Lies, damn lies and political rumours

From the department of believing-lies-is-bad-for-you:

What I heard several times in El Dorado is that people believe or fear that Obama is a Muslim. Unpalatable as it may be, it’s clear to me that this smear is not going to go away and it could cost Obama the Democratic nomination or even the presidency. The emails about Obama being a radical Muslim, which I blogged about back in January have spread far and wide.

A case in point is Clarence Kerns, 90, and his wife Rovilla, 85. Clarence, who worked in the oil industry for more than 40 years and has lived in the same house since 1939 is a straightforward, honest soul – ordinary in the very best sense of the word. So too is his wife. Their passion, apart from their great-grandchildren, is genealogy and Clarence was delighted when he realised that Stanley Dunham, with whom he was at high school in the class of 1935, was Barack Obama’s grandfather.

Mrs and Mrs Kerns spoke glowingly of Mr Obama’s speeches, his intelligence and his education. They appeared to care not a whit about his colour. But they won’t vote for him. Why? They think he might be a Muslim.

This has got to be one of the reasons I find American politics so sickening - not just politics in general, but American politics. The issue here is more than just the fact that there is a bunch of people who are obviously dedicated to spreading lies about a presidential candidate - the issue is that so many people end up believing it, or at least having doubt in their mind over the guy.

I'm no supporter of Barack Obama. My personal feeling about the Democratic presidential candidates is that none of them appeal to me (with the notable exception of Al Gore if he decides to run).

The spreading of lies in order to discredit a political leader is not new in America. In the past, it is what afflicted John Kerry, John McCain and Ann Richards. While the targets of this sort of smearing are a mixture of Democrats and Republicans, it is obvious that such lies have come from a Republican source.

The grand-daddy of this sort of mud slinging was the Republican political strategist Lee Atwater, who was able to sling enough lies and mud at Michael Dukakis to prevent him winning the 1988 presidential election. Atwater later developed cancer and repented of his actions after converting to Catholicism (if Wikipedia is to be believed) before dying.

But, as I have said, it is not the presence of these lies that bothers me, but rather the wholesale belief in them by the public at large. Within the context of Australia's current election campaign has been the smearing of Labor Party deputy leader Julia Gillard. Gillard was criticised for not having children a while ago, and she is now being labelled a "closet Communist" because of her political affiliations in her mid 20s (she's now 46). Since the Labor party is Australia's left-wing party, the fact that one of its members was reasonably left wing in her early days is nothing to be surprised about. Yet, despite these amateur attempts at smearing her, Gillard is in no danger of being a liability to the ALP.

I'd like to think that Australians are more immune to the ridiculous smearing that goes on in the US, but I'm not convinced. I've fallen for lies a number of times in the past - yet when I discover that I have been lied to it awakes in me a desire to seek facts on both sides of the political fence rather than blithely ignoring it.

Opec unhappy with US Dollars

From the department of reduced-savings:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has suggested an end to the trading of oil in US dollars, calling the currency "a worthless piece of paper".

The call came at the end of a rare Opec summit, and was opposed by US ally Saudi Arabia.

The Iranian president had wanted to include the attack on the dollar in the summit's closing statement.

The communique made little mention of the dollar, however, focusing instead on energy security and the environment.

The summit in Saudi Arabia was only Opec's third in 47 years.

During the talks, Opec members revealed differences about the future direction of the exporters' group.

But Opec leaders ended with a pledge to provide the world with reliable supplies of oil.

This is not just some off-hand comments from Dinner Jacket, it is actually an airing of an opinion I think many in OPEC have currently. The problem of a devaluing US Dollar may increase the price of oil, but once the OPEC nation gets its cash it then watches as their US Bank accounts begin to devalue.

This issue is bigger than OPEC - it's a worry for all nations and companies who use US currency for trading purposes. While OPEC won't stop using US Dollars for the time being, you can bet your bottoming dollar that currencies like the Euro and the Yen will begin to replace the US Dollar as the basis of international trade.

Dangerous Quakery

From the department of traditional-cures- and-traditional-death-rates:

The NSW Coroner has found there is sufficient evidence for the Director of Public Prosecutions to consider laying charges against the parents of a baby who died after they treated her with homeopathic remedies.

Gloria Thomas died in May 2002 in Sydney Children's Hospital of sepsis, or bacterial infections.

The nine-month-old, who was severely malnourished, had been suffering from such terrible eczema that much of her skin was split.

The inquest at Glebe Coroner's Court has been told the cracks in her skin caused the baby agonising pain and were a potential source of entry for the bacteria that killed her.

Parents Thomas Sam, a homeopath, and IT professional Manju Samuel treated her with homeopathic remedies rather than her prescribed medication.

State Coroner Mary Jerram terminated the inquest today after finding there was a reasonable prospect the evidence presented to the inquiry could convince a jury to convict "a known person or persons of a serious crime".

There is no doubt in my mind that the rise of medical science has resulted in the loss of traditional remedies that have been used for hundreds of years. However, there is also no doubt in my mind that much of what passes as "traditional" or Homoeopathic medicine has more to do with magical thinking and blind acceptance of the placebo effect as being evidence of its success.

Incidents like the one above - which is not just horrific but also salutary since one of the parents was a trained homeopath (presumably) - show just how dangerous is modern society's reliance upon the unproven, the untested and the well-marketed.

Of course, "Big Pharma" has its own problems, but I would rather take the advice of a trained medical professional over a modern witch-doctor any day.

I Purchased an Air Conditioner today

Since we're renting it had to be a portable one, but I found the whole process annoying because the ones recommended by Choice Magazine seemed to be remarkably absent from stores all over Newcastle.

So I forked over the cash and the thing will be delivered tomorrow.

It would have been better to get a split system installed but, as I said, we rent, which of course means that the cooling ability of a portable a/c won't be that wonderful for what we pay for in buying it or paying for electricity to run it.

Summer is my most hateful seasons of the year. This morning I woke up to a heat rash on my back and chest, which seems to occur whenever the temperature regularly exceeds 20° C (68° F). I hate sweating whenever it goes about 27° C (80.6° F) and whenever it is heavily humid (like January-February), though the afternoon thunderstorms in the Hunter can be entertaining as well as relieving.

This photoshopped image has been shamelessly stolen from Something Awful.

Beamer's Book List

Regular reader and commenter Beamer (a Washingtonian) says this about his reading habits:

In April 2006, I purposed to try to read at least one book a month. This year I have not been so sucessful because a couple of the books I chose are quite long, but if you don't mind, I'd like to share the list of books I've read over the last two years and solicit others' opinions on them, if any.

I also try to read a Shakespeare over Christmas holiday (my company closes its doors between Christmas and New Year's Day). Last year I did not read a Shakespeare, but this year I'm reading Henry IV.

Here's a list of Beamer's list of books for the last few years. NB: Titles in bold are highly recommended. Those with asterisks are titles he found particularly worth the time spent reading.

BOOKS READ IN 2006
*Gilead – Marilynne Robinson
Housekeeping – Marilynne Robinson
*Life and Fate – Vasily Grossman
*Stalingrad – Anthony Beevor
The Killer Angels – Michael Shaara
*With the Old Breed – Eugene Sledge
*The Complete Stories of Flannery O’Connor – Flannery O’Connor
All for the Union – Elisha Hunt Rhodes
A Writer at War: Vasily Grossman with the Red Army, 1941-1945 – Anthony Beevor and Luba Vinogradova

BOOKS READ IN 2007
*Angle of Repose – Wallace Stegner
Crossing to Safety – Wallace Stegner
*Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer – James L. Swanson
Christ and the Media – Malcolm Muggeridge
Farewell to Eden – Duwayne R. Anderson
*The Icon and the Axe: An Interpretative History of Russian Culture – James H. Billington
The Road to Wigan Pier – George Orwell
*The Brothers Karamazov – Fyodor Dostoevsky

Well you can tell a lot about a person by what he reads. As I did the links for these books I got a quick look at some of them. Our friend Beamer certainly likes books by Pulitzer Prize Winners, and also books about the Soviet Union's experience of World War 2.

I did read the Brothers Karamazov while at University when I did a unit on Russian Literature. I found it an interesting unit, especially when one of my lecturers was Dianne Yerbury, the Vice-Chancellor of Macquarie University at the time who was an expert on Dostoevsky. Personally I found Karamazov very difficult to read and much preferred the other book I studied, Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol.

Another unit I studied at Macquarie University was Modern Russian History, taught by historian David Christian, so I am certainly cognizant with much of the time period that Beamer has been reading about. His book, Imperial and Soviet Russia, is a very interesting read.

On an aside, my interest in US history and politics stems from my time at university studying US History under John Koenig. He gave me a good mark for an essay I wrote entitled "Why did James Earl Carter fail to win a second term as president of the United States?"

From this list of books I can work out that Beamer and I have some very similar interests in terms of historical study. I'm not quite so enamoured with Shakespeare, but, as an INTJ, I guess I need to revert to being INTP once in a while to stay sane. Given that I have a BA in English Literature I really should get back to reading books again...

Solar Power Station heading for the Hunter Valley

This is interesting news:

Australian company CBD Energy has announced plans to build a $360 million solar farm and manufacturing plant in the New South Wales Hunter Valley.

CBD Energy says the first stage of the project will cost $60 million. It involves the construction of a five-megawatt solar farm on land near Raymond Terrace, north of Newcastle, which it hopes to complete by June next year.

Output will eventually be expanded to 30 megawatts, providing enough green electricity for more than 30,000 homes.

CBD executive chairman Gerry McGowan says the next stage will be building a factory to make a revolutionary new type of thin-film solar panel.

"We'll manufacture [it] for a tenth of the cost of conventional PV technology," he said.

The federal Coalition has promised to contribute $20 million to the first stage of the project, if it is re-elected.

This seems quite legit, though I think the June 2008 deadline is not going to be met.

It's a good start - but 30MW is not very big. The Coal-fired power stations along Lake Macquarie, Munmorah, Vales Point and Eraring, produce a big slice of NSW's power supply and, combined, produce around 4500MW. CBD will have to build at least 100 of these Solar Farms to make a significant dent in the state's electricity production.

So let's start now.

Cyclone Sidr kills 600

From the Weather Department:

At least 600 people are reported to have died after a powerful cyclone smashed into Bangladesh's coast, levelling villages and uprooting trees.

Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated or sought safe shelter before the storm hit the coast from the Bay of Bengal, but some were left behind.

The true extent of the devastation remains unclear as the storm has blocked access to the affected areas.

The storm weakened on Friday as it passed through the capital, Dhaka.

As it was downgraded to a tropical storm, attention turned to assessing the devastation and distributing aid.

This is far better than the hundreds of thousands who have died in similar weather events over the decades. Bangladesh, with its poverty and massive population, is always going to suffer terribly when things like this happen.

Thank God the 2004 Tsunami only grazed them. Had the tsunami travelled north instead of west, I would guestimate that half the country would have been covered with water and the death toll would be in the millions rather than the official 230,000 count.

The good news is that Bangladesh seems to becoming a more settled place to live. Although poverty is still bad there, the United Nations Human Development Index gives it a score of 0.530, which means that it is now considered a "second world" nation rather than a third world one. Improved education, communication and median income has probably helped provide conditions that have mitigated the effects of natural disasters.

This photoshopped image has been shamelessly stolen from Something Awful.

Crikey watch

Another Yank says Crikey and no one notices.