FROM CHRIS FLOYD.... As we all know, the use of chemical weapons is the most heinous crime that can be committed by a brutal, aggressive government: a brazen act of state terror, an offense against all humanity. Those who perpetrate such actions put themselves beyond the pale; indeed, they rank themselves with Hitler himself, as a succession of America’s highest officials has pointed out in recent weeks.

One of the most intriguing and challenging question that intelligent people ask me when discussing global warming is "WHAT TRIGGERED THE END OF THE LAST ICE AGE, considering humans were not indulging in burning fossil fuels?"...

Very very good question if you ask me... The answer of course is complex and not specifically due to a singularity... but to a confluent of happenings... There is a "natural" carbon cycle which has been observed through the record by studying ice cores. In this "natural" cycle there are ice ages and warmer climes... We know that. 

Oil and gas giant Chevron is under fire for asking prospective employees if they have ever had a miscarriage or an abortion.

''Remember that 40 per cent of all the carbon dioxide going into the oceans goes into the Southern Ocean. It's going to hit high, and hit hard,'' she said.

Power is a drug and the way to be in power is to control... Power does not like individuality beyond the realm of its influences. Power does not like individual sustainability, nor does it like people being in charge of their own destiny... 

Goldman Sachs' boss Lloyd Blankfein has warned that a failure to raise the nation's borrowing limit would be "extremely adverse".

As the planet warms up, as the US economy is being held hostage, as the world is basically going bonkers (Aussie vernacular meaning mad, absurd, delirious demented, foolish, idiotic, frenzied, kooky, nutty) in many places as usual, should it not be time to reflect on our idiocy — er, I mean legacy... ?...

May be it's time for a beer.

It might seem like a world away but the impact of the US government shutdown is being felt much closer to home.

Former researcher at Melbourne's La Trobe University, Michael Lazarou, now works for the National Institutes of Health in Washington where he is researching Parkinson's disease.

This week he travelled to Perth to present some of his findings at the ComBio science conference being held in the city.

picture of Mount Rinjani, from google maps - 1258 AD — the summer that went AWOL...

Science and the study of the record gives us a great insight into the past... in 1258, some historical chronicles of Europe tell us that the summer was crap. Worse than crap... The year went pass as if winter never left. Crops were delayed and then rotted as they never dried, due to non-stop rain and fog. Trees barely fruited...