Some species of plants which existed when Australia was part of Gondwanaland still live here - and it is the only place in the world you find them.
If the mists stop rolling in off the ocean and hitting the highlands then the biodiversity of the Daintree will diminish because the forest will change.
The upland species will disappear from the mountains which were part an ancient reef system before tectonic movement pushed them up leaving only the Great Barrier Reef.
These ancient mountains have been worn down by the millennia.
The possums, frogs and insects which are unable to live in warmer zones would move up the mountain if it went any higher, but it doesn't.
(I'm paraphrasing information from a technical tour of the Daintree hosted by James Cook University's Professor of Geography Steve Turton.)
Here are some oneliners you may not have heard....
LOG ON: Adding wood to make the Barbie hotterLOG OFF: Not adding any more wood to the BarbieMONITOR: Keeping an eye on the BarbieDOWNLOAD: Getting the firewood off the UteHARD DRIVE: Making the trip back home without any cold tinniesKEYBOARD: Where you hang the Ute keysWINDOWS: What you shut when the weather's coldSCREEN: What you shut in the mozzie seasonBYTE: What mozzies doMEGABYTE: What Townsville mozzies doCHIP: Bar snackMICROCHIP: What's left in the bag after you've eaten the chipsMODEM: What you did to the lawnsLAPTOP: Where the cat sleepsSOFTWARE: Plastic knives & forks you get at Red RoosterHARDWARE: Stainless steel knives & forks - from K-MartMOUSE: The small rodent that eats the grain in the shedMAINFRAME: What holds the shed upWEB: What spiders makeWEBSITE: Usually in the shed or under the verandaSEARCH ENGINE: What you do when the Ute won't goCURSOR: What you say when the Ute won't goYAHOO: What you say when the Ute does goUPGRADE: A steep hillSERVER: The person at the pub who brings out the counter lunchMAIL SERVER: The bloke at the pub who brings out the counter lunchUSER: The neighbour who keeps borrowing thingsNETWORK: What you do when you need to repair the fishing netINTERNET: Where you want the fish to goNETSCAPE: What the fish do when they discover the hole in the netONLINE: Where you hang the washingOFFLINE: Where the washing ends up when the pegs aren't strong enough
When you cut open a piece of fruit, you discover something about its intrinsic nature.
The fruit is divided into sections.
A cross-section reveals a floral pattern - you might even think that you have discovered straight lines in nature (a rarity).
But if you look closely you will see an ever so slight gentle curve in the lines. These are called observations.
If you were a scientist, an agrarian economist even, you'd create an avalanche of statistical data: where does it grow, how much is harvested, how much is exported, the sugar content level optimals...
Observations and data make up the weight of evidence about the nature of the thing...
An artist's perspective is different to a scientist's which is different to a grocer's view or a shopper's view. But all views take in a level of uncertainty: cost versus quality (is it rotten inside?), how much can I sell (popularity?), why does the season shift (climate change?).
Your personal interest and taste determines whether or not you buy and eat the fruit - your personal taste may run against popular taste or industry interests.
So when does it become necessary to put personal interest - or industry interests - aside?
You can't keep growing persimmons if the cost of production skyrockets. Similarly, the cost of production for many industries (affecting many people's personal interests) are going to skyrocket if we fail to make a transition to a low-carbon economy.
This is true whether or not Australia takes action to reduce the human carbon footprint - as Ross Garnaut says, any money raised by a carbon tax should benefit the future not be used to "smooth the pillows of dying economic activities". This is not a threat to our way of life. Even coal-fired power plants like Tarong are looking clean alternatives such as bio-sequestraion - they see the need to make the transition.
At the CSIRO's Greenhouse 2011 Forum in Cairns last week, economist Ross Garnaut reiterated the point he has been making since 2008 when he presented his report to then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
"Economics says it's worth doing something about the issue (of climate change) and that it won't be unmanageably expensive if we do it well," Garnaut preached to the converted.
It was an assembly of representatives of the mainstream scientific view: human contribution to climate change must be mitigated as it poses a significant threat to our civilization (and our global economy).
"We can't solve the problem on our own," Garnaut said, "but we make it much harder if we don't participate." The lowest possible cost way is to put a price on carbon.
"China has moved emissions growth a long way from business as usual and that makes quite a big difference to the risks humanity faces. Even they have a long way to go but we have even further."
The awful reality is that Australia is not pulling its weight. Our skyrocketing consumption of electricity and excessive use of motor vehicles makes us one of the most wasteful countries (per capita) on Earth.
"Setting an economy-wide price for carbon on external costs will gie us the lowest cost solution," Garnaut advises.
Australia is richly endowed with renewable energy resources and with the technical expertise (engineering, geological and earth sciences) to thrive in a low-carbon global economy, he says.
"Uncertainty is not a case for not acting that's an unanalytical way of approaching this," Garnaut said. Humans take out insurance against uncertainty - what's the difference here, he asks. "It would be a reckless country and a reckless species that turned its back on the weight of authority coming from mainstream science.
"We know from that the world is warming. We know that from observation without much science except statistical analysis."
Shifting seasons, flowering plants, bird migration - these are observations biologists and gardeners have been making for years.
Watch the whole of Ross Garnaut's speech on the National Science Week video blog.
This is an article I wrote for a newsletter sent to financial planners - I'm publishing it here because the comments made in response might be of interest. I'm not identifying the authors of the comments.
So I have been going through bagel withdrawal.
It was necessary to get the scrawl which is the family secret recipe and bake for the first time bagels.
REAL bagels! Bagels! BAGELS and bagels!
Four have disappeared. I wonder where?
Burp! Happy Easter.
You can find on the outside only what you possess on the inside. – Adolfo Montiel Ballesteros
When an armed robber makes up his mind to do whatever it takes to get whatever it is that he needs what motivates him is self-interest - right?
Only a madman would stand in front of a desperate person wielding a gun or a knife and advise him to get in touch with his authentic self - it's the same with trying to tell a junk food addict not to binge on crap - that's all you folk who load your shopping trollies with soft drinks, chips, biscuits and LCMs <YES LCMs> processed and bottles of unnatural yuk and go into debt to pay your shopping bill.
OKAY. Instead of a carbon tax, let's tax junk food and spend it on renewable energy innovation. Who's the robber now, hey?
Do you like the Barren Von Carben series by my nieces? I thought up the Baron and asked them to create him. I like the way they spell his name: BARREN. I created his oily haired bride. The Barren's Bride.
It's really weird for me at the moment because I've been writing reports of health forums on children's nutrition and diabetes - there's a massive epidemic in our society and no one's taking up arms. The rate of bowel cancer in children is rising.
Two-thirds of Australians are overweight or obese. People basically aren't eating fruit and vegetables.
Obese children suffer horrible systematic discrimination. The emotional and psychological impact (not to mention the cardio-vascular disease, diabetes and kidney failure) follows them into adulthood - they drop out of school, they can't get jobs, they suffer social discrimination. Read the stats.
The one good thing Tony Abbott has going for him is that he cycles, he runs, and he surfs - even though he leads a busy life. He's time poor too but he finds time! Perhaps he might get elected if he starts to truly care about something OTHER than being elected.
Here's a suggested Australian Constitution based on our TRUE and HONEST Australian values:
* The right to live forever! *The right to smokes and booze! *The right to Maccas! *The right take whatever I want and pay nothing - or close to nothing! *To hell with everyone but ME! *The right to hold to self-righteous arrogance and claim it as fact - that is to lie. *The right to whinge about someone else's lies. *The right to kick and spit and punch people for no good reason (Have you listened to the news lately?).
Are these the values we defend our shores with?
THIS is the AUSTRALIAN way of life that refugees aspire to? You can own a Nintendo and eat Maccas at the same time.
Once upon a time, Australian children bragged about being able to walk and chew gum at the same time - and they could!
That's because the energy spent walking was greater than the calorie intake of chewing gum!
I've stopped blogging because I know that I've started ranting over climate change and it's boring. But really people!
You take up arms against future proofing the environment but you do nought to protect your children's health. Throw that extra pack of chips in the trolley, go on! Hello??? Anyone in there??? Honestly!
A third of Australian children will be obese by 2020 - these are the figures helpless health professionals talk about as they tremble thinking about the future burden on our health system, not to mention our society. Imagine how they feel being unable to turn the Titanic around?
I realized that there are a lot of good people in the health system who feel bad about fighting a losing battle - if only you could hear them.
When is it time to change? It's taken half a century to change people's attitudes to smoking. We do not have half a century here folks.
Continue to swallow those Maccas "family" meals and guzzle your soft drink, instead of water. Is it that difficult to cook fresh family meals?
Our economy is groaning - the Health economy is bankrupt - that's what waiting lists mean people! There's no money to cover the deficit. It's not a pretty picture if you're on a waiting list.
If you aren't on those waiting lists then you're lucky. Me? I'm not on a waiting list but I do need to lose a few pounds. I don't eat junk food though - not in all my life! When I was kid if we wanted pizza my parents told us to make them - the base, the sauce, cut up the topping and wait for it to cook! Fresh out of the oven. Good honest, authentic food from flour and whole tomatoes and cheese and olives and ...
I wonder what will happen to me these days if I end up in a nursing home unable to take a hot shower so that I can move in the morning... After a month of yoga twice a week, my spine can move again. Ah the splendor of life tied to a desk.
Let us live forever! We crawled out of the ooz and we can crawl back ... are you shocked yet?
Where exactly is this "authentic" self that the heeby new age body beautiful creepies talk about?
Bullshit is authentic too if you know what you're looking at.
Creepies because all they are doing is pushing their latest product down your throat! You too can be thin if you pay a fortune for my secrets. Agh!
What is enough for an armed robber? $5000 ... $50,000? ... $1000 or just a carton of smokes?
Well, what exactly are you prepared to take up arms for?
Forgive your enemies and live an extra seven-and-a-half years! You heard right genius.
Michael J.Gelb, author of How To Think Like Leonardo da Vinci, also told seekers of Happiness and Englightenment at the Happiness & Its Causes Conference at Brisbane's Convention and Exhibition Centre, about the Counter Clockwise Study which showed that you turn back the hands of time by believing you are young.
Scriffles, being a character out of a da Vinci painting, has of course forgiven all his enemies but he is a bigger soul than I - he is 500 years old!
We have argued and agreed to disagree about this. ;)
We all have at least one pair of shoes that never fit because one shoe fits the wronged foot and the other shoe fits the wrongee's foot - it's like watching Dancing With The Stars, awkward.
And forgiveness has to be sought. To me, Gelb and Scriff are really talking about letting go of resentment - which is quite a different thing. Resentment is murderous!
Built up over decades, a resentment is difficult to toss away for a mere seven-and-a-half years.
However, Gelb's advice to find happiness by doing the thing you always wanted to do makes sense - this too is my truth.
The Renaissance was built on the pursuit and exploration of Truth, Beauty and Goodness - finding a higher self, being centered and serene.
Did you know that Copernicus - the man who first suggested that the Earth is not the centre of our universe - was seeking perfection?
Apparently, the maths for the old way of thinking was awkward and he thought that God would not do such sloppy math! He was right.
Leonardo - a genius - had insatiable curiosity and a grand passion to know Truth, Beauty and Goodness.
Did you know that he invented the parachute - centuries before people took to the skies?
Recently someone tested his parachute design by jumping out of a plane. It worked! Was da Vinci the Apple of his time or what?
I haven't thought this day's lecture through properly yet but when I look at the gridlock - and think of all the money spent of transport plans that just collected dust over the past 20 years - or when I see an old person standing on the bus while teenagers sit - and I remember how I was always made to stand for an adult - there are so many ways to trash Truth, Beauty and Goodness. That tunnel won't last 500 years will it?
Gelb has three secrets to Happiness: gratitude, forgiveness and humour. He also recommends faking it until you make it.
His diagram resembled the image on the left. He asked people all over the world to rate their happiness on a scale of one to seven in a survey that also asked them what they rated more important in their lives: love or money. The happiest people rate love most important and money least important - destitute people rate friendship, family and community above money.
Funny that the shape of the diagram is like the shape of infinity with its ends missing. There's a message in this. The Brisbane Convention Centre is full of people searching for Happiness - at lunch time the restaurants and cafes and takeaways are packed with Happiness people. The sky is blue, the sun shines, the birds sing. And we spent the day in a hall talking about happiness.
On the bus home I looked out the window and watched fluffy, white, billowy clouds drift in slow motion across the top of Woolloongabba.
The other thing the sticks out about everything that was said about being happy is the need to be mindful on a "three-time scale".
Your ability to do this - to put other sentient beings before your own self-interest (and not just your loved ones) - "is an expression of what you are within".
The Dalai Lama's French interpreter, Matthieu Ricard, is a French monk. The "three-time scale" means three different time periods: a moment (short-term), a lifetime, and eternity (the environment).
Research published by National Geographic in a 2005 cover story called What's In Your Mind shows that monks and people who have meditated on compassion and cultivate mindfulness actually have better control of their brainpower - training yourself to think of others is just like learning a new language or to play an instrument. It's brain training.
HOWEVER! (And this is why it's not something everyone does.) It takes effort, practice over many years and it will not make you rich. It will however make you happy. So make up your mind already! Do you want to be happy or do you want to be rich? You can't have it all - even if you are rich. And you can be in the pink without a dime.
The Dalai Lama was surprised when former Australian of the Year, Pat McGorry, told him that youth suicide rates in rural Australia are higher than in cities.
The discussion was about happiness, sadness, compassion, consciousness, reality until the Dalai Lama insisted that Pat, who had been sitting quietly on stage, take his turn to speak. He was the last speaker.
Pat McGorry, was on stage in conversation with the Dalai Lama at the Happiness and Its Causes Conference - along with leading international scientific thinkers Dr Paul Ekman (via video link); Professor Marco Iacoboni (discovered mirror neurons); and Alan Wallace (consciousness expert).
And what Pat McGorry wanted answers to was how do you change society's attitude to mental disorders, how to you change people's minds in order to create a world where children with problems are caught in time to be treated so they grow out of their affliction like some kids grow out of asthma - he says this is possible if we try.
"It's an activist agenda," he told the Dalai Lama. "There's a lot of enemies because it's about changing the status quo and it's about reform. How do we present this to our enemies and change the way they think?" he asked.
And then he mentioned the high youth suicide rates in Australia . But what about on the farm? _ asked the Dalai Lama. And Pat McGorry told him that Australia's rural communities are in decay and towns are dying and there is no space for youth in cities or in country towns - that's what Headspace is about. McGorry is a Headspace director. The Dalai Lama recommended a more friendly, less self-centred, more warm-hearted society.
There must not be too many things that surprise the Dalai Lama - what do you think?
"I am not a specialist," he said. "Our existing education system is very much materialistic. We must introduce education for warm-heartedness."
It must be universal so this process of teaching warm-heartedness can not be through meditation or prayer or religion - it must be secular.
"There's no adequate information about warm-heartedness. We consider this a religious matter. You have to think seriously about that.
"We all have the same potential for warm-heartedness but we need to nurture these things: basic human qualities, good qualities."
