After a deluge of biblical proportions that drenched an area about the size of Alaska and left Warrangamba dam spilling enough water to fill Sydney Harbour many times over, The Mocker got salty with desalination spruiker and climate Chicken Little Tim Flannery. Ian’s advice:
“Tim, just stick to paleontology mate.”
Enlightened Conservative had Flannery’s back:
“What part of ‘climate change causes extreme weather events’ including increased frequency and ferocity of such as droughts, high temperatures, cyclones and floods, is so hard to understand? Continued criticism of scientists (such as Flannery) who actually have a good understanding of the effects of climate change sits in the same category of those who have criticised the work of immunologists, medical researchers etc. Unwarranted, uninformed and patently incorrect.”
Melanie was unmoved:
“Ah, ‘good understanding’? Flannery is like the broken clock — it’s right at least twice a day. Well actually he’s not that good. He just sprouts emotional hyperbole hoping no one keeps a record of his stupid predictions that never eventuate. Except they do keep track and it’s there for all to see in this article. Brilliant.”
Pamela pondered:
“How come the left wing media and the ABC are not pursuing Flannery for his blunder in predicting that ‘the rain that falls will not fill the Warragamba Dam and our rivers’. Flannery should make a public apology for scaring the people in believing that we will never see rain again.”
Forgive, said Geoff:
“Stop blaming Tim. He was misquoted, misinterpreted, taken out of context, hacked, cloned, and attacked by Russian bots. None of which are his fault. Tim’s predictions are always correct — reality is frequently inaccurate.”
Peter’s proposition:
“Never in the history of climate scaremongering have one man’s predictions been so wrong and yet managed to retain credibility among the elites.”
Scott’s suggestion:
“In 1997 Professor Flannery bought one house on the Hawkesbury with his wife, Alexandra Leigh Szalay, for $274,000. Five years later — even as climate scientists, including Professor Flannery, claimed evidence of global warming and rising sea levels was even more solid — the couple bought the property next door, for $505,000. It would be the ultimate irony if he gets flooded.”
Daisy doubled down:
“Flannery has had as much success on drought predictions as the experts on MAFS at matching couples.”
Go with the flow, said Joe:
“We need to remind ourselves that the CO2 emissions as measured is a very SMALL fraction of what happens in nature which is variable depending on rainfall. This is especially true for Australia with a vast continent and only 25m people.
“We have vast grasslands forests and algae in our seas. CSIRO has provided statistics of global sea levels over time. On average global sea level increasing by 3mm a year.
“But 2011 was an exceptional year with la nina. Then Australia got lots of rain. This led to immense uptake of CO2 by our grasslands and forests. So much extra CO2 was sucked up by our vegetation with la nina in 2011 that the global sea level for 2011 decreased by 6mm.
“This has been reported in the scientific report done at UTS. See Australia as a major CO2 SINK. Australia’s Role in the 2011 Global Carbon Sink Anomaly. See D. Eamus & J Cleverly.
“With an even better la nina this year with unprecendent rains it would be interesting to study how much global CO2 will be sucked up by our grasslands and forests in year 2021 and 2022.”
Stuart was silly:
“Well, with all that rain, the sea level must have risen! But, thank goodness for sea sponges.”
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Adam Creighton questioned the wisdom of working from home when one might simply be proving your job can be done anywhere, thus hastening the night of the long white envelope. Sandeep was sceptical:
“Your article doesn’t consider how culture will make a difference here … good companies will figure out the right mix between the home and the office. The workplace will revive and become a place for collaboration and the face to face that will always be desired. Many employees are more productive from home. Flexibility between the two is here to stay.
“The problem with these conversations is that they are presented in a binary fashion. You’re either always at work, or you’re not. Sure, you can hire a Data Analytics team in Bangalore. Good luck on collaborating with that team when you need to build a new data experiences platform and need collective thought in a room.
“If anything, WFH drives companies to measure on output and outcomes from teams. And lastly, ‘If you can do the job from home, someone can do it from Dhaka … jobs will melt away one by one to Manila’. Yeah right, I’d love to find out where this business ranks in terms of customer outcomes and engagement.”
Michael mused:
“I think people are overestimating how much of WFH will remain. You’ve got people moving 50km out of the CBD and into regional areas driving housing prices up 25-30pc along the verbal promise that they’ll be able to work from home forever. Enjoy that 2+ hour commute each way once your employer tells you to come back in 3 days a week.
“Overall I think it’s mostly a fantasy that most white collar employees feel they have the power to dictate what their working arrangement will be. We’ll see what happens when it comes down to ‘come back into the office or you’re fired; we’ll replace you with a fresh graduate at half the cost and have them up to speed in 2 years’. Employees in a select few knowledge fields may truly have the upper hand here, but in my experience many people vastly overestimate their value to the workplace. Time will tell.”
Andrew’s assessment:
“Those who don’t have established networks, contacts and experience will be able to WFH. Mind you many of those want to come back to the office because they are sick of blurring the lines between home and work.
“All the others who WFH, and particularly those lower on the corporate ladder, will be condemned to stagnation. Just doing the rote work. There is little mentoring or learning from those more experienced in the office or field.
“In the meantime those who advance and learn will be those who turn up to the office to partake in office politics, gain transportable skills and are on the spot to volunteer for new responsibilities and advancement. That’s a two-tier work force straight up. Those on the growth track and those in cottage industries.”
Said Stephen:
“Another gloom and doom piece. Anyone who has experienced offshore ‘customer service’ call centres would not be happy with any company that moved its workforce off shore in the name of saving money. And as if lawyers, or anyone else in a management job, are going to answer the phone without someone ie receptionist answering it first, so the lawyers can decide if they want to take the call. Given the number of unsolicited sales calls my business gets on the phone every day, there is no way my receptionist is in any danger.”
A blast from Ben:
“I take it Adam doesn’t do the house work at home. Doesn’t have to do the school run. Doesn’t have to do grocery shopping. Doesn’t have to commute for hours each day and neither do the Wall Street big wigs who know nothing. I find it interesting that the men in our office want everyone back while the women want more flexibility. Time will tell. Heck I’m happy to be on the dole if that’s the case.”
A pat on the back from Bob:
“Good article Adam and spot on. I have been an employer for 40 years. Those who want to work from home will ultimately be paid what working from home is worth — a very small amount.”
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As the dust settled from H&M’s Oprah interview, Prince Harry announced that he had found a job and was joining BetterUp Inc, a United States mental health coaching company, as chief impact officer. Charles1’s charge:
“Could they be any more hypocritical? Calling out misogyny then accepting a job with a company funded by the UAE! Do these people not know what the Sheik is accused of allegedly doing to members of HIS Royal Family?”
Andrew asserted:
“A ‘chief impact officer’’ at a startup is NOT a job … it’s similar to a celebrity doing a hamburger advertisement and then claiming they worked for McDonald’s. Harry will pop up at marketing events for drinkies and a chat and then get paid for it. Plenty of has-been actors do it.”
Another Andrew was amused:
“Chief impact officer? You could not get a more woke title if you tried.”
Oscar offered:
“Oh yes you can:
1. Head of Resilience (our ex Fire Chief)
And from universities and Silicon Valley, I present:
2. Chief Perseverance Officer
3. Chief Diversity Officer
4. Chief Equity and Transparency Officer
5. Head of Inclusion
6. President of Cultural Competency and Social Injustice
7. National Gender Aware Officer.”
Mr Natural:
“My brother working in a San Francisco IT startup was the ‘Chief Storyteller’.”
Bafflegabber’s stab:
“Chief Virtue Signalling Officer would be a more accurate title. Of even greater demonstration of how far woke-ism has penetrated is the fact that Better Up has raised $300 million. As the saying goes: ‘There is one born every minute’.”
Joy was not coy:
“You would have thought he would have had enough impact on people’s lives already.”
AKA Peter let them eat cake:
“Sounds very much like mental health for the elite, the wealthy, the privileged, the woke by the elite, the wealthy, the privileged, the woke … while the great unwashed are kept well away.”
By George:
“I’m waiting for the sound of the impact when it all falls apart.”
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