Bob's blog - the realm of threalm

. A glorious spell of seam bowling on a rain affected pitch by English all-rounder Stuart Broad that cleaned up the cream of the Australian batting on the second day of the fifth test at the Oval, has won the match and the Ashes series for England 2-1. Over night the improbable rearguard second innings fightback by Ponting's team petered out when a couple of incomprehensible run outs in the middle order took the heart out of the Australian batting again. Australian men expect of each other that we resolutely stand by our unspoken code that none of us should ever publicly concede to an opponent that they have succeeded in efforts to inflict pain on us. So here's the best I can muster in the circumstances: Well done England. Well done Andrew Strauss. A great series. You only won narrowly you Pommy bastards. We'll be back.

. Shouldn't Barack, Bob and that boy in blue now be sharing a bong in the White House? You know, to give us all a "teachable moment" in peaceful coexistence ? Lid dip: The Huffington Post .. . .

. Outcomes from computer modelling of c ontinental drift by scientists working for internationally accredited organisations have recently revealed yet another imminent threat to the world we live in from industrialised society: Anthropogenic Continental Drift . It is now plain that the millions of drill holes oil & gas and mining corporations have sunk into the Earth's crust to search for or exploit fossil fuels, minerals and metals over recent centuries, have now accumulated to such an extent that they seriously imperil the delicate balance of the Earth's tectonic plates by undermining their geological stabilty. The consequences of this folly could be devastating: earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis , sea level rises, civil disorder, community dislocation, habitat destruction, property damage and loss of confidence in government. We must do something. Now. If we sit back and do nothing about this we, and our children and our children's children, are doomed . The...

. Its been harder than usual recently to keep up with what Kevin wants us all to think. Kevin's usually reliable communication conduit to his people, political correspondents at Fairfax, have been sending out quite conflicting messages from one day (hour?) to the next the last few days. After the Labor Government's "Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme" bill (a scheme formerly known as an "emissions trading scheme") was defeated in the Senate on Thursday 13 August, when all the Coalition, Green and independent senators combined to vote against it, there was a real whiff of politics in the air. A major piece of Government legislation had been defeated. The main issues appeared to be: If the same bill is presented to the Senate again and rejected again after 3 months (ie after mid-November 09) then that would then give the Government grounds to call a double dissolution election. The CPRS bill also had tacked onto it a piece of renewable energies targeting and in...

This is a minor update and premature gloat on developments in the current Ashes series in England. The Third Test was a pretty tame draw , due mostly to English wet weather (which doesn't seem to have changed all that much afterall). Michael Clarke did score a classy second innings century to make the game safe for Australia, but it will otherwise be a forgotten match. The Fourth Test at Headingly in Yorkshire resulted in Australia inflicting a crushing innings defeat on England . There have been two main reactions from the English: Firstly, the fickle and superficial British press have suddenly and savagely turned on their own. Their batsmen are now apparently too fragile for Test cricket and their bowlers inept under pressure. Yeah, I know, it's a return to situation normal for the English press, and we are reminded yet again that they know not the meaning of steadfastness, nor dignity under fire; but how quick was that? Secondly, there is the betrayed hero: Freddy Flintoff. ...