MINING and gambling interests were heavy contributors to political parties last financial year, at a time when the government was considering dropping poker machine reforms and fighting off a sustained attack over the carbon tax.

The state and federal Labor parties took more than $1.1 million from organisations with gaming interests while the Coalition parties and their state branches took $688,000, according to the release of political funding for the 2011-12 financial year by the Australian Electoral Commission on Friday.

In January last year, the government walked away from a promise to the independent MP Andrew Wilkie to dramatically limit how much people could lose on poker machines.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/data-point/gambling-interests-miners-big-donors-to-political-parties-20130201-2dq3x.html#ixzz2JgcjIF8k

On this one I did not have the courage to let the full face of the kid be part of this political manipulation of "news" from the merde-och press, here in the Daily Telegraph on Sunday...

Meanwhile, this organisation that purports to be above god-knows-what, reserved the right to tell as much crap as possible.. and call it news. As explained in its anti anti-discrimination laws... :

We should not be surprised at vigorous attacks on governments or oppositions in an election year.

But should we accept forays which generate destructive fear and loathing where nothing fearful or loathsome exists? Should we tolerate attacks based on falsehoods and misrepresentation?

A campaign of distortion and misinformation in The Australian is now underway. An article on Wednesday warning of a “tragic outcome” and

…another stolen generation – a generation of young people and children who have had their freedom of speech stolen from within their classrooms

— contains several ludicrous assertions.

The polemic by teacher at Melbourne’s Trinity Grammar, Christopher Bantick, is titled ‘Censorship dressed up is denial of free speech’. The fear it foments of reforms to Australia’s anti-discrimination laws is based on blatant distortions of the 2011 Federal Court decision in Eatock v Bolt [201] FCA 1103.

Bantick begins with an observation on the Andrew Bolt racial discrimination matter by Opposition frontbencher George Brandis that

…we are not free as journalists, commentators and ordinary citizens to make critical remarks in the course of ordinary political exchange.

Why quote the Opposition? Why not quote Justice Bromberg’s actual judgment? Bromberg, in fact, says the exact opposite (Paragraph 353):

At common law, fair comment exists as a defence to a defamatory comment in order to facilitate freedom of expression on matters of public interest,” the judge affirmed. “It is of importance that on social and political issues in particular, people should be able to express their opinions. Those opinions will at times be ill-considered. They may be obstinate, exaggerated or simply wrong. But that, of itself, provides no valid basis for the law to curtail the expression of opinion.

http://www.independentaustralia.net/2013/politics/the-australians-media-campaign-against-anti-discrimination/

Here at YD, I do my utmost to be fully aware of this, say for example I make my cartoon without crossing the boundary of truth (too much)... This is why more often than not, I use the "verbatim technique" — let the character tell you exactly what they've said and see the contradictions and the legs-before-wickets that the media empires let go the the keeper...

Even the ABC cannot shoot straight:

Not only the picture has vanished on this drum article—  or is in a digital format from planet Zurg — but for a while, when Julia announced the election for September at the National Press Club, the ABC dug into its vault of file pictures and extracted the worst picture of Julia it could find... I will show it to you one day...

Mind you if you read "The arrest of Craig Thomson..." The Daily Telegraph-itself, we've been assured by its own glorious report is a fully law-abiding citizen that never does anything wrong, even in its camping outside Craig Thomsom's home day and night and in the pursuit of Craig Thomson on the M3 highway and reporting to police about his alleged traffic violations... Harrassment by the press?... No, just the press (no name of journo and photographer supplied in the article which I won't link here) that possibly does not want to miss the moment when Thomson's car rolls over down the ravine and burst into flames... Click click click goes the camera of The Telegraph law... U-G-L-Y.

see toon at top...

I think everyone should take heart. The Opposition and compliant media are still desperate to bring this minority government to an end quickly — before an NDIS becomes part of the Australian landscape and before Gonski education reforms are legislated, requiring funding according to need.

The corporatocracy, the oligarchy – call it what you will – and the Coalition acting as its political arm, are just as fearful of a democratic Australia as a democratic Australia is fearful of a fascist corporate agenda. I believe the remarkable corporate media over-reaction to the events of the past few days should be seen in this light.

All that has happened in the past few days is that an election date has been set, a man who for the past several years has been asking to be charged (so he could answer the charges) has finally been charged – albeit in sensationally contrived circumstances – and a cabinet has been reshuffled in the usual way. But it has all been reported in end of the world terms because the corporatocracy is fearful of Australia retaining its democratic processes. That someone might be innocent until proved guilty, and that someone judged guilty of conspiracy in a Federal Court might be required to answer further questions.

As a postscript, I might add that I’m reluctant to include the ABC holus bolus into the basket of compliant media, although it has undoubtedly become more conservative/cautious under former Liberal Party staffer Mark Scott. After the privatisation threats of the Howard years, and now with the concern about what an Abbott government might bring, there are clearly many ABC staff genuinely fearful about their future.

http://www.independentaustralia.net/2013/politics/fear-and-loathing-in-canberra/

Former US vice-president and climate change activist Al Gore has dismissed the Opposition's climate change policy, but praised the Government as a world leader for its climate action.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott intends on dumping the Government's carbon tax if the Coalition wins the September election.

Mr Abbott says the Opposition would implement a direct-action plan which involves planting trees and providing financial incentives for polluters to reduce their carbon output.

But Mr Gore told Lateline that the plan has never worked in countries that have implemented it.

When asked what he thought of Mr Abbott's strategy, Mr Gore said: "It didn't work [in the US] - it hasn't worked anywhere."

But Mr Gore applauded Prime Minister Julia Gillard for her "courage and vision" on climate change, saying the world must stand up to the challenge.

"Australia has inspired the world by taking some very responsible steps, even though Australia is the world's largest coal exporter," he said.

"I was cheered by the news this past week from Australia that electricity from wind power is now cheaper than electricity from a plant that is newly constructed to burn coal."

Mr Gore says Australia has always been a continent of extreme weather, but the extremes appear to be getting worse.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-02-05/coalition27s-climate-policy-has-never-worked3a-gore/4500680?WT.svl=news1

WILLOW, Alaska — By 9:30 most mornings here in the world’s unofficial dog-sledding capital, Luan Marques has harnessed 10 Alaskan huskies to his sled and shot off into the awakening woods for a training ride, his sights set on the famous Iditarod competition next month.

The thick, powdery blanket of snow on the trails and the frigid temperatures have made a musher haven out of Willow, where locals joke that dogs outnumber humans. But as Marques rode this winter, he and his huskies trudged over dirt patches and bramble, surrounded by tree branches that once held fluffy snow. Instead of subzero conditions, which are ideal for the sport, temperatures have been in the 30s and 40s.

“It’s raining and not snowing,” Marques said during a recent training ride, maneuvering the dogs to avoid puddles on the trail. “That’s not good.”

It has made for a trying winter for mushers. Several Iditarod qualifying events have been postponed, rerouted or canceled because of a lack of snow. The John Beargrease sled dog race, a trek of some 400 miles in northern Minnesota, postponed its start to March 10 from Jan. 27. In Alaska, the Don Bowers Memorial 200/300, the Sheep Mountain Lodge 150 and the Knik 200 have been canceled. The Copper Basin 300 in Glenallen, Alaska, had to cut its trail for several teams by 25 miles because there was not enough snow at the finish line; the mushers finished the race with their hats and gloves off and jackets unzipped.

“That was crazy with the warm weather,” said Zack Steer, one of the race’s organizers. “It was such a drastic change from last year, but the trail at the end was dirt. It wasn’t safe.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/06/sports/warm-weather-forces-changes-ahe...      

How come temperature in Alaska be warmer than say in New York (30 F)?... Alaska appears as if it is the top end of the world but it is only on the same latitudes as Sweden, Siberia and Greenland southern tip. Local plus planetary conditions are the deterterminants of local weather at any one time...

We know that CO2 is a moderate warming gas and that in the northern latitudes it is measured now at more than 400 ppm in the atmosphere (about 220 ppms being anthropogenic, presently).

But we also know that CO2 strongly modifies water vapour behaviour in the atmosphere. To use a simplistic relationship (which is wrong in the case of atmospheric conditions) but which explains a complex process, imagine CO2 in the air acts a bit like "dishwashing liquid in water"... A small drop of dishwashing liquid will change the surface tension of water and subsequently the "performance" of water. It will penetrate say microscopic (and not so microscopic) areas in clothes where previously the surface tension would have not permitted. With dishwashing liquid (or surfactant) in water, insects that usually "walk" on water cannot... Insects impregnated with water that contains very small amounts of surfactants cannot breathe. Some oils soluble in water, like white oil, act in the same manner, this is why it is used as a (non-poisonous) insecticide.

One does not need much dishwashing liquid to change the surface tension of water. One can measure this in ppms... A drop in a bucket of a million drops of water. Add more dishwashing liquid and frothy bubbles form like crazy...

The more CO2 modify the behaviour of water vapours in the atmosphere the crazier the weather is going to be. The more larger "bubbles" of hot and cold are going to be created while the general trend is towards warmer.

Note: in planetary weather conditions, I place oceanic currents. For example, while the UK was freezing recently, the sea temperature on its northern west coast was between 9 and 12 degrees C while the air temperature there was only slightly cooler (5 to 10 degrees C). Basically the Gulf Stream system and cold air from the North Pole where meeting over England... In some parts of Europe, though the cold was making headlines, conditions were up to 7 degrees above average. At the same time, Sydney experienced its warmest day on record (45.8 degrees C) while western Sydney (and the airport by the sea) had 46.5 degrees C.

Large parts of the UK hit by 'extremely rare' blend of blizzard and electrical stormLAST UPDATED AT 14:39 ON Tue 5 Feb 2013

THUNDERSNOW may sound like the title of a James Bond film or a dubious heavy metal band, but it is in fact a "freak weather phenomenon" that struck large parts of Britian overnight.

Freezing weather combined with thunder and lightning created the extremely rare 'thundersnow' conditions in cities including Manchester, Sheffield, Glasgow and Edinburgh, reports the Daily Mail. The most extreme conditions were experienced on Britain's west coast where the "sub-zero thunderstorms" were formed by "deeply unstable and cold air" hitting warm sea," a spokesman for the Met Office said.

Read more: http://www.theweek.co.uk/environment/weather/51361/watch-out-thundersnow-here-rock-you-britain#ixzz2K654sJQv

Read post above: it explains why... The conflict between warm air from the Gulf Stream and cold air zooming in "from the North Pole", creating "rare" thunderstorms...