Nelson's right, but can he prosecute the adaptation case? - posted by Graham

Brendan Nelson is right that Australia shouldn't adopt an emissions trading scheme unless China and India do, but it is a brave political move. He has to sell a proposition from opposition that John Howard couldn't sell from government. The... More

Feed me facts - posted by Ronda Jambe

Perhaps my tree-hugging and soppy yearning for simpler times with fewer threats isn't striking the right chord. It may be more useful to present facts, research, documentation and links to the good, the bad, and the scary environmental news. As... More

So who owns the Liberal National Party? - posted by Graham

It's a difficult process to get the right to own a URL with the extension .org.au. You have to be able to demonstrate that you have a sufficient connection with the URL to be entitled to use it. That generally... More

Not even fit for opposition - posted by Graham

Last night the Liberal Party hurtled further down the path first taken when Don Lane and Brian Austin defected to the National Party after the 1983 election with the party splintered, and the epicentre of the quake somewhere around Clayfield.... More

Christianity as a protector of the secular society - posted by Graham

That Christianity, and Judaism, demand a secular, or at least dualist society where church and state are separate, was the theme of Father Robert Sirico at the CIS's Acton Lecture last night. (The CIS doesn't have a transcript or speech... More

Pascal's wager and Sunday truths - posted by Graham

One of the most commonplace arguments in support of action on global warming is a variant on Pascal's wager. Pascal's wager is the proposition that one ought to believe in God, because the detriment in not believing is so immeasurably... More

Portraits in Pixels - posted by Ronda Jambe

It's cold in Canberra, much is afoot, much of it boring. But it's raining, and that's always good news. I've just dropped a dear friend off at the airport, knowing we probably won't see each other for maybe 5 months.... More

...not to shine in use... - posted by Graham

When I came to Australia as a five year old there were a few continuities in my life apart from the language. One of those was Alistair Cooke and his "Letter from America". It was broadcast by the Canadian Broadcasting... More

I do not like thee, Cardinal Pell - posted by Ronda Jambe

I do not like thee, Cardinal Pell The reason why, you know full well. And please believe the words I tell: If there were one, you'd rot in hell. Snap, snap! Time for all those leaders of the church, of... More

Al Gore - coming to an opera house near you - posted by Graham

If Peter Combe could turn Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, that founding myth of the Australian conservation movement (perhaps second only to The Magic Pudding) into an opera, why shouldn't the Italians turn An Inconvenient Truth, the founding myth of Warming Hysteria,... More

What about 1066 and all that? - posted by Graham

NSW school students apparently are not compelled to learn about the Holocaust. It says something that we are agonising over this fact. The Holocaust was a terrible chapter in human history, but in terms of essential information it isn't top... More

In Defence of Online Opinion - posted by Graham

Clive Hamilton and I had a vigorous exchange of views in On Line Opinion. We're drawing the line on OLO at that. But we have been receiving some pieces that deserve consideration. This piece by Marko Beljac is worth publishing,... More

Traveston a greenhouse problem? - posted by Graham

You know an issue has gone too far when it becomes a reason for everything. Greenhouse emissions have just about reached that place. A report in today's Courier Mail says that the Traveston Dam should not go ahead because it... More

Problems with Garnaut - posted by Graham

There is a fundamental problem with most carbon-trading schemes. They are fairly good at coping with emissions (at least in theory), but not so good at coping with natural abatement. One way of looking at the Greenhouse issue is to... More

Have We Hit Peak People? - posted by Ronda Jambe

Something seems to have happened since I last did a stint in the public service, nearly 5 years ago. Back then, managerialism was still in vogue. There were silly obsessions about performance, and group gatherings to build morale that actually... More