Radical solution to warming problem

REUTERS: The scientist who coined the term "global warming" in the 1970s has proposed a radical solution to the problem of climate change.

Dr Wallace Broecker advocates saying no more about it.

"The time has come to shut the hell up," Dr Broecker told the BBC.

St Kevin's Feast Day

Today is St Kevin of Glendalough’s feast day. Wiki tells us “his legend is particularly untrustworthy, as very little contemporaneous material exists...He lived in solitude at Disert-Coemgen for seven years, sleeping on a dolmen (now known as "Saint Kevin's Bed") perched on a perilous precipice, that an angel had led him to, and later established a church for his own community at Glendalough....

"His legend says that he lived to the age of 120...He was known for his disdain of human company, especially that of women; his name was used in Ireland as a term for men with cold relations with women up until the 19th century. An extreme example of his chastity was the instance when he pushed an amorous woman into a patch of nettles.” Spooky.

On 3 June...

...in 1723, great Italian naturalist Giovanni Scopoli was born. Like many Italians, he had a great love of birds.

...we celebrate the traditional Roman festival of the female war deity, Bellona. This is the one day of the year when, according to tradition, it is allowable to antagonise people from other nations and assassinate their head of state.

...in 1657, William Harvey, the British physician who first correctly described how the heart pumps blood around the body died of a stroke - and people say God does not have a sense of humour.

...rock chick pioneer, Suzi Quatro celebrates her 58th birthday. Suzi trivia – she was once in a band called, “Fanny”, and her niece is the actress Sherilyn Fenn.

Improvements made

Hard to believe, I know, but Bananaguard is now better than ever.

UPDATE: Check out the final question under FAQs.

Rudd's image shake-up

Kevin Rudd made an appearance in the change-rooms of top rugby league side the Brisbane Broncos following their win over the Parramatta Eels on Friday night.

A Rudd spokesperson said that while Rudd is not a noted rugby league fan, the visit to the dressing-room should dispel some of the unfounded talk that was going around following his recent visit to Cate Blanchett.

"Rudd is certainly a man's man, and there is no better example of this than his visit to the Broncos' sheds after the game on Friday night," the spokesman said. "He proved that this was not just some publicity stunt by also hanging around the shower recesses for considerable periods during the lead-up games."

On June 2...

in 455, the Vandals entered Rome and plundered the city for a two-week period. Some sections of the Roman community suggest the probable root cause was their own racism and a lack of understanding and respect for those outside the empire. While the Vandals wreak havoc in Rome, other German tribes, the Visigoths and Ostrogoths, stay home to wear black and just hang out at their local mega-markets..

in 1833, Irish bare knuckle fighter Simon Byrne died following a 99-round fight lasting over 3 hours. As one of only six fighters since records were kept to have both killed someone in the ring and then to have died in the ring, Byrne is a remembered fondly by boxing fans for being part of the sport in the days before it became soft.

it is Festa della Republica, celebrating the referendum in which Italians decided to become a republic following WWII. As well as inventing the telephone, mechanical clock, the barometer, thermometer, and optical glasses, Italians were the first nation to install a reverse gear on their army tanks.

it is independence day for Samoa. Economists say the future looks rosy for the Pacific island because of its dependence on the booming area of development aid.

ShadowLands goes aspirational

Hey, draw a house and add it to ShadowLands Avenue right here and get your free psychoanalysis. Then come check out your weird neighbours. Readers are encouraged to lock in your interest rates where possible.

Who told the Japs? The conclusion

Someone in Canberra was leaking Australia's military secrets to the enemy during WWII. In Part III of this series, ShadowLands contributor stackja1945 concluded that the truth may never be known. However, following the war, secrets continued to be leaked to the Reds. Many thanks to stackja...

In 1952, Time Magazine reported that:

"Last November Australia's Communist newspaper The Tribune had a scoop: the details of a draft treaty of friendship, commerce and navigation between the U.S. and Australia. The treaty, which has been in the works for five years, contained no vital secrets, but the affair was nevertheless alarming: it suggested that a high government official with access to the classified treaty had given the information to the Reds. (Although Casey denied the connection, members' questions pointed to a former top official...under Casey's Laborite predecessor, Herbert V. Evatt."

One senior official named in the Time Magazine article (see the link) was described by Radio National radio presenter, Phillip Adams as follows:

"(He) was probably the most controversial and visionary public servant of the 20th Century. Branded a pink eminence of the Labor Party by conservative critics, he was clearly one of the most important intellectuals and policy-makers associated with the Curtin Labor Government of the 1940's. As a close associate of 'Doc' Evatt and head of the department of External Affairs (now Foreign Affairs) he did more to shape Australian foreign policy towards Asia and the Pacific than any other person before or since."

Second MacKillop miracle inquiry

REUTERS: The Vatican has launched a long-anticipated judicial inquiry into the case of an Australian feminist who spoke out about the rights of Islamic women through the intercession of saint-in-waiting Mary MacKillop.

Two doctors will examine the case to determine whether it is evidence of a miracle according to the strict criteria set down by Rome for saints, said the vice-postulator of her case.

The development is the closest the Josephite order has come to meeting the requirement for a documented second miracle and raises hopes that the Pope might indicate canonisation plans on his first visit to Sydney for World Youth Day.

The case before the Vatican is of an unidentified Australian feminist who said she thought hangings of women in Iran for adultery were "quite possibly inappropriate". At the time, she carried a small picture of the Blessed (Mother) Mary, with a piece of the nun's habit attached to it, pinned to her clothes day and night. The Josephite nuns say doctors could find no scientific explanation for her outburst.

In January 1995 Pope John Paul beatified the Blessed (Mother) Mary, which earned her the title of blessed. The miracle for beatification was the cure of another woman from leukaemia in 1961. To become a saint, a second miracle must take place after beatification. However, the Vatican has agreed only this month to consider the case as evidence of a second miracle.