Tag: Environment

Rubbish Man … and Simplicity again


I was griping to Tress last night, about the behaviour of some of the tenants in my building. They’re all mission organisations so I expected a higher standard of behaviour but in some aspects, it is worse than a secular set up.

Part of my routine is pushing out the bins of the building, on rubbish collection days. On alternate weeks these include the recycling bins. The way tenants deal with rubbish and the way it is disposed, leave much to be desired. It just makes an unpleasant job even harder and more of a pain than it should be.

Bins - MIne, all mine!

Such is the humbling nature of my work now. I wheel out up to five bins on Tuesday evenings before I leave the office and wheel them in again the next morning. Every time I do this I wonder what the Lord is doing to me through this exercise. I’m sure it can only be for the better, but it is just that I then get tagged as the guy who does the bins (amongst a myriad of other little stuff) and when someone has shredded paper or such other stuff to throw they would ask me if the bins are full, if they are in or out etc. I mean, why cant they just think and have a look for themselves? It is one thing to be the guy who wheels out the bins (relatively harmless thing) but it is quite another to be the guy people think of when they have rubbish to dispose!

I guess when I stressed simplicity, I get whacked with the extreme experience of being a simple person!

Speaking of simplicity, my boss is in the process of replacing his laptop computer. His is a HP – an almost 5 year old one. We’ve been looking at laptops in recent weeks and it is amazing how cheap they are these days. For under $1,000 you can get a pretty whiz bang machine, what with iCore 7 processors, 16GB chips blah blah blah. His wife uses a Mac (a personal one) so I thought he may want a Mac but he would have none of it. I guess he was just mindful that we’re a missions organisation with responsibility over other people’s hard earned money so we better be careful with how we spend it. Why blow more moolahs when you can go pretty far with relatively less?

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The Delinquent Teenager (Book on the IPCC)


The Delinquent Teenager is a book about the IPCC, written by Donna Laframbroise. I have just got the Kindle version off Amazon. It is probably going to fuel my antagonism with the Red-Outside-Green-Inside Carbon Tax fiasco but I would have to keep it bottle up as I need to focus on the coming exams…

Get it if you are looking for the next book to read. The Kindle version is only $4.99 and it is likely to be well worth the money.

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IPCC – Religious Sect or Scientific Community?


Global Warming
Image by mirjoran via Flickr

The climate change question is starting to look really farcical to me. If anyone – especially a lay person – is really interested in finding out if there really is global warming caused by human beings, at least of the sort which requires major modification to our industries and consumption, he can do a lot worse than start at this site (“Watts Up With That?”).

The scientists at IPCC are more politicians – the sort who elbow each other in a corporate environment to jostle for pole positions – than scientists. They stack peer review committees with fellow converts, and would not admit any views from the other side, even when such views are presented in normal scientific papers with normally accepted standards. If you only preach and listen to the converts, these puppies are more akin to climate change high priests of a closely guarded sect than an open scientific community.

At best, it is an issue for which the jury is still well and truly out. Why wreck the economy and livelihoods for this rubbish?

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Lorikeets or Rosellas? My God made them all.


Were they lorikeets or Rosella? It was probably just after 5 last night when I was putting away the tools and lawnmower and tidying stuff into the green bin, when first one bird and then a flock of maybe 3-4, flew past, probably lower than they usually do. They looked extremely beautiful and their presence is always a comfort that the flora and fauna in the neighbourhood is in good nick.

How does one tell the difference between the two types? Both are about the same size and very colourful. They make a lot of noise – is this a differentiating trait? I must remember to look it up some time.

It was such a fantastic end to a gloriously sunny afternoon. After weeks of wet and gloom that have come to characterise this winter, yesterday was a huge invitation to be outdoor and Tress and I accepted it with open arms, and spent the entire arvo in the garden. When it was all done, I had a quick shower and after a glass of chilled white (still an SB) I was so relaxed I begin to doze off. Just at that moment, I was really grateful. Life felt good at that moment. It was like a glimpse of heaven crisply felt. Life can get really good by the simplest of pleasures. God‘s creation is fantastic.

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Listen to Cate Blanchett on Carbon Tax? You’re Dreaming.


I first discovered what a great actress Cate Blanchett is, in The Fellowship of the Rings. Frodo and Co had just escaped Moria by the skin of their teeth and wondered into Lothlorien when they were confronted by Elves who took them to Galadriel, played of course by the beautiful and talented Cate Blanchett. As Lady of the Wood who could look into minds, she was very powerful – one of the bearers of the Rings which was to determine the fate of Middle Earth. It wasn’t The Ring of course, but she was a player – she had one of the rings (3, I think).

As Lady of the Woods, she’d be friends with the Greens, dont you think? At last, she is now – she now fronts the ads which sings praises for the carbon tax, together with Michael Caton, he of The Castle fame. I dont know what Cate and Michael are thinking, to be honest. All the clean energy and decarbonised economy of Australia would make next to no impact to global warming. The economy will be severely damaged for nothing as notwithstanding Australia‘s pre-eminent status as the per capita biggest emitter in the world, cleaning up Australia would do diddly squat to global warming.

Do Cate Blanchett and Michael Caton really think Australia makes a difference? Michael should know better – to think that, one has to say to him, “You’re Dreaming”. But of course it wouldnt matter to them. The extra costs will mean little to them. I suppose they really are actors and Australians would be fools to think they make sense when it comes to global warming. I’d go on watching their movies because they’re good at that. They arent however, social scientist or economists so they’re probably two of the last people I’d give any time of day for carbon tax matters.

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If Will Steffen is right, will $100 a tonne cut it?


Will Steffen heads up the Climate Commission. He – the Commission – has issued a report demanding urgent action to deal with the human caused climate change. Or else – sea level would rise and we’d all have to live like Kevin Costner in water world.

Julia Gillard has pointed to the report and sort of said – I told you so. But if that were the case, and given the urgency to bring emission down straight away or else, the carbon price she touted – $20 a tonne – would be like introducing Norhafiz Zamani into the Birmingham City attack to solve the Blues’ woes in front of goal. It would be toothless, a complete waste of time and may well be counter-productive. [I confess I have just only googled the current Malaysian football team striker. I also confess this is the first time in God knows how long I took an interest in NEP infected football in Malaysia]

To be responding to Will Steffen’s Climate Commission doomsday report, the carbon tax should be so prohibitive – say $100 a tonne just like the Greens said – to be of any effect unless of course, Julia is lying again.

If Julia Gillard could not be trusted and lied in saying there would be no carbon tax under a government she leads, why would we trust her to keep carbon tax to $20 a tonne, especially if she endorses the Will Steffen Climate Commission – we must act now or perish – report? The Greens are looking at a minimum of $100 per tonne and they will want to include petrol in their target. If Will Steffen and his Climate Commission report is to be taken seriously that is the bare minimum step. But that would send most of us back to the caves, wouldn’t it?

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Poll re Carbon Tax


I was having a breather from some work and saw a news article saying most Aussies dont like the carbon tax. Ho hum? Maybe, but the latest Newspoll survey on whether Australians are in favour of the carbon tax conducted by The Australian has this result:

Against: 60%

In favour: 30%

Uncommitted: 10%

Of those who were against the tax, 39% were strongly against.

Of those who were in favour, 12% were strongly so.

Maybe another poll or two should make us all demand another trip to the polling booth?

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