A week ago I was worried about the possibility of bushfire and now everything is soaked here after a couple of days of steady rain, but hey, I like the rain it makes things grow and growth is good , right?
If there is one thing that you can say about this country it is the place never lacks surprises when it comes to the weather of course there is a downside to the rain and the subsequent growth it brings and that is the need to mow which is the curse visited upon all home owners . I used to love mowing but nowadays its just something that has to be done. Now if only I get lucky and get a good day weather wise to coincide with one of my all too infrequent good days back wise all will be sweetness, light and garden bliss.
Cheers Comrades
Iain Hall's SANDPIT 
Dare I say AGW, and are you looking forward to the visit from dengue fever as it moves further South?
I am unconcerned about dengue Deknarf as that is unlikely up here on the mountain,
Ahh but you have to come down eventually! ;-))
And I’m disappointed in your lack of concern at the slow movement South of Dengue fever.
Deknarf
And I’m disappointed in your labelling of any type of weather as AGW.
GD
on this occasion I’m sure that Deknaf means Ah! Good Wetness 🙂
Deknarf
To be concerned about things I can’t change has always seemed rather silly to me.
GD. Just what do you think drives the weather and what likely effects would Global Warming have on that weather do you think?
Hope you are safe from the flooding, Iain. It’s pouring in Sydney right now… the end of my street is a pool of water. Take care.
Ah, deknarf, the ol’ switcheroo, eh?
I asked you weeks ago to give examples of the so-called reforms you reckoned Labor had initiated, so far you haven’t been able to provide any.
Now I question your remark about AGW and your answer completely ignores AGW, referring instead to global warming. See the difference?
Skeptics aren’t arguing about changes in the climate, we are arguing about the inference that Man has caused them. We also maintain that the proposed solution to pay more taxes to governments and force business owners to buy useless pieces of paper in the ridiculous belief that this will change the climate is a complete crock.
See the difference?
Now I seem to remember that you claimed once (on this blog) ‘to having worn the white coat’, ie, you were an academic and therefore had more authority than us laymen.
Perhaps you can put your white coat on and explain how the current floods, extreme weather conditions are caused by mankind.
From my memory this weather has occurred before. I remember the Brisbane floods of ’74. At the time, I was living with my grandfather, who lived high on a hill above the Brisbane River. (That’s a clue 🙂 ) He reckoned that the floods of the 1890s were worse. He could have only been a child then, but checking the records it seems he was right.
Similarly with the so-called record temperatures recorded this month: they aren’t record temperatures when you take into account records from the past century. In other words, we’ve seen it all before.
So deknarf, put that white coat on and explain why we should accept the lie that mankind is causing climate change.
The original hypothesis of the anthropogenic global warming farce, was that Man’s increasing CO2 emissions were causing an increase in greenhouse gases, and therefore the planet’s atmosphere would heat up and cause us all sorts of bother. Apparently that hasn’t happened. For the last sixteen years global CO2 emissions have continued to rise, yet the global temperature has, oops, stayed the same.
And now, as many parts of the world freeze under unexpected low temperatures, alarmists change their catch-cry to ‘climate change’ instead of global warming.
‘Extreme weather’ they shriek, grasping at straws, ignoring the fact that the Earth has evolved through many Ice Ages and many warm periods.
It is beyond our control to contain the winds and seas and storms. Best we learn to adapt.
A friggin’ carbon tax certainly won’t do it!
Thanks for the kind words Selma but flooding is non problem here, however we have been without power phone or internet here for three days I have a tree down onto one my water tanks but its concrete so probably OK as far as I can tell.
Well you’ve got your wish, GD – we’re officially unofficially in an election period. So kind of Gillard to gift us the most unworthy MP in the land the PMship and advise us of her retirement date so far out. I wonder if Tony has fathomed that this means he now has to start putting detailed policies up for scrutiny?
Ray
I will grant you that announcing the election date this far out does negate the usual date speculation that is the bread and butter of news junkies however It does not make much difference to the oppositions need to release “detailed policies” any sooner than they have planned to do so. It does give labor a good chance to dig themselves a deeper hole though.
It’s more about Gillard ensuring she goes full term. As I’ve said all along, I genuinely believe she doesn’t cares about winning it. The reason Abbott should release his policies earlier is because it might make him a better PM. If he plays it in the usual deceitful manner and fudges the figures at the last minute (as he did last time) he may well still win but he won’t have learnt anything. And he’ll be even worse than Gillard. Honestly Iain, if Abbott gets in as PM you ain’t seen nothing yet as far as incompetent PMs go.
Ray
even I would be a better PM than Gillard, so don’t suggest that Abbott would be worse than Gillard no one believes that.
Sorry to inform ye wise ones—–Abbott will never be leader of this continent, he is just not up to the job. The plotters in his own party are already plotting his downfall. And Gillard is going to” do him slowly,” as Keating did to Hewson
Ray is correct, just look at the bloke, a failed Catholic cleric, with that John Wayne swagger, f.sake wake up Australia, or as Keating would say, “is that all their is, God help us”. His idol John Howard will be giving him tips on how to pull off the leadership contest.
I hear GD just had a premature ejaculation on hearing a Federal Election has been called.
September 14? Damn shame it’s not next Saturday 🙂
Richard I’ll bet you a packet of Earl grey tea leaves that you are wrong about Abbott
I agree with you GD that sooner would be better but at least we can count down the days and enjoy the ride now we know the destination.
You’re only complaining because you’ve got a bar mitzvah gig on 14 September, GD.
GD, I am hoping nothing evil befalls me over the next 226 odd days that may prevent me from exercising my right to vote these morons out. I’m so looking forward to it. And it will be a below the line vote of course, as I have done for yonks.
I don’t know how I am going to cope with the rabid handbag hit-squad and the likes of Gillard, Albanese, Combet and Swan etc. distorting the truth to breaking point on a daily basis. One (or all)l of them will bring themselves undone. It’s now just a waiting game. For seven months and fifteen days. Unfortunately.
If you want to “vote the government out” then you’ll need to do that in the House of Reps, and there’s no below the line voting there.
The question is not whether the ALP government will fall; of course it will. The question is whether the mob that takes power is capable of doing better (or “less worse”). Casting an eye over their front bench, I am far from convinced.
Yes, Fiona, it’s going to be a long haul, but we have to grin and bear it. The Labor luvvies are going to pull out every spiteful comment they can. They know they’re finished, but will continue to shriek and wail every step of the way.
My concern is whether Abbott will have the guts to stand up to them. He needs to tell the electorate that he will cancel the carbon tax and the rest of the useless green schemes. He needs to stand up strong and proud rather than being all things to all people. There are enough people who will vote him in, without his appealing to lefties and metrosexuals.
AS I said before, Karma will take care of Abbott.
Fiona—–go and take a shower, you smell from using too much cheap perfume.
Abbott will be long gone, before the Federal Election is upon us.
Turnbull will be pulled from the pack, at the last minute, as was Hawke, you heard it here first.
Richard what are you smoking man?
It must be top shit for such wild imaginings…
It beats me how you think we’ll be any better off under the Libs. GD seems to think we’ll be better off just by the Libs “standing still and doing nothing”, well that’s what they always do – send us backwards. Doing nothing and/or simply dismantling things is an economic derailer. You might complain about Labor’s spending and debt but that’s because you don’t have a basic understanding of the function of government and why we have taxation in the first place – it’s to redirect funds back into the economy and keep the wheels oiled. Even if the spending is misguided or ‘wasteful’ it still ends up back in the economy and the wheels of progress keep on turning. Just creating a massive surplus like the Libs do does nothing but create a larger pool of unemployed, suppress wages and plays into the hands of the very top end wealthy – i.e. the top 1%. It’s what the Libs are about. They don’t even give a stuff about small – medium business, only the big guys like mining companies.
Ray
While I agree that even “wasteful” spending does oil the engine of the economy it should be the aim of all governments to minimize waste and to ensure that government spending is wisely targeted to give the most benefit to the greatest number of people.
As fro your claim that the Libs being uninterested in small business, well that is a nonsense that is contradicted by the fact that so many of it membership come form the small business class.
The Liberals minimise waste by giving the most benefits to a tiny minority of wealthy people, Iain. They don’t spend anything on public infrastructure or give any benefits to the vast majority. They don’t invest. They are lazy managers. Look at Victoria – cuts left, right & centre. Ted Baillieu is about to become known as the bloke who led the only one-term Liberal government in history.
And I don’t think it’s the Liberal party members who dictate policy and government spending, Iain.
Ray
Better to spend nothing on public infrastructure than to spend Billions on infrastructure of dubious long term benefit which is what Labor does repeatedly
I take it you’re referring to the NBN – I’m not aware of what other infrastructure is of ‘dubious benefit’. If you mean the BER program, as much as those projects were unbelievably expensive they achieved the objective of stimulating the economy and improving the schools and are certainly beneficial long-term. As for the NBN, the roll out is at least providing genuine employment. My guess is it will be of great long term benefit, especially in the regional areas.
Iain, if Labor spends “billions on infrastructure of dubious long term benefit”, please list some of them.
Ray is correct. The history of the nation over the last half century shows that Labor spends and builds, while the Liberals save and solve imaginary economic problems. The only thing the last Liberal government spent up big on was two wars and a program of middle-class welfare.
Yes I was thinking of the NBN, however I was thinking about the billions spent on Desal plants (Victoria and Queensland) and up here the “water grid” built by State Labor as prime examples of useless infrastructure.
Oh well I will agree with you on the desalination plant. A gigantic and hugely expensive white elephant. I don’t know anything about the Qld water grid. However the relative value of the NBN will not be known for years, and to suggest it has “dubious long term benefit” is just pissing in the wind. I will agree that it is very ambitious and certainly could have been done cheaper than it has been thus far.
Iain, the public has already had its say on the STATE Labor-built desal plants – they voted them out, remember? * And I’ll guarantee you that one day they’ll actually become useful, especially if Melbourne keeps expanding and growing out of control as it is.
You’ve switched from Federal infrastructure to State ones, is that because you can’t come up with any genuinely “dubious” Federal ones?
(* Although in Victoria’s case voting Labor out is already a decision most people clearly regret. Qld is seeing the ‘wonders of the LNP’ at work too)