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Mrs. Thatcher changed Britain and changed the world. She put an end to unbounded faith in ever-expanding government and to the unwarranted role of trade unionism. She had an unflinching commitment to freedom and to free markets. She was a trained chemist who accepted the need for strong environmental policies and for the need for action on climate change. Her role was historic and will continue to be debated. But she is a giant among modern political leaders. (661) I was interested to read in the NYT that in a dozen US states it is now (i) Illegal for unauthorised whistle-blowers to make videos of workers harming farm animals and (ii) that any such videos must be turned into the authorities and not screened. The grounds seem to be that this form of whistle-blowing violates the legal property rights that animal owners have over their animals, exposes them to economic losses and that such activities are a form of “ecological terrorism”. A free-market group ALEC which links to the Heartland Institute is claimed by the NYT to be behind these legislative moves. Here is the Draft Bill they propose. ALEC is claimed to be one of the groups opposing the cigarette plain packaging legislation in Australia. The best defence against animal liberationist whistle-blowers is, of course, to treat animals humanely. “Ag gag” bills are not the answer – a better approach is to move towards the humane and decent animal rights practices adopted in other countries and in enlightened parts of the US. (473) I’ve tried to be generous to the Gillard Government because of the overly critical reaction to it by the Murdoch press – by Ergas, Sloan and the hired lackeys of the IPA etc. But the way the superannuation issue has been dealt with leaves me with substantial doubts about the political nous of the Government’s reform agenda as well as, its lack of any reasonable basis in clearly articulated principles. Continue reading Superannuation reforms (1309) Phillip Morris have apologised to the Czechs for presenting, as a business case in favour of smoking, that a financial benefit from smoking is that it kills people early thereby saving the state money on health care and pensions. Of course they should not have apologised for this since the claim is definitely true – for most countries and certainly for Australia where there is also a large surplus of tax revenues from cigarettes over health costs (including death costs). I guess what they were apologising for was stating clearly this truth – that smoking does kill people early and since, contrary to intuition, it has relatively minor effects on morbidity – lung cancer kills you promptly – it does save the state money. Continue reading Phillip Morris’s wrong apology (585) For some reason – it may be the near universal introduction of unleaded gasoline in most countries – the role of vehicular emissions on human health has been deemphasised in many environmental economics discussion. Of course we all know about the terrible air pollution problems in the mega-cities of the developing world but these aberrant situations don’t affect us in the West, do they? Continue reading Vehicle-driven pollution emissions & severe health damages among children (642) I haven’t done a lot of work over Easter. I played a couple of games of golf, as I have been trying to read Immanuel Kant’s, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (the excellent CUP edition with introduction by Christine Korsgaad) and have, as well, been listening to music – Beethoven and Mozart String Quartets (by Quartetto Italiano and the Eder Quartet respectively) as well as a time-worn set of old Beethoven Symphonies by Herbert von Karajan from 1963. One’s tastes in classical music form early and changes in preference are difficult to effect. I’ve struggled with the John Elliot Gardiner “original instruments” version of the Symphonies for a year or so and have never really enjoyed their ultra fast tempos. Karajan-style performances I can relate to and enjoy immensely. Finally, on music I bought a whole batch of Maria Callas CDs a few years back but always got stuck listening to a couple of them that I really liked. This Easter I’ve made an effort to listen to all of them – her voice is (of course) perfection. Continue reading Peaceful quiet Easter: No politics, no economics (461) I wasn’t sure whether this suggested water quality was improving or not. I suppose 1,000 dead ducks are better than 14,000+ dead pigs. After all (quoted from the last link): “Authorities have assured the 23 million residents of the Shanghai urban area that the water supply, of which 20% comes from the Huangpu (the pig-cum-dead-duck river), is safe…… A local official was quoted by the Jiaxing Daily last week as saying the cause of the deaths was “complicated” but the number was “within the normal range” expected in such a large population”. I am reassured. HT to RC (639) Tiger Woods regained his world #1 ranking (last held in 2010) after winning the Arnold Palmer International today. Is it pure coincidence that he has just established a relationship with the gorgeous Lindsey Voon? His marital problems and divorce now seem to be history. I could put it more bluntly. Is that the secret to improving your golf? Couldn’t be that simple could it? (675) I have been interesting myself in the “deep ecology” movement (a good introduction is the Wikipedia link here) having recently heard the Australian, John Seed, speak on the topic*. Continue reading Deep ecology & environmental economics (685) What a disaster it would have been to have had Kevin Rudd back as PM. Fortunately enough Labor MPs saw this and Rudd did not have the numbers. His exaggerated claims about being honest reflect only the sickening shallowness of this foolish little man. We want a PM not a disorganised, hyperactive clown with an exaggerated idea of his own importance. Continue reading Thanks Julia (677) Inghams Enterprises is one of the largest chicken and the largest turkey supplier in Australia. It was a private company but was recently sold to TPG for $880 million. Its former owner Bob Ingham is worth over $1b. The sale will undoubtedly make its new owner a lot of money – but unless things change this will be money based on unnecessary animal suffering. As Australia’s Animal Liberation points out Ingham’s workers torture and abuse the animals it sells. I am an “uncomfortable” carnivore but I won’t buy these products again and I encourage others to do the same. Inghams has an “animal rights” policy (to “minimise distress and pain”) which is meaningless because it is not enforced. Even if it is costly to enforce it must be enforced. No excuses, the failure to ensure that sentient beings do not experience unnecessary pain and suffering prior to being killed to provide food for us is a disgrace. So too is the cruel behaviour of the workers shown in the video clip – they are barbarians who should go to jail. (1042) I am attending an Economics of Happiness Conference in Byron Bay NSW. It’s the first time I’ve been here in Byron Bay in more than 30 years. It is an attractive coastal town whose white settler history began when James Cook anchored here in 1770 – he named the town after the grandfather of the poet, Lord Byron. It has a local farming industry – the Norco Dairy Co-op was established here in 1895* – but I suspect the main industry these days is domestic and international tourism – lots of German, Spanish and Asian languages are spoken by the (mainly) young surfers and other visitors who make up the bulk of the tourists. There are a few bigger hotels and restaurants for the upmarket tourist segment but my perception is that this a destination mainly for youth and their “hippy” parents who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s. The place does have a “nice vibe”, to use some language I have nearly forgotten – very laid-back and friendly. I made a determined effort to “lighten-up”. Continue reading Byron Bay & happiness (533) This study confirms the Mann “hockey-stick” story but takes the global temperature rise back 11,500 years. Temperatures during the past 100 years have increased faster than in any period since the start of the Holocene 11,500 years ago. I can’t locate a preprint of the Science article that details these claims. (1549) (i) 47% of Americans hold the creationist view that God created humans in their present form during the last 10,000 years. Nothing new about this mass delusion either -since 44% held this belief 30 years ago. America has grown only slightly more irrational. (ii) Only 15% of americans believe in the scientific theory of evolution – that evolution occurred and that it was not a God-driven process. (iii) Guess what? Republicans are particularly deluded. 58% of Republicans believe (i) and only 5% believe (ii). (iv) Guess what? The less educated you are the more likely you are to endorse creationism – 52% of those with only high school education accept (i) and only 11% believe (ii). Almost even more startling to me is that 25% of postgraduates believe (i)! American education quality? (1776) The apparent refusal of aboriginal Australians to allow the removal of feral animals from Kakadu is a tragedy. Kakadu’s feral populations should be controlled by knowledgeable conservation biologists and scientists not by ill-informed group of any ethnicity. Similarly native species, such as Dugong and Green sea-turtle, should be managed on the basis of human science not on the basis of barbarous past practises. Cultural sensitivities do not justify unnecessary cruel behaviour by anyone. (1248) For once I agree with an Age editorial. Dennis Napthine the new Premier of Victoria has replaced Ted Bailleau and seems to have formed an alliance with MP Geoff Shaw who recently quit the Liberal Party enabling continued Liberal rule in Victoria. Mr. Shaw was and still is under investigation for abusing his allowances by using them to promote private interests. This deeply religious Pentacostal Christian has a chequered history. Shaw’s resignation from the Liberal Party seems to have triggered the change in Leadership. Now it is claimed that Shaw is seeking an expanded superannuation scheme payout from the new leadership. Continue reading Farce in Victorian State Politics (4561) In a study funded by Phillip Morris our friendly neighbourhood carcinogen retailers are wailing that their business has been adversely affected by the plain packaging laws on cigarettes. It takes them longer to serve customers and they give customers the wrong brand more frequently. They didn’t even get a chance to lobby for subsidies to offset the cost impacts. What bulldust- the brand is still on the packet. They should employ shop assistants who can read. In other news I see that the UK will follow New Zealand in introducing plain packaging. Good. Will Phillip Morris fund a further study there? They never lie do they? These honest business want to retain their business. Smoking kills 100,000 people annually in the UK. (1282) Its a stupid line in a discussion of any issue since it (the ability of anyone to express a view) is almost never the issue being discussed. I discussed the fallacy of this reasoning years ago on this blog but the erroneous thinking still arises and still bugs me. I notice the issue is discussed over at The Conversation but I think the author Patrick Stokes does not get it quite right. Its not that this line can be used to justify silly or unreasoned views – although that is certainly true – but essentially that the claim is irrelevant to what is being argued. If, for example, the argument concerns the ethical case for legal abortion, and those arguing put a series of reasoned claims but then one party closes with a defiant “everybody is entitled to their own opinion” then this resolves nothing. The argument is not whether people have the right to an opinion but whether, in fact, abortion is ethical. The discussion is won by the person who provides the best reasons for their respective view – the claim that one party has the right to “express themselves” is irrelevant. (1604) A popular myth is that the unemployed are only unhappy because they lose income. They derive gains from the increased leisure they enjoy – hence the popular notion of the “dole-bludger” at Bondi Beach enjoying the surf and sunshine while the rest of us slave away supporting their dole payments with our taxed income. Continue reading The unemployed are unhappier than the employed even when income-compensated (938) This New Scientist article suggests not necessarily. The thinking reflects the theme of a recent exhibition in London. Some snippets (with my responses): “Extinction, like death, is a natural part of life,” declares an epigraph at the start of this exhibition. “Extinction isn’t necessarily the end of the world, it could be just the beginning…” (The first statement is wrong if humans engineer a mass extinction while the second statement is a truism). The exhibition aims to make visitors question their ideas on extinction. Is it any worse when caused by humans than by meteorites or volcanic eruptions? Should conservation be our watchword, or should some organisms go extinct? (My intuition is that there is something particularly abhorrent about humans causing extinctions and I think there are sound aesthetic reasons for endorsing a strong conservation ethic – perhaps not for the smallpox virus.) The five mass extinctions in Earth’s history wiped out swathes of life, but out of the devastation new species rose – shaped and honed by evolution – to inherit the Earth. More than 99 per cent of species that ever lived are now dead, and the exhibition hammers home the point that extinction drives evolution, which results in life in all its wondrous forms. (Yes but the time horizons here are immense and we are part of the current biodiversity mix – we live with neighbours who deserve our specific respect). But it tempers this message strongly with a second sobering one: human actions are causing extinctions in a way never before seen. “If we don’t do anything about it, make no mistake – it will hugely affect the world we live in,” says Adrian Lister, a palaeontologist at the museum whose work on the extinct Irish elk forms part of the exhibition. “It would take the biosphere millions of years to recover.” (Of course, agree). It’s not all doom, though. There are upbeat stories on display – animals we drove to the brink but then saved through conservation efforts: the Californian condor, the Arabian oryx, and China’s Pere David’s deer. (These specific recovery efforts are worthwhile but a drop in the ocean in terms of addressing the overall extinction crisis and, more importantly, the significant reduction in intra-specific biodiversity that is occurring even when extinctions are not occurring). Saving other species is laudable, but can we save ourselves? In a thought-provoking section, the museum presents the concept of Homo extinctus - humans wiped out forever. “There’s nothing inevitable about our survival,” says Chris Stringer, the museum’s head of human origins. “The biggest threat to us is us.” (Agreed. I am a pessimist as I have set out before). Extinction: Not the end of the world? is at London’s Natural History Museum until 8 September. (I would like to see it). (1164) |
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