New Zealand, Linux, Labor for Refugees, Dinosaurs, Green Issues, LSD, Latin America

[tcpip]

All ready to take the big silver bird to New Zealand this Wednesday to attend the Australian Linux Conference and have a few spare days to trek around the South Island. Will be catching up with beagl and kimeros albeit briefly. On other Linux related news, went to the annual LUV BBQ at Fairfield this Saturday, which was very enjoyable; hasimir and I signed a significant piece of paper ;-)

Also on Saturday I attended committee meeting for Labor for Refugees, just as we discover DIMIA wrongfully locked up 60 people (malevolent and incompetent). The very good news is that Tony Burke, the Federal Opposition spokesperson for Immigration is coming to our AGM; an impressive change given the antithetical approach of Gillard and Ferguson (interesting that Burke is of the right and Gillard and Ferguson are both supposed to be of the left).

Managed to meet up with ozraptor4 this week; an old friend from Murdoch Uni days whom I haven't seen for, ahh, twelve years? He's achieved a life dream - he's a palaeontologist. Showed me some of his recently published artwork on dinsoaurs and other fun stuff. Has the joy (and this is not saracasm) of living in Melbourne, studying at ANU and primarily working in Western Australia. We promised to do some gaming in the near future as well.

The recent attempt by the six nations responsible for half the world's greenhouse gas emissions to bypass the Kyoto Protocol is downright dangerous in its myopic stupidity. The polluters have managed to pledge $445 million over the next five years on emission reduction. Melbourne's Eastlink on the other hand will cost about $1.4 billion. They estimate that there will be a 100% increase in emissions by 2050 if they succeed in their research. What is needed? A 60 percent reduction from 1990 levels. To assist this we must produce a device that absorbs carbon dioxide, separates carbon and oxygen, exhausts oxygen into the atmosphere, is low maintenance, solar powered and is aesthetically pleasing. Can anyone guess a name for such a device?

It's called a tree. Deforestation is one of the main dangers on our planet and substantially reduces our ability to control greenhouse gases - and it's easy to solve; plant more trees.

Abbie Hoffman recently turned 100 (from jahbulon. He continues to argue that LSD has medical utility. I also agree with the Dr. Timothy Leary (and John Lilly's) claim of its effectiveness as an entheogen.

Also in the news, whilst the American neocons have been paying attention to fighting their kindred Islamicist spirits in the Middle-East, the Latin Americans are leading the way for 21st century Libertarian Socialism and now in Chile too. Time to start studying Spanish again, methinks.

Comments

[lokicarbis.livejournal.com]

Also in the news, whilst the American neocons have been paying attention to fighting their kindred Islamicist spirits in the Middle-East, the Latin Americans are leading the way for 21st century Libertarian Socialism and now in Chile too. Time to start studying Spanish again, methinks.

Moving to Curitiba keeps looking better...

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

*blink* Where?!?

[lokicarbis.livejournal.com]

Curitiba!!

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Good lord. I had no idea. Apart from fascinating buses, modernist architecture and a cool humid climate what else attracts you to the place?

[lokicarbis.livejournal.com]

Excellence in urban planning, especially as regards public transport, and familiar weather patterns.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Ah well. Those are all very good reasons indeed. Of course, Portland Oregan for the same reasons would be on my list of preferred locations (OK, so it's a "bit" colder)

[lokicarbis.livejournal.com]

I'm now wondering how one goes about convincing one's metropolis to adopt another city as a sister city...

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

From my experiece local councils organise 'sister cities'.

[rustythoughts.livejournal.com]

News to hand, (front page of the web SMH): Socialist pediatrician Michelle Bachelet, a former political prisoner, won Chile's presidential election on Sunday to become the country's first woman leader and extend the rule of the country's market-friendly centre-left coalition.

Makes me rather pleased to be headed there next.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

That's very interesting news. The Latinos are certainly doing interesting stuff - market orientation rather than command economy/central planning, decentralisation and grass-roots democracy and interventionist strategies to provide minimum standards of living. It seems that there is a whole new school of Latin American democratic socialism.

Happy days indeed to be a campensino in Latin America.

[jahbulon.livejournal.com]

If it weren't for Timothy Leary LSD psychedelics might not be so hated by 'the man'. I wish instead that Huxley had steered that particular cultural revolution.

[jahbulon.livejournal.com]

err... 'psychedelics', not 'LSD psychedelics'

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Huxley was certainly a more, ahh, 'sober' exponent of the utility of LSD. I am particularly impressed that on his deathbed, unable to speak, he made a written request to his wife for LSD, 100 micrograms, i.m. and died peacefully the following morning. Obviously he knew what he was doing.

In contrast Leary was a irreverant counter-cultural icon. Despite the successes he had with reforming alcoholics and criminals through LSD therapy, I think he really upset the man when he escaped from prison and tried to potray the act as an artistic prank. No wonder when he was caught the US government posted 5 billion dollars bail.

[mireille21.livejournal.com]

Trees! And I got the answer right without even peeking. Hmmm, except for that whole bit about trees churning out masses of methane. The implications of which are yet to be explored or at all understood.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Well done on that answer!

As for the trees and methane issue, that is indeed very recent news. As one witty poster on uk.transport commented on the trees issue "What? Tree fart?"

Fortunately the Kyoto Protocol is flexible enough to account for advancements in scientific knowledge.

Perhaps time for more methanotrophs?

[devilgirly.livejournal.com]

The recent attempt by the six nations responsible for half the world's greenhouse gas emissions to bypass the Kyoto Protocol is downright dangerous in its myopic stupidity.

That news had me yelling at the TV on the weekend... We seem to be getting further and further from the possibility of ever ratifying the Kyoto Protocol... I'm so ashamed of this country. :/

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Their activities are the clearest indication that these nations are not taking environmental issues with even a modicum of seriousness. It is, as this map indicates a clear an obvious attempt to break the Protocol.

Australia's instransigence on the matter is particularly infuriating as the Kyoto Protocol was for a collective reduction in greenhouse gas emissions - Australia was in fact given leeway to increase greenhouse gases from its 1990 level.

Another excellent component of Kyoto which I do not see in this attempt is the inclusion of emissions trading.

So many people just don't seem to be aware of the scale of the problem we're collectively facing as a species; some even suggest that a little bit of warming may actually be good for the planet (which could be true, but dangerous irrelevant). Perhaps a graph like this one may help. Especially if one takes into account an extrapolation from 2000-2050.

[devilgirly.livejournal.com]

Hmmm I actually thought the whole 'emissions trading' idea was quite dangerous and potentially horribly exploitative - but despite that it's so obvious that ratifying that would have been far better than this ridiculous new plan... :>:/

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

'emissions trading' idea was quite dangerous and potentially horribly exploitative

Tell me more. I quite liked the idea.

[devilgirly.livejournal.com]

Are we talking about that idea of allowing some nations to exceed emission limits if other nations don't meet their limits? And allowing governments to sell emission allowances to one another?

If not, ignore me altogether, heh. ;) If so, it just seemed to me that:
(a) if some countries' emissions are even lower than allowable limits that should be viewed as a success, and not an excuse to allow other countries to emit more
(b) yet another possibility for desperate 3rd world countries (that arguably need more leeway to build up industry) to be exploited by rich 1st world countries (that already leave far too much of an ecological footprint on the world as is)
and (c) the risk for outright fraud with the difficulties of keeping track of it all...

Off the top of my head, anyway. It just seemed wrong to me...

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

a) Well that's why they'd get paid for it. The lower your emissions the higher your potential trading bonus.
b) I don't see this occurring; rather I suspect that the reverse would be the case. "Oh dear US, gone over your target again? Here, let us clear up this "debt" you've appeared to have accumulated".
c) Fraud would be less probable imo than most transactions.

Quite a lot of people thought through these issues for quite some time. I remember them being debated hotly (ahh, unintentional pun) in environmental economics classes in the mid-late 80s.

[devilgirly.livejournal.com]

On an entirely different topic, happy birthday! Yay! *does the happy birthday dance*

Hope your day is filled with much fun and cake. :D

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Thanks muchly. It was certainly fun, but instead of cake we had quite a range of alcohols. My poor head.

[devilgirly.livejournal.com]

Hahahaha good work! ;D

[txxxpxx.livejournal.com]

Happy Birthday Lev. I trust you are having an ace day in the land of the long white cloud.

Cheers *clinks glass*

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I'm having a great time. It's hot and sunny in Dunedin today...

[blot.livejournal.com]

in Minnesota it will be your birthday in 35 minutes. but I need to go to bed. SO happy birthday

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Thank you!