Life without internet …

I spent the long weekend, for overseas or interstate visitors that’s Victoria’s Moomba Celebration … I might try to explain that one day, at my country estate.

Some renovations are underway. For reasons that I am totally unable to fathom, that has necessitated cutting the lead that runs from the satellite dish to the modem … in two places. Does the builder have a fear of being possessed by the internet? In any case he need have no fear now.

Albert Einstein may have summed it up …

“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity … I’m not sure about the universe.” 

I can, actually, survive without internet, for short periods, but I do need some advance warning.

Less clear than I thought …

As the world stood on the very brink of thinking less of President Putin …

President Obama made clear that Russia’s continued violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity would negatively impact Russia’s standing in the international community.

… one certainty in my firmament was when I should use less and when I should use fewer. As a rule less beer and fewer cigarettes …

but all is not so clear. Find out why <HERE>.

On a roll …

According to The Australian …

A MAN has died after a vehicle drove off a Perth road, entered bushland and rolled over.

Police were notified of the single vehicle rollover off the Great Northern Highway about 30-kilometres south of Wyndham at 10.30am (WST) on Saturday.

It appears the vehicle left the road at or near a bend, entered bushland and rolled over.

From Perth to Wyndham is a roll of 3,215 km … no wonder the poor bastard was dead.

National Curriculum …

Fairly recently Australia developed a national curriculum. It hasn’t been introduced as yet so we can’t blame it for the slide in Australian achievement levels in literacy, maths and science.

Since the development of the curriculum there has been a change of government. The coalition wants a review. According to The Age educators are baffled by this. The deputy dean of Monash University’s education faculty, Deborah Corrigan, who was a senior adviser for the national senior science curriculum, said the move appeared to be motivated by politics.

And indeed it is. She is not so baffled after all.

The new curriculum enshrines three priorities. Matters so important that they must be given a place in every subject. Your mind is no doubt racing ahead and thinking of matters like …

  • Comprehension
  • Clear thinking
  • Clear expression

The sorts of things that help you do well in any exam. Read the question carefully, think about your answer, get your answer down clearly and neatly. You’d be wrong of course. Think in terms of more lofty ideals. No doubt you are now considering the cornerstones of our civilisation …

  • Liberty
  • The rule of law
  • Democracy

Well wrong again, in the view of our guiding educators the three things so important that you must absorb them in every subject, such immutable priorities that without them your education for life as an Australian citizen would be utterly deficient, so weighty that no maths or science syllabus could be good enough  are …

  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures
  • Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia
  • Sustainability.

This is how the first priority will intersect the maths syllabus …

The Australian Curriculum: Mathematics values Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures. It provides opportunities for students to appreciate that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander societies have sophisticated applications of mathematical concepts.

Students will explore connections between representations of number and pattern and how they relate to aspects of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. They will investigate time, place, relationships and measurement concepts in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander contexts. Students will deepen their understanding of the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples through the application and evaluation of statistical data.

I particularly like “It provides opportunities for students to appreciate that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander societies have sophisticated applications of mathematical concepts.” Of course they do … they go to school and thanks to the National Curriculum they learn exactly the same maths as, as well, er … the rest of us.

There is nothing new about social engineering in schools. The Jesuits have been saying “Give me the boy and I’ll give you the man,” for five hundred years or so. German Nazism, Russian Communism, British Imperialism have all had a go at it. Now our trendy lefty educators are determined to bring you a generation that  know …

  • OI3 … Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples have unique belief systems and are spiritually connected to the land, sea, sky and waterways.
  • OI7 … The broader Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander societies encompass a diversity of nations across Australia.
  • OI9 … Australia acknowledges the significant contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people locally and globally.
  • OI2 … Interrelationships between humans and the diverse environments in Asia shape the region and have global implications.
  • OI9 … Sustainable futures result from actions designed to preserve and/or restore the quality and uniqueness of environments.

The Australian student will also learn …

Mathematicians from Asia continue to contribute to the ongoing development of Mathematics.

The question is will mathematicians from Australia also be making a contribution. To do so what they must learn in mathematics is mathematics not that Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders are spiritually connected to the land, sea, sky and waterways, or World views that recognise the dependence of living things on healthy ecosystems, and value diversity and social justice are essential for achieving sustainability.

What I would like to see in a future Australia is a clever populus who can manage maths and science well, contribute academically on the world stage and sustain or improve their standard of living. They would be held safe by the constitution and the courts without regard to their colour or creed and free to speak their minds. It’s another old idea, derived from a culture that has enriched us immeasurably. The lady with the sword and scales is usually blindfolded.

The review of the Australian Curriculum is under way. If you wish to make a suggestion you may do so <HERE>. Our educators seem determined to create ” … a diversity of nations across Australia“, I think it would be better if their three priorities were consigned to the garbage.

Wouldn’t know if …

DISCLAIMER:  The following editorial cartoon contains satire, parody, exaggeration and uncensored imagery of balding public figures projected to be completely hairless about the north polar region by the year 2020.

It is not peer reviewed.  It makes no claims to absolute undeniable, settled truth, while it does depict a very plausible scenario wherein  catastrophic warming might cause pants to combust and hockey sticks to break spontaneously.

No actual polar bears were harmed in the production of this cartoon.

Free speech is the issue.  The answer to discomforting free speech is even more free speech.

Mann-Made-Warming

(Shamelessly filched from wattsupwiththat).

Smart folk …

President Obama recently derided me as a flat earther, to my future king I am a headless chicken. To any number of climate scientists and climate science communicators I am a denier which links me nicely with the execrated group that deny the holocaust.

There are others like me that don’t expect the earth to fry any time soon. What are we really like?

A recent survey of 5,286 readers of leading skeptical blogs by Mike Haseler of the Scottish Climate & Energy Forum shows that the people driving the skeptical debate are predominantly engineers and hard scientists with backgrounds like maths, physics and chemistry. He reports …

A sceptical consensus: the science is right but catastrophic global warming is not going to happen

A recent survey of those participating in on-line forums showed that most of the 5,000 respondents were experienced engineers, scientists and IT professionals most degree qualified and around a third with post graduate qualifications. The survey, carried out by the Scottish Climate and Energy Forum, asked respondents for their views on CO2 and the effect it might have on global temperatures. The results were surprising. 96% of respondents said that atmospheric CO2 levels are increasing with 79% attributing the increase to man-made sources. 81% agreed that global temperatures had increased over the 20th century and 81% also agreed that CO2 is a warming gas. But only 2% believed that increases in CO2 would cause catastrophic global warming.

So what’s going on?

Above all, these highly qualified people – experts in their own spheres – look at the published data and trust their own analysis, so their views match the available data. They agree that the climate warmed over the 20th century (this has been measured), that CO2 levels are increasing (this too has been measured) and that CO2 is a warming gas (it helps trap heat in the atmosphere and the effects can be measured). Beyond this, the survey found that 98% of respondents believe that the climate varies naturally and that increasing CO2 levels won’t cause catastrophic warming.

(Filched from JoNova).

I’d be surprised if any of them believe in homeopathy or are opposed to GM foods.

Mihir Garh …

Garh means fort, we have already visited Mehrangarh in Jodhpur.

If you google Mehrengarh you will find “Mehrengarh Fort” several times in the first page, like the HIV virus and Gondwanaland, this is a tautology and if I’ve told you once I’ve told you a million times “Do not repeat yourself.”

But I digress, Mihir Garh is the Fort of the Sun. It stands in the Thar desert in Rajasthan, an outpost of utter luxury, so carefully constructed that it seems to belong there, more than that it almost seems to have grown there. Its form is inspired by the traditional village architecture, the building and the furniture were all completed by local craftsmen. No two guest rooms are the same.

Mihir Garh.
Mihir Garh.
Mihir Garh.
Mihir Garh.

In the stable here there are some fine Marwari horses.Legend has it …

… that in the 12th century AD, a group of people that would later be known as the Rathores, were exiled from their homeland. Sheoji, the man who would be the father of the Rathores, rode out proudly with a group of faithful pilgrims to find a new home. Their will was of iron, and their horses were strong and fast. Together, they would settle in a region called the Marwar, in Rajasthan, to start a new life.

The horses that bore them were integral to their survival and represented the pride and strength of the people. Over many years, they grew into the regal Marwari breed, and their beauty and power was known to all, represented by their distinctive inwardly pointed ears. When a Marwari horse moved through the city streets, the commoners would bow deeply before it. Yet while their heads faced the ground, their eyes would strain upward to get a glimpse of the almost mythical creature. For hundreds of years, this legendary horse would reign as the symbol of Marwari aristocracy.

They carried the feuding warlords into battle, in an area where there were plenty of warlords and no shortage of battles. They are fine looking animals.

Marwari Horse.
Marwari Horse.

I spent my last two nights in Rajasthan at the Mihir Garh.

 

Mihir Garh.
Mihir Garh.

When the sun rises it is back to Mumbai and then home …