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TALLRITE BLOG
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| December 2007 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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ISSUE #167 - 5th December 2007 [545+2817=3362]
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Fighting
Climate
Change: This week a huge jamboree kicked off in the delectable Indonesian holiday island of Bali. More than 190 countries have sent along senior representatives, and then there are the NGOs and other special interest groups. Thus the whole conference will probably host somewhere in excess of 1500 earnest people, travelling in from all the corners of the globe, each flying an average of perhaps 13,000 km round trip (the transatlantic span). According to the CarbonNeutral Company such a return flight - on a commercial airliner - produces 1.2 tonnes of CO2 per person on board. So, roughly speaking, even if you exclude private jets, spouses, boyfriends, girlfriends, mistresses, toyboys, journalists, cameramen, commentators and myriad other hangers on, the conference in Bali will generate nearly two thousand tonnes of that environment-unfriendly special gas, not to mention the delegates' unlimited hot air emitted in the conference hall.
The event bears the enigmatic name COP-13, where COP stands for the equally enigmatic “Conference of the Parties”. COP-13 participants will vigorously maintain that the overwhelming scientific consensus is that global warming is a man-made, man-controllable phenomenon. This conclusion is mainly based on the series of reports produced this year by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Nearly 4,000 scientists from 130 countries have helped to produce these, which certainly makes the enterprise feel like there is an “overwhelming scientific consensus”. Until you realise that dissenting scientists - and there are very many of them - have been deliberately excluded and ignored. Moreover, where the dissenters are largely reviled in the media and typically starved of the money they need to pursue their own climate change research, those who keep the faith are showered with almost limitless funds by governments and corporations anxious to prove their green credentials. Why, they will even get awarded Oscars and Nobel peace prizes. So no, there is no scientific consensus on
climate change. Not yet; not by a long shot.
Just in time for COP-13, the UN Development Programme has produced a massive 400-page door-stopper, its annual Human Development Report 2007/2008. It's opening sentence sets the tone:
No it's not - see above. And neither is how to fix it. The rest of the report goes on to explain the catastrophe we're all facing and how we have to cut back on our CO2 emissions to save the planet for future generations, blah, blah, blah. There is of course a pivotal issue of whether anything humans do or don't do will have the slightest effect on a climate dominated by that massive violent nuclear-exploding star, a mere 333,000 times heavier than the earth, which we call the sun. But, putting that aside, the question I would always put to members of what I call the cult of climate changeology when they advocate various mitigation measures, is whom do you think you're helping? After some mumblings about mother-earth, great-grandchildren, flora, fauna and so forth, the world's poor people always emerge at the top of the list. And of course, nowhere on the list can the rich be found, for the simple reason our Western capitalistic decadence has made us wealthy enough to take measures to protect ourselves from the ravages of climate change, whether by installing powerful air conditioning, moving up a mountain, building our houses on stilts, buying a boat, desalinating our water, translocating to tropical Siberia, whatever it takes. The HDRP 07/08 report is no different in stressing that the main and moral purpose of fighting climate change is to help those who are too poor to help themselves:
And the good news is that putting all this to rights, by the simple expedient of controlling emissions and so forth, will cost a piffling 1.6% of GDP between now and 2030, a0 mere two-thirds of military spending. It's right there in the report on page 23, and in case you're a slow learner, also on p32, 66 and 67 (thrice). And since the CIA tells us the world's GDP last year was $66 trillion, the bill for the next 23 years is a paltry $24 trillion - that's 24 with twelve zeroes. Can you just imagine the unremitting joy the world's poor people will experience when they learn that this sum is going to be spent to save the world - for their benefit. I don't know exactly how many they number. The HRDP 07/08 would have you believe the world's poorest 40% (2.6 billion) are all “poor”, but that's clearly nonsensical. On the other hand, the World Food Programme says 854 million people in the world don't have enough to eat, which I reckon is a pretty good proxy for poverty. That's more than the combined populations of the USA, Canada and the EU. So here's a question. If you have a budget of $24 trn to help the poor, this works out at $28,000 each, or about $3 a day until 2030. Given that another definition of poverty is having to live on less than one dollar a day, I wonder what a poor person would actually say if you were to give him/her a choice:
Actually, I don't wonder. I know exactly what the answer would be as I am sure you do. But B has the disadvantage that it amounts to a debilitating, humiliating, disincentivising handout; moreover what happens when the money is spent? As the current witty ads for Carlsberg say, “It's not just A or B. There's probably C”. It's the old story of give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach him to fish and you feed him for life. Option C, the answer of what to do about the poor in
the event that climate change does become a serious problem, can be found hidden
within that list of quotes from the
The UN report tells us that
This is true, but the disparity between rich and poor though bad - as this (pink) chart from the UN report illustrates - is actually not nearly as bad as it once was. Last week the
Civil Society Coalition on
Climate Change, a coalition of forty independent civil society
non-profit organisations which holds an opposite view to the UN, produced
its
The document contains the fascinating chart on the right. You can see how, over the past century, disaster-related death rates have fallen dramatically as people have become, on average, less poor. Much of this is, of course, because the rich West has been quick to assist the poor in their hour of need - just think of how the much-reviled US and Australian armed forces rushed to the aid of the victims of the 2004 tsunami and the Pakistan earthquake - whilst others just watched and talked.
Nevertheless, t he UN's solution - and indeed that of all climate-changeologists - remains that the only way to protect poor people is for rich people to take action such as controlling emissions.But here's a revolutionary thought. What about, instead, making it possible for poor people to become rich so that they can look after themselves just like we do? Whoah, I hear you say. That's impossible. But is it? In mediaeval times, everyone everywhere bar the tiny ruling élites were miserably poor, just like in many parts of Africa today. What changed all this was the introduction of some simple, post-Enlightenment concepts:
These - and nothing else - are the “secrets” behind the people's riches of America, Europe, Japan, to name but a few. So why not use some of that $24 trn to encourage precisely these principles?
But there are other areas where direct investment by the West will make a huge difference in terms of enabling the poor to get back on their feet and start making money.
If you were to ask any penniless peasant from Bangladesh to Chad to Uruguay whether he would prefer you to concentrate on reducing your emissions or helping him to become rich, you know very well his answer. So whom do the wealthy climate changeologists think they are helping with their pathetic attempts to counter sunspots and cosmic rays by foregoing Christmas tree lights and the like? Certainly not those peasants - but perhaps their own consciences. As I've said before, climate changeology is the equivalent of a religious cult, relying on faith and feeling good rather than evidence and constructive action. Late Note (7th
December):
CNN and the Gay Brigadier General Last week, CNN and Google subsidiary Youtube staged a two-hour debate in Florida between the eight presidential candidates who are competing for the Republican nomination for US president in 2008. The debate is available in two hour-long chunks:
I must say, I found it quite entertaining and revealing. CNN selected thirty assorted questions from five hundred Youtube clips apparently submitted at random by the general public, with candidates given ninety seconds to respond. The questions were varied and many of them were tough, yet I thought the candidates handled them skilfully, articulately, courteously and with occasional humour. Having taken it all in, I intend on balance intend to vote for Mitt Romney, and if he drops dead Rudy Giuliani, and definitely not for abject defeatist Ron Paul. Except I'm not American (despite disparaging accusations to the contrary), so I'm not allowed to vote for anyone. I was, however, somewhat taken aback by the blogosphere storm that followed, when it quickly emerged that at least five of the Youtube questioners were openly anti-Republican activists, whether in support of particular Democratic candidates or of militant trade unions or of dubious Islamic organizations. Blogger Michelle Malkine has the lowdown, gleaned solely through a little bit of googling. CNN are furious at having been caught out, and don't know whether to say that
This short clip is a compilation of four of the plants ...
When, however, you download the entire debate, you will find no sign of the intrepid Brigadier General Keith Kerr, who is both angry and gay. He should have appeared at Minute 43:22 of Part Two - but has found himself excised. You can, however, reprise a transcript of his question and the candidates' (albeit rather feeble) responses here [do a Ctrl-F search on Keith Kerr]. My unresolved question is this: why has CNN decided to censor this particular man and this particular question? I think there is more yet to emerge. And I've no doubt other bloggers will uncover other plants.
With India under British rule, Tippoo was an Indian sultan born in 1750 in the state of Karnataka, who in 1783 he was enthroned as the ruler of Mysore. He was a constant pain to the British Raj which occupied the country because he refused to submit to them as did most other leaders and maharajas (in exchange for continued riches and a quiet life). Instead it was one war after another. After winning two of them over a period of 23 years, thanks to alliances with the French, Afghanis and Turks, he was eventually defeated in 1792 by Lord Cornwallis, Britain's Governor General, to whom he had to submit his two sons as hostages against payment of massive reparations. Not long after, Lord Cornwallis's own son went on a tiger hunting expedition but ended up being killed by a tiger. This understandably caused great joy to Sultan Tippoo, and even greater pleasure when in 1793 one of his subjects presented him with a curious, life-size depiction of the happy event. Moreover, he was so encouraged he adopted the tiger as his emblem, and had his throne shaped like a tiger, carrying the head of a life-size tiger in solid gold. He went on to recreate his war machine, modernise his administration on the European model, build a chain of excellent roads, and construct tanks and dams to promote agriculture. He introduced new industries, promoted trade and commerce, established factories, and sent commercial missions to Oman, Persia and Turkey. He had once more become a threat to the British. So in 1799 found himself in yet a fourth Mysore war. This had an even worse outcome for him, because - apart from being again defeated by Lord Cornwallis - he ended up dead, with his favourite sword looted. The British plundered a lot more of Tipoo's stuff, all of it ending up in London. In particular, within Tipoo's palace they came across a curious wooden tiger apparently mauling a prostrate British soldier. It was a long time before the true provenance of Tipoo's Tiger emerged, and its connection to the hated Lord Cornwallis. But Tipoo's Tiger is itself an extraordinary curiosity in its own right, quite apart from its history. For it is an automaton, combining movement with two windpipe mechanisms, and still operates despite the attention of Luftwaffe bombers during the Second World War. The crank on the animal's shoulder turns a shaft within the body. A wire connects to this shaft, which passes down from the tiger between his fore-paws into the soldier's chest, where it works a pair of bellows, forcing air through a pipe that exits through the soldier's mouth and emits a whistling wail. The soldier's hand covers his mouth, but when the air is forced through the pipe the arm rises in a manner which the artist intended to show helplessness. Moreover, the movement of the hand in front of the mouth causes the wail to ululate. The wail is repeated as often as the handle is turned, and while this process is going on, an endless screw on the shaft turns a worm gear slowly round, which has four cams. Each cam progressively raises the actuator of a larger bellows in the tiger's head. When the bellows is full, a lead weight falls, closes the bellows suddenly, expelling air through two pipes which emit a harsh two-tone growl. The man in the meantime continues his wailing, and after a dozen cries the tiger's growl repeats. Meanwhile, if you open up the tiger's body lengthwise (it is hinged), you will reveal a small musical organ completely unconnected to the growling and wailing mechanism. The strange keyboard has 18 ivory keys, behind which are two rows of copper pipes. Each row can be made silent via stops that emerge at the tiger's rear end. Behind the pipes, on the other flank of the tiger, is another bellows that provides wind for the organ.
So you can take your pick - whether you want to play dulcet music or listen to the death throes of a British soldier being eaten alive by a hungry tiger. Tippoo Sultan had been so delighted with the device that he is said to have passed many hours in his music-room with an attendant turning the handle of the machine, until the fun ended with is own violent death in 1799. See and hear Tipoo's Tiger in action here. You can see the original in the magnificent Victoria & Albert Museum in London, which I visited last week. I joined up with a small tour in which the curious story was related by the guide.
Murphy, it seems, has been reflecting on life once again, and has come up with some new “laws”, such as:
Issue 167's Letters to the Press Two letters this time. I not surprised the one criticising Saint Al Gore was not published, but I was astonished to see the Israel/Palestine one appear which says that the Palestinians simply have to stop attacking Israel for the problem to cease. I have been trying for over a year to get a letter published along these lines, and confess that the original concept was plagiarised from Mark Humphrys (with his post-factum permission).
- - - - - - - - - - Z I M B A B W E - - - - - - - - - - Quote: “If Mugabe and I walk together into a black township, only one of us will come out alive. I’m ready to put that to the test right now. He’s not.”
The late Ian Smith in 2002, the one time RAF fighter pilot hero from
WW2, [Hat tip: Nautical Tim in Dublin] - - - - - - - - - - S U D A N - - - - - - - - - - Quote: “Shame, shame on the UK. No tolerance: Execution. Kill her, kill her by firing squad.”
The (no doubt orchestrated)
chant of a Sudanese mob against
So quick to demonstrate against teddy-bears,
cartoons and knighthoods,
It is in fact they who bring - - - - - - - - - - P H I L I P P I N E S - - - - - - - - - - Quote ... Quote: “There will be no surrender. We are not going to negotiate ... Dissent without action is consent.”
Filipine
Senator
Antonio Trillanes IV, ex navy lieutenant,
For leading another coup attempt in 2003,
The Philippines is a constitutional democracy
- - - - - - - - - - U S - - - - - - - - - - Quote: “Probably, the strongest experience I have in foreign relations is the fact that I spent four years living overseas when I was a child in Southeast Asia.”
US presidential hopeful Barak Obama tries to
impress US voters Quote: “Well, now the fun part starts.”
Hillary Clinton announces that she's going to
start attacking Barak Obama, - - - - - - - - - - I R E L A N D - - - - - - - - - - Quote: “Ireland will be the laughing stock of Europe if its citizens reject next year's European Union treaty referendum.”
Charlie McCreevy, Ireland's EU Commissioner for the Internal Market,
What he means is that he, personally,
The populations of the EU - all but Ireland denied a
referendum
Latest Irish polls say 25% are minded to vote Yes, - - - - - - - - - - U K - - - - - - - - - - Quote (minute 10): “The House has noted the Prime Minister's remarkable transformation in the last few weeks from Stalin to Mr Bean, creating chaos out of order rather than order out of chaos,”
Vince Cable, acting leader of Britain's Lib
Dems,
No wonder Lib Dem colleagues are asking him Misquote: “Mila kura si planina”
English opera star
Tony Henry singing the Croatian national anthem
Only thing is, he
should have sung
“Mila
kuda si planina”
English bravado or English
incompetence? [Hat tip: Sporty Graham in Perth] Misquote: “The British Empire at its peak was even better than America.” **
Rowan Williams, (caricature of an) Archbishop of Westminster,
He was giving a (dhimmi) interview to the Muslim magazine Emel
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Now, for a little [Light Relief]
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Gift Idea |
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BLOGROLL
Blog-Irish (defunct)
Jihad
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Iona Institute
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What I'm
N E W ! The book is meticulously researched, magnificently structured, beautifully written - and drips innocent Chinese blood from almost every one of its 971 riveting pages. Moa Tse Tung was obsessed with simply killing as many of his countrymen as he could by whatever means in order to maintain the remainder in such a permanent state of terror that the idea of turning on him would never even cross their wretched minds. He also starved peasants in their hundreds of millions in order to confiscate the food they grew to pay the Soviets for a gargantuan armaments infrastructure. Most terribly, Mao was absolutely right. He proved that terror is the most effective way of retaining power. Too many despots have tried to emulate him, but none with the same single-minded ferocity. Disgustingly, people name restaurants in his honour +++++
In that role, as Hitler's trusted operative, he recounts much derring-do, such as rescuing Mussolini from mountain top captivity, bluffing the then Hungarian strongman into surrendering, wreaking covert havoc on the Allied invasion of France.
Particularly moving is his account, from the German viewpoint, This page-turner of a book concludes with a forecast of the role of Special Forces in future conflicts, which has turned out to be surprisingly prescient. It was written in 1954.
The purpose of this
It
does so, But the book is spoilt by the introduction of a storyline which is sentimental and distracting. Much of it is frankly boring. You might enjoy the sex which is detailed and graphic, but it's unnecessary.
Also, the interminable, repetitive description, going on for over 40
pages, of being About 200 pages should have been edited out. +++++ Other books here |
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After
48
crackling, compelling, captivating games, the new World Champions are,
deservedly,
England get the Silver,
No-one can argue with
Over the competition, |
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