Oh a galavanting poltroon: great - we need more of them.

What an absolute farrago of half-digested gobbets this is, from its title to its final full stop.

>>Simply put, a glance at La Niña’s previous appearances shows up a pattern of dramatic climactic risk<<

I think the author meant climatic. But it is impossible to be sure, given the doomsaying nature of the entire piece.

If you were to believe half of this stuff, the only response would be to download a couple of Leonard Cohen tracks, and quietly open a vein.

Fortunately, there is no case to be made that this La Niña will be any different to its predecessors. Which we seem to have - somehow, miraculously - survived.

The trip through our financial sins was interesting. A "Ponzi scheme" of derivative trading is mentioned, but its form - and impact - nowhere explained. Similarly, our understanding of the potential impact of "dangerously accommodative monetary policy in the US and China" is assumed, rather than explained.

Most confusing, though, is the attempt to ascribe China's acquisition of stealth fighter planes to a strategy "to ensure commodity supply well into the future".

Does this mean that if we don't sell them our coal, they will invade Australia?

If not, what?

India's onion shortage is a worry, though

WILD ABOUT HARRY

Oh, galloping galavanting poll-vaulting poltroon, perhaps the "whims of the planet", like the Will of God, passeth our understanding, except for a few climate seers possessed by pseudo-scientific hubris of a high order and/or lust for fame and fortune?

Anyway, trust a precocious "little girl child" to make mischief when no-one is looking. Perhaps she is imitating El Nino, the Christ child, as many little girls do, especially when their parents are preoccupied elsewhere?

What was your business again? Fun management, was it? An excellent choice, sir.

Alice (in Warmerland)

What was the point of this rubbish? All one can be thankful for was that the Qld floods weren't blamed on the coal industry. There is so much lunacy abroad! The Greens have sunk to a new low, in my book.