Ben Balbo

Family First Senator Stephen Fielding has just returned from a study tour in America and is now undecided about the effect of carbon emissions on global warming.

While the solar flares debate, which Senator Fielding has recently cottoned on to, has been around for many years, no evidence exists to link them to the current warming, according to Graeme Pearman, former chief of atmospheric research at the CSIRO. Pearman goes one to say that solar flares are not likely to be a major factor for the next 90 years or so.

Senator Fielding states he’s open-minded about the situation and will be asking Climate Change Minister Penny Wong to “explain why what they’ve put forward isn’t credible”. His main concern is, “what happens if what they’re saying is true?”.

This author’s scientific accomplishments are somewhat restricted to computer science, but few will agree with the view that reducing carbon emissions will make matters worse.

The crux of the matter is alluded to by Phil Chapman, an Australian-born geophysicist and former NASA astronaut scientist, who warns against policies to reduce carbon emissions as “the climate has simply not been warming since 2002.”. Chapman adds “until we do know [whether warming will continue] it is really foolish to start spending money.”

The fact is they’re right! The temperature hasn’t exceeded the 1998 high and we’ve experienced continuous cooling in the past 5 years, as evidenced in the following plot.

The 157-year view paints a rather different picture though.

The picture is very clear when you look at who Senator Fielding gets his information from. The Heartland Institute is an organisation that publishes articles explaining that air pollution levels far higher than any we experience in the United States are perfectly safe and proposing that cigarette taxes be reduced to zero, dismissing second-hand smoke as a non-issue.

The Heartland Institute’s Wikipedia entry identifies them as a member organization of the Cooler Heads Coalition, “an informal and ad-hoc group focused on dispelling the myths of global warming.

Further, this non-profit organisation is funded by individuals and corporations, including at least US$190,000 from Philip Morris USA and US$676,500 from ExxonMobil, according to SourceWatch.

So here we have it, a Senator espousing the ‘truths’ of a debatably independent research organisation that is a member of an organisation that openly dismisses climate change issues and takes money from those organisations who seem to benefit greatly from their publications.

I’m sold!

Other sources: ABC News.

Who says Howard and Rudd don’t get along? Google’s 2007 Australian Federal Election site allows you to view Australian election content in Google Maps.

The most useful information comes when you zoom in to see what the politicians are up to, and as you can see from these screen shotlets.

Unfortunately I can’t seem to get a link to the google maps that work with the electoral overlay, so here’s how to see them for yourself. Head to the Google Maps with Australian Election content page and:

Parliament

Enter “Parliament” in the “My postcode or address:” box in the left column, and switch to satellite mode (button at top right of map). Zoom in to the second highest zoom level.

Beach

Enter “Queen Elizabeth Drive Bondi Beach” in the “My postcode or address:” box in the left column, and switch to satellite mode (button at top right of map). Zoom in to the second highest zoom level.

In the small box to the bottom right of the map, double click just below the “b” of “Elizabeth” – if you don’t see Johny and Kev, try scrolling a little further down and right.

More

I’ve been reliably informed that there are another 6 “easter eggs” hidden around Seaworld on the Gold Coast, Tanunda in Adelaide, a well known Melbourne sporting venue, near Barrack St Jetty in Perth, near Mandorah in Darwin and near the Botanic Gardens in Hobart.

Can you find them? Add a comment!

In another step towards total government control of its people, the UK is planning to enforce Part 3, Section 49 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, which will authorise authorities to obtain encryption keys or any encrypted data in unencrypted form in relation to any anti-terrorism investigations.

While this privacy freak understands the nation’s requirement to be able to obtain data that can assist with the aversion of, or investigation into any terrorist activity, I worry about the consequences. ARS Technica’s article on this subject explains that one possible use of this law could be to obtain encryption keys for banking records where funds for terrorist activities are involved. The issue here is that the authorities would then have the keys to decrypt any information, not just that pertaining to the funds in question.

I can imagine that a lot of businesses and individuals will be concerned at the implications these new laws introduce and, given that the laws will only apply to data that resides in the UK, might consider moving their data offshore. This would obviously have an impact on the economy with businesses moving their hosting and data infrastructure to countries that offer more protection and anonymity.

Alternatively, I see a huge surge in the use of encryption technologies that provide a mechanism for plausible deniability. TrueCrypt, for example, allows you to create hidden and unidentifiable partitions of encrypted data, and even supports partitions that provide access to different data sets depending on the password provided. This allows you to store your personal data in an embedded partition, and should anyone coerce you to provide the password, you provide the “safe” password, which gives them access to the outer partition, keeping your personal data hidden.

Burma is ruled by one of the most brutal military dictatorships in the world. For decades the Burmese regime has fought off pressure–imprisoning elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and democracy activists, wiping out thousands of villages, imposing forced labour, creating refugees.

But last Tuesday Buddhist monks and nuns, revered in Burma, began marching and chanting prayers. The protests spread as hundreds of thousands of ordinary people and public figures joined in, finding the hope they’d lost. Now they’re facing crackdown – so please, show your solidarity to this movement towards reconciliation and democracy and sign the emergency petition supporting the Burmese people — it’ll be delivered to United Nations Security Council members and international media all week.

In the past, Burma’s military rulers have massacred the demonstrators and crushed democracy. The world must stand with the Burmese people at this time, to show the military rulers that the world will not tolerate repression and violence.

Right now, global leaders are gathering in New York for the annual United Nations summit. In speeches, press interviews but also in real actions, we need them to show Burma’s military junta that the global community is willing to act in solidarity with the protesters.

Show your solidarity to this movement for peace and democracy and sign the emergency petition supporting the Burmese people. It’ll be delivered to UN Security Council members and the UN press corps all week.

I just saw one of those “authorised by the Australian Government, Canberra” type Work Places adverts. The opening line went something along the lines of:

The biggest myth is that employees are alone and unprotected, but that’s just not true. They are not alone!

Read between the lines. Tell me why I laughed!

[Updated quote on July 16th at 11:52]