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26 June 2008

Tim Flannery proposes voluntary global dimming

I'm a regular reader of a Yahoo group called Running On Empty Australia (ROEOZ), which is primarily concerned with environmental sustainability in a post-peak-oil world.

A few days ago, I posted some links conveying the news that Tim Flannery - yes, the 2007 Australian Of The Year - was actually advocating covering the atmosphere with soot as a possible solution to global warming. It seems that Flannery has gone quite mad - or, at least, he hasn't realised that we're already doing this, with fairly adverse consequences to humans and hardly any effect at all on global warming.

I was going to make a video about this, but a
fellow ROEOZ reader has posted a pretty good summary of the discussion here.

10 June 2008

Video: An open letter to Ireland regarding the Lisbon Treaty

As I promised myself, I've recorded a brief video about why the people of Ireland should vote No to the Treaty of Lisbon on Thursday, 12 June. I don't know whether this will get through to anyone, but I really need to warn people about how important it is to stop this going ahead.

Watch it here.


UPDATE 2010-02-14: I have deleted this video because it's no longer newsworthy. Ireland was forced to vote again and conceded to the EU. However, I haven't removed the link because I don't know how "deleted" the video is; perhaps there is still a way to watch it.

01 June 2008

It's been a long couple of weeks

I haven't posted for a few weeks, partly because I haven't had a lot of time. I've had two eBay auctions go through, both of which worked out pretty well. I've had my first performance review in my current job, and I'm really happy with how that went. I've got a few things to sort out with my fabulous wealth (which is really neither), but things are going OK.

One thing I want to do is get a message to the people of Ireland regarding the Lisbon Treaty. Ireland is the only country that is having a popular vote on ratifying the Treaty; the other 26 countries in the European Union aren't going to because they don't care what ordinary people think. These are dangerous changes to the way the EU works; these are major constitutional changes that threaten democracy for all Europe, the previous EU Constitution disguised as a mere Treaty so the voice of the people won't be heard. There may be a video in this, but with the vote happening in less than two weeks, time is running out. I would recommend any swinging voters watch End Of Nations, which describes in great (but admittedly laborious) detail the changes that the Lisbon Treaty are forcing on the sovereign nations of Europe. Get this message out to everyone you know in the EU, whether they get a vote or not.

I went to the Eco Living Expo at the Adelaide Showgrounds yesterday. It's good to see something a bit more practical that I can do for the environment, if only for my (rented) piece of the world to be setting a good example. I think I'm getting close to the point where there is very little more that I can do for the environment in my current living situation; I need to treat my imagination to something more hands-on. I didn't see much of Earth-repairing significance at the Expo, but it's clear to me that when I eventually need to ask questions about the shape and form of my own place, the answers will be waiting for me.