Mood:  sharp

A judicious and honest consideration of the attack by The Australian editorial today on humble 15 minute ABC Media Watch of 20^th August 2007 including:

-         long long ‘doth protest too much’ haughty editorial - Old tricks back at Media Watch - echoing the recent slumming editorial effort against accurate criticism by psephologist bloggers of  their Dennis Shanahan re Newspoll interpretation

-         skinny column by veteran hack David Salter – the only intrinsically convincing article re journalistic career cowardice in the face of a Treasurer's edict Watchdog must bite all hands equally

-         talented but flighty, opportunistic Caroline Overington in their Media supplement Ripping yarns not on the ABC more a plea for a longer more resourced MW than anything

and maybe more (?), must take into account ‘tis the season of electoral emotional violence and ambition'. In the case of relatively new editor of the Oz the ambition s to become the quality broadsheet in Australia with all the cut and thrust and blood that implies, not least poaching staff from the Fin Review, cosying up with Opposition Leader Rudd, and not brooking any criticism no matter how sound.

(Nor is it any coincidence in this stage of the political cycle as nerves fray and excitement reins, Mary Kostakidis is locking horns with dumb bosses at SBS, or ABC have axed the influential natural history unit in this election killing season.)

First, by coincidence we ‘watched’ MW last night on the web, having slept early last Monday night. Big tick to the ABC for their web service there.

Second, we found the line up worthy and competent. True, big sensationalist stories might be the preference of the narcissistic sector but if this writer’s tastes are anything like the usual audience we care at least as much about safe medical drugs coverage, drink driving in society, commercialism masquerading as news, credits ruining our family movie enjoyment and honest reporting of climate change. Sure we want a moderate coverage of ‘pop star’ journalists but keep it in perspective.

Third, on the content of the last story offending The Oz, fifth in the line up, this turns on cunning Matthew Warren an industry hack now ‘environment reporter’ exploiting the well known conservative diplomacy of the UN IPCC paralysed by nth degree consensus to claim Howard’s delay on climate change action is being ‘responsible’. Yet virtually everyone knows the high quality science predicts worse, not less, dangerous impacts not least sea rise, and that the IPCC is hobbled by needing to keep all vested govt interests in the tent. The Australian is being too cute by half arguing Warren, their paper with huge fossil fool advertising supplements, or economic dry denialist industry readership demographic is in any way objective. That’s a Shakespearean farce – hence the 'doth protest too much' projection of their own paper's bias well ventilated by MW in maybe a 3 minute item last in the line up. [On reflection 24.8.07 we agree with Warren's possibly main gist that ALP and Coalition are more similar than different on real practical policy settings, if that in fact is his main point, while disagreeing with his dubious positioning of IPCC chair as pro Howard.]

Fourth, when Salter argues the journo’s at the Water’s Edge should be front and centre in the MW show for failing to report an 'on the record' backgrounding at a dinner about leadership tensions, and then off the record ‘retrospective virginity’ (great line) well yes. But there is plenty of time for a considered view from MW after the dust settles. Nothing turns on rushing in now. No doubt a blogger like this one, who would never get invited to such a dinner, would have published by dessert with no chance for on to off . Salter we say is surely right – this aspect needs a lot more attention not least the operation of 'the drip' to ruin immediate coverage but also we say better to wait for a good solidly researched effort. Including interview with Brissenden (or Daley or Wright) on why they folded, in the chair making his inevitable mea culpa for belated acceptance of the Treasurer's confidence. Just get the grovel confession out Michael, it worked for Kev. Another aspect - re a confidence belatedly accepted then splashing it 2 years later - has been thrashed to death by all other Big Media, so MW could have rehashed but we agree why bother except maybe as a footnote.

Fifth, Overington is no paragon of moral judgement, notwithstanding the AWB outrage she nailed to her great credit. Stuck at The Oz to do their corporate vested interest as above, having tried and failed (?) to get into the ABC, the planks of her argument are not really so strong in the self defined inhouse media bible:

-         we have addressed the Waters Edge which is Salter’s not her point really.

-         The HMAS Sydney wreck that never was – not really false reporting at all, mistaken identity duly clarified, based on views of amateur searchers. It was a big story but a small mistake and all been cured and a small lesson in hedging your bets with a judicious question mark in headlines. Who is hurt by the error? No one, would be our guess.

-         The so called ‘Rudd strip club story’ – well it's still being clarified and embellished with World Today abc carrying the boss of Scores debunking the factual matrix only 2 days ago – after Media Watch’s schedule. In other words the jury and the evidence was still out and excellent editorial decision to hold off on the story at MW, AND for the Herald to not run the story at all. It was bogus. Indeed the real story is how Col Allan leads quality politicians into moral hazard to destroy honourable independent politics. But you won’t read that in The Australian owned by News Ltd.

The Australian with an obvious axe to grind should take it's medicine on misreporting IPCC political endorsement of Howard in an election year via Warren spinning a hobbled, hapless IPCC chief, and stop please stop whining.

Otherwise let's see editor Paul Whittacker publish on the front page that owner Rupert is a fool for also being worried about general delay on climate change policy. I don't think so.

Postscript #1

Low on the inside page of The Media supplement Matthew Warren (and editor Whittaker extract in paper version) of the Oz argue in Storm over IPCC chairman's comments with great sophistry about 'lack of global consensus on urgent strict targets to fight climate change', quoting variability of government positions across the globe. BUT this ignores the firm majority consensus amongst most best scientists inlcuding in the IPCC who do (often despite their governments) want such targets and call for endorsement of Kyoto Protocol which inevitably leads to ... strict emission targets. So its mostly splitting hairs. Only trouble is the Kyoto framework is constantly being sabotaged by Howard and his barrackers in Australia (like Warren, Whittacker), and the USA under GW Bush ... because it leads to strict targets.

Warren, like Gittins at the Herald, can argue cogently there is little practical difference between Coalition and ALP on real climate change policy, and maybe that's his real point anyway positioning Dr Pachauri as Chair of the IPCC, but that's not science or ecological reality, that's duopoly establishment privilege and denial, and certainly not the role of Media Watch.

Also it seems the ABC has shifted some ground on the Water's Edge imbroglio as reported (with glee?) by The Australian here:  ABC places ethics debate on record with no doubt some official grovel there as a concession to critics. But let's not get too coy here - getting a story on leadership tensions provided on anonymous background, then running it in defiance of a request to bury it would be brave and right but also cruel any juicy access. That's the ABC's hard road to hoe, but the commercials surely don't have such scruples and would just balance up value of an immediate story versus value of the drip in future. In this way Brissenden is on a higher relative tax payer funded standard and deserves due sympathy for that heavier burden as a leader in his field, not a follower. It does him credit he feels the ethical pressure now obvious in his interviews. In short a due grovel by a quality journo, no one is perfect, and move on. Scruples should be a virtue not a paralysing obsession. My conclusion, Brissenden probably cured the pre emptive buckle (belatedly, improperly accepting the Treasurer's confidence) by running the story 2 years later and indeed better late than never. Bravo.

Posted by editor at 9:32 AM NZT

Updated: Friday, 24 August 2007 11:07 AM NZT

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Mood:  sad

We noticed this advert at about 6.50 pm two nights ago on SBS news hour before switching over to the 7 pm abc prime time news:

Lower picture above shows image from front page of the Sydney Morning Herald today re 20 year veteran high brow journalist Mary Kostakidis who looks to be chucking the SBS for pathetic media standards.

The pathetic choice of advertising placement during their quality news hour as per this YouTube featuring Sniff and Stiff  seems to bear out her general concerns.

Meanwhile over at the bigger public broadcaster ABC the Natural History Unit has been axed: Crikey - Media & Arts - The ABC's Natural History unit becomes history

Truly the barbarians are inside the public broadcasters in the last days of the desperate Howard Govt consistently 10 points behind in the polls, and likely now relying on 'feral protesters', and huge pork barrel politiking to generate polling popularity of any kind.

Now we have just noticed the intrepid Errol Simper in The Australian here, who seems to see through the Big Media like 'water running down my drain' to quote one of Bob Dylan's stingers: Network to blame for anchor's loss

Postscript #1 24 Aug 2007

In his opinion piece in the Media supplement in The Oz, Quentin Dempster also notes the above Sniff and Stiff juxtaposition with the SBS News Hour. (It appears to be offline, under the heading The great debate Should SBS be more commercial) within this larger story Come back Mary, pleads boss | The Australian

Posted by editor at 1:36 PM NZT

Updated: Friday, 24 August 2007 10:35 AM NZT

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Mood:  incredulous

Picture: Career soldier and Olympics security expert Adrian D’Hage spoke on ABC Conversation Hour recently

Yesterday's Conversation Hour guest with Richard Fidler was very profound. We believe the interview is a stark contrast with Premier Morris Iemma's grandstanding over APEC protesters on prime time tv news and here in the Big Press:

Don't recruit students: Iemma Morris Iemma warns "feral" APEC protesters against recruiting school students. Your say: APEC, protests and schoolkids | Full APEC coverage

And there is this provocative front pager from the dodgy editorialists at the News Ltd Telegraph, perhaps covering their tracks for their disgrace now over a deceptive 'Rudd Strip Club' story, certainly underlining how dumb the choice of Sydney as the APEC venue really is:

Premier Iemma is under the spotlight over all this likely disruption too over whether he supports the Iraq war folly or the protesters against? What does avowed Christian 'do unto others' Morris Iemma stand for at all? Is he a joke on democracy itself?

A contrasting approach by Australian career soldier D'Hage could not be greater: A decorated Vietnam veteran, successful security chief for the Sydney Olympics, this bloke D'Hage in the link below condemns Sydney as choice of APEC venue, and notes the credible expert estimates of disastrous loss of life in Iraq due to the appalling US President George Bush and his cronies, including John Howard PM of Australia.

These are not the words of your typical bleeding heart anti war or Bush critic, let alone hard left Resistance organisation:

Security expert and author Adrian D'Hage [21/08/2007]
Adrian D'Hage is a man of many parts. First, there's the military man: Adrian was a platoon commander in Vietnam where he was awarded the Military Cross. He became a Brigadier, but doesn't believe he was every a very conventional member of the military.   [ more ]

Most of the public in their heart, including we say, Premier Morris Iemma, Police Minister Campbell,  Deputy Premier Watkins and Education Minister Della Bosca know an APEC junket in Sydney is a Howard wank hence this independent press cutting visual satire earlier this month:

More useful background here (via the topics list 'oz election 07' at right, then scroll to the date entry)

Tuesday, 26 June 2007

APEC Sept 2007: Civil society groups sleep walking into a law and order federal election trap
Mood:  rushed
Topic: election Oz 2007

Postscript #1 23rd August 2007

Seems the ALP are getting  quite busy on APEC now at higher federal levels of their machine. Rudd is meeting pro war President Bush where Rudd's fence sitting on the Iraq issue in 2003 will hold him in good stead compared with the categorical opposition of former leaders Crean and Latham.

And Keating is in the rival broadsheet promoting a new script for APEC itself in his big picture way regarding assisting China into a modern democratic form which does seem to carry some oomph too. All big asks given these flyers around the place:

 

Posted by editor at 9:23 AM NZT

Updated: Thursday, 23 August 2007 2:05 PM NZT

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Mood:  energetic

In the same Diaries at page 364-5 Latham brutally insults Rudd for crying over the death of his mother (the day before federal election Oct 8^th 2004) allegedly while lobbying him for a job in the shadow ministry. 

Again that’s some trust. Latham almost certainly misinterprets the grief as callous ambition when the potential demise of a golden son’s career is surely exactly the main concern of every great mother. Hence the intertwined psychology of career with child-parent solidarity and tears: Endeavour to glorify their mother or conversely failure causing dishonour, at least in their minds.

Our view Latham and Rudd might have a bit more in common on the emotional level than either want to admit. Indeed Latham describes Rudd as “a crazy bastard” at p256, an epithet since directed at himself by the Big Media.

But the Big Media have some psychological vulnerabilities of their own to ponder this last week.

Insightful media analyst Margaret Simmons on Crikey yesterday asks where is the story really in a strip club visit 4 years ago …. led by the nose there by one notorious yet powerful sink pisser Col Allan, formerly editor of cartoon book Sydney Daily Telegraph?

The seeds of Rudd at sleazy Scores story surely arises like a rusty sword out of the waters of Lake Burley Griffin, or the Waters Edge restaurant to be exact, another warty story itself 2 years old.

3 power journos Daley, Brissenden, Wright, and by definition not Milne or Ramsey are treated to a lengthy chat on/off the record by Treasurer Costello. Ramsey illustrates how cosy it all is with Mrs Wright owning the place, Mrs Brissenden (Taylor) corroborating etc etc.

But Ramsey makes it quite clear his pique at not being invited  with terms like “all that journalistic chest hair”, “Oh please”, “bored by the story” “dreadfully incestuous hothouse of huge, clashing egos” and deliciously “Don’t ever think it’s just the politicians”.

Well sure Alan but you still weren’t there, and just as well otherwise we might not have got such a cracking article Not-so-meaty returns, never mind happy - Opinion - smh.com.au last Saturday. Nor Glen Milne who got his equaliser next day with Kevin Rudd hits a strip club | The Daily Telegraph

That’s envy, and relevance deprivation syndrome within the Canberra Press Gallery.

We suspect as an indulgence to pop psychology that Rudd’s desperate attempt to unwind and lapse of judgement in New York 2003 relates in some Freudian way to the impending loss of the first, most profound woman in his life  – his mother. A big adjustment in anyone’s life. The male id and all that.

But all we get from Big Politics and Big Media is the increasingly naked reputations of all the power players – envious journos, grasping leaders (some pictured present and past) of major duopoly parties, and probably this wannabe blogger here.

Meanwhile Morris Iemma is busy grandstanding on police water cannon to steal oxygen from this story of a nakedly corrupt meeting with a Macau gambling gangster as here or cancer causing ventilation stacks from another multi $billion corrupt tollway tunnel.

Naked power money mum and sex. What else is there? 

Well as Akerman cunningly identifies with a recent piece on the scandalous Heiner affair back to 1990 - the fact that the famously effective Fitgerald Inquiry was shut down before it got to do over the ALP .... like it did over Joh's corrupt National Party. Lawyers picnic, or essential house cleaning of the ship of state? Almost certainly the latter - just ask Morris and his Macau mate, or his senior staffer Mike Kaiser ex Qld ALP and convicted electoral fraudster.

C. And lastly, Iemma should have a little think about whether he is for or against the Iraq war as lame duck Bush attends Sydney's APEC and citizens protest agaisnt him .... not least the former senior army officer, Olympic security chief, and now theological type who condemns choice of Sydney as the venue yesterday on ABC radio, and notes 1/2 million deaths in Iraq since the invasion in 2003:

Security expert and author Adrian D'Hage [21/08/2007]
Adrian D'Hage is a man of many parts. First, there's the military man: Adrian was a platoon commander in Vietnam where he was awarded the Military Cross. He became a Brigadier, but doesn't believe he was every a very conventional member of the military.   [ more ]

Posted by editor at 9:23 AM NZT

Updated: Wednesday, 22 August 2007 9:58 AM NZT

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Mood:  chatty

Author’s general introductory note (skip this if you know this regular weekly column):

This is not a well packaged story. It’s a contemporaneous traverse of the Sunday television free to air political talkies indicating the agenda of Establishment interests: Better to know ones rivals and allies  in Big Politics and Big Media.

Indeed it’s the tv version monitoring task similar to what Nelson Mandela refers to here in his book Long Walk to Freedom (1994, Abacus) written in Robben Island prison (where he was meant to die like other African resister chiefs of history in the 19C), at page 208

“..newspapers are only a shadow of reality; their information is important to a freedom fighter not because it reveals the truth, but because it discloses the biases and perceptions of both those who produce the paper and those who read it.”

Just substitute ‘Sunday tv political talkie shows’ for "newspapers" in the quote above.

For actual transcripts go to web sites quoted below except with Riley Diary on 7. And note transcripts don’t really give you the image content value.

Media backgrounder: [this segment under construction]

See prequel re Rudd, an Australian in New York in lurid detail, and following segments. In lieu of that imagery this old classic from Bill Leak at The Australian

- too many 'APEC police action and/or bloody annoying disruption to fine Sydney citizenry stories' to mention, mostly adverse such that the organisers have been forced to full page advert promo

, as well as promotions for 'Children in the concert hall' on abc radio to help with the recruitment to the Royal (stuck up, corporate sponsored) arts.

- Germany thinks big as it taps in to the sun p22 SMH 11-12 August 2007

- an oldie, image of a melting road – that’s what a tanker of petrol does not least risk planning for APEC. Ouch from May 1^st 2007 The Australian p9

- The original story by Imre at The Oz predicting the feds beat up the States election agenda back on May 12-13 07 at p31 Feds bent upon waving a red rag

- Tim Flannery does book review High and Dry: John Howard, climate change and the selling of Australia's future by Guy Pearse smh spectrum 11th August 07

- We won't preference the ALP, Senator Bob Brown p12 27/7/07 The Australian

- Sustainability theme ex ALP Env Minister Barry Cohen Dangers in growth for growth's sake .... and Seniors shun materialism to help save the planet  by Glenn Milne both August 6 p16 The Australian

- Litigation heating is heating up over climate change p34 11-12/8/07 Weekend Australian

- Rush for cyberspace has traps for new players Michelle Grattan August 12 2007 p31

10 Meet the Press 8-8.30 am

Costello fronts early 2^nd string (but still good) MTP. Shows he’s boosting his profile. Bongiorno inevitably leads with Sunday Tele earlier post re Rudd at a strip club in NYC and Costello plays a very very dead pan face and bat. No smirk at all. But has to crack up at the

 supplementary – has he ever been to the strip club in question? Bonge was already sparkle of eye and glint of smile before he even started and so the two of them have a good chortle at Rudd’s embarrassment.

[So the issue for Rudd is holding his gravitas as an alternative PM despite his humanity. And there’s another thing about the scenario – he might just have been a bit lonely especially amongst the chilly ALP rivals way over there surrounded by 20 million yanks.]

Most of the interview lost in earnest dry economics about something (??)

Outtake Gareth Evans experienced – PM makes hay on Rudd implicit less experienced though pushing 50, family mostly grown, rich, senior role in Qld Govt etc. Fair sledge especially in context of funny strip story.

1^st adbreak

Panel Alison Carabine (Canberra Times?) admirable control of the Cheshire cat too, Steve Burrel SMH.

Again earnest talk about housing etc. But it’s just dead time given the scoop story above.

Costello looking a bit healthier and appealing than usual visually speaking.

Grab from Res Bank chief need for infrastructure – Costello says States undoing their fiscal discipline.

Out take – gross Nicholson animation very unflattering to PM Howard re dismal polls.

2^nd adbreak

Teachers Federation advert for the benefit of the wonks at this time?

Journalism ethics story re dinner with Costello 2 years ago. 3 versus 1. Agrees with most commentators implicit criticism of journos leaking off the record once confidence accepted. Costello showed at one point an unvarnished transparent steel I’ve not seen before that Rudd and Howard both have, except perhaps the parliamentary speech “it takes bravery”. He is growing as a politician in the classical sense of mediating the polity.

Beattie gone too far punishing any referendum on council inefficiency. Cheap points to Costello so still immature games. [real issues of white shoe developer brigade but should be sorted fairly.]

Transcript in due course www.ten.com.au/meetthepress

7 Weekend Sunrise, 8.35-40 am Riley Diary  -

Satire around Peter Costello’s 50^th Birthday, journalists dinner and the like. Quite good overshadowed by Milne funny strip story.

http://www.seven.com.au/sunrise/weekend

Posted by editor at 10:41 AM NZT

Updated: Sunday, 19 August 2007 12:28 PM NZT

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Mood:  cool

Well I'll be horn swoggled as the yankees would say. The Big Meeja have switched to vaudeville at Ruddy's expense, from a Costello barracker in the Press Gallery no less, feral News Ltd journo Glenn Milne in today's Sunday Telegraph who ever regards his role as a player not just reporter:

There's one thing about the Christian evangelical vote - it's all about redemption of the sinner. So as long as Kevvy the Silly Lad can grovel and confess and plead human frailty and isolated lapse of judgement, well then he's one of us brothers and sisters in Christ. Even my old man DLP and father of 9 used to watch Alvin Purple, I could hear him chortling across the hall as I drifted off to sleep suffering serious envy.

On the other hand the red neck hard drinking hard working blokes in the back blocks will give a sigh of relief, thank heavens (there is the religion aspect again) he has actually got red blood in his veins. Drinks and likes women. Therese (his loyal wife) get him in the dog house, woof.

The ALP proper will see the ghost of reformed hard drinking Bob Hawke who won his big election star turn in 1983.

The Costello backers will see Rudd's polling go up and get the leadership yet, in a draft from aging sinking but wily battling PM John Howard? Greater good and all that.

The balance of the Right of politics will shake their head knowingly about those free thinking lascivous Democrat towns like New York (the blue (!) ones, or is that red on their electoral maps?).

As for the rest of mainstream society. Well, we all think about such places even if we haven't been there on a 'fact finding tour' as the parliamentary jargon goes.

So we will all have a damn good laugh at his expense but not in a censorious way which is against our Convict heritage of calling a spade a shovel. Sex is another management issue in Australia, not an impeachment crusade. Just as long as he didn't do anything or catch anything to hurt anyone including himself or his sainted wife.

We always said grog was a real problem in society so mitigate your folly Ruddy and do something about the grotesque influence of those clubs & pub lobbyists as per front page of the Sydney Fairfax press same day (story about $150M alcohol driven project for Sydney's CBD).

And for God sake win the election, sooner rather than later too, we are all getting bored senseless (as per Mike Carlton column), and as Max Walsh formerly of The Bulletin stated on Breakfast RN with Doogue yesterday, the polls have stabilised for the ALP. Which probably explains the lurid attack story. Or maybe it comes from malcontented ALP types of the Lathamesque pursuasion annoyed by Rudd's success - a bit of tickle up as the burly crew coiffured one might say.

Our traverse of Sunday political free to air tv talkies later today should be a quite a doozy. Never done a prequel before either.

Posted by editor at 8:26 AM NZT

Updated: Sunday, 19 August 2007 11:31 AM NZT

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Mood:  a-ok

Picture: Organiser Jola Jones wants more pulp friction for the Marrickville Film festival, don't know if she dances.

 

 

Marrickville Film Festival

 

14th - 15th September

Click here for more details

Posted by editor at 6:15 AM NZT

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Mood:  spacey

Tim Blair, or TB as we prefer being a noxious debilitating illness requiring antibiotic treatment, has all week to work up his Saturday rottweiler column in the Saturday Daily Telegraph as here

And today is no exception. And Will Bailey is the stirling policy intellect amongst the panoply of characters in the West Wing tv series with a passing spectacled resemblance to TB. Hence the $2 wannabe reference in the headline.

Joshua Malina as Will Bailey

As we like to say the News Ltd Smelly is more cartoon book than reflection of truth, a looney tunes exercise. If this is understood one can even grow to enjoy such sophistry from one as TB.

His constant mock scorn of world's best climate change science reminds us of the nay sayers for quite a few years challenging the double helix in DNA. The 100 year history of anti science creationism against the unifying theory of Evolution (talk about crack pot yankee museums). Or Big Tobacco trading in doubt in the face of decades of medical science on cancer.

Not for nothing does TB refer in satirical projection to "burns on the bathroom sink, possibly from [hotel] tenants putting aside cigarettes while brushing their teeth'. Too much information TB, we don't need to know your autobiographical habits! [Yes we did laugh at the line which is something I suppose.]

Suffice to say Tim Blair has no scientific credentials and would be horrified to be so burdened. He prefers creationist style denial just like the troglodyte Exclusive Brethren nutcases over robust, diverse, increasingly developed climate change science literature.

He's the sophist sop to rednecks everywhere too cowardly to confront the huge folly and extremism of their own lifelong anti ecological philosophies. On the content of his article itself TB ignores the well accepted utility of trend line in annual temperature measures - just like electoral polling really. Not one or other individual metric but the trend. 

TB prefers selective nitpicking around new data on apparently very hot year 1938. Which is why we have pictured a bag of frozen veg - pour into a pan on high heat, some of it is icy, some of it damn hot, contemporaneously (just like our planet actually), but most of it popping and whizzing on the flame (in the interim phase) at extremes of temperature until in the end it's all a black charred smoking mess. Unless you turn it down or off.

Are we in the the interim variability phase of climate change under conditions of increased energy inputs and entropy like frozen veg on a hot pan?  That question is way too complex for pea brain Tim (and his readers which sadly are all too many) stuck somewhere between a luke warm bit of carrot and corn in a pan going to hell but thinking all is well. But the expert chefs/climate experts, prima donnas no doubt, are increasingly sure the heat is coming given given all the noise in the pan. In other words don't just read one silly/bad newspaper columnist with an ignorant view and do avoid rottweilers in the park this weekend:

Postscript #1

Ditto this today more resembling a trend but as with most of these attacks the pro scientist refutations tend to be devastating, just a matter of time really Cold, hard facts take the heat out of some hot claims What's more revealing is the tag team aspect to the timing in the Fairfax press from the Right commentariat.

What they and maybe some readers don't realise is that such as James Hansen of NASA Goddard Institute have opinon writers in 50 states of the USA and then European Countries to prioritise before they get to hokey Australia at the *rse end of the world, as some wit put it a long time ago. And it's that time lag in refutation, much like allegory of The Lie that gets half way round the world before Truth gets it's shoes on, that pays the corporate welfare seeking wage of shriekers like Blair and Duffy.

But only just, or else Rupert Murdoch who accepts the real risks of global warming is a dummy, and that is a very big call and against all common sense as he moves his digs ... into the Wall Street Journal no less.

Postscript #2 20th August 2007

Sure enough Dr James Hansen Of NASA in his nerdy scientific excellence has addressed the melodrama with his view the theoretical integrity behind climate change is completely unaffected by the look of things here in a PDF document, via Crikey.com.au today: http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/realdeal.16aug20074.pdf?source=cmailer

Posted by editor at 9:16 AM NZT

Updated: Tuesday, 21 August 2007 9:56 AM NZT

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Mood:  don't ask

We began our career in 1992 quite liking Angel. His co director at TEC Milo Dunphy first took me under his wing in the Dunbogan Canal Estate Commission of Inquiry which was a win for the environment. Then Angel positioned this writer into a job for Clover Moore MP’s private member’s South East Forest Protection Bill as a wedge on the National Liberal Party Coalition.

Well I remember redneck MP Peter Cochrane of the Nats referring in the House to Angel as “a weasel”. With my ecological training and commitment and with shared enemies like Cochrane I should be a fan of Angel surely?

So why about 1994 did I become aware of great animosity to the man. Director of  The Wilderness Socity, Karenne Jurd, hated “the bastard”. It’s a matter of public record that founder and co-director of TEC Milo Dunphy distrusted his colleague Angel greatly too – with dark mutterings about ‘a Jewish mafia’ within his own ranks. Was this the environmental movement version of anti semitism?

Certainly this writer had no time or interest in indulging any kind of covert bigotry. I was a child of authors like Bernard Malamud and impressed with the gutsy Isrealis, and their survival from the mundane bureaucratic industralised horror of the holocaust and death of 6 million innocents, children, women and men ie Jewish families. The horror and never again were my top of mind views on such subjects in my undeveloped political persona.

But the antagonists to Angel within the green/Green movement kept coming. There was Carl Drury who spearheaded the Snowy River campaign from the grassroots and ended up writing in a letter to the Herald attacking Angel’s alleged ‘sellout in a deal with the NSW Govt’.

Dunphy died in 1997 and Angel became top dog in the NSW official green NGO movement in alliance with ALP aligned Australian Conservation Foundation (who had raw numbers), and needed his on the ground smarts in NSW. 

I was put in mind of this with Angel on the ABC tv prime tv news last night 15^th August 2007 - calling reportedly “for the end to landfills’. An end?

Oh dear how the history on waste reform just lurches out of me like spewing lava at the sound of the words. In 1995 I became ex officio a co director of the Waverley Woollahra Process Plant aka Waterloo incinerator after the council election in Sept of that year. Ironic for a councillor at Waverley representing the Green Party. I had earlier that year joined Friends of the Earth in Sydney and got to know John Denlay a Churchill Scholarship winner and waste reform guru. John and Greenpeace wanted the old dioxin spewing monster closed and a whole new era of 60% waste reduction, in fact adopted in word if not deed by the incoming ALP govt in 1996 in the Waste Management Act of that year.

But TEC were in favour of an incinerator upgrade all through the early 90ies. Conceptually this is like a waste to landfill only via gases in the air – a giant open ended escape hatch, out of sight out of mind either in a furnace or a big hole in the ground. The result is the same – no pressure on designers, builders, industry, govt or society to clean up its act and put materials to their highest order of re-use. In nature there is no such thing as waste and indeed this is the conceptual under pinning of the pro business approach of Amory Lovins of “natural capitalism” – use all by products.

It would not be fair to tarnish Angel with the pro incinerator agenda but it remains true TEC were the achilles heal of the FoE Greenpeace campaign and his role is unclear. The incinerator closed in 1997 in no small part to this writer and the $40 million upgrade was in tatters.

But the Carr govt were now really faced with the waste reform challenge. Waste Boards, industry plans, waste services, environmental socio economic justice  problems across regions all escalated as concerns. And the rich kept churning out the rubbish as did all industry sectors – what to do with the stuff?

This is where the next Angel hater arose – Frank Miller of FoE network and Goulburn Greens Party group and representative of the Nature Conservation Council at the Commission of Inquiry into Woodlawn landfill. A gritty experienced landholder in the Goulburn Braidwood area, a former tank driver in the 2^nd World War, Miller wasn’t having truck and train loads of Sydney crap contaminating his rural region if he could help it.

We have correspondence from the late 90ies with Miller scathing of Angel’s apparent endorsement or at the least acquiescence of Carr’s waste to super landfill agenda at Woodlawn near Goulburn. There is no doubt Miller saw the Carr govt as corrupt, and a corrupting influence, with the Sydney Catchment Authority changing the content of its submissions mid stream in the C of I, seen as a buckle to political masters by the waste reform collective at NCC. The collective via Miller even referred it to ICAC only to have Dr Judy Messer as Chair seek to withdraw the referral over the heads of the collective experts. Messer was the long time ngo appointee to the Sydney Water Board for many years and a high status and cosy position to hold.

Certainly Angel had nothing to say about the problem of landfills on the ABC TV news during the whole Woodlawn fracas not least opposition here in Sydney to a massive transfer station at Clyde in suburban Sydney opposed by a group called RAGE (if memory serves). Yet there Angel was last night 11 years after the Waste Management Act pioneered by Denlay and after hopeless failure on Woodlawn landfill 6 years before, on August 15^th  2007 national abc news calling for the 'end to landfills' or similar. Now but not when it counted? Hypocrisy? Selective? Tactical silence?

We realised there was something wrong with Angel’s independence in about 1996. Recently the 4 Corners reporter Liz Jackson was at Gleebooks in Glebe Sydney to present a Q and A with commodities economist Judy Adjani (nee Clark) with a new book called Forest Wars whose career long thesis is that plantation resource from the 60ies onwards is way big enough to drive reform in the loss making native forest sector. We agree entirely as does the TWS subject to strict environmental controls – as the jargon goes. This was as true in 1996 as it is now. But when we wrote a draft economic submission under delegation for the combined NSW green groups as part of the Peace Plan process under Carr’s election winning platform of ‘95 (partly negotiated by prominent Green MP and secular Jew Ian Cohen), Angel deleted my referencing of Adjani (then Clark) and the Resource Assessment Comission (C’th) work on plantation resource, RAC having been led by such as Clive Hamilton in 1992. Yet these were central planks to real opportunity for reform supported by the vast majority of the green movement in democratic numbers.

This economic reform based on substitution into the massive existing plantation was lost from this and no doubt other similar negotiations in a tragedy for the NSW industry and environment. Why Angel would do that I can’t fathom unless he was collaborating with the the ALP Govt to stay in native forest logging despite overwhelming public (80%) support to get out of woodchipping forests in particular. Certainly the logging union behind the ALP wanted all the forest they could cut.

I became an Angel sceptic myself from about that time on, especially as more classic forest was woodchipped in East Gippsland (eg Goolengook), and southern NSW (Deua, Nalbaugh, Badja etc) through the late 90ies and noughties. Carr having prepared the way for staying in native forests broke his election promise to end native forest woodchipping by the year 2000. The words of ex TWS director Jurd ring in my ears and how she wanted to meet me before doing Angel’s agenda via Clover Moore in NSW Parliament. Oh how the naïve wise up. Jurd was of course right about Angel and even allowing for her eccentricity should be acknowledged for that.

Then in about 1998 I finally came to believe there was something deeply morally wrong with Angel which only in hindsight I have been able to put into a real politik context. He was appointed around this time to the NSW Native Vegetation Committee of the Carr Govt to allegedly halt land clearing: A campaign championed by Penny Roberts (of National Parks Assoc) since the early 90ies.

Roberts was ‘a close friend’ of Dunphy. She either quit her job or was sacked apparently on his death from NPA. Angel convened a meeting with Jamie Piddock then of WWF conservative green group with the other peak green ngo groups. Together these two proposed rural tradeoffs of bush conserved in exchange for NSW farmers to clear relatively less endangered bush types. There was no mention in the meeting of native title property rights of traditional owners in this huge swathe of the western division leases under current litigation following Mabo High Court decision in late 92. It was a damage control strategy rather than confront the madness of clearing directly, exposing the failure of the NSW Govt and nurturing a public wave of political action to discipline the govt as per the groundwork of Roberts for the previous 7 years.

But I knew the significance from my own honours thesis in 1989. The Piddock/Angel agenda was a classic farmer extinguishment via clearing of native title evidence. To claim native title one needs ongoing physical connection – quite easy to erase with D9 bulldozer and chain. And the farmers wanted the greens to bless this in a classic wedge by them of the Greens/Blacks and probably of Left and Right of the ALP itself. Just as the rednecks had turned the greens against the blacks over national parks in other parts of the country. This was Angel’s leadership? No thanks.

But my voice was “marginalised” at the meeting of some 10 mid to senior level campaigners of diverse 'peak' green groups. This was racism for real against for all we knew were legal NSW Aboriginal property interests under Mabo. I was outraged. I had played an honourable role in supporting native title with The Wilderness Society 1992-5 and ever since and these turkeys were about to blunder over all of that great work and reconciliation.

As it happened the native title claims over the western division leases were lost in that litigation all the way to the High Court but we were never to know that in the proposal to just let the farmers rip in a NSW Govt deal to be blessed by the greens led by Angel and Piddock. Many other places have had their native title upheld all over the country up to 2007. And the NSW decision was probably wrong under a notoriously conservative High Court anyway.

And the Angel haters still keep arising. There is Mersina Soulos founder of Concord based Green Party group (somewhat misnamed Inner West Greens)  who has dark things to say about redevelopment of contaminated land in Homebush Bay at Rhodes Pensinsula involving Angel in some way.

There are the Chipstoppers network still fighting the NSW ALP govt over their broken year 2000 election promise to end the forest woodchipping not least for dangerous climate change reasons.

There are the Lake Cowal traditional owners and diverse environmentalists (including Green MP Cohen , Rainforest Information Centre, Benny Zable another prominent secular Jewish environmentalist expert in street theatre) outraged at a $6M revenue deal with select tame green groups out of profits of a cyanide gold mine destroying ephemeral lake Lake Cowal and massively drawing down the water table there. That’s a $6M deal orchestrated by … Jeff Angel to help Bob Carr manage industry backlash over refusal of a cyanide tailings dam at North Parkes gold mine killing birdlife exposed by 60 Minutes.

In recent time we have been reading about Louise Adler the secular Jewish lady who is a publisher for Melbourne University Press. In a profile we noticed her reference to the Jewish collaborators in the murderous Nazi regime with ‘disprorportionate survival rates’ from that horror. Then this word for the collaborators – the Judenrat - as here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judenrat

Angel may have many flaws but survival instinct is not one of them, even as woodchipping of natural forest in NSW and South East Australia generally is at record levels, land clearing atrocities unfold at the Macquarie Marshes off a decade of multi million hectare clearing her in NSW this last 15 years under both major Parties, coal mining is expanding at a massive rate, and Frank Sartor puts planning on developer steroids to appease the bean counters and the economic cheer squad, not least premier Morris Iemma, Daily Telegraph and Sydney Morning Herald.

So we pose the quite deliberate and scathing question “Is Angel a collaborator in environmental destruction?” the environmental Judenrat of our time, and should he actually be working in an official paid position with the NSW Govt and not the ngo movement?

Postscript #1 17th August 2007

The timing of this article is around any influence Angel may bring to bear in the lead up to the federal election on both green/Green and ALP policy. Just as the pro ALP biases of Peter Garrett have been well exposed by such as Senator Bob Brown's example of independence in the Green Party.

We spoke with Jeff Ash by phone yesterday many know as an architect of the NSW Greens (he drafted me in 1994 for the councillor job) working within MLC John Kaye's office. (The purpose was to note Eric Roozendaal as Roads Minister was campaigning for Carmel Tebbutt in Marrickville where pollution stacks will be located from trucks tunnels on the front of the Daily Telegraph.) This writer mentioned this SAM news site article and the underlying thesis of Angel as biased to the ALP and Ash's comment was along the lines "we already know that".

We say for those seeking successful environmental campaigs this grip by the ALP on the vibrant beating heart of the NSW Green Movement has been essential knowledge for over 15 years now. Thus an ALP MP whose name is lost in the mists of time stated famously "We can work with Jeff" by way of contra distinction. Just like Peter Garrett. Yes the ALP can work with these, but not necessarily to save the environment, more to get and hold power while doing the destruction for greater powers of industry and government (and revolving door big media). What a human and ecological tragedy.

Posted by editor at 9:28 AM NZT

Updated: Saturday, 18 August 2007 9:15 AM NZT

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