live in a farming area and even grow some of our own herbs and vegetables.

          But what I have never seen anywhere is a factual and detailed comparison of what I asked about. The argument seems to be that animal husbandry causes climate change, but with no more evidence than that farm animals fart; hence they are responsible for climate change.

          On the latter basis, many vegetables should be also banned. Not sure if mung beans cause farts.

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          • #

            Animal farming doesn’t cause climate change, though like most human activities it contributes to anthropogenic GHG emissions. These days I think it is accepted that the contribution, at least in Australia, is less than has been claimed by some. And the ag sector has been very successful at reducing emissions. In the last GHG inventory report in June, that sector was the standout with a 5% reduction for the year.

            That said, animal farming does require a lot of resources, in particular crops. Most farmed animals in Australia are in intensive systems and need to be fed, a lot of that comes from soy and the like. Given the relative conversion inefficiencies, it would make much more sense to grow plants and eat them, rather than feeding them to animals. It takes far less land to produce a replacement for meat and dairy than it does to use animals.

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    • #
      StephenP

      This reminds me of a scene in the film Cross of Iron, where the soldiers recovering in hospital have a photo op with visiting generals in front of a table groaning with food.
      After the photos are taken the top general orders the meats be taken to a separate room for the generals, saying to the patients “eat the vegetables, they are good for you”!

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  • #
    Bob P

    A very funny take on this by Rex Murphy in the National Post Jan 3: nationalpost.com/opinion. Sorry, cannot seem to copy the full link directly.

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  • #
    Kalm Keith

    That last sentence is a brilliant summary.

    It makes the point that groups and crowds and movements can be leaderless and lacking in common sense.

    KK

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    • #
      WXcycles

      But it’s ‘going-for-gold’ as far as Olympic level shark-jumping events go.

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      truth

      And yet, KK…the mindless mob armed with their certainty that their cause is noble and they have the tick from ‘high places’….could do existential harm.

      The movie business seems to me to have taken a giant leap already…unless I’m reading wrongly the last scene of the Norwegian Netflix series ‘Occupied’.

      Has anyone seen it …and can tell me if I’m wrong about the potential implications should the Extinction mob take it to heart?

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      OriginalSteve

      Oh look…a “last chance” to bow to the altar of the UN, and admit we are “unbelievers” and at fault……oh no….

      Um…no…..

      This sounds a little like a offer we cant…er…you know…..

      It seems like the ABC is using someone to strong arm the govt? Or am I imagining things?

      Notice the apparent reality disconnect – no mention ot huge fuel loads, no mention of greenies blocking back burning, just more climate silliness….

      https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-06/bushfires-climate-change-opportunity-to-change/11839530

      “The fires across Australia are taking a terrible toll. For those who have lost their loved ones and for those who have lost their homes.

      “For those who suffer weeks and months of fear, and for the firefighters working beyond exhaustion.

      “For the millions who breathe harmful smoke with the risk of future illness, and for the many businesses that go broke.

      “And for nature: we are losing animals and their habitat, biological diversity and natural beauty at massive scale.

      “The physical and mental scars will be with us for years. Every drive or walk in the woods will be a reminder. Spring will bring fear of the summer.

      “The bushfire emergency, arising from the drought, has become a national crisis.

      “It could be the turning point for Australia’s climate change politics and policy that is so deeply in the ditch.

      “It could allow Government politicians to discard their past destructive stance on climate change, and give the opposition an opportunity to look to the future.

      “So dear Prime Minister and Cabinet, please find it within yourselves to drop the old anti-climate change stance.

      “You have created the perception of being aloof, uncaring and ineffective on the fires. This was epitomised in the way the Prime Minister turned his back on a resident of fire-ravaged Cobargo when she pleaded for help and the partisan way of going about the announcement of the federal measures.

      “You will need to lead, and that means showing concern and acknowledging that climate change is a huge issue for Australia.

      “And you will need to pivot on climate change policy. You’ve been politically locked into a no-action position, but the bushfires give you the reason to change. The bulk of Australia’s business community will be behind you, they yearn for sensible national climate policy.

      “You can make it your mission to protect the country from harm, an essential conservative cause.

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        hatband

        Politicising a Disaster?

        Situation normal for the ABC.

        It’s the Goverment’s Own Channel though.

        So, if Scotty isn’t pushing back hard,

        then he must be on board.

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    Jacques Lemiere

    it is one step in the right direction…and five in the wrong one…

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    Jacques Lemiere

    it is one step in the right direction…and five in the wrong one…
    hey but let s just count the first one..

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    AndyG55

    I see a large number of Big Mac wrappers in the garbage next day.

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    AndyG55

    If they had a cockroach pie on the menu.

    Would that be construed as cannibalism ?

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    TdeF

    It’s all about publicity. There is nothing Hollywood will not do for publicity, fame and cash. Save the planet? With vegetables? Sure, if someone thinks that works but it hardly matters. There is no such thing as bad publicity, only publicity. Anything to beat the Oscars.

    Man made Global Warming promoters Michael Mann and Tim Flannery and Grump Greta just love this stuff. Cows are heating the planet so carrots are the solution. Of course. Throw a zucchini on the barbie and stop the bushfires. You know it all makes sense to a Climate Scientist. It certainly gets headlines and that is all that matters.

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      Roy Hogue

      Publicity is one thing but wilful stupidity is another. I would be ashamed to put together such an event or even to participate in it. But the Hollywood bubble is as impenetrable as solid steel. Reality can’t get in.

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        TdeF

        That’s my point. It is not stupidity. It is manipulative, opportunistic, promotional, deceptive and it is working. Everyone is talking about the Golden Globes and given that they are disappearing into obscurity and utter irrelevance, what else can they do?

        I do not see the switch from Global Warming which is definable, measurable and not true to Climate Change which is nebulous and has no specific metric as being anything different. Manipulation. Even Greta is onto the Australian bushfires as proof of people stealing her future. A logical connection does not exist. Everything is Climate Change. War, high gas prices, droughts, floods, bushfires, tidal waves, volcanoes. Somehow. And it’s all your fault.

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          Roy Hogue

          You’re right of course. But I’ll still call it wilful stupidity. The truth has not been hidden from them, it’s in plain sight and has been called to their attention over and over. A rational person would at least look honestly at the skeptical argument but they don’t.

          When I first heard “global warming” I wasn’t sure but the comparison soon became as obvious as the nose on an elephant.

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      WXcycles

      It’s all about publicity. …

      But can anyone remember a single person who won a ‘Golden Globe’ during the past 25 years?

      I came up a blank.

      70

      • #
        Annie

        Probably because, like me, you don’t give a tuppeny damn about all these Hollywood air-heads and never watch their make-believe in dress-ups!

        70

      • #
        TdeF

        It the Oscar’s consolation prize.

        10

      • #
        Roy Hogue

        See Annie’s reply and color me with the same brush.

        Does anyone remember Jimmy Stewart? Good actor, never a scandal but how many wil know that he put his career on hold and commanded a B-17 flying bombing runs over Germany during WWII. He remained in the reserves after the war and when the army air corps became the United States Air Force He went with it and retired with the rank of Brigadier General — no small lifetime achievement.

        Of course he resumed his acting career after the war but he refused to allow any studio to make use of his military career to publicize him or his movies. So that aspect of his life remained largely unknown.

        Now there is an actor I would give high honors to any day; one of the many in Hollywood who do the right things but do not get Golden Globes. I think they don’t miss the nonsense at all.

        20

        • #
          Roy Hogue

          PS: In spite of the many things that go astray in the military you do not become a one star General Officer without having good leadership skills, not even in the reserves. You don’t even get to sit in the pilot’s seat in a B-17.

          Compare that with the dopey attitude of today’s big names in Hollywood.

          20

        • #
          Annie

          Now that’s a real person deserving of respect Roy.

          20

  • #
    Another Ian

    Somewhat o/t

    In black and white

    “Under NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act removal of dead wood & debris is a “key threat” to wildlife – apparently fire isn’t????”

    https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2020/01/under-nsw-threatened-species-conservation-act-removal-of-dead-wood-debris-is-a-key-threat-to-wildlif.html

    120

    • #
      PeterS

      There is now some talk of those who instigated such acts to be held to account and imprisoned. I do hope it gets to that stage. Enough is enough. We’ve reached peak stupidity. The bush fires are a direct result of too much fuel on the ground. Climate change has nothing to do with it. Acts and laws prevent the removal of fuel in the bushland. Hence those responsible in preventing such removal are liable for allowing a fuel loads to reach dangerous levels that threaten people’s lives and property. A terrorist couldn’t have done a better job in planning a widespread attack on the committees throughout much of Australia.

      101

      • #
        Bobl

        To tell the truth I view governments telling me not to clear around my house the same as a police office asking me to stand in the middle of the freeway in the dead of night. In both cases I am being ordered to put my self in harms way which I refuse to do. Outside of the military and certain professions (police) the government has no right to compel you to put yourself in harms way.

        90

        • #
          Bobl

          Any progress on figuring out why I am flagged for moderation? PS while I am here just before the fires on the east coast of gippsland I drove down the east coast of gippsland and it was not drought bound, particularly dry, nor was it particularly hot, max of twenty something. We then stayed in Portland (south west vic) where we had just 2 days in two weeks that could be described as warm (over 30) and the other days I’d describe as damn cold, min temps got down to just 9c – IN THE MIDDLE OF SUMMER in JANUARY ! Dan Andrew’s state of disaster carry-on is just pure politics.

          70

          • #
            Bill In Oz

            It’s been dry in Gippsland the past 2 years Bob
            There has been no East Coast low
            Dumping rain there for that time..
            A few light rains ( 5-10 mm) in Spring
            But not the real rain which is needed
            To green the paddocks
            Fill up dams & tanks
            And get rivers flowing again,
            An example :
            A former neighbours garlic crop
            Was a complete failure in 2018.
            And he lives in an elevated wetter area.

            11

          • #
            Analitik

            Here in Melbourne, I was shivering by the end of my bike ride, yesterday morning with the cold wind blowing through my rain soaked clothing (and waterlogged shoes). And this was just a week after riding in 46 degree heat, albeit that was up in the Alpine district – my friends back at home still recorded temps in the low 40’s on their rides that day.

            I remember when we used to refer to this as “weather”

            20

      • #
        Destroyer D69

        At the very least, those who were in the lead of the policies that increased the severity of the fires should be forcibly(if necessary) transported to the firezones and made to see the results first hand, and face the victims of their policies so that an explanation and apologies can be provided…….

        30

      • #
        Another Ian

        Just think of the electrical bonus if you could hook an alternator up to capture the back pedaling

        20

  • #
    George Cross

    Due to lack of interest/intellect the event been cancelled.

    20

  • #
    Roy Hogue

    Once again they prove me right — you can have more money than brains.

    It’s the blind leading the blind. I marvel that they haven’t all walked off a cliff somewhere.

    90

    • #

      It’s more like witch doctors or shamans of old fooling the tribe. When it comes to these Green types, they don’t seem to be that far removed from tribes of ancient history (in more ways than one).

      40

  • #

    a movie script about how pagan neolithic tribes believed their dinner could stop floods and fires.

    Christian Bale is already doing another radical body transformation for the lead, the cinematographer is practicing shaking his camera without dropping it in extreme weather, and the all-woman cast (I did say Christian’s transformation would be radical) will have some autism to sharpen their wokeness. There’ll be no need to use primitive language for realism because the actors will be mumbling inaudibly into their armpits like they always do.

    And I’ll refuse to pay a cent to see any of it…like I always do.

    80

  • #
    Travis T. Jones

    Don’t forget the dancing to stop bad weather. Science:

    “Hundreds of people blocked one of Madrid’s most emblematic streets on Saturday by dancing to demand action against [global warming] in what protesters dubbed civil disco-bedience.”

    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-accord-protest/dancing-crowds-protest-in-madrid-while-climate-leaders-meet-idUSKBN1YB0I9

    They are dressed for cold weather and they want it to be colder?

    The stupid; it burns.

    180

    • #
      OriginalSteve

      Nomination for post the day….

      50

      • #
        Greg in NZ

        And I second that motion!

        They could always fly/sail/transform themselves to Greenland (to perform their ditso-bedience protest shuffle) where Summit Camp just recorded its COLDEST temp, somewhere below -63°C.

        Besides, ‘golden globes’ conjures an image of female plastic surgery and silly-con ‘enhancement’ – Ban Plastic People Now!

        70

        • #

          Besides, ‘golden globes’ conjures an image of female plastic surgery and silly-con ‘enhancement’ – Ban Plastic People Now!

          I wonder if Methuselah Jane Fonda turned up at the Golden Globes to get arrested for her stance on Climate Change.

          Tony.

          50

          • #
            OriginalSteve

            Hanoi Jane?

            10

            • #
              Greg in NZ

              Driving back from the beach (day off for me) heard on the radio your Russell Crowe tweeted/texted/emailed/skyped his gratitude – he won something? – but couldn’t attend as he was fighting fires / saving his family home.

              If it wasn’t for Jo’s site and the intertubes, one could be under the illusion the WHOLE OF AUSTRALIA was on fire or sumpthink. Still waiting for Jacindarella to don a face-mask or fireman’s helmet to show her (virtual) sympathy for the koalas and kangaroos. In fact, where is she?

              50

          • #
            Analitik

            Bette Midler has stepped up to the plate with her recent drivel

            10

      • #
    • #
      PeterS

      Looks like a scene from a movie about a a bunch of people escaping from a lunatic asylum. I wish I had the money to make a movie based on that theme and link it to the CAGW hoax. It could even end up being a blockbuster.

      60

  • #
    Zigmaster

    When one wants to create a fantasy then no one does it better than Hollywood.Thats why global warming appeals as a theme. The ultimate escapism theme for the big screen..Stories of Armageddon, the end of days, heroes and prophets , of sacrifice and thrills with twists and turns that leave movie goers on the edge of their seats. Global Warming sells ask Al Gore. But like all great money spinners be careful not to overdo it or you will kill the golden goose. I think going vegan may be a great symbol of killing the golden goose ( what no foie gras on the menu.)

    60

  • #
    OriginalSteve

    So a group of professional people who play dressups and make believe, go vegie over an imaginary problem.

    In its own peverse way, it makes sense. To them. Continuing the theme of fairy dust…..

    Is the food imaginary as well?

    90

  • #
    Penguinite

    Just underscores the already obvious dumbness of the people that crave our adulation and make movies that fewer and fewer people are watching!

    70

  • #
    Maptram

    Plant eating animals graze for a large proportion of the day and night, and at least some of them emit methane, which we are told is one of the reasons we are told we have to stop eating meat, since the animals that humans use for meat, are plant eating animals.

    Meat eating animals expend lots of energy hunting and eating their prey, then rest until the next hunt. We are not told whether or not meat eating animals emit methane. In climate change world, that could be a no or a yes, depending on the purpose.

    The question is are vegans like the other plant eating animals, do they graze all day and emit methane?

    90

    • #
      Kalm Keith

      🙂

      30

    • #
      Maptram

      If my theory about plant eating animals and methane emissions is correct, perhaps the Golden Globe awards room would be a good place not to be.

      80

      • #
        OriginalSteve

        Speaking of annoying emissions….more from the swedish wind up clockwork Climate Diva…with trademark foot stamping…..

        *yawn*

        https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/greta-thunberg-blasts-australian-leaders-for-their-response-to-bushfire-crisis/ar-BBYD1uW?li=AAgfYrC&ocid=mailsignout

        “Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg has taken a swipe at Australian leaders in a heated Facebook post, calling out the government’s lack of “political action”.

        “The 17-year-old shared the passionate message to her 2.9 million Facebook followers on Sunday morning (NZ time), lambasting the government’s inaction over climate change.

        “”Australia is on fire. And the summer there has only just begun. 2019 was a year of record heat and record drought. Today the temperature outside Sydney was 48.9C,” she wrote.

        “”500 million (!!) animals are estimated dead because of the bushfires. Over 20 people have died and thousands of homes have burned to [the] ground. The fires have spewed [two-thirds] of the nations national annual CO2 emissions, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. The smoke has covered glaciers in distant New Zealand (!) making them warm and melt faster because of the albedo effect.

        “”And yet. All of this still has not resulted in any political action. Because we still fail to make the connection between the climate crisis and increased extreme weather events and nature disasters like the #AustraliaFires.

        “”That has to change. And it has to change now.”

        00

        • #
          Annie

          Keep stamping your foot Greta. As far as I’m concerned, you remind me of a tantrum-throwing two-year-old and I will treat you as such. My children soon learned that it didn’t get them anywhere with me, so didn’t waste their energies on tantrums!

          20

        • #
          truth

          It’s not enough for St Greta and her disciples that Australia is topping itself for her hoax.

          This really is war being waged on the thinking people of Australia …by Global Socialism and its massive army of propagandists with their unthinking dupes here in Australia …but it’s one we must not surrender to because Australia will never be a sovereign country in our lifetimes or our children’s if we capitulate on this.

          If we allow this country to be crippled forever more….forced to be the only 1st world country to surrender that status and all the safety nets and prosperity that our parents spent their lives and taxes building …to become the only modern country trying to survive with a 100% weather-dependent intermittent electricity system… that’s the weather that the Socialists claim…with no evidence… will be more freaky and undependable every year…. ie on their estimate our electricity will become more unreliable every year…if we allow that …then anyone with any enterprise …anyone in small business should get out now …shut up shop before the chaos takes everything you ever worked for.

          THEY don’t want you anyway…you’re too autonomous…too individual…too human…just as they want to eradicate conservatives…to replace them with BIG government bureaucrats…ever more bureaucrats…ever more public drip-feeders…ever more compliant dependents …ever greater grip on your children to use and corrupt them.

          If we are to pretend to accept that what’s going on …what underpins this Global Socialism hoax… is science and scientific method. Then all thinking Australians should pull their kids out of school now…find some non-LEFT tutors and home-school them…before Daniel Andrews and his subversive schools and equivalents in other states get their Marxist mitts on them….because that post-normal pseudo-science taught in school by social workers with a Socialist agenda will be of no use to them or to Australia.

          Morrison ….along with those he kowtows to ….has Australia on this juggernaut to oblivion and yet he …like all the rest of the Global Socialists…never tells Australians anything …has dodged all questions on the substance…outcomes…the scenario of a 2040/50 Australia with a 100% weather-dependent intermittent electricity system …never tells Australians how health… border security…military…pensions …welfare …and especially PBS drugs will be funded…. when Australia…the only country in the world with unreliable electricity and a severely diminished export income… finds it impossible to compete with countries that have multiple options in coal…nuclear…biomass [CO2 emissions uncounted] river hydro and/or access to all kinds of baseload via interconnectors to neighbouring countries forever…all of which Australia will be without forever.

          Make no mistake …we will be totally alone in our miserable descent…no modern country is doing this…no other government is doing its people such deliberate and existential harm….especially not those countries that follow St Greta and preach to us that we’re not doing enough.

          Morrison now owns this path to oblivion…even though it’s GreenLabor’s and Turnbull’s path…it’s he who’s continuing it very deliberately…he who has comprehensively clobbered all alternative conservative views ….he who selected a cabinet of LW climate lobbyist Photios footsoldiers…he who has to tell us how the safety nets and security are going to be funded …or are we going to lose them along with our lifestyle…he who has to tell us how military and border security are going to be funded …or are we going to lose our country?

          Will we be a beggar country …taking orders on borders and national security from those who fill our begging bowl…for a while anyway… to keep us from sinking without trace …ie from Global Socialist Europe/UN….Communist China?

          Tell us what sort of Australia you plan for us out of the detritus Scott Morrison.

          60

    • #
      beowulf

      Short answer — yes. Long answer follows.

      The bean-eaters are known to emit more flatulence than omnivorous humans. It’s a chemical inevitability given the feed-stock and the nature of the fermentation. Beans = flatus. Flatulence is more pronounced when switching to a vegan diet, but never really disappears.

      There are also some foods, in general that will produce gas no matter how long you’ve eaten them. Beans are like this, as well as some vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, lentils, onions, etc.
      https://happyherbivore.com/2012/01/flatulence/

      In beans, endogenous gases seem to arise from complex carbohydrates that are particularly resistant to digestion by mammals, but which are readily digestible by the little single cell organism bacteria that inhabit the digestive tract and feed on them, producing copious amounts of flatus.
      https://veganizedhippie.wordpress.com/2012/05/29/flatulence-and-the-vegan/

      The general composition of a human [omnivorous] fart includes about 60% Nitrogen, 20% Hydrogen, 10% Carbon Dioxide, 5–10% Methane and 5% Oxygen.
      https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-composition-of-the-human-fart

      So eat more meat to save the planet, or as a lamb marketing bumper sticker from 1980 eloquently put it:

      “Eat more lamb ya b*stard — 6 million dingoes can’t be wrong.”

      30

  • #
    David Maddison

    I prefer to eat animals, they’re delicious!

    120

  • #
    PeterS

    Hollywood is all about fiction and fantasies. Nothing to do with reality. Even some of their movies that are meant to be based on a real story they are full of deliberate errors that are far removed from the truth to make the movie more palatable. It’s all acting and entertainment for the masses. So why anyone would take them seriously in any issue concerning the real world is peak stupid. Might as well ask the opinion of a 2-month old baby.

    60

  • #
    Maptram

    More lies for the punters who see the actors and their entourages eating vegan at the awards and believe they are the same in real life.

    40

  • #
    David Maddison

    Dear singers and actors,

    We spend our hard earned money to hear your music and watch you pretend to be characters in movies and on TV.

    Your only job is to entertain us to take us away from reality.

    Your personal opinion means nothing to us.

    You are significant and influential only in your own mind, and within the minds of your elitist peers.

    You are a marionette to us. Nothing more.

    Sing. Act. Shut up.

    150

    • #
      PeterS

      Well said. I watch their movies, in particular the older ones to chill out and for entertainment, not for discovering the truth.

      30

  • #
    a happy little debunker

    I do wonder how many ‘winners’ will be skyping in their acceptance speeches?

    10

    • #
      Greg in NZ

      See #13.1.1.1.1

      Your Russell Crowe would appear to be the first of many – due to some vague hypothesis/belief/cult called ‘climate change’, not the menu.

      However, many other climate experts – actors, entertainers, singers – have been sending money to help the koalas from the dreaded C.C.C.(rap) which is, like, totally, burning ALL of Ashtraylia [sic].

      00

      • #
        Analitik

        You can take back Russell Crowe

        10

      • #
        william x

        Greg in NZ

        You need to corrected

        Russell is a kiwi, whom adopted us.

        Russel is an actor. He is also a self proclaimed expert on climate change, propaganda and extreme ignorance.

        We in Australia would like your country to take him back.

        Please…. 🙂

        10

  • #
    OriginalSteve

    Batemans Bay ( NSW ) – Status Information
    =========================================

    I got a mobile call from our rellies, so this is all *unoffical* information based on their assessment of current conditions in Batemans Bay from their limited observations.


    Disclaimer – Do not rely on the accuracy of this information for any descison making, it is not official and may not be correct.
    No responsibility of any kind is taken for any actions you may or may not take as a result of using this information.

    * Batemans Bay appears to be physically cut off from the outside world due to fires.
    * So far peoples’ security appears to be OK.
    * Mobile phone service now operational ( home phones still dead – thanks NBN! ).
    * Home phones not working due to lack of power.
    * No electrical power for approx another week.
    * Only one supermarket open – cash only.
    * Limited/no car fuel available.
    * Media have apparently gone quiet on Batemans Bay apart from fire info.
    * Best guess at moment is 60-100 houses/dwellings burnt down.
    * A degree of caution for personal security in some town areas.
    * Some degree of limited looting may be occurring.
    * Power restoration could be difficult due to large numbers of trees which are unstable and makes power station access dangerous.
    * Power lines are apparently down across roads in spots.
    * Tress are apparently down across roads in spots.

    90

    • #
      PeterS

      So why hasn’t the PM announced a state of national disaster and emergency? He is pathetically slow. Although the ADF has been utilised for some evacuations, it needs to be expanded to do a lot more.

      31

      • #
        OriginalSteve

        Dont know…I guess since cyclone Tracey in Darwin in 1970, this is probably the biggest natural disaster weve had. I guess you cant wargame everything….

        20

        • #
          PeterS

          As long as everyone is accounted for and have access to all the essentials like water, food, clothes, etc. then all is fine. Not sure if that’s the case though. Don’t forget the bush fires cover large areas of Australia, not just in one state. Many properties, fences and livestock have been destroyed. To me it has all the signs of being a national disaster. Also note it’s not all over and in fact things could get much worse.

          10

        • #
          WXcycles

          25th Dec 1974.

          00

      • #
        David-of-Cooyal-in-Oz

        Better question:
        Why isn’t NSW Emergency Services minister organising relief there? His State, his portfolio, his responsibility.
        He could could even call on the Commonwealth for support. Maybe even the Navy?
        Cheers
        Dave B

        40

        • #
          Dennis

          Australian Defence Forces have been deployed since early in the Bushfire Season beginning with helicopter and fixed wing aircraft used for transporting fire fighters and supplies, rescues etc.

          In December 2019 the Minister for Defence and the Acting Prime Minister announced deployment of more aircraft and Amy Engineers with heavy earthmoving machinery.

          More recently the Prime Minister announced that Military Reserve personnel were being mobilised with vehicles to assist in dealing with the damage caused by the bushfire.

          40

        • #
          PeterS

          See my post above. It’s a national disaster in my book.

          00

          • #
            Dennis

            The Federal Parliament investigation is into the national situation, root and branch inquiry state by state and territories.

            00

      • #
        Dennis

        The NSW RFS said the fires have had on average 2,000 firefighters from all services on the ground each day.

        Wind change fans blazes as Sydney hit by hazardous air quality – as it happened
        Read more
        On Tuesday there were also 47 personnel from New Zealand and 21 each from the US and Canada. Defence personnel have helped with search and rescue, logistics and building impact assessments.

        A spokesman said the organisation did not expect a shortage of volunteers heading into Christmas and as more fatigue set in, but the duration of the emergency was “starting to take its toll”.

        Requests for resources from other states or overseas are coordinated through the national resources sharing centre, which sits within the Australasian fire and emergency service authorities council.

        In a statement on Tuesday, the council’s chief executive, Stuart Ellis, said suggestions there was a lack of national coordination of fire and emergency services were wrong.

        “Australia has a formidable emergency management capability,” he said.

        He said state and territory governments spent more than $5.5bn to support fire and emergency services across Australia and New Zealand last year and the country had more than 290,000 personnel and thousands of specialist vehicles.

        There was integrated engagement with the commonwealth and national protocols for managing incident responses and the available fleet of 140 aircraft and international personnel.

        “These personnel are all trained, equipped and prepared to assist,” Ellis said.

        40

        • #
          OriginalSteve

          I cant speak highly enough of the RFS and everyone ( including interstate and US and Canadian fire fighters ) who are slugging it out against these fires to keep everyone safe.

          We deeply appeciate your service!

          100

          • #
            truth

            Absolutely right…I second that…I think they’re marvelous!

            40

          • #
            PeterS

            We certainly have very good organisers in spite of the politicians. My thanks to all them as well as those fighting the fires on the ground and in the air.

            10

      • #
        Robert Swan

        PeterS,

        So if you were PM, you would declare a “national state of emergency”? What do you think that would achieve?

        The army has already been made available. Would this declaration get the tax auditors mobilised? Expedite Medicare payments? Send in the customs and border security officers? Perhaps it would open diplomatic channels — China would probably be willing to lend a hand (price negotiated afterwards).

        The states, even SA, are less woefully run than the federal government, so let them look after the situation. They seem to cooperate reasonably well amongst themselves and I just don’t see what the Feds can add that they haven’t already.

        30

    • #
      David Maddison

      Before the useless NBN it was almost impossible for home phones to stop working.

      110

      • #
        OriginalSteve

        Guess it guarantees people are helpless when this sort of stuff happens.

        I bought a sat phone a while back, $40/month to run, calls at $2/min, on Iridium.

        Half the iridium bandwidth is allocated for military apparently, so it should keep working….and its a mesh of moving sats, so kind of self healing.

        I looked at Thuraya, but they only have 3 sats ( Inmarsat only 4 sats ) , so while cheaper for handsets, limited IMHO in terms of robustness.

        20

        • #
          Dennis

          I heard that Army helicopters are distributing satellite phones and user instructions to all in need of them.

          10

  • #
    Dennis

    Good plan, Hungry Jacks restaurants could help out, they have a vegan special veg burger for just under A$10.00 or the standard beef burger for just under A$7.00

    lol

    50

  • #
    James Murphy

    I don’t mind a mushroom risotto, but it has never occurred to me that I should be using them to save the planet.

    60

  • #
    WXcycles

    Fake virtue is a helluva drug.

    30

  • #
    sophocles

    all right … I give up.
    Where are they?

    The Mushrooms!

    I saw them in the title …
    but can’t find them anywhere!
    Sheesh.

    20

    • #
      Graeme No.3

      sophocles:
      The mushrooms are hiding between the ears of those in Hollywood.

      30

    • #
      PeterS

      I ate some yesterday, with bacon and eggs.

      10

      • #
        sophocles

        Hmph, and you didn’t even offer to share!
        😀

        00

        • #
          sophocles

          Okay: I’ve been shopping and I brought home some fresh mushrooms.
          I’ve fried them in best New Zealand butter (Best Butter in the world! Can’t be beat! If you have no access to Anchor brand (Best NZ Butter) then you don’t know what you’re missing out on. Mushrooms were invented especially to be cooked in it. (Umm, maybe it’s the other way around … but what the heck, the two go together as a gourmet delight 😀 )

          And now I’ve eaten them. Yay! Delicious!

          Yum 😀

          10

    • #

      Like the Grapes of Wrath!

      00

  • #
    Rod McLean

    We must be in the silly season still.

    10

  • #
    David Maddison

    The dietary recommendations which were changed in the 1980’s to deemphasise meat and animal fat and emphasise more carbohydrates (based on junk “science” just like anthropogenic global warming) have killed and sickened hundreds of millions through heart disease, obesity and diabetes.

    Yet another “green” anti-science policy that kills or injures or causes misery.

    60

  • #
    truth

    Why are fires starting up in Sydney suburban bush now in some of the coolest most humid… still weather we’ve had in some time…they surely have to be deliberately lit or the result of human carelessness.

    40

    • #
      hatband

      Is this just a prelude to everything that can be set alight being set alight?

      An amazing thought, but if true, then we’re witnessing the most incredible event in human history unfold.

      An entire Country being burnt to the ground, and no one in a position of authority prepared to state the obvious.

      00

    • #
      william x

      Truth,

      Approximately 80 to 85% of bushfires are ignited by Human cause via arson, accident or carelessness.

      approx 7% of fires are started by lightning, the rest are ignition by undetermined cause.

      As we haven’t had lightning strikes in the Sydney basin in the last 24 hrs.

      your assumption is highly likely to be true.

      00

  • #
    pat

    end coal. Greens have always supported hazard reduction burning; will they support more hazard reduction? Murdoch media. won’t be distracted by the PM wanting to talk about hazard reduction. need to put politics aside. PM must go (ABC ENDS THERE):

    AUDIO: 10m54s: 6 Jan: ABC Breakfast: Richard Di Natale: ‘The window for hazard reduction burning is shrinking’
    On RN Breakfast with Tom Tilley
    The bushfire catastrophe has sparked renewed debate over the level of land clearing and controlled burn offs in and around national parks.
    The Federal Government wants the states to take stronger action to lighten the fuel loads in parks and forests before the next fire season rolls around.
    It comes the Prime Minister says he’s open to holding a Royal Commission into the bushfire catastrophe to investigate the root cause of the blazes.
    The Greens have long been accused by some in Government of increasing the fire risk by opposing hazard reduction burns.
    https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/the-window-for-hazard-reduction-burning-is-shrinking/11842992

    11

  • #
    Earl

    I was lunching yesterday with a group of friends, some I knew well, others not so. Inevitably, the subject of the bush fires in Victoria and NSW arose. One person, a very confident, self described “ environmentalist “ leading the conversation, made a statement I did not agree with.
    Her, “So you don’t think that is true.”
    Me, “No”
    Her, “And why, may I ask not?”
    Me, “ I taught environmental science before I retired”
    The conversation on the fires stopped abruptly, and went on to something else very quickly.
    “Environmentalists “ don’t appear to be too enthusiastic on engaging with informed people. I will have to mention my occupation more often .

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  • #
    Travis T. Jones

    What more can Scomo do that Rudd didn’t do?

    Kevin Rudd was PM during the 2009 bushfires when over 200 people died, which he failed to prevent or foresee.
    Kevin Rudd (former PM) helped out during deadly 2011 Brisbane floods which he failed to prevent or foresee.

    Does anyone who blames Scomo really think that if Rudd closed all coal mines and coal-fired power back in 2009, that the deadly 2011 floods or current bushfires would not happen, or, not be as severe?

    If Rudd had closed down fossil-fuels, would the bushfire soaking, drought-breaking rain caused by global warming still come?

    70

  • #
    WXcycles

    I’m eating twice as much cow tonight to protest the unmitigated fake virtue-signalling coming from grandstanding pathological hypocrites who are the very quintessence of an absence of virtue.

    50

  • #

    Mushroom risotto is much better with heaps of parmesan

    11

  • #
    pat

    wasted much time trying to find this on ABC…ended up going to where I heard it, on 2GB:

    26m04s to 29m09s: John Stanley plays ABC news report from Sunday night. ABC’s Philippa McDonald with 72-year-old Steve Williams.
    McDonald: Steve says much more could have been done to prepare.
    Williams: that bush has not been touched in 7 or 8 years. if they had done a back-burn or whatever it is they do, they could have saved the 7 houses that have been destroyed.
    McDonald: he swears he’ll never live in a heavily-wooded area again.

    AUDIO: 6 Jan: 2GB: John Stanley (Alan Jones Show)
    https://www.2gb.com/podcast/the-alan-jones-breakfast-show-with-john-stanley-full-show-podcast-6th-january-2020/

    20

    • #
      RickWill

      I expect that the extent of losses in Australia will prompt insurers in Australia to follow what is occurring in the USA:
      https://www.huffpost.com/entry/wildfire-home-insurance-california_b_5c2e3c36e4b0535a214bd089

      The insurer, Allstate, had concluded — after an assessor visited the property — that the house was too likely to be destroyed by a wildfire. Cook, a tech executive and recent transplant from the San Francisco Bay Area, said his reaction was something like, “Wait, what?!”

      Mortgage companies require homes to be insured, so the cancellation put Cook’s financing at risk. He worried that getting another major insurer to sign off on the home would be more challenging after one had turned him down.

      No insurance makes it difficult for people to buy or build in forested areas.

      Any state or local restrictions that limit clearing fuel on private property need to be rescinded for fear of MPs and councillors being held personally liable.

      10

  • #
    pat

    even with update 5 Jan, ABC can’t name the suspect

    Updated 5 Jan: ABC: Man charged with unlawfully starting fire in Tasmania during total fire ban
    By Ainsley Koch
    Tasmania Police have charged a 35-year-old man from Mangana in Tasmania’s north-east with unlawfully starting a fire on a day of total fire ban.
    Police alleged the man set fire to vegetation in Mangana during a total fire ban period on December 30.
    The accused will appear in an out-of-hours court hearing in Launceston on Saturday night…
    The Fingal fires have so far spread more than 15,000 hectares and one home has been destroyed.
    Fingal resident Jeanette Parsons said the smoke conditions in the town were only worsening each day…
    Ms Parsons said she felt “terrible” knowing the fire had been deliberately lit.
    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-04/man-charged-with-unlawfully-starting-fire-in-tasmania/11841018

    4 Jan Examiner, Launceston: Robert Peter Matthewson, 35, charged with deliberately lighting Mangana fire
    by Tarlia Jordan
    He appeared in the Launceston Magistrates Court on Saturday evening and will reappear on Monday January 6, 2.15pm.

    6 Jan: ABC: Sydney news: Bushfires ease with rain and cooler temperatures, fireworks found at Sydney grassfire
    Fireworks likely cause of Olympic Park fire
    Police said fireworks were found near the scene of a grassfire which broke out in Sydney Olympic Park overnight.
    Firefighters were called to Marjory Jackson Parkway around 11:30pm and found an area near a car park on fire.
    The fire was extinguished but it burned a section of the Wentworth Common.
    The fireworks have been taken for forensic examination and police have appealed for any information or vision.

    Power tools spark blaze despite total fire ban
    A man has been charged after power tools he was using allegedly sparked a fire at Marsden Park in Sydney’s north-west on Sunday.
    Fire and Rescue NSW crews were called to South Street around 2:00pm after bush and grassland caught alight, destroying almost 25 hectares…
    A 54-year-old man was charged with failing to comply with a total fire ban order by using a grinder and welder outside.
    He is due to appear in Mt Druitt Local Court in February.
    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-06/sydney-news-monday-morning-briefing/11843022

    30

  • #
    Rocket Rod

    As the saying goes – if God didn’t want us to eat animals why did he make them so tasty?
    Vegan Aussie bbqs…best of luck with that one.

    50

  • #
    Mark D.

    I’m completely Wok now and we MUST eliminate these extravagant and luxurious events. Imagine the carbon spent delivering these As* Hole* to the event! Damn what they are eating, there SHOULD BE NO EVENT AT ALL!! Hollywood MUST BE BANNED!

    Greta and I spoke about this only a few hours ago.

    60

  • #
    Ronald Bruce

    Confirming the stupidity of the woke glitterati of Hollywood. You can’t fix stupid.

    60

  • #
    Kim

    Just heard on 2GB – the federal government has gone all warmist – F£$K, F£$K, F£$K!!! don’t they ever learn?

    10

    • #
      OriginalSteve

      Re-education camps soon?

      CAGW is a State sponsored religion/belief system.

      I have seen families brawl when one is a CAGW “believer” and the other a scientist/sceptic

      You can reason with ignorant/stupid…..

      20

  • #
    pat

    26 Dec: Houston Chronicle: Wind, solar face future without subsidies
    by James Osborne
    Under the spending deal approved shortly before Congress took its holiday break, the investment tax credit, which reimburses 30 percent of the cost of new solar systems, will begin winding down next month, dropping to 10 percent for most companies by 2022. The energy production tax credit, which gives wind power generators roughly two cent per kilowatt boost, will follow in 2021, decreasing steadily until eventually hitting zero in 2025…

    But once the credits hit their designated ends, that growth is expected to slow. The research firm IHS Markit is forecasting wind development will peak next year at 14 gigawatts of new turbines. not to reach those heights again at least through 2050. The outlook for solar installations is less certain…
    Without that cash infusion, the wind and solar industries will need to become even more efficient, competing with energy sources such as natural gas and nuclear that will continue to receive federal subsidies…

    Federal tax credits could make a comeback, too. While Democrats might have failed in their bid to expand support for clean energy technologies, the situation could well change after next year’s election…
    https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/Wind-solar-face-future-without-subsidies-14930292.php

    17 Dec: The Hill: It’s time to hit the off switch for solar, wind power tax breaks
    By Merrill Matthews (resident scholar with the Institute for Policy Innovation in Dallas, Texas)
    We frequently see news stories claiming the cost of producing both solar and wind power has become very competitive with fossil fuels…
    But when government subsidies for renewables are threatened, we hear a different message: that solar and wind power would likely collapse without subsidies…
    https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/474891-its-time-to-hit-the-off-switch-for-solar-wind-power-tax-breaks

    21 Dec: The Australian: Investment in solar and wind farms drying up
    Exclusive by Greg Brown
    A sharp slump in new ­investment in wind and solar farms will continue unless a price is put on carbon or the Renewable Energy Target is extended beyond next year, the Clean Energy Council warns.
    CEC chief executive Kane Thornton said ­investment in ­renewable energy had dropped by 60 per cent in the past year and declines would continue without government intervention. He said this would put pressure on power prices and ­reliability as coal generators aged…

    Energy Minister Angus Taylor said large-scale renewables ­projects would not receive any further government support. “The clean energy industry has assured us that the cost of renewables is now competitive with alternatives so we would expect investment to continue in the ­absence of subsidies,” he said.
    “An industry that is now ­competitive shouldn’t require ­additional subsidies, Mr Taylor said. Nearly 70 per cent of Aus­tralia’s electricity was generated from coal-fired power this year, compared with 22.6 per cent from renewables…

    Mr Thornton said the industry was not asking for subsidies, despite his call for an extension of the RET. “The RET could actually be extended in a way that provides that certainty,” he said. “The market will decide whether there is in fact a subsidy delivered or not…
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/investment-in-solar-and-wind-farms-drying-up/news-story/23bfebb01d60a1fd63693bc8552b0072

    20

    • #
      Serp

      Excellent move in the US as wind and solar have no future without subsidies; let’s see if Angus Taylor keeps his job now that he’s thrown down the gauntlet about the end of subsidies in Australia –the fight back has already begun.

      10

    • #
      Graeme Bird

      “Under the spending deal approved shortly before Congress took its holiday break, the investment tax credit, which reimburses 30 percent of the cost of new solar systems, will begin winding down next month, dropping to 10 percent for most companies by 2022. The energy production tax credit, which gives wind power generators roughly two cent per kilowatt boost, will follow in 2021, decreasing steadily until eventually hitting zero in 2025…”

      Thats great because while these subsidies might seem to be to the Americans, they really are subsidies to the Chinese Communists. Americans and Australians don’t need communists overseas. We have our own communists here. And the overseas communists need to take rare earth metals, and they need to heat silicon up to 1400 degrees Celsius with Chinese brown coal, when they make these solar panels. So while the subsidies are in place we should assume that this is an energy sink until proven otherwise. If these solar panels proliferate WITHOUT subsidies, even with zero interest loans for a more minimal encouragement, we might assume that where they are could be a net energy gain. But then we are talking only of a niche application, and hopefully not part of the grid. A little non-subsidy encouragement …. maybe. But a full-blown subsidy and we have to assume an energy sink.

      30

  • #
    David Maddison

    As far as I’m aware, the digestion of plant matter by an animal results in the production of methane.

    What difference does it make if the animal eats the plants and produces methane followed by the human eating the animal, or the human eats the plants and produces methane themselves?

    This whole veganism thing is basically another Leftist plot to force Westerners to lower their standard of living. The UN is also promoting the eating of insects instead of animals.

    Naturally, the UN and other Leftist Elites will continue to enjoy their steak.

    50

    • #
      Graeme Bird

      The analysis that methane is a powerful greenhouse gas neglects a couple of things. Its a “lightly coloured gas” whereas water vapour is a darkly coloured gas, if we were animals who could perceive infrared with our eyes. Water vapour already pre-empts methane. Their absorption spectra overlaps. The global warming hysterics don’t disaggregate anything. Their entire argument is based on aggregated data. Or to try and word this better: They seem to try and figure out a one-sided view of what each gas ought to do on its own …. and then they just add them together. Deeply crude thinking.

      To aggregate the data is to take anything thats interesting out of climate. Its taking the climate out of climate. Plus methane is a lighter than air gas. Overturning aside, once a greenhouse gas is above your house it will be hard pressed to send a lot of joules your way in the night-time. And may even take the edge off the heat of the next day if it shows up above where the water vapour taps out. We are dealing with people that only ever look at one side of the balance sheet.

      20

    • #
      sophocles

      The greenies would have everything left in the ground. When you do that with plants, they still produce methane.

      10

  • #
    David Maddison

    I bet the Hollyweirdos have an after party where lots of meat is served.

    50

  • #
    Dave

    I was just at a place of business, and mentioned the possible Iran conflict unfolding.
    The person behind the counter said.
    We’re in an environmental war anyway.
    Oh! I know, I know, I said. My laughter wasn’t received well.

    60

  • #
    robert rosicka

    ABC rapidly approaching peak stupidity with this latest offering from yet another “expert” .

    Crux of his expert knowledge knows no bounds of stupidity, with comments like ” areas burnt in early 2000’s are now burning again ” .
    What a genius .

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-06/bushfire-season-holidays-converge-goodbye-typical-summer/11843312

    10

  • #
    Asp

    This is an unprecedented gastronomical catastrophe. I declare a culinary emergency!.

    30

  • #
    OriginalSteve

    Hi Jo,

    Enjoy!

    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/it-s-miraculous-owners-say-cultural-burning-saved-their-property-20200103-p53okc.html

    “Owners say the property was saved by the traditional Indigenous technique of cultural burning conducted on their land three years ago.

    “The only hut not protected by cultural burning, 500 metres from the main house, was destroyed in the blaze.

    “It’s pretty miraculous,” said co-owner Leanne King, 60.

    ““This is proof that [cultural burning] works.”

    “Aboriginal cultural fire practitioner Dennis Barber led a series of cultural burns on six hectares of bushland at Ngurrumpaa in 2015 and 2016 – the first burns in the area since a wildfire swept through in 1994.

    “”There’s nothing more powerful than doing it and feeling like you’re doing the right thing, and seeing the results,” he said.

    “Unlike hazard reduction burning, cultural burns are cooler and slower moving, usually no taller than knee height, leaving tree canopies untouched and allowing animals to take refuge from the flames. Small fires are lit with matches, instead of drip torches, and burn in a circular pattern.

    “Mr Barber says the ancient practice is informed by thousands of years of traditional knowledge.

    ““It’s more than just putting the fire on the ground – it’s actually knowing the country, knowing what’s there … the soil types, the geology, the trees, the animals, the breeding times of animals, the flowering times of plants,” he said.

    “The timing and frequency of burns depend on the environmental “system”.

    “A former park ranger with 15 years’ professional firefighting experience, Mr Barber says he had a “light bulb moment” at a cultural burning workshop with Indigenous elders in far north Queensland in 2010.

    ““Everything that I’d been doing as a professional firefighter, thinking that I was doing the right thing, was wrong, because I viewed fire in the landscape totally differently after that week,” he said.

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    • #
      PeterS

      Perhaps it would be a smart move for Morrison to hire those and others to create a new entity that has at its sole focus to conduct the necessary fuel reduction actions across any part of the nation deemed necessary with powers to overturn any local or state ruling. After all bush land and major fires do not recognise borders.

      00

  • #
    Graeme Bird

    What a crude understanding of the natural world these people have. None of them seem to have heard of Alan Savory. Savory has shown how critical hebivores are to the soil and the environment. His finding was that they need to be bunched, as if by predators, in order to have a healing effect on the land. Under this analysis the first act of a civilisation heretofore is actually what spells doom for that civilisation. What the new civilisation does is run about the place killing off all the predators. So the herbivores no longer bunch. Which means that the soil becomes degraded, with crops and non-bunched herbivores. And seeing as the civilisation is only as healthy as its soils things must eventually go downhill. We don’t need to bring lions and tigers to the East Coast. But we should mimic how nature worked by bunching the herbivores tightly and moving them more often.

    Until we get all our deserts green and rich dark soil everywhere, we are going to need to eat more and not less meat. Its monoculture that is the real problem.

    40

    • #
      beowulf

      Savory’s ideas are based on African herd behaviour, not remotely like Australian native animal behaviour. African soils are different. African ground vegetation is totally different. Heavy cloven-hoofed animals destroyed a lot of Australian soil structure and compacted it soon after pastoral expansion spread to a given area. Cloven hoofed ruminants wiped out a lot of native pastures. You don’t get 100,000 cloven-hoofed, 500 kilo wallabies hopping along together like you do wildebeest. Some of his stuff is applicable to Australian grazing management on farms, but a lot is definitely not. You cannot simply transplant a grazing system from one continent to another.

      Savory’s ideas are not as new as you imagine. Ozzie farmers have used a similar system for many decades in intensive farming called “crash grazing” where you intensively graze an area then spell it, rather than “set-stocking” where animals continually graze and re-graze the same area.

      You need to read some of Eric Rolls’ books on Australian conditions. “A Million Wild Acres” and “They All Ran Wild” would be a good start. Rolls was a farmer/naturalist/historian/author and a phenomenal observer of the bush. He died 12 years ago.

      You should also read the works of P.A. Yeomans on his Keyline system for building topsoil and gravity-flow irrigation, developed around Bathurst in the 1950s and 60s. He leaves Alan Savory for dead.

      21

      • #
        Graeme Bird

        “You should also read the works of P.A. Yeomans on his Keyline system for building topsoil and gravity-flow irrigation….” Keyline, swales, check dams. Its all good stuff and one observation doesn’t undermine the other. The problem is that our farmers cannot usually get really cheap credit to improve their land. Only to buy their land. And short of a devastating Rothbardian transformation to a 100% silver standard, which would wipe out almost all incumbent farmers, we want to think of how we can transition each industry to a functioning Misean setup that can take care of itself.

        Like for example with Taxis. We could have a 10 year industry plan to move taxis to a more free enterprise dynamic, leaving our guys able to outcompete Uber. I think that many industries are like this, where a planned transition is in order. Because we don’t want to destroy peoples capital value without reducing their interest costs and boosting their cash flow. I think all such reform plans that don’t have this approach are cruel, and probably doomed.

        Sure. The book “Water For Every Farm” and so forth. Yes first you harvest the water. Then you can build the soil. But Savoury’s animal bunching ideas apply just as well here, at least when we are talking about our four-legged herbivores like cows and the like. Don’t know if the same can be applied to native animals in practice. But it applies to our four-legged hebivores. If you have sufficient water and you tightly bunch our cattle you will get the same soil productivity improvements as anywhere else. People have tried it here. It may mean putting on more staff and building a lot more fences. But it certainly works where it is tried.

        With the soil compaction story, what the herders are saying about that is that its not too much of a problem if you don’t leave the thick herd there too long. They might bunch them and on poor land move them three times a day. Joel Salatin only moves his once a day but his soil is highly developed already. Whereas a soil reclamation project using cattle as the vehicle for improvement of very poor land would be more like three times a day. Savoury and Yeomans are not competitors. Their lessons are complementary.

        10

        • #
          beowulf

          I see you’re a Yeomans fan too. It’s a long time since I read Savory, but I wasn’t that impressed at the time. He was the flavour of the month back in the early 1990s, then fell from grace. I know he has his devotees, but if you’d ever seen the results of a Yeomans plow you wouldn’t bother two seconds more with Savory. No comparison.

          His methods are labour-intensive and require a lot of watering points (for small cells). That requires money. As I said strip grazing has been used by dairy farmers and intensive beef farmers ever since electric fences were invented. It is no mystery.

          He has also made inflated claims about his successes. In Africa the method has resulted in increased desertification, basically due to over-grazing. There is a fine line between crash-grazing and over-grazing in drier climates. In Sweden they also had at best mixed results. None showed a measureable improvement.

          In some pastures water infiltration has decreased due to compaction. It couldn’t be otherwise. It depends upon the soil type and the soil moisture at the time of grazing. Soils that pug will compact badly when you concentrate livestock on them. No mystery there either. Aussie farmers have traditionally concentrated sheep in newly dug dams to deliberately compact the floor to make it more water-tight.

          Armidale Uni has run trials on a local property for some years and claims improvements in soil etc. All these claims need to be viewed against what management was in place before they started cell grazing. Loose management followed by intensive management — of course there will be improvements. Savory can’t take credit for them.

          Unfortunately his work has been used to bolster claims for carbon sequestration and all that nonsense and such claims have been shown to be extremely exaggerated.

          11

  • #
    Zane

    They are still blaming these fires on climate change. Anything can be twisted to suit the greenist agenda.

    40

    • #
      Dennis

      High fuel loads in bushfire season 2019/2020 period coupled to a severe drought for years past and very dry conditions with summer weather perfect for bushfires is not climate change.

      Consider 2009 bushfires and many creatures and people died. Rudd Labor were in government.

      40

    • #
      PeterS

      Not hearing any practical solution to the non-existent problem. The only one the left keep repeating endlessly is to stop mining, exporting and burning of coal and move to renewables ASAP, which all knowledgeable people know would do absolutely nothing to the climate and only destroy our economy.

      40

  • #
    george1st:)

    What ? How dare they
    No lobster or caviar ? , I will not be able attend due to personal matters .

    20

  • #
    Dr Michael Hfuhruhurr

    Have you ever considered that you are a traitor?

    You are and we are watching you.

    [Overt threats like this are monitored and recorded. It is you that are being watched.] ED

    04

    • #
      AndyG55

      Well done ED. 🙂

      It is those that become operatives and apologists from the socialist/marxist AGW scam that are the REAL traitors to Australian and western society.

      20

  • #
    robert rosicka

    Just seen a Facebook post of the Academy award host Ricky Gervais giving the actors some rules for the night when accepting their award .
    Absolutely hysterical.

    10

  • #
    george1st:)

    Rabbits and kangas are quite nice even after spitting out the lead pellets .
    Especially with a carton of good beer .
    They don’t know what they are missing and probably never will .

    20

  • #
    Zane

    Turnbull is spouting nonsense on Twitter about integrated climate and energy policy. Sounds like a hippo with wings to me, such a beast does not and cannot exist.

    50

    • #
      Graeme Bird

      Its interesting to see that these successful bankers really aren’t all that smart. I mean they have things going for them. They tend to be tall, organised, energetic and they probably have their bed made by 5.00 am. But intelligent? Not so much.

      30

  • #
    Zane

    Wait till vegans find out how unhealthy soy is…

    20

    • #
      Asp

      It may be similar to EU finding out that diesel is not without its potentially unhealthy side effects. In the late 70’s, diesel was sold at a considerable discount to petrol, to encourage more people to use it. Now that it has become more mainstream, diesel’s spectacular fall from grace is nothing short of amazing. Maybe big oil decided there is more profit in petrol.

      10

  • #
    pat

    took forever to find this. woke up to Sandy Aloisi on ABC News Radio introducing interview by some ABC guy with David Littleproud, by saying the Govt denied it underestimated climate change re the bushfires. interview went on for some time, then the ABC guy rudely cut off Littleproud in order to begin his interrogation re CAGW. CLIMATE CHANGE then dominated the entire interview, and this is the only part posted on ABC News Breakfast’s Twitter feed. I don’t know the ABC guy, but some might. watch the videos:

    TWEET: 5 Jan: ABC News Breakfast:
    Natural Disaster Minister @D_LittleproudMP says the govt didn’t underestimate climate change in this bushfire season.
    “The current cohort of fire commissioners were very clear to me when I first became minister around the severity of this season because of a changing climate.”
    VIDEO: 1m15s
    https://twitter.com/BreakfastNews/status/1213929858327175168

    at 1m35s: ABC asks about mental health services for the bushfire survivors. says mental health service might be to assuage the fear in communities that a changing climate is going to make these types of fires more prolific in future, more extended fire seasons – how is the govt preparing for this?…

    TWEET: 5 Jan: ABC News Breakfast:
    Natural Disaster Minister @D_LittleproudMP says the fires, coupled with the drought, will hamper food production in Australia.
    “This is obviously going to be a dent … But the story is still positive, it’s just to add rain. And it will rain.”
    VIDEO: 2m
    https://twitter.com/BreakfastNews/status/1213928691727683584

    Speers at home at thirABC:

    TWEET: 6 Jan: ABC News Breakfast:
    The language around climate change is shifting from the government, but the policy won’t shift, says @David_Speers
    “It’s too much of a climb-down for the Government after a decade on this to suddenly say, ‘Ah look, we were wrong all along’ … They’re going to dig in.”
    VIDEO: 1m45s
    https://twitter.com/BreakfastNews/status/1213937971772084224

    10

  • #
  • #
    Latus Dextro

    How many mushroom risotto’s does it take to stop a bushfire? Golden Globes goes Vegan “for the planet”

    Hollyweird is merely fighting melodramatically against its inescapable irrelevance.

    40

  • #
    pat

    6 Jan: Daily Mail: Finland to introduce a four-day working week and SIX HOUR days under plans drawn up by 34-year-old prime minister Sanna Marin
    •Sanna Marin, 34, said it would allow workers to spend more time with family
    •In Finland currently it is normal to work eight hours per day, five days per week
    •In neighbouring Sweden, the six-hour-day has already applied since 2015
    By Amelia Wynne

    BBC World Sce radio has been promo-ing repeats of the following multiple times during every hour of news, mainly between segments on the CAGW-Australian bushfires! town is pronounced Eee.
    listened to a few bits; the people don’t like wind turbines; don’t want another noisy wind farm to send energy down south. 15yr-olds mentor 11yr-olds etc:

    AUDIO: 26m29s: 24 Dec: BBC Documentary: Ii: The greenest town in Europe
    The town of Ii in northern Finland is a green trailblazer. It has managed to stop burning fossil fuels and will have reduced carbon emissions by 80% by 2020; that is 30 years ahead of the EU target. It is also aiming to be the world’s first zero-waste town. It is happening because of the collective effort of the community.
    Erika Benke discovers how everyone is involved; from local businessmen to the mayor and from schoolchildren to their parents and grandparents – all play their part in making Ii the greenest town in Europe. With the help of a young climate champion Erika hears their stories and meets the people making pancakes from leftover food for a Christmas party; the children checking if all the lights have been switched off at school at the end of the day and the scientist on a mission to restore one of Europe’s biggest peatlands. And they meet the people who still need persuading; the residents who are unhappy about the new wind farm and who are resisting change.
    The inhabitants of Ii hope that they can show the world what individuals can do to make a difference to climate change.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct03ms

    following features ***Leena Vuotovesi, Climate action leader;
    at 2m05s: brainwashed children singing about how they get power from the sun and when the wind blows. sing “I trust the wind, I trust the sun” (there’s no sun for 6 months of the year!);

    VIDEO: 2m30s: 28 Apr: BBC: Finland’s new generation of climate heroes
    Producer: Erika Benke
    The town of Ii in northern Finland wants to be the world’s first zero-waste community.
    They stopped using fossil fuels – and the municipality is reducing CO2 emissions faster than any other community in Finland.
    Their target is to reduce carbon emissions by 80% by 2020, which is 30 years ahead of the EU’s target.
    Since 2012 they’ve invested heavily in geothermal, solar and wind energy projects that have paid off: they now generate a profit of half a million euros a year.
    They believe the key to successful climate action is education from a very young age. So how is Ii raising an environmentally conscious generation?
    https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-48060788/finland-s-new-generation-of-climate-heroes

    LinkedIn: ***Leena Vuotovesi, CEO at Micropolis
    Activity:
    The publicity award 2019 of the newspaper Kaleva goes to the Climate Actions of Ii! I do hope it encourages locally to see, how climate positive…
    Shared by Leena Vuotovesi
    Magic in the air: The story of our fight against Climate Change on BBC radio from today on. Thank you Erika Benke and Sam Farmar!
    Shared by Leena Vuotovesi

    Experience:
    President of the Board of Directors
    Res Artis – Worldwide Network of Artist Residencies
    Sep 2015 – Jun 2018
    Board member 2010 – 2018. During presidency launching the new strategy resulting in the opening of regional chapters of Oseania in Melbourne and the Middle East in Tehran. Restructuring the governance model including establishment of the new directorial position and updates of the bylaws.

    Education includes:
    Cambridge Uni
    High Impact Leadership
    2019-2019
    Sustainable leadership

    Awards includes:
    RegioStar Award 2017
    European Commission
    Oct 2017
    Awarded for the most innovative and inspiring EU funded regional development project in Europe in the category Energy Union and Climate Change 2017.
    Awarded for the most innovative and inspiring EU funded regional development project in Europe in the category Energy Union and Climate Change 2017.
    https://fi.linkedin.com/in/leena-vuotovesi-225b88b5

    Oct 2017: GoodNewsFinland: Finnish town of Ii sets the pace for green Europe
    The ***EU-funded InnoHiili project taking place in Ii, Finland, has won the Climate Change category at the European Commission’s RegioStars2017 Awards in Brussels.
    The EU-wide competition recognises the most innovative and inspiring EU-funded projects. The Finnish winner is known as Innovative Low-Carbon Public Services project (InnoHiili).

    Ii, with a population of 10 000, reduced its CO2 emissions by half during 2007–2015, which was the fastest rate in the country. This initiated the InnoHiili project in 2015.
    The project is carried out by Micropolis and The Designers’ Association of Northern Finland (PROTO) in close co-operation with Ii’s residents…

    As a result of the project, all public buildings in Ii are now heated with renewable energy, electric cars take municipality workers on business trips, and Ii’s first cycle path has been built. All schools and daycare centres also participate in the Euronet 50/50 energy-saving programme, an EU eco-label has been introduced for businesses, and public services have been digitalised…
    https://www.goodnewsfinland.com/finnish-town-of-ii-sets-the-pace-for-green-europe/

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    RichardX

    Nice one 🙂 The few self-described environmentalists that I’ve asked questions of tell me that Al Gore told them, or 99% of scientists (I thought it was 97%, but never mind) believe that it’s true. When I’ve suggested that that’s not proof of anything, they get angry.

    They remind me of the National 9 News promos from a few years ago: “I know everything I need to know, because Brian told me so”. It was convenient for channel 9 that the news anchors in both Melbourne and Sydney were named Brian. The promos were huge – dancing girls, elephants, you name it. To me, it was a very dangerous thing, promoting the idea that we don’t need to find things out for ourselves, because an authority figure will tell us everything we need to know. Shades of Big Brother.

    So, how did the Melbourne anchor, Brian Nailor do in the future? He was the anchor when the 1997 fires in the Dandenongs killed 3 people. He lived in the Dandenongs, so he would have known about the dangers. Unfortunately, the local council stopped people clearing bushfire fuel and Brian and his wife, Moiree, were burned to death in the 2009 Black Saturday fires. From what I remember, they were trying to leave, but the council had banned clearing fire fuel from the road verges. Very sad. A friend who worked with him for many years told me that he was a lovely bloke.

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    pat

    the presenters – Aly & Stephens – thought this deserved another airing on theirABC, because it was so great.
    not recommended for listening.
    all about a provocative Runciman/Cambridge thought bubble – should the voting age be lowered to 6-year-olds? – which is just another response from the left to Brexit & Britain’s exit from the EU & Trump’s exit from Paris. admittedly, the Aly, Stephens & the guests don’t go along with the idea of 6yr-olds voting, but one female guest thinks 12-yr-olds voting might be ok.

    what I’m pointing out is Runciman says, at 4m56s – that Brexit & Trump happened because old people voted for them (then modifies it to “older people”).
    yet at 9m28s, Waleed Aly says Runciman’s idea is an attempt to preserve the very fundaments of democracy. so it’s not a radical overhaul- it’s not looking at democratic results and saying “I don’t like them”
    how can I game the system? huh?

    AUDIO: 47m3s: 1 Jan: ABC The Minefield: Should children be given the vote?
    with Waleed Aly, Scott Stephens
    Original broadcast on 31 July 2019
    One of the most consistently intelligent, invariably thought-provoking programs in the universe of podcasting is Talking Politics. Late December 2018, the host of the program, Cambridge political historian David Runciman, offered an acute diagnosis of our current democratic dysfunction.
    But what really grabbed our attention is the solution he put forward: that the way we address the unrepresentative character of representative politics is to extend the vote to children as young as six.
    A fanciful suggestion, perhaps, and certainly controversial. But what if there is more to Runciman’s proposal than meets the eye? This week, we explore whether extending the franchise to children could be just what we need to recover a healthy democratic culture.
    Guests
    David Runciman: Head of the Department of Politics and International Studies, Professor of Politics, and a fellow of Trinity Hall, Cambridge University.
    Lisa Hill, Professor of Politics at the University of Adelaide.
    Veronica Coram, doctoral student in Political Science and International Relations at the University of Adelaide.
    https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/theminefield/should-children-be-given-the-vote/11794206

    20 Jul: Foreign Policy: Democracy Is the Planet’s Biggest Enemy
    Young people care a lot about climate change — but most of them can’t vote. Here’s how governments can adapt to accommodate them.
    By David Runciman
    (David Runciman is a politics professor at Cambridge University and the author of How Democracy Ends)
    In today’s Britain, a rare public figure can bring together Brexiteers and Remainers, Conservatives and Labour. Yet the teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg did just that on a visit to London in April, when she was feted by British politicians from across the political spectrum…

    It would have taken a very brave politician to downplay the stark moral power of this message. None of her British interlocutors—from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to would-be Tory leader Michael Gove to the speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow—dared. Instead, they all accepted the charges laid against them and promised to do better…

    The young and the old increasingly look like two distinct political tribes, and the differences are perhaps starkest over climate change. Recent polling in Britain indicates that for nearly half of all voters aged 18 to 24, global warming represents the most pressing issue of our time. Less than 20 percent of voters over 65 think the same. In the United States, only 10 percent of eligible voters aged 18 to 29 describe climate change as a “not very serious problem,” compared with 40 percent of those over 65 who call it that…

    Tackling climate change is going to require significant behavioral change: in what we eat, where we live, and how we travel. Current patterns of food and energy consumption are unsustainable. If we and the planet are to survive, that will mean less meat, smaller homes, and fewer cars…
    The old, however, tend to find changing their behavior to be more difficult than the young do…
    Watching the 16-year-old Thunberg put Britain’s political leaders in their place, it was hard to think of a good reason why she should not be allowed to vote…
    https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/07/20/democracy-is-the-planets-biggest-enemy-climate-change/

    14 Dec: New Yorker: How Boris Johnson’s Brexit Won
    By Isaac Chotiner
    To analyze the results, I spoke by phone with David Runciman, a professor of politics at Cambridge University, a frequent contributor to the London Review of Books and the host of its “Talking Politics” podcast, and the author of the book “How Democracy Ends.” During our conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity, we discussed the roots of Boris Johnson’s remarkable political success, the future of Labour, and the election’s lessons for center-left parties around the world.

    Q: What is the profile of these voters?

    RUNCIMAN: Essentially, they are working-class voters. This is not unique to this country, and it is not unique to the election. [The economist] Thomas Piketty has made this point repeatedly, which is that the workers aren’t voting for the parties of the center-left—our party is called the Labour Party, but it is no longer the party of labor. It is the party of university graduates, of big cities, and of young people, and the other crucial thing that will emerge when people break down the vote in this election is that there is here, as there was in the Brexit vote and the Trump election, a big, big generational divide. Younger voters will still vote Labour, but we are learning with every one of these elections that younger voters will consistently be outvoted by people over the age of forty-five, and older voters in this election have gone overwhelmingly to the Conservatives, including older working-class voters…

    Q: You said this means the end of the “Corbyn project.” Did you mean the Labour Party moving left on economics?

    RUNCIMAN: By the “Corbyn project,” I mean something more distinctive than that. I think the Party will continue to move left. Its constituency is clear now. It has a strong appeal with younger voters and, crucially, in London…

    Q: Are you concerned that Boris Johnson poses a threat to British democracy?

    RUNCIMAN: I’m not super concerned, nor do I think Trump is the end of democracy, although I think Trump is more of a threat than Johnson is…
    https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/how-boris-johnsons-brexit-won

    theirABC knows how to pick their “academics”.

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      pat

      just want to add that Aly saw a possible advantage in lowering the voting age when it comes to climate change.

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        OriginalSteve

        Well yes…a but like the aim of the Democrats in the USA to stuff america full of voters/illegals who likely cant speak the language but get given money by the Dems, so will vote for them.

        This is one of the main reasons the Dems want open borders, so they can flood america with people who are possibly ignorant of america, but will permenantly keep the Dems in power because they outnumber conservative voters.

        How is it any different to lowering the voting age, so brainwashed kids vote for these people who lie to them and scare them about climate change?

        Look for the dumbest or sneakist idea, and you usualy find the Left behind it with its army of ignorant supporters…

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    RichardX

    Two comments.
    Ricky Gervase could have a lot of fun with this.
    It’s all my fault. My weekend breakfasts for the last 20 years have been smoked salmon and scrambled eggs on toast. I’ve lost a kidney to cancer and I’m on a lowish protein diet. I cut out the smoked salmon for the first weekend of the year. Sorry, folks.

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    • #
      Graeme No.3

      Richard:

      Nice to see you doing your bit for the Greenies by eliminating the CO2 that would have been released when the salmon were smoked. Unfortunately it is YOU that the Greenies want to see on toast. Keep breathing and they will get despondent and discouraged.

      For a week or so I’ve been breakfasting on avocado on toast, but sliced not smashed. I am a founding member of NVA (No Violence towards Avocadoes). It is typical of Greenies that they assault an defenceless fruit with extreme violence, but we are working towards stopping that by having avocadoes declared as one of the PC sexes.
      Have you considered kippers? No? well have a Happy New Year anyway.

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        RichardX

        I intend to keep breathing for a lot more years. It would be wrong to deprive the earth of the CO2 that I breathe out.

        Avo on toast is my weekday breakfast of choice. Just mushed enough to make it stick to the toast. I put a lettuce leaf over the top to keep the avo off my fingers while I’m eating.

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    Robert

    If the luvvies really want to do something about CAGW, why don’t they just cancel the Golden Globes? Heck, why don’t they just stop making movies? That’ll save a lot of CO2 if we really need to.

    Probably Mission Impossible.

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    graham dunton

    Could a couple of dead dinosaurs, stop the floods from entering your cave, blocking fires was very simple, take all the sticks away from babies.
    Pagan Neolithic, we need a grunt scale here, as a member, it would be very handy in tracking down relatives.
    But we do have away of doing that, its called DNA-don’t know anything, but you will do soon, back to you Willie

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