http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/geoff-russell/ Geoff Russell is a mathematician by training and long time member of Animal Liberation in SA. He has picked up crippled and dead ducks left behind by duck shooters in four states of Australia. His first book is “CSIRO Perfidy” (http://perfidy.com.au), an expose of the most environmentally damaging diet on the planet ... the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:40 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/datelines-greenhouse-gas-story-filled-with-hot-air/ How does a journalist do a story on a subject they know nothing about? This is a question which has long intrigued me. Most journalists have to cover all kinds of issues. Many don’t have the luxury of specialising in things they know about. I eventually worked out the basic technique for TV journalists. First, make sure the names and titles are spelled correctly and assigned to the right people on the bottom of the screen, then stuff the story full of quotes. Try not to actually write anything yourself except vacuous little linking sentences. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Geoff Russell) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/datelines-greenhouse-gas-story-filled-with-hot-air/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/datelines-greenhouse-gas-story-filled-with-hot-air/#item8294 Mon, 23 Apr 2012 19:40:13 +0000 Geoff Russell | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Fukushima-was-no-disaster-no-matter-how-you-spin-it/ The Australian Conservation Foundation is having an anti-uranium rally on Sunday to mark “one year since the start of the Fukushima nuclear disaster”. Nearly 20,000 people died during the quake off northern Japan and following tsunami. That was a disaster. True horror. It was much more visual than the 2004 Boxing Day disaster which killed 12 times more people but didn’t have a nuke. It didn’t have the impending doom story-line, only actual suffering. Nobody really wants to see footage of amputations, infections, crushed limbs, grief and loss. It’s just too distressing. Impending doom is much more fun, especially when there is a villain. Somebody to blame. You get to enjoy sticking the verbal boot in. I’m often tempted to believe in God just so I can blame her for natural disasters. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Geoff Russell) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Fukushima-was-no-disaster-no-matter-how-you-spin-it/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Fukushima-was-no-disaster-no-matter-how-you-spin-it/#item7960 Thu, 08 Mar 2012 19:55:04 +0000 Geoff Russell | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-ethics-of-feeding-off-the-fat-of-the-land/ Wildlife harvesting advocate Professor Mike Archer AM has been geeing up the anti-vegetarian ork armies with an article putting the boot in for ‘hypocrisy’ over mice. The pesky little critters erupt into sizable plagues in grain growing areas every few years and Archer thereby accused vegetarians of having the “worst possible” diet in terms of suffering and sustainability. What not to do when it comes to a sustainable diet During the robust online debate following his article, Archer produced the following visionary statement on Australia’s food production future: “In fact (sorry to sound insensitive), but we should not be consuming Australia unsustainably as we are now to feed 50 million people overseas in addition to the rapidly expanding Australian population. It’s a great short-term strategy to make more money and feel we done [sic] our bit to feed the starving millions overseas, but it makes us contributors to the exacerbating global problem of overpopulation rather than part of the solution. If we could just manage Australia sustainably, that would be the beginning of a rational approach to land-use and set a good example for the rest of the world.” feedback@thepunch.com.au (Geoff Russell) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-ethics-of-feeding-off-the-fat-of-the-land/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-ethics-of-feeding-off-the-fat-of-the-land/#item7506 Tue, 10 Jan 2012 19:50:31 +0000 Geoff Russell | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/newsflash-plants-do-not-have-feelings/ I want to conduct an experiment. I’ve tried it at home and reckon it’s ready for a bigger venue. The Sydney Opera House would do. Or perhaps the Louisiana Superdome. I want a huge audience and plenty of space in front of the stage. People with sensitive ears be warned, there will be opera. I need divas. I want Wagner and cleavage and buxom plaited blondes. I want helicopters and Robert Duvall  (without the napalm). There will be a monster flower garden planted in front of the stage and when the time comes to bond the divas with their bouquets, an army of florists will prowl the garden. They’ll be picking, snipping and binding the most exquisite and beautiful of the freshest opening blooms. Here’s what would not happen at my opera. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Geoff Russell) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/newsflash-plants-do-not-have-feelings/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/newsflash-plants-do-not-have-feelings/#item7005 Fri, 28 Oct 2011 19:45:34 +0000 Geoff Russell | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/make-boverty-history/ Unless you have been hiding under a rock for some months, you will realise that people are starving in the Horn of Africa. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation considers 12 million people at risk in a region that includes Ethiopia (82m), Kenya (39m), Somalia (9m), Uganda (32m) and little Djibouti (1m). The figures in brackets are national populations and imply that 12 million is only only about 7 per cent of people in the region. But you know the risk to each and every one of them is serious when Bob Geldof is wheeled out in a suit. Geldof, in a recent press conference, felt compelled to remind people that those at risk are intelligent, creative and resilient people who are suffering enormously. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Geoff Russell) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/make-boverty-history/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/make-boverty-history/#item6838 Mon, 03 Oct 2011 19:45:10 +0000 Geoff Russell | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/cycling-in-aussie-cities-needs-some-swiss-velocity/ I’m cycling on a side street crossing a major suburban arterial road in Adelaide. At the intersection, I scan left and the traffic is banked up from traffic lights 300 metres away. To my right is a sizeable gap. Off I go. A shiny 4WD accelerates towards me, closing the gap faster than I thought possible, but nowhere near fast enough for panic. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Geoff Russell) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/cycling-in-aussie-cities-needs-some-swiss-velocity/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/cycling-in-aussie-cities-needs-some-swiss-velocity/#item6576 Sun, 28 Aug 2011 19:40:42 +0000 Geoff Russell | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/You-wont-be-stunned-to-hear-that-slaughter-is-brutal/ When Prime Minister Gillard defended the resumption of live exports to Indonesia, she was questioned by Greens MP Adam Bandt in Parliament about the use of stunning. Bandt preceded his question with a claim: “In Australia, animals cannot be slaughtered unless they are stunned first because it is the humane thing to do.” Gillard replied that [stunning] is widely used by not compulsory. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Geoff Russell) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/You-wont-be-stunned-to-hear-that-slaughter-is-brutal/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/You-wont-be-stunned-to-hear-that-slaughter-is-brutal/#item6258 Wed, 13 Jul 2011 19:45:04 +0000 Geoff Russell | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/china-is-leading-the-way-in-tackling-climate-change/ It’s time for a quick quiz. 1. In Italy, people marched and voted against nuclear power recently. Every Australian news service carried the story. But did they mention how many nuclear power stations Italy will need to close as a result of this courageous decision? 2. Following the Fukushima failure the Chinese suspended approvals on new nuclear power stations pending a safety review. Did the Chinese stop work on any of the 26 reactors currently under construction? How much nuclear power are the Chinese planning for in 2050? 3. The recently announced Moree Solar Farm will take 4 years to build and will be, so far, the largest solar photovaic power station on the planet. How many food producing hectares will it displace? How many such “farms” would you have to build to replace a large coal-fired power station like Victoria’s Loy Yang A? feedback@thepunch.com.au (Geoff Russell) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/china-is-leading-the-way-in-tackling-climate-change/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/china-is-leading-the-way-in-tackling-climate-change/#item6183 Wed, 29 Jun 2011 19:35:50 +0000 Geoff Russell | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Katter-cant-count-but-there-are-meatier-issues-at-stake/ According to Bob Katter on ABC’s Q&A last Monday night, stopping the live export of cattle to Indonesia would add three million people to the 80 million Indonesians who currently go to bed hungry. According to Katter, stopping the trade was cutting off the protein food supply to three million people. Nobody disputed this. Katter blamed Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) for not fixing the cruelty problem. He asserted that the cattle producers who had phoned and abused him didn’t know their animals were being treated this way. It’s a pity we don’t have the equivalent of a driving test for politicians. Something to verify that they have basic numeracy skills before they can stand for Parliament. I’m not too concerned about literasy, what harm duz a few misspelled wurds do anyway? But get the numbers wrong and all kinds of stupid decisions are made. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Geoff Russell) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Katter-cant-count-but-there-are-meatier-issues-at-stake/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Katter-cant-count-but-there-are-meatier-issues-at-stake/#item6076 Tue, 14 Jun 2011 19:40:43 +0000 Geoff Russell | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-raw-deal-for-cucumbers/ Did nuclear power kill any Germans prior to the announcement last week of their plans to phase out nuclear power? No. But Germans are dying now and it’s a safe bet that the cause will not be phased out. It probably won’t even be identified in a generic way, let alone named and shamed and prosecuted. Is it cucumbers? Or cabbage or lettuce or bean sprouts? “Death toll from E-coli cucumber outbreak reaches 16.” shouted the Sydney Morning Herald over a picture of goats chomping on a mountain of dumped cucumber. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Geoff Russell) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-raw-deal-for-cucumbers/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-raw-deal-for-cucumbers/#item6015 Mon, 06 Jun 2011 19:35:37 +0000 Geoff Russell | Author bios | The Punch