Art for art’s sake.
A photo of some honeysuckle at our new home.
Page 24 of 107
OK. Yep. That explains quite a lot, actually…
In fact, they are bunch of sissies.
If you need a safe space anytime someone disagrees with you, you belong in either a kindergarten or a psych ward. You don’t belong at university or in a job or in politics.
Fortunately for those of us who take reality seriously, SJWs, despite their fearsome arsenal of shaming and name-calling and bursting into tears because you are so mean, with all your, you know, facts and stuff, are wimps. Stand up to them and they will go and sulk in the corner and leave you alone.
Wishing all my visitors a very safe, peaceful, happy and blessed Easter!
Just in the few days since the Brussels attacks:
A march against fear in Brussels is cancelled because people are afraid.
A Muslim shopkeeper who gave thanks for “my precious Christian country” and wished locals a happy Easter, is stabbed to death – stabbed thirty times – by a fellow Muslim. The Guardian omits to mention this fact, leaving it open to readers to assume it was another one of those pesky Bendigo protesters.
ISIS releases a video of the Eiffel Tower exploding, saying “We will come to you and terrify you everywhere, we will come after you from where you don’t expect and fill your streets with blood.”
And that does not begin to cover the continuing attacks around the world:
And 41 killed and 105 injured in Iraq.
In total 136 attacks against civilians by people shouting “Allah is greater” in the last month. 1030 killed, and 2972 injured.
Apart from occasional links to news stories of interest, I haven’t written anything about local oil and gas development for over a year. I am often asked why I would support energy exploration in the Bight. And even more often, it is simply assumed that no one could honestly want such development, and I must therefore be in the pay of the oil companies. Alas! Not so. Though if Bight Petroleum or BP or any of those other nefarious organisations felt a desire to send me a large cheque, or even an offer for me visit to an operational rig or working survey vessel, I would gladly accept. The cheque would be best.
Australia’s economic stability depends on reliable supplies of cheap energy, mostly in the form of coal and oil. Many people would rather this were not so, and suggest renewables as a safer, cleaner option. Renewables are becoming cheaper and more efficient. But they are not yet even at the stage when they reliably produce over their lifetimes more energy than it costs to manufacture, transport, install and maintain them. The energy required for that production, maintenance, transport, etc., is entirely provided by fossil fuels. The only other possibility, energy produced by hydro and nuclear power, is not efficiently convertible for use in primary industry or transport; two key areas for remote communities like Kangaroo Island. Like it or not, our stability and economy will depend on fossil fuels for the foreseeable future.
Members of remote communities would be the first to suffer if fuel became difficult to obtain, or prices surged. For example, on Kangaroo Island in South Australia, the entire life of the community depends on oil. Without oil there would be no ferries or planes to the island. There would be no fishing, no farming, no way for tourists to travel to or around the island, no boat trips or safaris, no food or furniture transported to the island, no building, no roads, no maintenance of infrastructure. In other words, no way to live.
There are a number of reasons why energy production should take place locally wherever possible.
Some of the most important of these are environmental.
Firstly, as a general rule, anything that can be economically or competitively produced locally should be produced locally. This is true of clothing and food; it is certainly true of energy. It is inefficient to produce oil half- way around the world and transport it here if we can develop oil reserves within Australia at the same price. And we can. Local production means saving all of the fossil fuel used in transporting vast amounts of oil around the world, with all of its associated emissions. Just because we have to use fossil fuels for now does not mean we should do so wastefully, or without regard for any environmental impact.
Secondly, oil that is not produced locally has to be produced somewhere else; somewhere, unless it is the US or Canada, with far lower safety and environmental standards than Australia. The lower the standards, the greater the likelihood of loss of life and of lasting harm to biological systems.
Thirdly, about 25% of all oil spilled into the ocean is directly related to oil industry activity (the rest, by far the majority, is mostly natural spills and seeps, like the Coal Point seep field near Santa Barbara, or multiple seeps in the Gulf of Mexico). About 5% of the 25% attributable to the oil industry occurs during exploration and development. The other 20%, five times as much, occurs during transportation. By far the greatest risk of a major spill near Kangaroo Island is the millions of tonnes of oil unloaded at Port Adelaide, which is far closer to KI than any proposed development site. One guaranteed way to reduce ocean spills is to reduce the volume of oil transported over long distances. Of course oil would still need to be transported from local wells to a local refinery, but there is a huge difference between transport over 500 kilometres, and transport over 15,000 kilometres.
The final environmental concern that would be alleviated by responsible local energy development is that of ocean noise.
Waves slapping against the sides of an empty tanker are in the same order of magnitude as the sounds generated by acoustic imaging. Acoustic imaging allows engineers to map the ocean bed and underlying structures in great detail. This reduces the need to drill test wells, and keeps interference with the sea bed to a minimum. Acoustic imaging is carefully monitored when in operation to protect nearby marine life, especially marine mammals. It has been rigorously researched over the last thirty years to examine possible impact on marine life. No long term impacts on any marine species have ever been observed. There is, for example, no correlation between acoustic imaging and increased beaching of whales. Australian research has also shown no impact beyond a momentary startle on smaller fish, worms, corals, etc. And of course, acoustic imaging takes place in any one area for only a few days. The noise of tankers plying the oceans is constant, is not monitored for effect on wildlife, and has not been subject to the same research. Where we are unsure of effects, we ought to exercise caution, and where we can reduce human impact on the environment, we have a duty to do so. Local energy development will significantly reduce ongoing ocean noise pollution.
In addition to environmental benefits, local production of oil also provides for greater reliability of pricing and supply. The Middle-East is simply too unstable to for us to rely on for such a vital resource. In the past we had little choice, but now it is clear that Australia has oil and gas reserves which may rival those of Saudi Arabia. We do not need to obtain oil from unstable, violent or war-torn regimes. In addition, Saudi Arabia has repeatedly shown that it is willing to manipulate the price of crude oil to suit its own purposes. It has done so over the last twelve months, reducing the price dramatically, in order to make Western investment in energy development uneconomical, and to encourage continued dependence on Arab oil producers. It can just as easily increase the price when it believes itself in a position of strength, and has done so in the past.
Price and stability of supply are important factors when considering where to source oil supplies. So are human rights. Many of the Middle-East oil producing states have appalling human rights records. These are places where children are executed, where women are stoned to death for adultery, where hungry men who steal a loaf of bread for their families have their hands cut off, where gays are hanged. When we support these undemocratic regimes, which are only able to maintain their hold through massive security spending, we are extending and facilitating the suffering of millions of people who deserve better.
Local energy production reduces our dependency on dictators, and reduces their ability to keep their populations under control. It makes us more responsible members of the world community.
Finally, money that is spent on development here in Australia provides employment and investment in Australia. Instead of sending money overseas, resource development companies pay royalties which help fund schools, hospitals, roads, and other infrastructure and services in Australia.
Why do I support responsible local energy development? It’s better for the environment. It’s better for energy pricing and security of supply, which makes it better for Australian industry including manufacturing, farming and tourism. It’s better for human rights. It’s better for the Australian tax-payer, because local development helps fund local infrastructure and services.
I have constructed a short, five question survey which covers some of the points above. If you are interested, please feel free to complete it.
There are multiple posts floating around Facebook about the Paris attacks. Some of these make two disturbing claims:
Firstly, that the attacks had nothing to do with the fact that the perpetrators were muslim. That, they claim, is beside the point. What matters is simply that they were a bunch of arseholes.
Secondly, that ordinary Westerners who are concerned about those affected by these attacks, who are praying for them, for France, for peace, who express a desire to stand with the people of Paris, are somehow hypocritical because similar concern is not expressed about other terrorist attacks around the world.
These two claims can be answered together.
There is no doubt that the perpetrators of these attacks were arseholes. You have to be an arsehole to be a cold-blooded murderer, torturer, rapist or pedophile.
Muhammad was all of those things.
Muhammad raped a nine-year-old girl, Aisha, when he was fifty-three.
One of the many women captured in war whom he took and raped was a member of the Banu Qurayza, a Jewish tribe living in Medina. At his command, Muhammad’s fighters checked the boys to see whether they had pubic hair. If they did not, they could be kept as slaves along with the girls and women. If they did, they were beheaded with the adult men – some 900 in a single afternoon – after they had surrendered. This woman, Rayhana, had just seen her husband and her sons brutally murdered, and was then taken and made a ‘wife’ by the messenger of Allah.
In another incident, a group of bedouins killed a shepherd.. “and drove away the camels, and they became unbelievers after they were Muslims. When the Prophet was informed by a shouter for help, he sent some men in their pursuit, and before the sun rose high, they were brought, and he had their hands and feet cut off. Then he ordered for nails which were heated and passed over their eyes, and they were left in the Harra (i.e. rocky land in Medina). They asked for water, and nobody gave them water till they died.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 52, Number 261)
Muhammad is the perfect man, the paragon, the moral exemplar for all time for all muslims.
The attackers in Paris were arseholes, no doubt. Is the fact that they were muslim irrelevant?
Even after the above, it might be irrelevant. Except for two things.
Firstly, that so many of the arseholes involved in terror attacks turn out to be muslim. There have been over 27,000 terror attacks around the world since 9/11, where, apparently by pure co-incidence, the arseholes just turned out to be muslims. The number of Methodists and Buddhists who blow themselves up in shopping centres, slice people’s heads off with rusty blades in the name of their god, or take schools hostage while raping and torturing the children is, by comparison, remarkably small. Non-existent, in fact.
Secondly, that it is the perpetrators of these attacks themselves who claim that they are acting in the name of Allah. The people who are doing these things say they are doing them because they are muslims, that they are acting as they do to please their god, that they are following the example of Muhammad, and that the koran promises that if they are killed fighting the unbelievers, whom they are commanded to fight wherever they find them, they are guaranteed a place in paradise, a place of unending sex with perfect women:
Ibn Majah, 5:4337 Allah’s Messenger said: “Everyone who is admitted to paradise Allah, the Mighty and glorious will marry him with seventy-two wives, Every one of them will have a pleasant vagina and he (the man) will have a sexual organ that does not bend down during sexual intercourse.”
Yes, but anything besides their pleasant vaginas? “The Prophet said: A houri is a most beautiful young woman with a transparent body. The marrow of her bones is visible like the interior lines of pearls and rubies. She looks like red wine in a white glass. She is of white colour, and free from the routine physical disabilities of an ordinary woman such as menstruation, menopause, urinal and offal discharge, child bearing and the related pollution. A houri is a girl of tender age, having large breasts which are round (pointed), and not inclined to dangle.” [Al-Tirmizi, volume 2, pg 35-40]. Or ever-fresh boys like scattered pearls are also available, if that is your preference.
Everyone agrees the Haj is islamic – Muhammad commanded his followers to make the pilgrimage. Everyone agrees prayer five times per day while facing Mecca is islamic – Muhammad commanded his followers to do this. Everyone agrees fasting during Ramadan is islamic, because it is something Muhammad commanded his followers to do.
Inflicting terror on the unbelievers, taking their women and children, chopping off the heads and fingertips of any who resist, Muhammad did these things and commanded his followers to do the same, so how is it that they are any less Islamic? At the heart of every religion is following the example and teaching of its founder.
There is no islam without Muhammad. There is no Muhammad without brutality, invasion, rape and murder.
Why are we in the West so much more distressed by attacks in Paris than attacks on Mindanao, or in Southern Thailand, or Kenya or Western China or Pakistan or Nigeria? Some journalists of the Guardian and Salon type have been busy telling us this is because we don’t really care for humanity at all, just for selected humans, namely the ones who look and talk like us.
This is pure hypocrisy on their part. The reason most ordinary people are not deeply concerned about terror attacks in non-Western countries is simply that they do not know about them. They do not know about them because Western media outlets do not report them. Given the constancy, number and scale of these attacks, it is hard to believe this is not a deliberate choice. Because if people were made aware of the extent of islamic terrorism, there could be no more pretending this was just random arseholes, no more pretending Islamic terrorism was just a minor irritation and no big deal.
To take the last month, October, as a random example, there were 194 terror attacks in the name of Allah and Muhammad, in 31 different countries. resulting in 1564 deaths and over 1700 serious injuries. These are people whose lives will never be the same again. Mutilation, loss of limbs or sight, family members tortured or murdered.
That does not include figures from the conflict in Syria and Iraq, or “honour” killings, or plain ordinary murders, just attacks against civilian targets carried out in the name of Allah and his messenger.
In the last week there have been 47 attacks by islamic terrorists – nearly seven every day – resulting in 392 deaths and over 900 serious injuries.
Moderate and careful Western leaders have a duty to recognise the problem, call it by name and develop a plan to deal with it. If they can’t or won’t, then ordinary people will eventually elect leaders who will. No problem can be solved until the problem is recognised. A hashtag and singing “Imagine” won’t do it.
ISIS, who planned and co-ordinated the Paris attacks, have said that Rome, London and Washington are next. There is a German proverb: Work as if no prayer would help, pray as if no work would help. Let us pray, and work, for a world in which attacks like those in Paris, Beirut, Baghdad, Kenya, etc, etc, etc …. are just a distant memory.
“TWO men have been charged with major fraud offences as police raided suspected “boiler room” scam operations this morning.
A man believed to be the principal of TRP Investments was taken from his home in Broadbeach to an office being used as a call centre in Surfers Paradise.
TRP Investments is believed to have sold software promising to predict changes in the stock market.
But operators are believed to have been uncontactable when disgruntled consumers called back asking for refunds.
Search warrants were executed at Broadbeach Waters, Broadbeach, Bundall and Surfers Paradise. Two men have so far been charged with major fraud offences. Police will allege they coordinated an unregulated business offering non-existent investment opportunities.
A 53-year-old man has been charged with five offences of fraud. He is to appear in the Southport Magistrates Court tomorrow.
A 22-year-old man has been charged with three offences of fraud. He is to appear in the Southport Magistrates Court tomorrow.
The fraud squad descended on the Andrea Ave home at Broadbeach Waters around 6.30am and later arrested the pair…. ”
Read the rest at the Gold Coast Bulletin.
If you have been a victim of these scams in any of their ripoff versions – JBC, CFS, GTA, OP Solutions, etc, etc, contact the Queensland Fraud Squad now.
This is much bigger and has a much longer history than I believe the police yet know.
Everyone involved is culpable – cold callers, receptionists, wives and girlfriends. If they knew that people were being lied to and cheated – and there is no way they could not have known this – then they are just as guilty as the two who have been arrested.
Last week I got a letter from a Sydney law firm representing Phil Travers.
A number of commenters on this blog, including former employees, have named Phil Travers as one of the principals in the JBC, ESL, CFS, OP Solutions, GTA, etc, etc stock trading software scams.
The letter noted that these comments were causing Phil to lose business. If your business is ripping off unsuspecting Australians, then that’s great! The less business you get, the better place the world will be.
My response to that letter is below.
Incidentally, as others have noted, the Queensland Fraud Squad is finally taking this scam seriously. If you have been scammed by JBC, OP Solutions, GTA, CFS or any of the other incarnations of this ripoff, please contact them. Ask for Detective Sergeant Melinda Kleidon.
——————————–
Dear Ms … ,
ALLEGED DEFAMATION OF PHILLIP TRAVERS
I am sure you are a good person, and your firm seems reputable, but your if your client is the Phil Travers associated with the stock market trading software scams I have warned about, then he is a rancid piece of slime who deserves everything he gets.
Were I of a more frivolous frame of mind, I would be inclined to refer you to the response given by the defendants in Arkell v Pressdram (1971). However, your client’s behaviour warrants more than a frivolous response. He has made a very good living stealing from some of the most vulnerable members of society. As you quite rightly note, it is difficult to imagine anything more reprehensible.
It is not an excuse to claim, as he or some of his chums have done during their 2am phone calls threatening me and my family, that anyone who is dumb enough to buy their product is gullible and has only themselves to blame. Gullible is just another word for decent and trusting, something your client is definitely not.
According to my search of the White Pages there are at least forty-six persons named P. Travers residing in Australia. If your client has nothing to do with the Gold Coast rip-off schemes which have been the subject of my blog posts, and which are the subject of ongoing police investigations, then all he has to do when someone asks, is to say “Do you mean the slimeball, scumbag, louse-infested, psychopath, rip-off merchant, rotten, commo, poofter, mongrel bastard Phil Travers? No, different guy.” Just as if my name were Larry Pickering and someone said to me “Hey, you’re Larry Pickering.” I could say “Do you mean the former smut cartoonist turned sports and stock trading software shyster and political pundit? No, different guy.”
Of course, if your client is the slimeball, scumbag, louse-infested, psychopath, rip-off merchant, rotten, commo, poofter, mongrel bastard Phil Travers, then he is unable to use that option. Instead he seems to be claiming that his continuing sales of fake stock trading software, repackaged every couple of years as word gets around, complete with fake reviews and fake awards to lull the “gullible” into a false sense of security, is actually a perfectly legitimate way of conducting business, and that anyone who complains about this or talks to someone else about it, is like, really mean. Or something.
So if your client decides to initiate some sort of legal action over this, I can only say how pleased I would be. It would be the most ill-advised litigation since Oscar Wilde took a swipe at the Marquess of Queensberry. I have an extensive list of people from all walks of life, including elderly and disabled persons, who would be delighted to have a day in court to explain publicly how their life savings have been stolen and their lives destroyed by schemes operated by your client and his chums.
Nonetheless, and despite the foregoing, I am indeed willing to make your client an offer. It is this. If he contacts investigating police and offers them his full co-operation, and arranges for every person affected by the JBC, ESL, OP Solutions, etc, scams to be fully refunded, with a public apology, and then commits to earning an honest living, I will gladly remove any references to him in quotes from victims or former workers in my blog posts, or in any comments.
Yours sincerely,
etc
Capital Group Holdings, TRP, CFS, JBC, Eurosoft Share Trading Stock Market Software Scam
These stock market trading software programmes are entirely bogus. They are all the same long standing ripoff. Every year or so the name becomes too well known and a new one is created – but the scam remains the same.
They always follow the same pattern: friendly sounding phone calls, glossy promotional materials, promises of high returns, promises of your money back if it doesn’t work for you.
It won’t work for you, and you won’t get your money back.
In every incarnation of this ripoff, you will be directed to websites showing JBC, or Capital Group Holdings, or Eurosoft has won awards from some stock market group, or business group, for the best trading software, or the best new home business. These websites and awards are entirely fake. They are created new for each version of this scam by the same people who have been running it for years. For one example see here for the TRP version of this ripoff:
http://www.trading-week.com/game-changer-trp-sydney-investment-services-yield-impressive-returns/
If you have been ripped off, cheated, scammed, by any of these groups (in reality all the same group) now is the time to to something to bring these con men to justice.
As soon as you can, and in as much detail as you can, please contact:
FRAUD AND CYBER CRIME GROUP
Queensland Police Service
200 Roma Street
Brisbane, Qld 4000
Phone: 07 3364 6622
Fax: 07 3364 6549
Ring and talk to them, or download the report form here:
https://www.police.qld.gov.au/programs/cscp/fraud/Documents/QPS-Fraud-Report-Form.pdf
What follows below is a copy of a comment on an earlier post on the TRP, Capital Group, Eurosoft rip off written by someone who used to work for them.
These con men have ripped off, stolen, cheated, hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars from ordinary Australians.
If you know anything that could help bring them to justice, please contact the police now.
PS. I have just heard that Capital Group Holdings may be a different organisation. Either way, it is still a scam operating in exactly the same way. If you have been scammed by any of these groups, please contact the police now.
—————————-
Well after reading these most recent posts I am INFURIATED that this SCAM is still going on!
I have not had a chance to read all your stories but I can confirm that ALL your fears are WARRANTED.
I know because I too used to work there, thankfully waking up to the SCAM, having a conscience and leaving earlier this year.
I actually was so enthusiastic about the job and the potential of the program. I thought it would provide me with financial freedom also.
Would you believe that the staff, including myself NEVER EVER saw the Program.
Upon making several requests to see the program, the response from the manager was….
” No you can’t see the program. Because the program sells on simplicity. If you see it, them you will only complicate your “SPEIL”.
That’s right Folks! You were all delivered a very polished 25-40min SPEIL, culminating in …..
“So any Questions? No? Well the cost of the program is $9200 would you like to put that on MasterCard or Visa?”.
As staff, we also were not allowed to purchase the program.
REASON? It was deemed as a conflict of interest or insider trading or some BS excuse.
The fact is if any of US dropped $9200 on a program that promised 30%pa and received NOTHING then the S#*T would hit the fan.
This is when alarm bells started to ring for me.
Unfortunately, the rest of the long standing staff there are driven by pure greed and just plead ignorance.
Full well knowing that they are RIPPING YOU OFF!!!
These are the facts:
1. Phil Travers & Rhys Adam are indeed the partners behind this Bogus Operation.
2. Previous Company names are JBC, CFS,ESL & OP Solutions. When they cop serious heat. They shut down the old product and rebadge it as something new. Simple!
Those whom have tried to contact customer support will have experienced this.
3. The address of ” Farrar Place Sydney” is indeed BOGUS. It is a VIRTUAL OFFICE ONLY. Secretary at reception that oversees several small offices for lease. There is No official signage. No staff at all.
We falsely stated that we were actually based and calling from that address. Definitely not the case!
There are actually two (2) offices but both are based in QLD. Surfers Paradise & Springwood.
4) Whenever we had a customer that wanted to SEE the product (i.e Come in for a demo) We would invite them to come in. However they were asked to come in immediately or within the next hour as the “Senior Analysts” were flat out and would be returning to the “TRADING FLOOR”.
If they they were not able to do this then an ONLINE DEMO could be arranged.
5. The sites : stockexchangecommission.com , esharesmagazine and other reviews etc are 100% FAKE WEBSITES and Reviews. We were trained not to make a big deal of the reviews. Rather use them as a throw away. “Yes! We’ve had some encouraging reviews but….”. Play it right down.
The idea is that you would then do your due diligence. Be suitably impressed by the product appearing in the “FAST 5″ alongside, ING, ANZ etc, feel rest assured and then hand over your CCD for $9200.
A Marketing Sales technique that is very effective and legal.
That is IF, the Websites & Reviews are Legit!
Simply put! ….THEY ARE NOT!!!
6) To create urgency you were no doubt fed a varied form of this…
“So we will only ever release a total of 400 programs. We released 100 in ,(years will vary) 09’10’11 & the final 100 over these past few weeks”.
Another technique that proved extremely successful.
I say successful because this well crafted SPEIL and the expertise of the staff there saw them making $1000 per sale.
Earning between $9k to $42k per month.
All from a BOGUS PROGRAM that YOU paid for.
7) Oh! Your “Money back Guarentee? Another blatant lie!
Never going to happen! It was not worth the paper you received it on. Again! Those that have tried to obtain one know what I am talking about.
I do sincerely hope that you are able to obtain a refund from your merchant though.
So what now? What are you all prepared to do?
I find it outstanding to hear that ASIC will not act appropriately. What other measures have been taken to expose these FRAUSTERS?
I can only think that “A Current Affair , Today Tonight etc be contacted as well as the Police and informed of the whereabouts of these BOGUS OPERATIONS!!!
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!!
Profits of Doom – the Truth About Global Warming
A slightly updated version of my now eight years old general introduction to global warming:
Profits of Doom – The Truth About Global Warming
Nazi Terrorism vs Islamic Terrorism
See the difference?
Neither can I.
Once more unto the breach …
This is an important issue – for Kangaroo Island and for the state as a whole. I am still hopeful it will be possible to have a harmonious discussion focussing on the facts.
Why would anyone want oil and gas exploration near Kangaroo Island?
Our society, and every modern liberal democracy, depends on cheap energy. The primary sources of that energy are oil, coal and gas. These energy sources enable us to travel, to heat our homes, to run industry and agriculture, to provide health and education services. No energy means none of these things.
Developing countries need this energy too, to provide these same services, including basic health care, to their people. While foreign aid might be helpful in emergencies, what developing nations really need is power stations, cheap energy. And that depends on cheap fuel.
We all rely on oil and gas, KI residents more than most. While we might prefer oil development to take place somewhere else, it would be immoral to deny developing countries the energy sources Western nations have used to pull themselves out of poverty over the last centuries. Responsible energy development is an important part of our commitment to being part of a global community.
In addition, developing energy resources within Australia improves national security, and reduces our dependence on, and financial contributions to, corrupt and frequently brutal Middle-eastern regimes. It also helps to preserve forests and wildlife. If you are worried about your child starving, or dying because you have no access to clean water or cannot obtain basic medical care, you are not going to be concerned about the state of forests in Indonesia, or the whale hunt at the Faroes. The more prosperous a country or people, the more time and resources go into preserving and caring for the environment.
So private energy resource development should be encouraged unless in a particular situation there are pressing reasons why it should not.
Are there pressing reasons why oil and gas exploration in the Great Australian Bight should not proceed?
There are three main reasons opponents to development have put forward.
1. Oil rigs and other equipment near Kangaroo Island will spoil the landscape, reduce the natural beauty of the area, and consequently reduce its appeal to visitors.
The nearest practical development point for an oil rig within Bight Petroleum’s exploration zones is approximately one hundred and fifty kilometres west of the West coast of KI. If this is on KI or even near KI, then so are Gawler and Keith. If the Eiffel Tower was perched at Cape Borda, and you were standing at the top with a telescope, you would still not see an oil rig at that distance.
2. Acoustic imaging used to map geological structures on the sea floor is harmful to whales, dolphins and other marine sea life.
Acoustic imaging has been used for the last forty years. One of the reasons for this is that it helps developers pinpoint likely productive sites, reducing unnecessary drilling and environmental impact. The possible effects of acoustic imaging on marine life have been extensively researched during this time. No university or other study has ever found any correlation between acoustic imaging and increased beachings, or any other negative effect, for example on reproductive rates or migration patterns. Recent intensive study conducted in Australia by Woodside Petroleum, the CSIRO and Penn State University likewise found no negative effects on sessile and territorial marine life.
Anti-development activists have sometimes suggested that the hearing of whales and dolphins could be permanently damaged by the noise of acoustic imaging. Sperm whales vocalise at about 235dB. The average acoustic array produces about 230dB. Even if the whales were 2 metres from an active array, the sound they heard would be less than the sound of their own vocalisations. To suggest that their hearing could be damaged by this is equivalent to claiming our hearing would be permanently damaged by listening to chatter at a tea party.
3. The possibility of a serious spill.
Spills are far more likely during handling and transportation than during exploration and development. The most significant risk of a serious oil spill near Kangaroo Island is from the transport of oil products to the island.
Australia’s worst development spill, and third worst oil spill overall, was at the Montara well in the Timor Sea. The two worst, from the Princess Anne Marie oil tanker in 1975 and the Kiriki tanker in 1991, were both transport spills. Prevailing winds and currents pushed the oil slick from Montara one hundred and eighty kilometres from the well site. At that distance, the slick was patchy, intermittent, and a few microns thick – less than the almost invisible amount of oil left behind by a well-maintained outboard motor. A spill of this magnitude occurs about once in every 100,000 years of well operation.
If a similar spill occurred at the closest point for any development in the Bight, a few streaks of oil a few microns thick could just reach the Western shores of KI, if wind and currents were behind it. But during the calmer months when development would be taking place, prevailing upwellings would push any spilt oil away from, not towards Kangaroo Island. Oil even from a one in one hundred thousand year spill would not approach Kangaroo Island. In addition, safety standards are improving all the time. The worst year for oil spills in the nineties was better than the best year in the seventies.
In other words, even if a spill occurred, no oil would reach the shores of Kangaroo Island, and the chances of such a spill occurring at all are tiny – one in one hundred thousand years of operation.
To summarise: The proposed oil exploration and development is not “on KI.” It is not even “near” KI in any normal meaning of that word. No oil rigs or other development would be visible from anywhere on Kangaroo Island. Forty years of research has shown no harm to any form of marine life from acoustic imaging. There is no correlation between acoustic imaging and increased beachings, and no evidence of hearing loss in any marine species. Even if a spill equal to the worst in Australia’s history occurred at the development site, oil would not reach the shores of KI. The chances of such a spill’s occurring are approximately one in 100,000 years of well operation.
There are good economic, humanitarian and environmental reasons why responsible oil and gas development should proceed. There are no compelling, truthful, reality-based reasons it should not.
Some people seem to have no idea how serious Australia’s debt is.
Perhaps this will make it clearer:
1. The debt left by the Labor party is so great that we would have to take half of everything earned by every Australian for the next two years to pay it off.
2. The debt left by the Labor party is so great that we would have to stop every Social Security payment for the next three years to pay it off..
3. The debt left by the Labor party is so great that if we spent no money on health for seven years the debt would be paid.
4. The debt left by the Labor party is so great that if we spent no money on education for 14 years the debt would be paid.
5. The debt left by the Labor party is so great that we would have to spend no money on defence or defence personnel for the next 19 years to pay it off.
Just like a family, Government cannot spend more than it earns without getting into trouble.
This is real money and real debt. If money has been paid in wages, or spent on Batts or set top boxes, it has been spent, it needs to be paid.
There are three ways of paying federal government debt.
1. Don’t pay it. It still has to be paid, but it is paid for almost invisibly, through inflation. This means the poor end up paying more than their share, because the price of food, clothing, housing, etc, all go up. This is the route taken by Zimbabwe.
2. Increase taxes. The problem with this is that it punishes anyone who produces anything. The end result, as in Finland and California, for example, is that businesses cannot compete with other states or countries. Farming, mining, manufacturing, all go belly up, or leave. There is a smaller and smaller tax base, and again, the poor end up getting slugged.
3. Reduce government spending. Well, duh! That means not everything can go on being free. It means we cannot pay defence force staff what we would like to. It means university bureaucracies need to be trimmed, and university students need to pay a fairer share of the cost of their education. It means people need to take some individual responsibility for the cost of their health care. It means we can no longer afford to run Australia’s largest media organisation at taxpayer expense.
There is no use complaining about this. The time to complain was when money was being thrown around on pointless projects and compulsory $6000 internet connections.
Just a few thoughts on garrisons for anyone starting in the new WoW expansion, Warlords of Draenor.
Your first large building should be the Barracks. This gives your followers access to patrol missions which level them up faster.
You should keep your followers running missions all the time. They will continue to work even while you are logged out. Take the missions which award garrison resources, rare items, and the purple experience missions. I didn’t think the missions that… rewarded gold were worth the cost in resources to accept the mission.
Your followers will gain experience from every mission, even if the mission fails (they just won’t get any bonus items or rewards), so keep them going all the time. Except that the gold missions are a waste, don’t worry about the cost in garrison resources, you’ll make it back later on.
Once you get a couple of followers up to level 100, change from Barracks to Dwarven Bunker. The bunker doubles your chance to gain rare or epic items as quest rewards, and increases their level. If you take this option you will end up with heroic dungeon level gear with no extra effort.
Your first medium building should be the Inn. At level one this gives you extra dungeon quests, not so thrilling, but at level two you can virtually make followers to order with the specs you require, while level three gives you valuable treasure hunter quests.
If you enjoy pvp your second medium building should be the Gladiator’s Sanctum. If not, it doesn’t really matter.
Your first small building should be the Enchanter’s Study. You will have lots of gear to disenchant, and the study lets you disenchant without being an enchanter. When you upgrade the building later, you (or a follower with enchanting), and this too applies even though you don’t have enchanting, can create enchants for neck and cloak.
Your second small building should relate to your crafting profession. This will teach you that skill up to 700, and give you a range of new recipes. If you don’t have a crafting trade, pick the building that relates to the gear you wear.
Simply questing through the zones will give you new followers, and some quests reward with garrison resources. Your garrison also generates resources on its own, so you won’t run out. You will need to save to cover the high cost of later upgrades though.
At 92 you get a couple of quests to access your mine (even if you don’t have mining). At 94 for fishing, and at 96 for your herb garden. Do these quests as soon as you reach those levels, and if you don’t need the resources they give you, sell them on the AH.
Have fun!
Qohel Blog Author Peter Wales
