ZEG

In his latest offering, conservative Australian cartoonist ZEG is relieved that some forests locked up under Greenie influence are now being unlocked




Hoagy is squawking  again



Disaster looming, says the director of the Global Change Institute at the University of Queensland, writing for EarthHour.org.  But to quote Mandy Rice-Davies, "But he WOULD say that, wouldn't he?" 

I have had a look at Hoagy's "report" and the evidence he musters for bad things happening is mostly quotations from his own writings and the the writings of his  fellow Warmists.  Andrew Bolt points out that other reef scientists say the reef is doing fine and bounces back swiftly from setbacks. 

Hoagy's own research showed a resilient reef  a few years ago and Hoagy retreated into embarrassed silence for a while but the embarrassment seems to have faded. Maybe he needed to do a screech to hang on to his job.

But a point that nobody can deny is that the reef is most luxuriant in the WARMEST part of its range e.g. the Torres Strait.  The reef LIKES warmth

The Great Barrier Reef will suffer “irreversible” damage by 2030 unless radical action is taken to lower carbon emissions, a stark new report has warned.

Unless temperatures are kept below the internationally agreed limit of 2C warming on pre-industrial levels, the reef will cease to be a coral-dominated ecosystem, the report warns.

Coral bleaching, which occurs when water becomes too warm and coral’s energy source is decimated, is now a “serious threat” to the reef, having not been documented in the region prior to 1979.

The increase in carbon dioxide pumped into the atmosphere, 90% of which is absorbed by the oceans, has already caused a 30% rise in the hydrogen ions that cause ocean acidification. This process hinders the ability of corals to produce the skeletal building blocks of reefs.

Co-author Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, director of the Global Change Institute at the University of Queensland, told Guardian Australia that current climate trends signal “game over” for the Great Barrier Reef.

SOURCE






Boat arrivals no longer eligible for protection visas

During the Rudd government approximately 90-95 per cent of refugee assessments completed on Christmas Island resulted in protection visas being granted. 99.7 per cent of people from Afghanistan (the majority of whom arrived by boat) were assessed as genuine refugees. Grant rates for protection visas for people from Iraq, Iran and Burma, many of whom also have arrived by boat, were also high, ranging from 96-98 per cent

REFUGEES who arrive by boat will no longer be eligible for one of Australia’s 13,750 protection visas, with the government announcing last night it had formally “de-linked” the humanitarian program from boat arrivals.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said yesterday the government had restored 4000 places in Australia’s special humanitarian visa program, which in years gone by had been overwhelmed by boat arrivals.

Coupled with the 6000-odd places Australia sets aside for refugees selected by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the roughly 500 places rolled over from last year, the announcement means almost 11,000 of the 13,750 available places will go to offshore applicants.

Mr Morrison said 1000 of those places would be given over to women at risk.

The Coalition trumpeted the announcement as wresting control of Australia’s humanitarian program back from people-smugglers and self-selecting asylum-seekers, to whom Australia is obliged to issue a protection visa once their refugee claims are successful.

“This is the very essence of our we-will-decide policy,” Mr Morrison told The Australian. “We have de-linked the programs. People who have arrived by boat will not be eligible for one of these places.”

Last night, Labor was withholding judgment on the government’s announcement.

“We will be seeking urgent clarification on what impact this will have for people currently on shore and also on the permanent intake program,” a spokesman for opposition immigration spokesman Richard Marles said.

Typically about 4000 places in the special humanitarian program have been devoted to people overseas who are at risk or have some connection to Australia, for example, a family member who is already a refugee in the community.

The program has been used to reunite and stabilise families or to assist special categories of people, such as Syrian refugees.

But since the boats began coming in 2008 the program has been eroded, with a greater number of places given to boat people.

Mr Morrison said more than 15,000 protection visas had been issued to asylum-seekers since the boats began.

His remarks came as a Senate committee urged the government to consider making substantial changes to parliamentary processes so the Abbott government could not use claims of public interest immunity to refuse to provide information about its military-led Operation Sovereign Borders.

SOURCE





Israel honors a Hitler clone (?)

See here for some examples of the Left earnestly explaining how Howard is like Hitler

FORMER prime minister John Howard was honoured with one of Tel Aviv University’s most prestigious accolades last week.

A stalwart supporter of Israel, Howard was presented with the George S. Wise Medal by Tel Aviv University vice-president Amos Elad, who travelled to Australia specifically for the Australian Friends of Tel Aviv University (AFTAU) NSW event.

AFTAU NSW president David Dinte told The AJN the George S. Wise Medal is “only given when there is a worthy candidate whose extraordinary contribution to society merits formal recognition”.

“Mr Howard is only the tenth recipient of the George S. Wise Medal since its inception in 1986,” he said.

“Other esteemed recipients of this Award are [former Israeli diplomat] Abba Eban; [Israel’s first astronaut] Ilan Ramon; [economist] Stanley Fischer and [former French prime minister] Dominique de Villepin”.

Tel Aviv University president Joseph Klafter said in a letter to Howard: “Your significant political, economic and social achievements as the second longest-serving Australian prime minister, together with your unwavering, courageous advocacy of the State of Israel spanning decades, your deep, abiding friendship with the Australian Jewish community, and your condemnation of International terrorism in all its forms, resonate well with the precepts as emulated by George Wise.”

Howard told The AJN that he “is both touched and honoured to be recognised by such an outstanding Israeli University”.

SOURCE






Fascists storm freedom activists’…cocktail party

Robert Spencer   

I am in Australia to speak at the SION/Q Society’s First International Symposium on Liberty and Islam. Pamela Geller, Ashraf Ramelah, Nonie Darwish and I made the trip from the States, and we will be speaking alongside a formidable roster of Australian freedom fighters.

Last night, our gracious hosts held a cocktail reception for the speakers and some friends at a local restaurant here in Melbourne. The happy and low-key crowd was taken aback when a gang of screaming, chanting, frothing-at-the-mouth fascist thugs suddenly appeared at the door, trying to get into the room. Our security detail held them back, but the fascists dropped leaflets declaring that they would be disrupting all of our events throughout the weekend.

This incident vividly illustrated the nature of our struggle: it is truly, as Pamela Geller has so indelibly put it, a struggle of the civilized man vs. the savage. One side was enjoying drinks and polite conversation, having gathered together in service of the cause of freedom and human rights. The other side, while it professes to be the true guardian of those things, came to the restaurant determined to harass, assault, and maybe even kill us. They are, as I have said before, the true children and heirs of the Nazi brownshirts who menaced and assaulted people at rallies and speeches of the Nazis’ opponents in the early 1930s. The struggle we are in is one that will determine whether our societies will remain civil and free, or fall prey to violence, thuggery, and authoritarianism.

Here is Pamela Geller’s account:

"The eagle landed in Oz today. Robert Spencer, Ashraf Ramelah, Nonie Darwish and other luminaries in the fight of freedom converged in Melbourne, Australia for SION/Q Society’s First International Symposium on Liberty and Islam. From the airport I headed to a press conference, where Robert and I were interviewed by SBS News (Australia’s PBS). I will upload that video as soon as possible. The interviewer was a typically hostile Leftist reporter (no surprise there).

Then this evening, the Q Society held a welcoming reception for us at a local restaurant. This event was neither open to the public nor publicly announced. It was a lovely affair with longtime supporters and activists greeting us, welcoming us, and taking pictures with us. We weren’t there ten minutes when suddenly a crazed mob of left-fascists attempted to storm the room, attacking and throwing their bodies against our security team while frenziedly screaming that we were the fascists — the irony was unmistakable. These savages were really out of control. Had they managed to break through our security cordon, it is clear that they would have brutally assaulted as many of the freedom-lovers in the room as they possibly could. It was eerily reminiscent of the Muslim riots that took place in Sydney in 2012…"

SOURCE