Christmas Cake & Donations- How to divide the portions

As I sit down to write this post my Christmas Cake is cooking gently in my electric oven. Its another cool overcast day here in Melbourne, ideal weather to cook cakes and not suffer heat stroke.
Once cooked I will have to write strict instructions on the cake tin to make sure the cake is kept intact for Christmas Day. Or I can do what my mother does and freeze the cake, bringing it out when I defrost the turkey.
More worrying is how to divide my donations to charity this year. There are so many needy people and organisations. With the various environmental groups reeling in shock with Federal Governments decisions to repeal the Carbon Tax, axe the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, dismiss the Climate Commission, approve the dredging of the harbour at Abbott Point, Queensland for an expanded Coal Terminal and encourage logging in Tasmanian World Heritage areas, I don't know where to turn.
Now Getup has another save the ABC campaign which also is deserving of help.

So sorry to some of my normal people focussed charities, I'm going to divide my donation dollars and support some of these environmental campaigns. After all people need to live in an environment that supports them with clean air, water, sustainable energy, sustainable work and reliable information. As worried Holden workers are finding to their cost.

As Tony Abbott said prior to his election win as reported by SBS News on the idea of a mandate:

“As an Opposition our job is to hold the Government rigorously to account. Oppositions are not there to get legislation through. Oppositions are there to hold the Government to account, and unless we are confident a piece of legislation is beyond reasonable doubt in the national interest, it is our duty, as the Opposition, to vote it down.”

Warsaw Climate Talks about Money

Various reports on the non-progress of the Warsaw Climate Change Talks should come as no surprise to Climate Change Activists.
The Guardian Reports on Sunday 17 November2013 :  Climate change pledges: rich nations face fury over moves to renege. " The developing world also wants the rich western nations to commit to establishing a compensation scheme for future extreme weather events, as the impact of global warming is increasingly felt. And they want firm signals that rich countries intend to find at least $100bn a year by 2020 to help them to adapt their countries to severe climate extremes"


Also check out the Germanwatch Report: Climate Change Performance Index 2014 where Australia ranks near the bottom and is sliding downwards.

Given the Conservative side of politics ( in Australia) has always said they will do something if everyone else agrees and then walks away from high level attendance at those international meetings, its pretty obvious that they will do nothing other than extract our carbon resources and damn the poor and developing worlds to further poverty. Damning our own rich country in the process.

Can you imagine Australia giving more $$ to any poor country as a result of trying to adapt to severe climates?
Meanwhile the Climate Council has released its latest report

regarding warm October Weather. They will have trouble getting Victorian's to agree if November turns out to be the same, as we have had unusually wet and cold weather (or so it seems). This again shows how science and individual perspectives collide. My sense of the weather and the measurement of Climate are two separate things.

Science can, by its very nature, completely counter intuitive and you reject it at your peril.

Climate Council: Tune In on You Tube

Regarding the Climate Council's Live You Tube Stream on October 3rd.

Did anyone who was not already a concerned Climate Change citizen tune in?
Are we only preaching to the converted ( to use the quasi religious terminology our critics accuse us of?)
Can we reach the small number of deniers?
Can we reach the larger but still quite small numbers of not-quite-sure's?
How many are there of the 2 categories above and why to do they have so much influence in today's media environment.
What can you do to combat the influences of the powerful and entrenched!

Sit back and watch it unfold.

Donations, Money, Power, Politics and Climate Council: Australian Hot Air

With the axing of the Climate Commission by the newly incumbent Abbott Government we are seeing the re-grouping of scientists, economists and those interested in Climate Change.

Tim Flannery has today announced the opening of the new Climate Council funded by the community.
If you want their work of education and reasoned advice to continue, please donate.
Yes I have!

The Climate Commission's brief, to explain climate change to Australians, obviously didn't work very well judging by the number of climate skeptics that continually pop-up on TV and media generally. But is that their fault or that of powerful vested interests in business and the media?

Mr Abbott's government has passed the education function to the Bureau of Meterology. I wonder if they will get any funding to effectively do that? I haven't heard anything as yet. Will Climate Change information be displayed prominently on their home page? Lets wait and see.

Many years ago, in my past life, I remember signing secrecy agreements, restricting my ability to comment to the media without express permission from my management. We protested this vigorously!
As a Council Employee my Code of Conduct asks for something similar.

But as a private citizen I expect to be able to comment appropriately. And use appropriate means to convey my concerns to our elected politicians.

As Paul Barry on Media Watch pointed out headlines the the Australian Newspaper such as "We Got it Wrong on Warming, Says IPCC" showed only one thing. That the Australian can't be trusted to get it right!

A retraction from the Australian was posted later but the damage had already been done. Lying, over-exaggeration and self-interest of the powerful is common in this brave new world of media. Good to see Paul Barry and Media Watch bringing them to account.