From Deb Newell 12 October 2019

  Dear Greta,

     You should feel very proud of yourself.  Your crusade against Climate Warming has taken you into the homes and schools of the world and to the United Nations.  At sixteen years of age this is a huge achievement.  I know that you are very, very worried about the current dynamics of what is a dynamic system.  Climate by definition is variable from one day to the next, one month/one season/one year/one decade/one millennia/one geological time frame…to the next. We now stand upon the shoulders of instruments that measure the temperature of the atmosphere, the oceans, the soils and deep into Earth’s crust to assess tiny changes in heat in a multitude of sites across this planet.  This capacity is very new, about 200 years of instrument design and ongoing adaptations allow us to  do this on a regular basis so when we read about the ‘hottest ever’ we must understand that ‘ever’ refers to about 200 years of readings from instruments of varying specificity and accuracy.  To collate this data we use techniques like homogenisation before feeding such modified data into the analytic phenomenon of the twentieth century – computer software.  This is new knowledge that can be mishandled.

     At your age I loved science.  Most of my family are in one field or another of science, so I was always encouraged to never accept what I was being told was ‘the truth’ as this is a dynamic (just like the climate) coloured by perspective.  Back then there was an American scientist who reached pop-star fame, travelling the world to talk  Science to theatres full of students.  His name was Professor Sumner Miller, and his message of intellectual enquiry was to constantly ask the question ‘Why is this so?’  For your own integrity now and into the future, please start asking ‘why is it so?’ to understand the complex systems that run the climate.  This capacity for critical analysis is what defines humans.  Many, overwhelmed by information, accept what they are told as it is easier.  Religions don’t take kindly to questioning, nor do fairy tales or prejudices, but science depends upon the power of scepticism, the power of proof by enquiry.  Don’t follow the easier path of acceptance.  Ask hard questions of the science and scientists that have captured the attention of the world, many scientific institutions and many scientific publications to confirm your own intellectual dignity.

Dear Editor

Paul Starick (Advertiser Dec 6) correctly warns that South Australia is at extreme risk of domination from eastern States, regarding the Murray Darling Basin.  He explains our lack of MP’s on the federal scene will provide minimal resistance to any attack.
The real problem which has generated so much feeling among irrigators has been caused by over-allocation, combined with minimal inflow due to drought conditions.
The irony is the over-allocation has not meant over-use.  Much of the water entitlement is held by speculative investors.  Until they sell the water (at a high price) to an irrigator, the speculator’s water will flow past those who are keen to use it  -  if only it was affordable.
Emotion is running high and much finger pointing has failed to focus on the real problem.
Plans to decommission the barrages and build a lock at Wellington lacks a vision for the whole Murray Darling Basin.  River infrastructure from source-to-sea has provided a wonderful asset which must be retained.
Changes are needed but they must deliver unity  -  even if it requires recognition of less water being available.

Yours etc

  Ken Grundy
  Naracoorte  SA

     I know that for most of us, a walk around the block with the old dog towing us, is about all we can manage. Yet, there is evidence that high intensive exercise for us older folk, can boost memory, so long as (1) we can do it without a heart attack, and (2) we can remember to do it, to kick start the whole process:
  https://www.forbes.com/sites/victoriaforster/2019/11/03/high-intensity-exercise-boosts-memory-in-seniors/#2e412b3259ca

“High-intensity treadmill workouts may not immediately spring to mind when considering a suitable exercise regimen for seniors. But, according to a new study, these workouts can significantly boost memory function by up to 30%. Researchers from McMaster University in Ontario, Canada recruited 64 seniors between the ages of 60 and 88 for the twelve-week study. Other than having a low activity level before the study, the seniors were otherwise healthy. The participants were split up into three experimental groups, one group did moderate treadmill exercise that pushed their heart rates up to 70-75% of their maximum for their age, another did more intense workouts which pushed heart rates up to 90-95%, but for shorter bursts of time and the third group did gentle stretching exercises. Seniors in the high intensity exercise group experienced significant improvement on memory tests of up to 30% after the three month program. Interestingly, participants in the moderate exercise or stretching group showed no average improvement in memory. “The test looks at the ability to remember the details of new memories without mixing things up,” said Jennifer Heisz, an associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster University and lead author of the study. “For example, if you meet two new people today, it is important to not mix up their names or personal information, or to remember that you took your medicine yesterday rather than today,” she added.”

     If Joe Biden beats Donald Trump for the crown of thorns in 2020 we are going to have a real weirdo in the White House, as old Joe does some very creepy things:
  https://pluralist.com/joe-biden-bites-wifes-winger-bizarre-campaign-stop/

“Joe Biden bit his wife’s finger as she was speaking at his Democratic campaign rally in Iowa on Sunday, and the bizarre moment quickly went viral online. Jill Biden was addressing a crowd of several hundred people in Council Bluffs, and repeatedly gestured near her husband’s face. At one point, which was caught on camera from multiple angles, Joe Biden leaned in and lightly bit her right index finger. Jill Biden laughed off her husband’s behavior and carried on with her remarks. However, Twitter wasn’t ready to let it go. Turning Point USA activist Benny Johnson tweeted a video of Biden’s love bite, calling it “horrifying.”

     Some good news, and hopeful news, for a change. Regardless of country or culture, family matters most, to most people:
  https://www.studyfinds.org/family-matters-regardless-of-country-or-culture-people-prioritize-loved-ones-over-all-else/

“From Seoul to Seattle, what matters most to people at the end of the day is their family and loved ones. That’s the uplifting finding of a new, extensive international study encompassing over 7,000 people from 27 different countries. The study, led by a team of social and evolutionary psychologists at Arizona State University, is especially interesting because family- and kin-based motivations are a topic that has been largely ignored by evolutionary psychologists for the past few decades. Instead, researchers have focused on how mate attraction and selection drives people’s behaviors. “People consistently rated kin care and mate retention as the most important motivations in their lives, and we found this over and over, in all 27 countries that participated,” comments first author Ahra Ko, an ASU psychology graduate student, in a media release. “The findings replicated in regions with collectivistic cultures, such as Korea and China, and in regions with individualistic cultures like Europe and the U.S.” All continents, except Antartica, were represented in the research. Just a few examples of participating countries include Australia, Bulgaria, Thailand, and Uganda. The research team at ASU sent out surveys to scientists in each country, intended to measure fundamental behavioral motivations. Then, once each local research team got their hands on the survey, they translated it into the native language, and made any necessary edits to ensure the questions were culturally appropriate for that specific country.

     You have got to hand it to London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, he keeps to the narrative no matter what happens. The latest London killings … well that’s just life in a modern big city:
  https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/12/01/sadiq-khan-after-terror-attack-our-strength-is-our-diversity/

“London mayor Sadiq Khan told reporters that diversity is one of the British capital’s strengths in the wake of the London Bridge attack, and that all great cities are targets for terrorists. “Look, I’m mayor of the greatest city in the world, and one of our strengths is our diversity,” he told reporters shortly the attack by Usman Khan, a convicted radical Islamic terrorist who had been freed from prison on a tag after serving less than half of a 16-year term, which left two dead and three injured.

     The way things are played now, is that controversial views, nay, anything that is politically incorrect, and the net gets bigger by the day, used to get protested against, maybe the authors bashed by Leftoid savages, but today, it is shut down before anyone much gets to hear of it, then they get bashed.  Oh, there are still the death threats:
  https://americanmind.org/essays/welcome-to-culture-war-2-0/
  https://www.chronicle.com/article/Last-Fall-This-Scholar/242880
  https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/publisher-withdraws-essay-defending-colonialism-citing-threat-to-journal-editor/120511

“A controversial essay that offered a defense of colonialism and led to a revolt at Third World Quarterly has been withdrawn due to “serious and credible threats of personal violence” to the journal’s editor, according to a notice posted by the journal’s publisher, Taylor & Francis. The essay, “The Case for Colonialism,” was withdrawn at the request of the journal’s editor, Shahid Qadir, and in agreement with the essay’s author, Bruce Gilley, an associate professor of political science at Portland State University, the notice said. The publisher said that it had conducted a thorough investigation after receiving complaints about the essay and found that it had undergone double-blind peer review, in line with the journal’s editorial policy. However, the publisher’s notice continued, the journal’s editor received “serious and credible threats of personal violence” linked to the publication of the essay. “As the publisher, we must take this seriously,” the withdrawal notice reads. “Taylor & Francis has a strong and supportive duty of care to all our academic editorial teams, and this is why we are withdrawing this essay.” Backlash against Third World Quarterly was swift after it published the colonialism essay last month. Fifteen people on the journal’s 34-member board resigned, and a petition seeking a retraction drew more than 10,000 signatures. In the wake of the controversy, the author, Mr. Gilley, had asked that his essay be withdrawn. “I regret the pain and anger that it has caused for many people,” Mr. Gilley wrote last month on his website.”

     I was sent this link down the food chain, having a little archaeological knowledge, from Ken who sends out dozens of emails with juicy bits of info, the original email coming in from I don’t know, and was too lazy to ask, but, good on you anyway, get the word out. The book by Bruce Pascoe, Dark Emu: Aboriginal Australia and the Birth of Agriculture (2014/2018), puts the case that Australian Aboriginal culture was not exclusively a hunter and gatherer society, but had agriculture, and well, a civilisation a bit like a kind of Wakanda (Black Panther movie)! This all goes with a modern narrative about their sophisticated spiritualism and cosmological beliefs.

     There is a site “Dark Emu Exposed”:
  https://www.dark-emu-exposed.org/home/category/Aboriginal+Agriculture   which undertakes a step-by-step critique of the Aboriginal agriculture claim. The entries are detailed and well argued, and anyone interested in this topic should have a look. As well, a few days ago there was this in the national rag:
  https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/extolling-of-dark-emu-ignores-the-doubt-about-its-historical-accuracy/news-story/9383e8daea5ef79ae3e1d7d4ba4d3357

The medical journal The Lancet, has a name which I have found a bit scary, since it refers to a surgical cutting instrument with a double-edged blade. Could that be symbolic? Well, the journal of that name is certainly well into the climate apocalypse stuff. Here is some material on this, which I do not necessarily endorse in full, because I am new to this area.
  https://www.acsh.org/news/2019/11/12/woke-lancet-asks-if-its-acceptable-have-children-14395/%20

“What should we make of a scientific journal that has decided that being culturally "woke" is more important than presenting evidence-based reports and opinions? Alas, this is what has become of The Lancet. For decades, The Lancet was seen as one of the world's preeminent biomedical journals, along with publications such as the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). But something has changed, and the journal now regularly publishes bad research and bizarre opinions. The latest example is The Lancet's decision to publish a review of a theatrical performance called Lungs, which is about climate change. (Why a biomedical journal is publishing theatrical reviews at all is a legitimate question in itself.) The very first paragraph is already full of misinformation:

     For many years I have been writing that climate change has become something of a fanatical cult, which has now morphed into a new religion. Nobody paid attention to what I have said, because, well, I’m just an old loser, who drowns my sorrows for a lost life in cheap alcohol, but still, there are others, who are real people, saying the same thing now:
  https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/the-religion-of-climatism/

“Greta Thunberg, the teenager from Stockholm, is the prophet of a new religion sweeping the West. Call it Climatism. Like any religion worthy of the name, it comes with its own catechism (what to believe) and eschatology (how the world will end). Thunberg’s bible is the latest report of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which gives us 12 years to save civilization as we know it. We have prayed to the false gods of fossil-fired growth, runs Thunberg’s indictment. Guilty are the adults who have “lied to us” and given us “false hope.” But her children’s crusade—no-school “Fridays for Future”—will show the path to redemption. And so, the youngsters did. For September 20, the 16-year-old had managed to organize worldwide protest marches. From New York to Nairobi, from Asia to Australia, tens of thousands thronged the squares and streets of their cities, chanting: “You had a future, and so should we!” 2019 is the year 1 a.g., Anno Gretae. Of course, Greta Thunberg did not come out of nowhere. All new religions emerge from competing sects, as Jesus did in Jerusalem and Muhammad in the Arabian Hejaz. Why did she succeed so quickly, virtually in a space of months? An “innocent child,” muses Gerard Baker in the Wall Street Journal, “is an inspiring story that is very effective in offering role models and propagating the faith.” A guileless demeanor trumps reams of data and multiple regressions churned out by the IPCC. But it also helps that Greta has a flawless PR machine running in the background at all times.

     This is good, home spun advice, relevant at this reflective time of the year, when many of us are feeling the loneliness of the season:
  https://www.breitbart.com/entertainment/2019/11/28/taylor-swift-problems-should-remind-every-american-to-be-thankful/

“In so many of us there’s a deep-seated need to matter — for our lives to matter, for our existence to have purpose. This need used to be fulfilled by the hard living that defined 99 percent of the history of humanity.
What I mean is, if you truly want to live a life that matters and filled with purpose, go back a hundred or so years, go back to when your next meal depended on your aim with a rifle, when your family’s ability to survive the winter depended on the crops and livestock not being wiped out by disease or weather, to a time when cutting firewood was an act of survival, not a quaint pastime at your summer cottage. Hell, until the rise of the middle class in the previous century, unless you were well off, you knew hunger, you knew what it was like to run out of the coal that heats your home, to live in a literal shack without central heat, without refrigeration, and only a sheet of tar paper between you and the rain.

     This relates to the US, but it seems that in that context, the Rhodes Scholarship,  is now dominated by Leftist students, surprise, surprise:
  https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2019/11/29/60-of-2020-rhodes-scholarships-awarded-to-leftist-activists/

“The next slate of Rhodes Scholars is overwhelmingly involved with various forms of progressive activism in the United States. Almost 60 percent specifically mention their leftist activism in their biographies. According to a report by The College Fix, the majority of Rhodes Scholars for 2020 are progressives. The report revealed that only 13 of the 32 Rhodes Scholars have biographies that do not mention progressive activism. That means that almost 60 percent of recipients are expressly involved with progressive activism. Elliot F. Gerson, American Secretary of the Rhodes Trust, said that the 2020 Rhodes Scholars represent the “extraordinary diversity that characterizes and strengthens the United States. “This year’s American Rhodes Scholars — independently elected by 16 committees around the country meeting simultaneously — once again reflect the extraordinary diversity that characterizes and strengthens the United States,” Gerson said. “They will go to Oxford in September 2020 to study in fields broadly across the social, biological and physical sciences, and in the humanities. They are leaders already, and we expect their impact to expand exponentially over the course of their public-spirited careers.” Take, for example, University of Oklahoma student Leanne K.M Ho, whose biography notes that she is a passionate activist for LGBT rights. The biography also notes that Ho is a “non-binary” person. Leanne’s academic research focuses on the impact of storytelling on social distancing from LGBTQ people. They are a campus leader in incorporating transgender, intersex, and non-binary people into conversations about reproductive health and have advocated for increased resources and opportunities for transgender and gender non-conforming students. Leanne led a successful effort to address gendered campus awards at the University of Oklahoma, and was recently named the first-ever Big Non-Binary Person on Campus.”

     Here is one of those “gottcha moments” where President Trump shows beyond any shadow of doubt that the mainstream media are a bunch of lying so and so’s:
  https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/11/29/donald-trump-mocks-newsweek-for-fake-thanksgiving-headline/

“President Donald Trump mocked Newsweek after they reported Thursday he spent Thanksgiving golfing and tweeting. In fact, the president was secretly traveling to Afghanistan to visit deployed American troops. “I thought Newsweek was out of business?” Trump wrote on Twitter, sharing a screenshot of the article and photos of him with the troops in Afghanistan posted by his son Donald Trump Jr.”

     Here is an amazing video from American Renaissance, a site which unfortunately our Brian Simpson does not like, dealing with the fatal weakness of conservatives, the race issue. The basic argument is: what is the point of the constitution, the monarchy, social credit finance, you name it, if WE disappear. Are all the sacrifices for the point of Africa, or China? Why bother?
  https://www.amren.com/videos/2019/11/why-conservatives-are-doomed/

     This is just a wow story, something that will never make it into a Hollywood movie, but it should, a new Silkwood (1983). A suicide? What, with two shots to the head? I do not believe it!
  https://www.naturalnews.com/2019-11-29-author-jennifer-jaynes-exposing-murderous-vaccine-deep-state-found-shot-to-death.html

“Jennifer Jaynes, USA Today bestselling author of Malice and other novels exposing the vaccine deep state, was found shot to death on Monday, November 25th, according to media reports (see links below). Jaynes was a celebrated author whose books achieved USA Today bestseller status. Her novels showcased the criminality, child abuse and deep-rooted fraud of the vaccine industry. She also wrote children’s books that focused on teaching children the importance of consuming nutritious foods. See her website, books, DVDs and more at www.JenniferJaynes.net

     It is all happening, like a Christmas present for me, just as most of us journalists here struggle to get through the day now, counting the nanoseconds until the holidays, to allow time for our back and neck injuries to heal before killing ourselves writing next year. Anyway, Climate-Princess Greta has come out embracing total Marxism and anti-capitalism, which shows that the colour of the Greens, is always red:
  https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/11/29/greta-thunberg-goes-full-marxist/

“Greta Thunberg the teenage Climate Puppet has gone full Marxist. In her latest public statement, she says that the ‘climate crisis is not just about the environment’: It is a crisis of human rights, of justice, and of political will. Colonial, racist, and patriarchal systems of oppression have created and fuelled it. We need to dismantle them all.”

     Below are some articles on the London Bridge attacker, a convicted terrorist who was recently released from prison.  Apart from the first two by Breitbart, one struggles to find out the ethnicity of the attacker, and even that he is a terrorist. Interested readers can wander through these articles to see the generally selective coverage of most of them, at least as far as I am concerned. After that, definitely go to the last article here, to see my witty comments:
  https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/11/29/report-suspected-london-attacker-was-convicted-terrorist-recently-released-from-prison/
  https://www.foxnews.com/world/london-bridge-closed-by-british-police-amid-reports-of-gunshots
  https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/uk-police-clear-london-bridge-after-reports-of-gunshots
  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7739057/Gun-shots-heard-London-Bridge-police-confirm-incident-area.html?ico=pushly-notifcation-small
  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7739057/Gun-shots-heard-London-Bridge-police-confirm-incident-area.html?ico=pushly-notifcation-small
  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7739939/Several-people-wounded-stabbing-shopping-street-Hague.html?ico=pushly-notifcation-small
  https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/man-wielding-5-narwhal-tusk-helped-subdue-london-bridge-terrorist

     This is all I could find about how the knife attacker was stopped, namely by a bystander using a 5-foot narwhal tusk to subdue the knife man. I did not know that this was, so I researched it.
  https://oceanconservancy.org/blog/2019/03/08/exactly-narwhal-tusk/

     This is interesting, and from a mainstream publication, to boot:
  https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/copenhagen-speech-violence

“Several weeks ago, New Yorker cartoon editor Bob Mankoff conducted the following interview with Flemming Rose, the foreign editor of Jyllands-Posten, the Danish daily newspaper known for having published twelve cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in 2005. Rose, who was then the culture editor, made the decision to publish the cartoons, which sparked attacks and violent protests across the Muslim world, and multiple terrorist plots against Jyllands-Posten, Rose, and other staff members. Rose’s book, “The Tyranny of Silence,” was published late last year in the U.S. Rose and Mankoff spoke about the book and Rose’s views on free speech in person, and continued their conversation via e-mail. Researching my book, I looked into what actually happened in the Weimar Republic. I found that, contrary to what most people think, Weimar Germany did have hate-speech laws, and they were applied quite frequently. The assertion that Nazi propaganda played a significant role in mobilizing anti-Jewish sentiment is, of course, irrefutable. But to claim that the Holocaust could have been prevented if only anti-Semitic speech and Nazi propaganda had been banned has little basis in reality. Leading Nazis such as Joseph Goebbels, Theodor Fritsch, and Julius Streicher were all prosecuted for anti-Semitic speech. Streicher served two prison sentences.

     Last night my son got me to watch and episode of the 2019 remake (actually the third remake) of the Rod Sterling 1960s The Twilight Zone TV series. The episode I watched, “Replay,” and I missed the beginning, going to the toilet, has this summary from Wiki, so I want to be accurate before hammering it:
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twilight_Zone_(2019_TV_series)

     Nope I can’t quote it as the box summary goes over the page. But what happens is that Nina Harrison, mixed race, has a much darker son. She has her father’s old cam recorder, that allows her to wind back time. She had a falling out with the father, so this is all deeply symbolic stuff. The pair are off to take the son to a Black university, but they are prevented by a white racist cop, who wants to kill the son, for being Black; you know, whites prevent Blacks from going to university.  We go through a number of these events, with Nina truing back time. Then she goes back to the old family home, sees her brother who know how to deal with white racists, they take a secret passage to the school, but while there are confronted by racist police who want to kill them, but all the other Black folk take a stand, get out their phones and record, and the demonic whites retreat, to  go back to “hell.”

     There is a Renault car advertisement that tells a “moving” story of lesbian love; well, the cars are doing a lot of moving anyway. Read on:
  https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/10421428/new-renault-clio-advert-lesbian-love/

“RENAULT'S heartwarming new Clio advert has left viewers in tears at the featured lesbian couple's love story, which spans over three decades. The two-minute video follows the romance of two woman that meet as children before falling in love and later reuniting as adults. The heartwarming advert features an acoustic cover of Wonderwall by Rahel Debebe-Dessalegne. Many social media users have been blown away by the storyline, suggesting it's a rival for the traditional John Lewis sobfest that seems to send fans into a frenzy each year.