Saturday, November 21

taking the heat

Over in Australia, officially it's still only spring, but already the bush fire warning level has been raised to catastrophic. The only thing that can save them now is if the arsonists stay home. Home is where the air conditioning is.

The hot winds are making things worse, but it's an ill wind etc, and their government is now even more likely to pass their list of climate change measures, before Copenhagen. Australia wants to lead the world for a change, even if only in yet another sporting event - shooting yourself in the foot.

Here in NSC, we're not usually prone to conspiracy theorising, but we did read that Mr Gore, whose consortium allegedly stands to make a killing in the area of emissions permit trading, has allegedly just bought a big house on the waterfront.

Balanced people like me don't care one way or the other, but I do feel sorry for the Aussie punters who will be paying an extra tax scheme for ever more. Even when the scheme proves futile, there's never yet been an instance of a tax being repealed.

I remember when I lived there, there was a government brainwave called the 3 x 3 tax - a temporary three percent surcharge, just for three years, allegedly to fix the roads. Of course after 3 years, the scheme was quietly renamed, and is running still.

That's one of the reasons I left - Aussies pay world-champion levels of taxes and other inposts. Where else does a phone company charge you an extra fee for issuing your phone bill?

And don't get me started on their banks - they charge a fee when you want to deposit your own money with them.

I seem to have wandered off topic. Anyway, we're on the same latitude as Australia, and I can confirm that the heat is stifling. Even with the air conditioning fired up for the first time, the doggy's still panting and my pants are soggy.

It's enough to make you wonder if there's something in this climate change thing after all. If so, our loss will be Old Caledonia's gain. Oh to be in Edinburgh in January, walking down the bridges in my tee shirt.


- Posted from iPod

5 comments:

  1. Albert? What does posted fro Ipod mean? Is that in outer space? Thank God I didn't learn to work those CD things since they're going out of fashion soon. Speaking of taxes, I buy beer which is heavily taxed and the money used to put soldiers in Afghanistan to protect the opium fields of the President's brother and to keep the Talewhos away from the giant copper mile the Chinese have just bought with a 30 million dollar bribe. I was stuck in a train for an hour and half this evening due to a landslide in Breich and the train was cold so don't get me started on the poor basturns downunder who are having to stare at all the half naked women walking about saying, Oh, I'm so hot! So hot! Hotboy

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  2. Hotters. Easy for you to say from the comfort of a nice temperate clime like Jockoland. Hereabouts anyone can dry off their undies just by wearing them for ten minutes, you don't even have to be a blissheid. There's no way of knowing who is and isn't a flatheid. How would you cope?

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  3. Albert? Victoria Bitter! From a glass that's been in the beer fridge. Doesn't taste right here in the cold! Hotboy

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  4. I say!

    What with the rain and everything, here in Kalimbuka it's been quite muggy here recently. But one can't complain. The gardens need the rain. Up in Kenya, I think they missed the rains.

    With respect to Hotters' comment above, surely some of the taxes should go to developing somme decent pitches in Afghanistan. That matting one I pointed to on my blog last week just isn't cricket.

    MM III

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  5. Mingers, this is bad taste I know, but I understand they will be using Blastroturf (blastproof astroturf) in future.

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