Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Ilivid Searchqu Solution

Well, a temporary solution... a workaround. (or not)

Add this Youtube downloader to your Firefox browser, and it will block attempts by the Iliviid searqu malware to hijack your browser. It wont destroy the virus, but at least you can have some peace while you're finding a way to permanently kill it.

youtubedownloadersite.com

It seems to protect at least some major browsers from being hijacked.

And it's quite a useful piece of free software, too.

Jan 2012.
Not sure that was what was blocking it... I think it may have been one of the other programs I installed. I've disabled and removed just about everything including Glary Utilities (which, as it turned out, had malware in it too - I've emailed Glary so they can fix this problem but as yet have had no reply) and the searqu virus has not raised its ugly head again for the last couple of weeks.

I visited the Ilivid Facebook page last night - it seems they're having difficulty removing the sometimes very nasty comments that keep appearing there.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Ilivid makes me livid




Wrote the following to Google tonight:

"The advert is for ilivid browser plugin. This plugin is malware and is responsible for many thousands of infections. Google 'ilivid malware', 'searchqu'. Go to http://bentinck.blogspot.com/search/label/malware for more information."

I found the advert on paint.net.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Flatearthing VI - Ian Plimer



A former Australian Prime Minister launched a children's book at the Sydney Mining Club by Professor Ian Plimer on the evening of December 12th 2011. The book is described as "an anti-global warmist manual for the younger reader" and is a follow-up to Prof. Plimer's Heaven and Earth.

James Randerson, a Guardian columnist who interviewed him about that work writes: "I found him to be one of the most difficult and evasive interviewees I have spoken to in my career, frequently veering off on tangents rather than answering the question I had put." and that Plimer dismissed critisicms of his book as "pathetic nit-picking". He points out that the first diagram in the book has two major errors, whch this reader understands to mean that the whole tenet of the book is basically wrong. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2009/dec/14/climate-change-sceptic-ian-plimer


Barry Brook, head of Adelaide University's Research Institute for Climate Change and Sustainability writes:
"In short, my view was that Ian’s assertions about man’s role in climate change were naive, reflected a poor understanding of climate science, and relied on recycled and distorted arguments that had been repeatedly refuted."
http://bravenewclimate.com/2009/04/23/ian-plimer-heaven-and-earth/

The Australian (April 23 2009) quotes him as saying " [Plimer's] stated view of climate science is that a vast number of extremely well respected scientists and a whole range of specialist disciplines have fallen prey to delusional self-interest and become nothing more than unthinking ideologues", and "Plausible to conspiracy theorists, perhaps, but hardly a sane world view, and insulting to all those genuinely committed to real science."


The Australian Science Media Centre has a collection of critiques of Palmer's Heaven and Earth, all from reputable scientists. Here are a few extracts:

"Plimer’s book has many errors in it. Below I draw particular attention to his misinterpretation of sea-level changes and their significance, and comment on his misrepresentation of the IPCC."
Professor Colin Woodroffe

“In 2008 I debated Ian Plimer on one of Sydney’s top rating radio stations about the facts and fiction surrounding climate change. All of what he had to say was either patently untrue or horribly misleading. "
Professor Matthew England

"The most disappointing aspect of this book is the wide use of subjective and often emotive text, unbecoming of a scientific treatise..."
Dr Graeme Pearman

In previous publications Plimer has expressed the viewpoint that the present warming is principally due to ‘natural’ forcings rather than anthropogenic CO2. The evidence included in the 2007 IPCC Report explicitly refutes this.”
Dr Harvey Marchant

“I have also twice debated climate change in public with Ian Plimer. His position is a combination of sound geological knowledge which is irrelevant to the debate about climate change, and a wilful misunderstanding of recent climate science.
Professor Ian Lowe



Wikipedia also has a few things to say about the learned professor, including:
"Scientists from many disciplines have reviewed the book, and have accused Plimer of misrepresenting sources,[34][35] misusing data,[36][34][37] and engaging in conspiracy theories.[38][39] They describe the book as unscientific,[40] and containing numerous errors from which Plimer draws false conclusions."

"The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stated that Plimer's claim [that undersea volcanoes emit huge amounts of CO2] "has no factual basis."

Wikipedia also mentions that Palmer is a director of three Australian mining companies and an associate of the Institute on Public Affairs.



And as a footnote, former PM John Howard is not the first prominent Australian Liberal Party member to lionise Ian Palmer.

"I think that in response to the IPCC alarmist — in inverted commas — view, there've been quite a lot of other reputable scientific voices. Now not everyone agrees with Ian Plimer's position, but he is a highly credible scientist and he has written what seems like a very well-argued book refuting most of the claims of the climate catastrophists."
Tony Abbott, leader of the Opposition, Sydney Morning Herald 2009




Monday, December 12, 2011

Rock Around the Clock - Telstra

Every time it rains (and it seems to be doing that a lot up my way of late) my phone goes all crackly and my internet (ASDL II) drops out, sometimes several times a minute.

Last time it happened I spent a looong time on the phone and eventually got someone to agree that a technician would come out, which he did, several days later - by which time it had stopped raining, everything had dried out, and my phone and internet were all good again.

This time I thought I'd be a bit clever, and at the first hint of things going haywire in the wiring department I used the direct number the technician had given me. I explained the problem and he replied that he was busy, ring Telstra. "Uh..., but" I said. He hung up.

So I rang Telstra and got onto a nice Indian lady who, after a long conversation much of which consisted of the phrase "I beg your pardon" she told me that as the main fault was the internet connection she would transfer me to another department. Nice lift music. New person tells me I don't have an account with Bigpond so I would have to speak with Telstra.

"Uh..., but" I said. She hung up.

Oooh, I so love Telstra!

Flatearthing V - Sea Ice


A colleague wrote the following:

"About 15 years ago a friend went to Antarctica and found that a fiord up which Shackleton had sailed his wind-jammer in the 1800s could not be approached nearer than 10 miles by ice-breaker - it was frozen over.
At about the same time an explorer managed to sail across the top of Canada to Russia - no sea ice and then a couple of years later everyone died trying to repeat the passage because the ice returned and crushed the ship's hull."

Arctic sea ice drops to record low - September 12, 2011


Arctic sea ice extent last week dropped to a new record minimum. At 4.24 million square kilometres, sea ice cover on 8 September was 27,000 sq km below the previous record low, observed in 2007.

Satellite observations of Arctic sea ice have been available only since 1972. However, this year’s sea ice minimum may well be the lowest in 8,000 years.

Nature
http://blogs.nature.com/news/2011/09/arctic_sea_ice_drops_to_record.html

Arctic sea ice decline breaking records over 1,000 years old

According to a new paper in Nature, sea ice in the Arctic is now declining at a pace and scale not seen for over a thousand years. It estimates that after decades of decline, the amount of ice locked away in the High North is now 2 million km2 smaller than it was at the end of the 20th Century and that ice-free summers at the Pole are likely sooner rather than later.

Greenpeace
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/makingwaves/arctic-sea-ice-decline-breaking-records-over-/blog/38002/



Arctic sea ice and record lows
Scientists at University of Bremen in Germany thought it was a new record, while data from NSIDC showed the sea ice at its second-lowest level.

National Snow and Ice Data Center
http://nsidc.org/icelights



Climate change logic lost in translation

In 2010, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences expressed the scientific consensus on climate change by calling it a “settled fact”.


http://theconversation.edu.au/climate-change-logic-lost-in-translation-1279



One should probably read what the denialists are saying on the matter...

The Official blog of Australia's NO CARBON TAX Climate Sceptics party
"The science is out on whether Sea Levels are rising. As this blog has written before, data show that Sea Levels are falling "

The page above quotes that doyen of social justice and fair play, Andrew Bolt, and also implies that coastal engineer Doug Lord lost his job for attempting to publish results on sea levels contrary to mainstream science, as does this page by News Ltd's Miranda Devine:
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/opinion/drowning-in-a-tide-of-fear/story-e6frfhqf-1226216622028

What neither page mentions is that

The Office of Environment and Heritage said the paper by Doug Lord and a colleague were withdrawn over “concerns raised by an independent statistician about the statistical analysis of tide gauge records”.

http://watchingthedeniers.wordpress.com/2011/12/08/mirandas-devines-annus-mirabilis-2011-the-year-she-overturned-climate-science-in-a-single-article/

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Flatearthing IV - Lavoisier Group



I was sent a PDF signed by Philip R Wood of The Lavoisier Group, Australian climate change denialists. It contains the sentence

Hilarious! –World Leaders meet to discuss controlling the climate

Here are a few rebuttals:

"Author Clive Hamilton, in his book Scorcher, says that one can find the following arguments in the various papers promoted by the Lavoisier Group:

There is no evidence of global warming.


If there is evidence of global warming, then it is not due to human activity.


If global warming is occurring and it is due to human activity, then it is not going to be damaging.


If global warming is occurring and it is due to human activity, and it is going to be damaging, then the costs of avoiding it are too high, so we should do nothing."


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavoisier_Group



"Climate change is about science, but not just about science. It's about business and politics and wielding influence. The men - there was just one woman present - were all climate change sceptics, members of an organisation called the Lavoisier Group that argues global warming is nothing to worry about. ... The only problem for the sceptics is that the vast majority of scientists think they are the ones that are deluded. "There's a better scientific consensus on this than on any issue I know - except maybe Newton's second law of dynamics", Dr James Baker, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration"

The Age, 2004
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/11/26/1101219743320.html


"Global warming scepticism is being manipulated by tactics reminiscient of an earlier campaign of denial, writes David McKnight.
When the tobacco industry was feeling the heat from scientists who showed smoking caused cancer, it took decisive action..."

"In May, the multibillion-dollar oil giant Exxon Mobil acknowledged it had been doing something similar. It said it would cease funding nine groups that had fuelled a global campaign to deny climate change.
Exxon's decision came after a shareholder revolt by members of the Rockefeller family and big superannuation funds to get the company to take climate change more seriously."

"In Australia, the main body trying to undermine the science of global warming is the Lavoisier Group. It maintains a website with links to the Competitive Enterprise Institute (more than $2 million from Exxon), the Science and Environmental Policy Project ($20,000) and the Centre for the Study of Carbon Dioxide (at least $100,000)."

The Sydney Morning Herald, August 2nd 2008
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/08/01/1217097533885.html



The "Hilarious" Lavoisier article mentioned above was sent to my colleague by Cliff Ollier. Here is a link to the only article I could find by him online, although I'm sure there are many more as he is credited with publishing hundreds. I'll allow you to draw your own conclusions as to the article's merit.
http://www.lavoisier.com.au/articles/greenhouse-science/method/ollier2008-28.php

The good professor is listed among the 413 "prominent scientists" listed in 2008 by Senator James M. Inhofe as having "voiced significant objections to major aspects of the so-called 'consensus' on man-made global warming."

According to thedailygreen.com,

  • 84 have either taken money from, or are connected to, fossil fuel industries, or think tanks started by those industries.
  • 49 are retired
  • 44 are television weathermen
  • 20 are economists
  • 70 have no apparent expertise in climate science

http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/inhofe-global-warming-deniers-47011101

Flat Earth cartoon with kind permission of http://www.sprattiart.com/

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Flatearthing III


Lord Monckton


A colleague sent me a link to a page which I initially took as a hoax, and then realised it was in fact a collection of articles by climate change deniers and other loonies. He had received the initial email from a chap claiming to be a university professor.

Here's my reply:

I just phoned the good Prof., Michael. There was no answer and no answering machine so difficult to confirm whether he really sent it. I'm fairly confident, however, that that's not a number at the UWA.
It's quite possible he is a real person and he has credentials a little more credible than those of "Lord" Monckton - after all, we both know that there are quite a few characters out there who are not in the employ of the oil and energy companies and who really do believe that stuff.

For every one of them, there are roughly a thousand highly credible scientists who say they're a sandwich short of the picnic.

Here are a few pages which I'm sure you're already familiar with:

http://www.abc.net.au/science/expert/realexpert/climatechange/

http://www.abc.net.au/science/features/globalwarmingswindle/

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/the-warmest-year-yet-says-nasa-20100603-x7f5.html

and for light entertainment:

http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2009/10/21/MonktonClimate/

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Searchqudtx.dll Virus

More information...
This is what I found in IE today:

Name: Searchqu Toolbar


Publisher: Control name is not available

Type: Browser Helper Object

Version: Not available

File date:

Date last accessed: Today, 6 November 2011, 2 minutes ago

Class ID: {99079A25-328F-4BD4-BE04-00955ACAA0A7}

Use count: 7

Block count: 1370

File: searchqudtx.dll

Folder: C:\PROGRA~1\WI371A~1\Datamngr\ToolBar
 
I went down 9 levels in C:\Programs and could not find the blighter with Xtree. Windows Explorer seach could not find anything for searchqu either.

Squelch

Tapping away for hours, deep in thought. Wrench myself away from the computer for coffee or whatever. After a few steps I wonder why my Crocs are squelching, and to my horror when I look down I see they're oozing blood and I've left a trail of gore behind me. WTF?

Leech, for sure, I decide, having washed the blood off my feet and finding nothing other than a congealed mess that must have been the leach before I squashed it walking - it was in both shoes because I tend to sit with legs crossed, one foot over the other.

I clean up the mess, go back to work, and after a while... more effin' blood. This time I found the leech, alive and well, and more puddles of blood. It had disgorged the first lot all over the floor under my desk, the curtains soaking up a good part of it, and had come back for a second go. I read somethere they don't like salt. This one certainly didn't.

Chatting today with a client about a medical site we got on to the subject of dentists (thieving dentists, I think I said - almost a tautology in this neck of the woods) and how some still use amalgam which contains mercury, from there to medieval use of mercury as a treatment for venereal disease, and then on to leeches. He was shocked when I said I believed they were still being used in modern medicine, so I looked it up.

True!

The US Goverments' FDA recently approved the marketing of leeches which are used in reconstructive surgery and other purposes. This BBC article refers to them as "hungry little draculas".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3858087.stm

The medical term is Hirudotherapy. Here it is in Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirudotherapy
 

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Noddy and The Dinosaur




An 850T is a fairly pedestrian motorcycle. It has very little power for an 850cc machine - not that surprising really when one considers that the engine's very recent ancestor graced a tractor - a small and rather nimble tractor, but still a tractor. The Italian machine also had no brakes to speak of - unless of course its early Brembo stoppers were in the mood to actually pull you up within the first 400 yards or so of your request for retardation and attempt to overcome the steam locomotive flywheel effect that on the open road just kept it going on and on and on...


But... with it's Tonti frame it handled, and the odd sidelong throb gave it something of an aura, a mystique; how does one describe it, this affinity man has for an inanimate object? The Italian sports car is a classic example. Ferrari, it's not a car, you'll hear some say, it's much more than that. It's alive. It's like living with a Picasso. Like a beautiful woman way out of your class - well, out of mine, anyway - who stays with you because you drive her crazy now and then. The Guzzi is like that. A bit. Sorta.

The 850T had another desirable feature - a compliance plate which allowed for all sorts of modifications not legal on later machines. Around this humble frame emerged my Guzzi Special. The engine was a well-warmed LM3 with 4 valve heads lifted from custom Le Mans with Stucchi bodwork into which slotted a standard engine and flogged to help finance the project. The forks were magnesium Marzocchis that I assembled from leftovers from one of Gowies racebikes. The tank was from an LM1, as were the instruments, and the seat was an Agostini. It had an 8" headlight from an early SR500. The diff was an 8:1 - the original 9:1 went bang when someone tried to wheelstand it. Cute front guard from some 250. Akront wire wheels with floating 320 Brembo's and matching calipers. Shocks most likely Konis.

The exhaust was a wonderfully crafted piece by Dennis Foran with a sound that sent you straight to heaven.

The 1000cc V-twin had a swiss-cheesed Agostini flywheel, fancy pistons to match the KCS heads, Carillo rods and a sensible camshaft. Bolted to the back of it were some German deliciosi. 44mm magnesium Bings. The gearbox was a straight cut close ratio unit I'd originally built up for our sadly departed racebike.

It took many years to collect all the bits, and several months to assemlble it all into a machine... a Machine.

The night we fitted the engine we wired it up and put a battery in it. It didn't whine a few times and cough. It didn't mumble WTF. It didn't miss and fart and offer something it really didn't want to give. It fired immediately, sang when blipped, and settled to a happy idle. Thoroughly civilized, but aching for the wild.

Frankenstein eat ya heart out!

......................

They were waiting for me. I'd seen one lurking in mufti at the exit of a corner I usually scraped through, not so long after I'd thrown away my BMW at the roundabout up the road in front of a couple of startled dahlings. And I'd gone blasting past a group of HD hopefuls under the guidance of a Stay Upright instructor who was probably an ex-NSW Police training officer, bypassing most of them by shortcutting through the Double Bay shopping centre at 110db before cutting under one of the fledglings who was flumoxed by aroundabout, hurtled up towards New South Head Road straight past the ex-Plod and his not so Noddy bike. Not that I had such a good look at him, mind, I just figured it out long after the event. The getting of wisdom.

I was on the same route that Christmas Eve, had to get home, get changed, get somewhere else and was fairly cracking it, weaving fast through the evening traffic. A siren sounded behind. I couldn't believe it, how the hell could they be on me in all this. Doh!

A sergeant and a constable. The latter did the talking and threatened to have me drawn and quartered, at least. Do you know how fast were you going through the intersection of Summat and Other? Uh, I stammered, where. It was the roundabout I'd tossed the K100 across.

After a few more minutes - not a word as I recall from the sergeant - the constable tole me to consider yourself warned and drove off. I reflected on this as I put my helmet and gloves back on, staring at the blue and white sign on the Rose Bay police station 25 metres from the bus stop at which I'd halted.

That was 25 years ago. I've not had a ticket or been pulled over since.

I saw a photo of the bike recently. With touring bags not quite so elegant perhaps, but still delightfully retro. The chap who bought it from me had a rough trot. It blew the rings. Guilt abides.

It was the only motorcycle I ever had a name for.

Pterodactyl

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Searchqu Malware Virus

My computer is infested with searchqu malware

It's not a virus, it hijacks browsers such as Internet Explorer, Firefox and Google Chrome

whois search for searchqu.com

Registrar: GODADDY.COM, INC.
Whois Server: whois.godaddy.com
Name Servers:
dns.netvision.net.il
nypop.netvision.net.il

whois search for netvision.net.il
person: Liora Barak
address: Netvision Ltd
address: Omega Center , Matam
address: Haifa
address: 31905
address: Israel

phone: 04-8560600 (answering service)
fax-no: 04-8551004

e-mail: registrar@netvision.net.il

person: Wide Area Network Group
address: NetVision - Israeli ISP

address: Advanced Technology Center Haifa, 31905, send SPAM and ABUSE complaints to abuse AT netvision.net.il
address: as above
phone: 04 8560 634 (not connected)

Main Office013 Netvision
15 Hamelacha St., Rosh Ha’ayin 48091
Fax: 972-3-9001113
Omega Center, Matam Haifa 31905
Tel: 972-4-8560660 Fax: 972-3-5201960 SalesTel: 1-800-013-013
customer service Tel: 972-4-8560660 Fax: 972-3-5201960

service@netvision013.net.il

Support Tel: 972-4-8560570
Spokesperson Dana Friedman
Telephone: + 972 3 9001861 (leave message)
Cell: 972 52 3133300

E-mail: dana@013netvision.co.il

Several phone calls to Dana Friedman's landline have not been returned, and she has not responded to mobile calls either.

Searchqu.com is owned and operated by Bandoo, Inc.
e-mail: privacy@searchqu.com
Postal: Bandoo, Inc., Attention: Privacy Policy Administrator, 40 kimonos st.3095 Limassol, Cyprus

................

The scumware installed by ilivid is very difficult to remove, if you believe the hundreds of forum posts on the subject. I have run both Malwarebytes and another removal tool which both picked up trojans and trackers, but so far nothing will remove Searchqu - it just keeps coming back.

Here's a post I've not yet tried:
http://www.malwareremoval.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=57145

.........
Not directly related, an article about suing malware distributors:
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/113850/microsoft-sues-malware-distributors.html

.........

On my XP machine I found an entry in Program Files/searchcore for browsers and ran the uninstall.exe, then deleted the remaining dlls and directories. I then uninstalled all mention of the scumware from IE again. 24 hours later, so far, so good.
....
Several days later, it's back.

Searchqu on Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Searchqu

.........
Removing Searchqu from Google Chrome
Step 1. Press ctrl+shift+del in Chrome, and clear your private data, cookies etc


Step 2. Click on Tools (the spanner icon, top right) > Options > Basics then click the Manage Search Engines button. If the nasty is in there, remove it by clicking X on the right side when you highlight it. It will probably have a name like Web Search.

.........
Hard to believe, but this scumware is distributed not only by shady fly-by-night software sites, but also by some of the largest and ostenibly most trustworthy around, including cnet, which, to its credit, displays numerous negative review which say ie ""DANGER DO NOT INSTALL"
.........
Postscript Dec 2011
I posted something about Ilivid, searchqu and malware on Wikipedia. It was deleted with a warning indicating it was rather naughty to say whatever I said. Can't have been very complimentary!

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Schapelle Corby Revisited

Schapelle Corby was convicted in an Indonesian court of smuggling 4kg of marijuana into the country in her boogie board bag.

When she was arrested and the facts began to surface, I voiced my opinion that she was innocent. Probably not a wise move as at the time I had as a major client an American anti-drug organisation. I lost the account.

My lawyer said she was guilty. The Indonesian justice system said she was guilty. The Australian newspapers said she was guilty. Eventually I capitulated, but I did feel that a 20 year sentence was perhaps a tad harsh, particularly in light of the fact that the Bali Bomber got only four years (of which he served less than 26 months).

However, it appears there are still people out there who are standing up for convicted drug smuggler Schappel Corby who is quietly going mad in an overcrowded, stinking Indonesian prison.

Among them are the publishers of The Expendable Project who make numerous points well worth  consideration if ever you had even the shadow of a doubt about the outcome of the case.

It is worth taking into account the long list of drug associations of family members and friends which Wikipedia outlines. This in itself does not prove guilt, but there's an awful lot of smoke!


Postscript Nov 2011

A new book on the subject has just been released.
"Sins of the Father by Sun-Herald journalist Eamonn Duff adds a myriad detail to the circumstances surrounding Australia's most polarising criminal cases since Lindy Chamberlain's conviction."

It leaves little doubt of Schappelle Corby's guilt.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/we-agree--corby-is-guilty-says-publisher-20111109-1n6fw.html



Thursday, September 15, 2011

Noddy Felt a Little Queer

Noddy banned? I'd heard and repeated this one so many times, but I really thought it was a myth until I came across the transcript of Andrew Denton interviewing Don Chip on Enough Rope...

ANDREW DENTON: When you were Minister for Customs and Excise, you were in charge of censorship in this country and at that time, late 60s, early 70s, you've described Australia as censorship crazy. In what way?

DON CHIPP: The list was banned. You couldn't publish it.

ANDREW DENTON: The list?

DON CHIPP: You didn't know what was banned and what wasn't. Intolerable. I published the list and the reasons why it was banned.

ANDREW DENTON: Were there some stupid bannings? Were these all sensual books, or…

DON CHIPP: 'Noddy' was banned once.

ANDREW DENTON: 'Noddy'.

DON CHIPP: Enid Blyton, because there is a place on page 84 which says "And Noddy walked down a country lane and felt a little queer."

ANDREW DENTON: And that was banned in this country?

DON CHIPP: Yeah.

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/enoughrope/transcripts/s1730839.htm

Monday, August 22, 2011

Do You Believe?


"Do you believe", said Frederique, and paused, searching for words. English is not her first language. Nor her second or third, for that matter. "In Yeti?" I replied. "Oui. In Miracles? Oui. In Santa Clause? Not so much."

I forget now what the question was, but it led to a discussion of Yeti which involved a mention of them in "The Long Walk", a book published in the mid 1950's and which to my utter amazement Frederique was quite familiar with. I've used that reference many times over the years to bolster my argument that the creatures are far from mythical, having seen what I believe must have been their tracks high in the Himalayas during a trek in the early 80's.

I was mortified to learn that a BBC researcher has cast serious doubt on the veracity of the author, having found documentation which contradict his claims to have made the extraordinary journey.

The Wikipedia article on the author and his book leaves the question open.

As for miracles, Peter FitzSimons introduces a story of an extraordinary failure. Sydney's infamous suicide spot The Gap at South Head has been much in the news in recent years as the location where the beautiful young model Caroline Byrne was hurled to her death. Gordon Wood was convicted of her murder. In 1923 The Gap made headlines when young Nellie, broken-hearted, climbed the railing, covered her eyes, and leapt to certain death on the rocks below. A split second later she had a change of heart and decided she really wanted to live. How do we know that, you might ask? A freak wave crashed onto the rock ledge and she landed in momentarily deep water, and her plunge was witnessed by two fishermen in a boat who braved the huge seas to rescue her.

The full story is quite marvelous, and told with considerable flair.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

AC/DC




Eleanore & I arrived at Frederique's place in Switzerland, found the key in the letterbox as arranged, and proceeded upstairs carrying a few bits of luggage and the package which had also been in the post box. As it turned out Serge was already home and greeted us at the door. As I handed him the package he said "Ah, that will be my AC/DC CD's - delivered by an Australian!"

I do love these tiny rhymes of life.

In the news recently:
You Shook Me All Night Long Moscato ACDC Wine
And this gem by Peter FitzSimons on bassist Mark Evans
Lit up with le Bon vivant

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Nancy Wake



A chapter of history was underlined yesterday with the death of the White Mouse, nom de guerre of Nancy Wake, born in NZ and raised in Australia.

A leader of 7000 resistance fighters during WWII, she received France's highest military award, the Legion d'honneur, and three Croix de guerre. She was also decorated by the British and, belatedly, by the Australian Government in 2004.

Nancy holds a very special place in my heart. Her story is told by Russell Braddon and the book sat first on my step-mother Sue's bookshelf and later, in triplicate, on mine. When Peter Fitzsimons book arrived, I discovered to my great surprise that Nancy had lived next door to a close childhood friend, Stewart (whose brother had a Heinkel scooter) and she went to the same church in which I'd been confirmed, St Augustines, directly across the road from my house in Wycombe Road, Neutral Bay.

Further information in this 2009 post about Nancy Wake.

More on Nancy Wake's exploits at the SMH:
http://www.smh.com.au/national/memories-of-the-feisty-white-mouse-20110808-1ij8z.html

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Paper Nautilus


Some years ago my friend Rob Thompson and I were flying my glider from Tasmania to mainland Australia when the weather closed in as we were approaching Flinders Island. We were forced to land on tiny Cape Baren Island (population about 250) at an airstrip which has a very short cross strip in case there are strong winds. By now it was blowing hard, and it was a very difficult landing.

We stayed overnight with the postmaster and his wife. Their son was in the RAAF (The Royal Australian Air Force) so they were very pleased to host a couple of fellow pilots. The postmaster's wife was a Tasmanian aborigine. The history of the Tasmanian aborigines is a very sad one indeed - the race was almost wiped out by the impact of the Europeans.

The postmaster collects paper nautilus shells which are from a type of squid which sometimes wash up on the beaches of the Bass Strait islands in the thousands after storms. Very few of the delicate shells survive as they are pecked and eaten by birds. I brought several of the rare and beautiful shells back to Sydney in the back of the glider, very carefully packed.

I made a present of one of those shells to Emile for his 18th birthday.

Friday, July 1, 2011

Baccalauréat


Riding in the car with Emile we discussed tomorrows' oral examination, his broken English and my extemely fragile franglais. I worked out that it was to be on a literary figure and suggested Molliere as a for instance. As I cannot yet roll my rrrs I had to explain you know, the writer from the 17th (or 18th) century, humorous plays...

The following day he phoned me and opened the conversation by telling me the subject of his exam. Molliere! Later when we met I asked if he was pulling my leg, mais non, he had it in his mind as he walked into the examination room, hoping it might be him as he knew the subject well. And it was.

...................

And in a similar vein

This year I intended to repeat last year's Alpine motorcycle trip with a friend as pillion passenger, but cancelled much to her disappointment. All was not lost, however, as she got a spot pillioning with the tour leader, Cliff Pop of Ozalps. Some sort of family emergency caused her to cancel too. Her son James returned to the UK after a visit with her in Australia, and there got into conversation with chap in a pub and mentioned that his mum was very disappointed to have missed the adventure. Turned out the chap he was chatting with was going on the very same trip.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Faster Pastor



Paul, aka Revving Rev or The Faster Pastor, has had his fair share of adventures. His latest project is a blog which makes interesting reading particularly for those of the Christian persuasion. He and Marian recently appeared as the vicar and his very cute wife in the movie bearing their names. Paul had asked the director for a cameo and Jay Stern was so taken by the idea that a part was created for them.

http://paulandmariansinclair.wordpress.com/

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Uprising


Hamza Ali al-Khateeb was a 13yo boy arrested by Syrian authorities during a demonstration. His body was returned to his parents only when they signed an undertaking to not reveal or comment upon the manner of his death. They refused to keep silent, and have presumeably been arrested to suffer a similar fate.

The family released an horrific video detailing the extent of the boy's injuries which include numerous cigarette burns, bullet holes in his knees, a shattered jaw and a broken neck. The Syrian government thugs then cut off his penis, before killing him.

Hamza on Facebook

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Hickups



An item in the SMH today caught my eye when it described the audience at the Sydney Writers' Festival as 900 credulous fools. The speaker was the notorious David Hicks, an Australian incarcerated and tortured at Guantanamo Bay, and he was given a standing ovation.

The Sydney Writer's Festival seems an unlikely gathering point for 900 credulous fools, but that's how the author of the piece, Ted Lapkin, describes them. Ted, bless his cotton socks, works for the authoritative-sounding Institute of Public Affairs, which according to that pinko publication Wikipedia, is an advocate of free market economic policies and by sourcewatch.org (anti-tobacco, so probably another commie front) as "a right-wing, corporate funded think tank based in Melbourne."

Interestingly, the name John Roskam is linked to the IPA, for whom he writes. In an article titled Turning up the heat on climate change alarmists he quotes one Professor Bob Carter numerous times. Turns out Carter is also a member of the IPA.

Corporate-Funded indeed. Listed among its contributors are ExxonMobil, BHP Billiton, Phillip Morris, Murray Irrigation Limited, and Visy Industries.

The IPA has published articles "critical of scientific research on the dangers of passive smoking" and "adopts a position of climate change scepticism".

These are the real climate change tragics.

And as for David Hicks - well, I wasn't at the lecture and I've not read the book, but when the good guys use torture on the ones they call the bad guys...


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_of_Public_Affairs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_M._Carter

Postscript Feb 1202
An article in the SMH mentions that sensitive documents unwittingly revealed by US conservative think tank The Heartland Institute list among those it has made payments to include Australian scientist Bob Carter.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Old Farts



For this I'm indebted to Stephen Fry (but then, aren't we all).

Jeanne Louise Calment, born in Arles, France in 1875, attributed her remarkable longevity to the consumption and application to her skin of olive oil. On her 121st birthday she said "I only have one wrinkle
and I'm sitting on it".

Of the notary public, Andre-Francois Raffray, who purchased her apartment, promising to pay $500 per month until Jeanne died, she said "In life, one sometimes makes bad deals" By the time he died in December 1995 he had paid twice the market value of the apartment. Jeanne died in 1997.

Compared to Li Ching-Yuen, however, Jeanne Calmet was but a spring chicken when she shuffled off. Wikipedia writes: "... in 1930, Professor Wu Chung-chieh of the University of Chengdu discovered Imperial Chinese government records from 1827, congratulating one Li Ching-Yuen on his 150th birthday, and further documents later congratulating him on his 200th birthday in 1877. In 1928, a New York Times correspondent wrote that many of the old men in Li's neighborhood asserted that their grandfathers knew him when they were boys, and that he at that time was a grown man."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Ching-Yuen

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Orange Bananas

If you're an IE tragic (as am I) you may have come across sites which fail to function in Bill's admittedly somewhat bloated browser, a reaction perhaps to one corporation having such a huge share of the market and a concerted effort by members of the global technorati to encourage users to switch to a less buggy viewing platform.

In his defence, considerable good results from the Microsoft World via the Gates Foundation. Five years ago 43 scientists were given grants amounting to $450 million, and one of the projects is a banana enhanced with vitamin A. Not so silly, actually, when you think about it.

Read more...