Indigenous Weather Knowledge
via Errors in IPCC climate science
http://ift.tt/1F9oSq3
For years now the BoM have had this link to Indigenous Weather Knowledge in the far bottom right corner of their home page. I have not noticed the content change over time.
Issues around Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (ATSIP) are much in the news lately with the 50th anniversary of the 1967 referendum, the meeting at Uluru and talk of Constitutional Recognition, Treaties and special ATSIP representative bodies. Do not read beyond here if you might be offended by views not in favour of Constitutional Recognition and Treaties.
Starting at the beginning it seems that the forbears of ATSIP peoples were migrants arriving here via a land bridge to Asia during the period of lowered sea level ~midway through the last ice age – ~45,000 years ago according to research in recent news.
While the vast majority of Homo sapiens made progress towards what we term “civilisation” over the last several thousand years – the ATSIP peoples maintained their long standing stone age lifestyles with an Olympian detachment. The wheel never rolled on their lands, metals were not utilised while similarly agriculture long established in the outside world did not penetrate.
Jumping forward now to the last several hundred years when European navigators and East Indies traders were blundering around the great southern land – all we can say with certainty is that little lasting contact was made with ATSIP peoples.
When Captain Cook arrived and stuck the Anglo flag in southern soil – there must have been resulting ATSIP disussion about the odd visitors in widespread coastal areas with ripples of information extending inland.
Fairly quickly after Cook the First Fleet arrived and the Sydney penal colony was set up. Over decades the several colonies were established and the ATSIP lands were explored, invaded, occupied and settled by Anglo Celt and European peoples. The ATSIP population was seldom sufficient or well enough organised to resist this process and no doubt many wrongs were committed by the invaders. By the standards of the day the Anglo Celt invaders did not treat ATSIP as badly as colonised people were sometimes treated in other places. And let us not kid ourselves that pre-European ATSIP life would have been some idyllic “bed of roses”. Life would have been short and brutish for many, the weak would have been harmed and dominated by the strong.
Over thousands of years the entire tapestry of the development of civilisation on planet earth is typified by invasions and colonisation by the strong and efficient while the weaker & dispossessed parties have generally been treated badly by our modern standards and had little recourse to right historic wrongs.
The 1901 Federation of the colonies into the political entity Australia saw the adoption of a written constitution that does not mention ATSIP and I suppose this says something about the lack of sufficient political influence by ATSIP in those distant and very different days.
During much of the 20th Century ATSIP people were mostly in the background of Australian politics but of course many had intermarried with the dominant Anglo/European group and many were working and building a life in the new Australia. ATSIP affairs gained in prominence post WWII culminating in 1967 with the +90% yes vote in the referendum. Northern Teritory ATSIP stockmen learnt to use the strike weapon against Vesteys and gained national attention for their cause. In the 90’s the landmark Mabo case changed the administration of land in Australia for ever. I have always puzzled how the rights and wrongs around a few fly-speck gardens on small islands could be extrapolated instantly to vast unoccupied areas of Australia. But thats the left infested legal system for you.
For decades now Govt spending on ATSIP per capita has outstripped welfare spending on the rest of the population but there is still much talk about the need to “close the gap”.
I look at ATSIP issues through a lens where for decades I have been hoping that increased Govt spending on ATSIP plus the increasing income from land rights would lead to the following sorts of “close the gap” outcomes.
Reduction in proportion of ATSIP on benefits
Improvement in ATSIP health benchmarks
Improved Education results
Higher rates of School attendance
Lower rates of Family violence
A reduction in violent crime and drugs in communities dominated by youth gangs.
Fast forwarding to today around the 50th anniversary of the 1967 referendum and we are bombarded by media to approve Constitutional Recognition and further softened up to accept the notion of treaties and special ATSIP representative bodies. The propaganda by the GreenLeft media is constant, skilful and taking the ABC as an example permeates all news and current affairs programs.
My view on Constitutional Recognition (CR) is that any changes will be re-interpreted by the left riddled legal system and we will end up with unintended consequences. The thought of multiple treaties is just a recipe for an enriched ATSIP industry and as I recall there was a representative body a while back named ATSIC – but that was abolished amid claims of corruption and disfunction. I heard Noel Pearson recently on TV claiming to have the answers but hey he could not run a school on Cape York.
Stopping here because this has run on too long now. I have not addressed “the intervention” or the stolen generation – some would say rescued generation.
via Errors in IPCC climate science http://ift.tt/1F9oSq3
May 29, 2017 at 07:06PM
