The video is made by SAIH – The Norwegian Students’ and Academics’ International Assistance Fund Facebook)(www.saih.no). With the cooperation of Operation Day’s Work (www.od.no). With funding from The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) and The Norwegian Children and Youth Council (LNU). Music by Wathiq Hoosain. Lyrics by Bretton Woods (www.facebook.com/brettonwoods). Video by Ikind Productions (www.ikindmedia.com) Webpage: (Noop)
I think their tongues are firmly planted in the cheeks 🙂
It might be very much tongue in cheek – intended to get people thinking that Africa is not just full of problems and the rich countries are not without their problems. But there is another aspect. Piling radiators on a truck and shipping them to Norway is a very bad way of helping out. It is like much of the aid that Western Countries have sent to Africa. It often little or nothing to help. In fact it has often been the reverse, like encouraging corruption. As Fraser Nelson points out in the UK Telegraph, it points to another problem. In Britain the recent cold winters have lead to tens of thousands of extra deaths. The policies to combat global warming are contributing by making the cost of heating much more expensive. Yet nobody seems concerned about 30,000 extra deaths from the cold. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/elderhealth/9959856/Its-the-cold-not-global-warming-that-we-should-be-worried-about.html
My point was completely different. I don’t want this to be confrontational but my comment had nothing to do with Norway at all. Yes, the song is a put-on but it comes from a place entirely different from Norway. Actually it comes, not from any country or continent but from the human spirit.
I did a lot of reading on the sites behind this video and what they’re trying to do is get recognition of an Africa that is succeeding, doing well and looking at a bright future. That Africa doesn’t want the world’s view to be just the misery of poverty, malnutrition and starvation.
The thing is summed up nicely by the question, is the glass half empty or half full? It is seen only too frequently as half empty where in fact it is half full.
Too often the “aid” sent anywhere, Africa included, is what the giver thinks is needed and not what really should be done to get the needy out of their trouble. Or maybe even worse, it’s simply self serving or results in massive corruption. The successful part of Africa wants out from under this. They want control of their own destiny just like the rest of us. Africa wants to join the world that is succeeding. They don’t want to stay in the half empty side of the glass anymore.
Africa’s aid to Norway will make no difference. I doubt that radiators were even shipped (I don’t know). The whole thing is about rocking every boat that needs rocking until the picture changes and Africa is allowed to manage its own affairs. Yes, they still need help. But finally, let’s make it the right help.
My comment at #18 I think is accurate. The video and the movement behind it are indeed both of the things I said, “…it’s either naively serious or it’s a brilliant slap in the face to so many things and people that I wouldn’t try to list them all.” That’s the kind of thing you need to do when you’re down and want up. It’s desperate hope and a plea for recognition.
Too often the “aid” sent anywhere, Africa included, is what the giver thinks is needed and not what really should be done to get the needy out of their trouble.
One of my colleagues has worked extensively in many parts of Africa. During one period, when food and medicine was in short supply, some aid was received from Europe, packed into a number of containers. He says that the food delivered was mostly past it’s EEC mandated UseBy date, so it could not be sold in Europe, and needed to be disposed of. That is not so bad, because the food was probably still edible, if prepared properly.
What really upset him though, was that a significant amount of container space was filled with cleaning utensils, such as brushes, dustpans, mops, etc. and with plastic garden furniture.
It seems, from what he was told, that these goods were of an older design, and were occupying warehouse space somewhere, which of course was costing money. Also getting rid of them at a loss has tax implications, and it may also be possible to apply for EU funding to cover the cost of transportation. There are also promotional opportunities in being an “aid” provider.
What the giver thinks is needed, does indeed come into the equation. The question then becomes, “Who’s need?”
…the food delivered was mostly past it’s EEC mandated UseBy date, so it could not be sold in Europe…
A similar thing happens with drugs of all kinds. The FDA mandates that manufacturers specify an expiration date. It’s quite illegal to sell or for any medical professional to use anything that has expired. But those same “expired” drugs can be legally sold in other countries where, surprise of all surprises, they work perfectly — not good enough for us but good enough for the rest of the world.
I really think the word “hypocrisy” is not strong enough for this kind of double standard. The drug manufacturer is given a strong incentive to specify the shortest shelf life they can get away with in order to sell more product and the whole thing is a monumental charade. No one knows how long most of those drugs will stay effective. And no one cares. The FDA satisfies Congress that they’re protecting the American Public and the Congress can say to the voters, “See what I do for you! Now vote me back into office.” But at least useful drugs get to some of those who need them.
The do-gooder mentality in a nutshell. The last thing they think of is whether the do-gooding is really going to solve a problem of significance to the recipients, and of their own choice. It never occurs to them, in my experience, to do the courtesy of asking, first, “may I help you? What is the problem you would like me to help you solve?”
In the 1930s here in Australia, it was seen just how little was needed to physically get by on;
while acknowledging that most of Australia is a reasonably temperate climate and the main
problem with “sleeping rough” was mosquitoes.
My great wish is that the United Nations will one day bite the bullet and instal caretaker UN
Administrator Governments in places currently run by warlords where there is no freedom to
elect government.
Unfortunately Africa probably tops the list of potential beneficiaries, along with some parts
of South America and the Indian Sub continent.
There are no easy answers but possibly a 4 year UN administration followed by closely
monitored elections might be a start?
In the West we have had “basic rights” for a long time but have become so complacent that we have allowed our freedom to be stripped from us by stealth in behind the scenes, government misappropriation and corruption.
There is no place for “Personal Greed” in elected Government but unfortunately it is endemic to our current “democratic” system. Urgent changes are needed in the west where we have been brainwashed by smart operators.
The “choir” thing above brings out the main talking points: even relatively poor westerners are hit by slick advertising that says they can help a starving African by donating and in return they will feel ennobled by this act.
Little do the poor realise that they are most likely contributing to the local warlord in the area and making the problem worse.
Additionally the “management” of many of the charities chews up substantial portions of the donations in local admin costs such as advertising and “essentials”.
Perhaps “Sir” Bob Geldorff is the poster boy of this type of “charity at a distance” where the closest he gets to the suffering is to appear in a live aid concert.
All people need basic education, a guarantee of personal security, water, food, a secure and honest banking system, community, family and above all hope.
Container loads of aid are just a feel-good flash in the pan that needs to be replaced by solid UN action to ensure the few basic rights listed above.
It never occurs to them, in my experience, to do the courtesy of asking, first, “may I help you? What is the problem you would like me to help you solve?”
To which I can add that I have a co-worker who is so smugly proud of himself for having discovered in the latter years of his life that he is his brother’s keeper.
Though it has never once occurred to him to ask his brother if he wants to be kept by him or whether his ideas of what would be best for his brother actually are.
Seems to me it is really about how it makes him feel about himself as opposed to whether it actually benefits anyone else. Which does go a long way towards explaining why they never ask the questions Allen posed.
So, remember how we are told that Australia needs to set an example and indicate we are not being profligate consumers of electricity, and how we are huge per capita consumers of electricity.
The Population of Norway is 5 Million.
The Population of Australia is 22.6 Million, 4.52 times that of Norway.
The yearly power consumption for Norway is 120TWH.
The yearly power consumption for Australia is 240TWH, only double that of Norway.
Yesterday the power consumption for Norway totalled out at 19,500MW.
Yesterday the power consumption for Australia totalled out at 23,000MW.
I think Australia is indeed already pulling its weight.
I heard a report on the BBC’s World Service about a plan to cover Sydney’s (?) roofs with solar panels as it gets 7 hours of sunshine a day. Apparently CO2 is at record levels and may be contributing to global warming (I thought the science was ‘settled’) and it’s time to take action.
The study was based on an American scheme – can’t remember whereabouts – and they did at least have someone who questioned it’s validity. What sort of mythical world are these people living in?
Tony you are exhibiting the kind of confirmation bias we associate with Greens. As you realise, theres a little difference in climate at issue. How many Australians die from hypothermia if they dont burn godzillawatts of power every day in heating? How many megabuggatonnes of fuel have to be spent in Australia shifting billions of tonnes of snow and ice off the roads?
Of course, John Brookes and his “basking” (his word) undrr the airconditioner goes ome way to making up for the difference.
As For England, we are somewhere short of Norway in the Figidaire League. Lets have fun…Folks, Ozzies and Gingerbread men…venture your guess at my expenditure in GB pounds, per week on electricity mostly for heating over the last three months. No prizes, but I challenge you!? Minimums and maximums accepted as guesses, but state which.
OK, I’m game enough to actually attempt an exercise like this, but folks, take this not as an educated guess as to Ace’s consumption here, but as a generic guesstimate, and here, what is worth noting are comparisons with what similar costings are here in Australia.
Now, an average (keep in mind average) residential consumption for electrical power in the UK is around 5000KWH, which extrapolates to around 13.7KWH per day. Now here in Australia, that average residential power consumption is actually 20KWH per day, so some may be puzzled as to why the UK, a much colder place has lower consumption. That is mainly due to the English having a greater access to Gas in their homes than we have here in Australia, so a greater percentage of Space Heating in the UK would be achieved with gas, while here in Australia, electricity would cover that.
So now, assuming the average electricity consumption is around 5000KWH, in the UK, almost 60% of that consumption goes on Space heating, hence 3000KWH.
Now here, the conjecture comes in. Let’s assume that most of that heating occurs in the Winter Months, so probably 80% of that total is for the colder period including Winter (including also a third to a half in Spring and Autumn each) so let’s say that covers 5 months, so now we have (just for space heating as that was Ace’s challenge here) 2400KWH. Now this has been a colder Winter, Spring and Autumn as well, so let’s add in an extra half on top of that average period so that gives us 3600KWH. As this space heating covers the 5 cold months, we take three fifths of that, and we add this to the remainder for the 3 Month period of 700KWH, giving us a 3 Month consumption of around 3000KWH.
Similar to Australia, electricity accounts are paid three Monthly, so that’s why I did the above exercise to show how the Winter power bill is higher than Summer, and also the two benign season bills(Autumn and Spring).
In the UK, they pay (on average) 19 pence per KWH. Conversion sees that coming in at 28 cents Australian per KWH, and compare that with here in Australia where we pay around 23/24 cents per KWH.
So, at a rough guess, Ace’s most recent 3 Monthly power bill came in at around 570 Quid.
So, 570 Pounds is for the 3 Month period, 90 days so divide that by 90 and multiply by 7, and we get around 44 Pounds a week, for a guess at Ace’s weekly power bill for that period.
Probably on the high side, but can you see how English people would be putting up with the extreme cold, because electricity costs so much.
Wow you are game for achallenge.
I realise I should have outlined my paramaters.
No gas or other fuel consumption.
One person. To economise over this period I have partially heated only my office, where I have spent nearly the entire cold episode.This is a very small space, about 1000cubic feet.
At night the only heating is my bedroom. No heating when away from apartment.
Only appliances used a PC, monitor, DVD and monitor, battery chargers, other piddly bits like that. I dont do cooking (havent for a couple of years).
So, not a house, not an entire home, just one tiny room at a time.
I’m game to try Ace, I’m going to estimate 500watts for heat (continuous for each of the 90 days). 200 watts for light and 200 watts for your computer and stuff but that only for 50% of the time.
90x24x700= 1512kw
1512x£.19 (pence) =£287.28 for the 90 days total (going on Tony’s figure for Kwh cost)
so about £95.76 per month
If you have refrigeration for your Boddingtons Ales then add £15.00 for a full size (lots of ale). 🙂
Pretty astute Mark. I haven’t totaled the period so I cannot provide a weekly mean but a minimum of 25 GBP per week and a high of frequently 35 GBP per week. So its higher on the whole than your estimated average.
Darn! I was going to say 1000 watts for heat and actually calculated the 3 month amount for that (£492.48) but I started thinking you were hinting at a very careful, austere use of electricity so I cut it back.
Still there quite a few variables like how often you leave and turn heat off or what kind of building construction so I’m happy enough with my guess (+ you haven’t answered about the fridge.) 🙂
Also, is the 35 GBP / week including taxes or just power?
Okay, so let’s say a hot Australian Summer is approximately the same as a cold English Winter, with relation to electricity consumed, (cooling here in Oz versus heating in the UK).
So, in my case, my consumption comes in at $450 per quarter, hence $5.00 per day, and Ace mentions his (high of) 35GBP per week, converted to AUD equates to $(AUD)6.50 per day.
Our electricity cost averages at 23 cents per KWH
UK electricity cost average 19P per KWH (or 28 cents in Australian currency)
So Ace’s consumption for a cold Winter averages around 23KWH per day.
My consumption for a Hot Summer averages around 22KWH per day.
The point here is that for these two cases, power consumption is almost the same.
So, while the vast bulk of an average power bill is for Summer here where I live, it is similar for a UK Winter.
So, no matter what the situation, people will use the electricity that they have to use.
No amount of warm and fuzzy use less for the sake of the Country meme will have very much of an effect. True believers might consume (marginally) less electrical power, because of that, but the average person will use whatever it takes in the privacy of their own home, for their own comfort level, and that of their family’s comfort level.
That power needs to available all the time for that reason, and only one form of power generation can do that.
The only thing that WILL make people consume less, is if it’s not there at all.
As Mark says, compare what you pay for electricity with what they pay in the U.S. and here’s a State by State breakdown of power costs, Click you mouse on Residential and it’s the second column in from the right for price per KWH, and at the bottom it shows the U.S. average at 11.72 cents per KWH.
The problem with that Tony is that I HAVENT used what I have NEEDED to use, because I simply cannot afford to! Thats why Ive repeatedly cussed about it here. The heating Ive paid for is the diffference between life and death,not comfort. I have had weeks of being continuously cold as F%^&* , and as I write this my feet are like ice.
Tony, FYI, our rate (I don’t want to disclose the exact area) for residential 120/240V supplied through one meter:
RATE (Monthly) General and Space Heating
Ace, I empathize with your predicament. It is a crappy shame that first world economies are holding their constituents energy hostages and not comfortably either.
Being cold sucks. I live in a part of the world that has plenty of it. If I could offer help for you I would.
Fortunately we heat with natural gas at a substantial cost savings over electric and I have options for wood if needed. The reason I guessed close to what you were using for electric is because I’ve contemplated in some detail what would be required in an emergency for space and heat (food too but that is another story).
I’m in awe of the native peoples that survived winters here in skins and bark. But then my Viking forbears accomplished the same thing somehow.
I’m in awe of the native peoples that survived winters here in skins and bark. But then my Viking forbears accomplished the same thing somehow.
Thats because back then we were as hard as a cat’s head but now after decades of living a luxurious life we have become soft as marshmellows. God help us all if/when the next ice age hits.
venture your guess at my expenditure in GB pounds, per week on electricity mostly for heating over the last three months. No prizes, but I challenge you!? Minimums and maximums accepted as guesses, but state which.
You didn’t tell us how much beer you drink? It could possibly consume quite a bit of electricity to keep it warm (puke!).
this should make u smile too…note the final sentence in hudson’s piece!!!
28 March: BBC Paul Hudson Blog: How cold will March end up? Plus an Easter outlook
March is now well on course to be the coldest since 1962 (CET 2.8C).
And there remains just a chance that it could equal the mean temperature set back in 1962.
If so, March 2013 would turn out to be the equal coldest since way back in 1892.
With December 2010 ending up the coldest since 1890, it’s yet more anecdotal evidence that something significant seems to be happening to our climate, driven by a jet stream that continues to be forced regularly further south than normal, across all seasons.
As ever the reasons for this are not clear.
*****But those who study how solar activity affects the positioning of the jet stream will, perhaps, feel increasingly vindicated. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/paulhudson/posts/How-cold-will-March-end-up-Plus-an-Easter-outlook
Paul Hudson works as a meteorologist with the BBC. He has earned the wrath of the Team previously, as the Climategate leaks revealed, when he dared to question some of their religious tenets.
Paul Hudson is the journo FOIA first sent the climategate emails to. That was his chance at being famous for 15 mins. He hasn’t exactly got a newsman’s nose for a story …
Thanks, Pointman, I didn’t know that. I suppose, at that time, he would have been deep in the Beeb’s warmish mindset and decided to look long and hard at a)his career prospects and b)his pension entitlements and settled for letting someone else go over the top first.
On reflection, all the intervening years of discussion still haven’t dented the Beeb’s and the MSM’s adherence to the ‘consensus’ view. Cracks are appearing but I’m almost thinking that I don’t have enough years left to see this nonsense finally sent into the annals of silly science.
The only people in Norway that wouldn’t know how to deal with the cold are the refugees/immigrants, many from African countries ironically.
I’d say more but I don’t want to be the Easter Grinch. Let’s just say janama was on the right track.
Considering the Norwegian tradition of eating fermented trout, I think a bit of food aid from Africa would be very helpful in August. Let them eat cassava leaves. Some real food.
Also, a personal observation, hot dogs from dodgy 7-11 corner shops taste just as bad in Oslo as they do in Brisbane. It shouldn’t have surprised me actually. A different town far away from the capital was where I bought the most expensive pizza I’ve ever had. (Maybe 20 NOK or more.) Due to a shortage of medium-sized bases they gave me a large for the same price which turned out to be too much to eat and I had to dump half of it in a bin. I reckon pizza must be some sort of exotic luxury in that place, you can’t just get it anywhere for cheap.
When I was in Sweden I made sure I had Swedish meatballs, just like the Swedish chef from the Muppet Show made. I was fairly scientific about it; I tested them to see if they would bounce off the plate! Sadly there was not much bounce at all, I think I may have gotten one of them to bounce 1mm but only at a cost of splashing my jacket with lingonberry sauce. Imagine the disappointment. Jim Henson had lied to me. Not quite a Lorenzian breakfast but I had discarded a pet hypothesis before the end of lunch!
All round it was a good trip. Very scenic.
The quote- “First Up Against The Wall When The Revolution Comes” has been daily in my thoughts for several years now.
Anecdotally, I heard that Douglas Adams had to keep writing to stay in front of the Taxman after his original spectacular success so his own words may have been hard to keep from the front of his mind.
I’ve bad news for you, Andrew. Pizza ain’t cheap anywhere! Even bad pizza is expensive. They long ago discovered that it’s manna from heaven and they charge accordingly. 🙂
What I dont understand with Norway having been there quiet a few times is there liking of dodgy Chinese restaurants and pizza joints. I guess you get like that during long periods of night time during winter. Walking out of a pub in summer at 3am and its still light seems to play havoc with your senses to.
Such an ill-thought out scheme.
Give a man a radiator, and he will stay warm for a day.
Teach him how to MAKE radiators and he will stay warm for life. (assuming he lives that long)
Seriousness aside — which seems appropriate — it’s either naively serious or it’s a brilliant slap in the face to so many things and people that I wouldn’t try to list them all.
Only a minority of Norwegians loves fermented trout (“rakefisk”) and, for that matter, sheep heads (“smalahove”; split, salted, smoked and boiled). Enjoy Easter!
Hello Trygve.
Are you from Norway and still living there? By your name and your understanding of eating habits in Norge I assume so.
It is great to hear Jo’s blog is read so widely. I keep forgetting this is not some cosy little private club, the whole world is watching!
Can you tell us how the Global Warming subject is judged in Norway? Have you seen any survey results on how many people there believe it is bad? Can you tell us of any conversations you have had with other Norwegians about it?
Of course I yield to your local knowledge about rakfisk popularity. I said only it was traditional, I had no idea how many people still ate it. I was going to say they ate Surströmming until I checked and found that is a Swedish thing.
You may be surprised to learn that we have quite a lot of smalahove in Australia. They are easy to find. You just have to look at the ministers of our current government. 🙂
Yes, I am Norwegian and living in Norway. Climate and AGW is strongly into Norwegian politics, but not on top except in some short rethorical bursts. Mass media reportings are mainly unilateral, but there is a growing discussion on the web indicating a slow turn of public opinion. I have no data readily available on public opinion, but shall try and dig them out.
LOL … ROTFLMFAO … I put the vid up on my FB. Guess what ? One of my old friends msgs me and tells me that his and another mate’s kids wrote and produced this and played in the band.
it shocks me how little people i talk to comprehend – or are concerned about – the magnitude of the ever-increasing theft of people’s money in cyprus. no wonder they keep upping the amount they are stealing:
30 March: UK Daily Mail: Bank of Cyprus savers with more than 100,000 euros now face 60 PER CENT losses as officials scramble to prevent collapse
Savers then stand to lose a further 22.5% depending on an assessment…
Airports are now searching passengers and stopping anyone trying to leave the country with more than 1000 euros (£845) and daily cash machine withdrawals are limited to 300 euros (£250).
Cyprus was yesterday still reeling from its bailout plans with British expat pensioners struggling to pay for food and bills as banks refuse to release their UK pension payments…
Slovenia’s recently elected prime minister Alenka Bratusek insisted her country should not be compared to Cyprus. ‘Our banking system is stable and safe,’ she said.
But the IMF said: ‘The new government should promptly address bank restructuring, corporate sector debt overhang and governance and involvement of the state in the economy.’
Economists polled by Reuters said Slovenia and Spain were now the two eurozone nations most likely to need a bailout. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2301513/Bank-Cyprus-savers-100-000-euros-face-60-PER-CENT-losses-officials-scramble-prevent-collapse.html
there are many heartbreaking personal stories online if one looks for them.
30 March: UK Daily Mail: ‘It’s robbery!’ New Cyprus bombshell as Britons are told they may lose EVERYTHING over £85k
Bank of Cyprus savers will see 37.5 per cent of any deposits over €100,000 (£85,000) converted into shares in the bank, with a strong possibility that these will prove worthless. Another 40 per cent will be repaid only if the bank does well in future, while 22.5 per cent will go into a contingency fund that could be subject to further write-offs.
Laiki Bank customers are also reported to be facing the loss of 80 per cent of their deposits above the £85,000 limit…
Although it is not known how many of the 60,000 British expats living on the island have deposits of more than £85,000, it is likely that a considerable number will be caught in the net.
Neil Hodgson, 48, who moved to Paphos, on the south-west coast of the island, six years ago, said he has lost nearly £200,000. The former farmer, who has two accounts with Bank of Cyprus, added: ‘I had more than €300,000 in my deposit account and €20,000 in my current account. When I went to the bank the other day I was told the total balance for both is €100,000.
‘They were unable to explain how this had been worked out but indicated I might get some back at a later stage.
‘I checked online and it confirmed that the €20,000 in my current account remains, but that I only have €80,000 in my savings account. It’s robbery, plain and simple.’…
Mr Hodgson, from Newcastle upon Tyne, whose wife died two years ago, said he moved to Cyprus believing he was destined for a ‘happy life of semi-retirement’.
‘Our farm in Ayrshire was bought by a mining company and I came into a lot of money,’ he added. ‘We moved to Cyprus for the sunshine and easy life but it has turned into a nightmare…
Claims that the victims are shady Russian oligarchs have a nasty whiff to them, and even if some of the cash that will be taken is of doubtful provenance, that cannot justify the burden now being placed on the tiny island economy.
Smaller savers may not have been hit by a levy on their bank accounts, but they will be swept up in the economic storm that is sure to descend on Cyprus as a result of such draconian measures… http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2301737/Its-robbery-New-Cyprus-bombshell-Britons-told-lose-EVERYTHING-85k.html
and, of course, there are stories of corruption:
29 March: GreekReporter: Cypriot Politicians’ Loans Written Off
The Greek newspaper Ethnos and the website 24h.com.cy said that loans to Members of Parliament from the three major political parties and other officials in the public administration from the Bank of Cyprus and Cyprus Popular Bank (Laiki) will be written down or off.
The list includes former and current politicians, wives and relatives whose debt will be excused while the banks chase others to pay their loans. It was not said whether the government or bank officials drew up the list of those who will be given preferential treatment and who won’t have to pay, essentially having received free money they can keep or spend as they wish.
The list including the names of those who managed to have their debts deleted is before the Parliamentary Committee on Institutions which will review it although it includes people they may know. There was no information on whether that would create a conflict of interest in their eyes…
The Attorney General, Petros Klerides, who is in charge of any prosecution on the state’s behalf, has the list that is said to include eminent Cypriots, politicians and businessmen, who took loans from the banks that are being written off.
The list from website 24h.com shows the write-offs include…ETC http://greece.greekreporter.com/2013/03/29/cypriot-politicians-loans-written-off/
meanwhile, the MSM reports i’ve seen are a disgrace, and will no doubt lead other countries to believe they can get away with similar robberies.
29 March: SilverDoctors: FDIC & Bank of England Create Resolution Authority for Unlimited Cyprus-Style “Bail-Ins” for TBTF (Too Big to Fail) Banks!
On Wednesday, SD (SilverDoctors) broke the news that Canada had buried a provision for depositor bail-ins for systemically important banks deep inside its official 2013 budget, and stated that the Cypriot bail-in was not just a one-off event, but is in fact the new collapse template for the entire Western banking system.
We suspected that the same policy change had been made by the US & the UK, but was simply yet to be discovered, buried in the website of a Federal agency.
We suspected correctly…
The resolution states that while the US would prefer large financial institutions be resolved through ordinary bankruptcy, depositor wealth confiscation will be pursued in the case of a systemically important institution (i.e. BOA, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, etc):…ETC http://silverdoctors.com/fdic-bank-of-england-create-resolution-authority-for-unlimited-cyprus-style-bail-ins-for-tbtf-banks/
27 March: CBC Canada: Carbon offsets program slammed by B.C. Auditor General
B.C.’s Auditor General John Doyle has issued a scathing report on the provincial government’s efforts to be carbon neutral, saying efforts to buy carbon offsets to counter its greenhouse gas emissions are not “credible.”…
The biggest concern to Doyle is that tens of millions of dollars that are being collected each year from schools, hospitals and other public sector bodies to buy carbon offsets are not being credibly spent…
Doyle also took issue with the trust for organizing what he calls an “orchestrated campaign” against him on the file.
He said carbon trust managers broke his confidence and disclosed information about his audit to industry stakeholders — something he said he’s never experienced with any other report.
***”Of all the reports I have issued, never has one been targeted in such an overt manner by vested interests, nor has an audited organization ever broken my confidence, as did the senior managers at PCT by disclosing confidential information to carbon market developers and brokers,” he wrote.
“I cannot sufficiently express my surprise and disappointment that a public sector entity, with a fiduciary duty to the people of British Columbia, chose to expend its time and energy in this manner, rather than addressing the concerns raised in the audit.”… http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2013/03/27/bc-carbon-neutral-report.html
Britain’s greenhouse gas emissions rise 3.5 pct in 2012
LONDON, March 28 (Reuters Point Carbon) – Britain’s greenhouse gas emissions rose 3.5 percent year-on-year in 2012, mainly due to an increase in output from coal-power fired stations, according to government estimates published Thursday… http://www.pointcarbon.com/news/1.2241053
It is a while back now, but one day I was wandering around Kavieng, top of New Ireland Papua New Guinea, not long after Newcastle Oz had it’s earthquake.
A couple of local [Fussy Wussy] cops came up to me, pushing a wheel barrow. It was half full of money. When asked what the money was for the answer was “one pella New Castle belong ostrala”. “Ostrala him help us, now him all bugger up we help him”.
It would have been discourteous to tell them not to bother, it was not too bad, so I said I was sure they would be grateful.
I hope Newcastle was grateful for the $1100 they collected. The people who had donated it earned either $12 or $19 a week.
Wow. Every once in a while I am just floored by acts of kindness and generosity.
I mean everyone understands the idea that one should help others in need when it is of little cost to one’s self.
But to give so much is just amazing.
There is a quote which says “The most well developed people are from the least developed countries, and the least developed people are from the most developed countries.” I think it was a quote from Peter Ustinov. I swear I have the quote correct but when I search for it there is no match. Anyhow, it does unfortunately ring true in some ways – PNG highlander cannibalism nothwithstanding!
I once saw a TV interview in which B.F.Skinner stood in front of the camera and said “I do not exist”.
What he meant of course was ” “I” do not exist”.
Hard to convey aloud.
Ive many times wanted to cite that assertion of a Behaviourist perspective, because it perfectly demonstrates its parallel with Buddhism. All the more because, as I remember it (from upwards of 30 years ago) he was stood in a snow covered outdoors place.
Everything off Telly is on the web somewhere. But Ive been totally unable to find what this was in for citation purposes.
If anyone has a reference it would be most appreciated.
Of course I may be mis-remembering an interview with the inventor of Formica declaring his triumph: “Ply does not exist”.
Yes indeed I think the Ply version is the correct one. 😉 As you may also recall, the inventor of Formica was Rene Descartes, whose seminal contribution to European domestic benchtop construction was summed up best by his own famous statement: I countersink, before I sand.
Hi Andrew, that quote “The most well developed people are from the least developed countries, and the least developed people are from the most developed countries.”is quite profound. It can be extrapolated in so many ways. For me it states that we in the developed world are fixated with knowledge and forget about wisdom. We fill our kids heads with facts and give them no clue as to how to use them in the world they live in. I know for a fact that some Africans’ can be the wisest people you could wish to meet and are a bit touchy about their place in the world. This video is obviously (need it be said) a spoof.
I laughed my head off watching this video (expensive & well-done by “Ikind Productions”?) especially in view of bogus claims of man-made global warming. Yet, from experience I’ve learned not to take everything at face value anymore, like for example CO2 driven Global Warming promoted by politicised academia, but to look deeper.
So I went to the (Norwegian) “SAIH” website that created this video. They like to “raise awareness” that Africa is not just “hungry people” stereotypes and that we need “better information about what is going on in the world, in schools, in TV and media”, “based on real needs.” etc.
Then my eye caught the first article on SAIH.NO, and it was about Syria, and the terrorist destruction of the university in Aleppo. SAIH reporter J. Draege blamed that on the Assad govt. rockets? See the (imperfect) machine translation below:
——————————
“IN Syria is the problem in these days with relevant information. 15. Januar was a section of studentboligene on the University of Aleppo and a part of arkitekturfakultetet university bombarding. Explosions took life of at least 80 people and injured even more.
Jonas Dræge, MPhil-student in modern midtøstenstudier at Oxford University, he dwelt in Syria a period and has first hand experience from how Syrian Studenter will be subjected to military press tactics.
For an authoritarian rule regime without something strongly sivilsamfunn students is a particularly important group to control. For auspicesmet in Syria was there even viktinavigate to prevent formation of Studentgrupper than most other types of opposisjonsgrupper, says Dræge.
The student says that youth while mobility is a major focus for the regime in Syria.
“The eleven years Bashar al-Assad was president before demonstrasjonene started in earnest in 2011, it was intellectual that tried to lead the opposition. The students who were with, tried repeatedly to organize undergrupper out of these opposisjonsgrupneat. Regime came down hard on all such attempts. First arrested the vigilantes, and they put the secret police on campus and warned against that studentmøter would be faced with hard response.
Then J. Dræge was in Aleppo in May 2011, two months after the first demonstrations start south of the country, he visited campus at the University of Aleppo. Halvannet years later became university attack. It is often wondered constantly in whether it was rockets fired by oppositions medlemmer, laughs about it was missile attacks from regime’s fighter aircraft which caused explosions.
“For an authoritarian rule regime without something strongly sivilsamfunn students is a particularly important group to check”
Jonas Dræge, MPhil-student in modern midtøstenstudier at Oxford University.
Light at the end of tunnel en Rob Quinn, Executive Director at Supernaturally powered that Risk network, which has will be based at New York University, have faith that your security by all the world’s utdannelsesarenaer should be improved.
– Network with arterysjonale actors who care about attacks on educational institutions at all levels, is growing. We work together through Global Coalition for Protecting Education from thattack (GCPEA) to view interessentene which needs utdanningsinstitusjoner have for better protection, says Quinn.
– What is understanding concrete objectives?
“The goal is better and more on the Litelig protection. Genève conventions prohibits already random attacks on civilian teachers and barley. What we hope to see, is a greater respect and better protectedan enhanced mainstream performance of utdanningsinstitusjonis in all countries, regardless of condition, because education is everyone’s framtime, says Quinn.
—————————————————–
Here we see yet another politicized academic initiative not to attack “GW denialism”, but to “Syrians defending their homeland against Western supported murderous Jihadi rebels” denial-ism.
We all know how we’ve been through similar slick media campaigns already! Like:
“O.B.Laden hiding in Tora Bora caves” causing a well planned attack on sovereign Afghanis, killing thousands of them, plus Pakistanis, until today!
“Weapons of Mass Destruction” justifying war killing 1-1/2 million Iraqis, destroying their infrastructure, & crippling babies and adults & soldiers with depleted uranium in Iraq, and more mayhem.
“Qaddafi’s murders” justifying the murder of hundred thousands civilians, grand theft of their gold & oil, bombing this former top African country back to 3rd world status Western “democracy + central bank!”
“Assad is a murderer” and so the West & Saudis finance & arm thousands of Al Qaeda terrorists they used to be looking for in Afghani caves, to massacre 100.000’s normal Syrians, expel a million of them as refugees, just to create a more Western friendly Regime there. And the sordid list goes on.
This is a very funny video, just like that “children-exploding-at-a-button” video from AGW activists, which scared our kids sh*t-less to “deny” any AGW in left-leaning public schools. And just as the very well-done “Kony” video justifying American military invasions into over 22 African countries. That video largely failed, as there were too many media savvy people who saw through the BS. Etc. Etc. Etc.
Perhaps this “makes fun of Global Warming”, but shouldn’t we be more critical in promoting such cutting-edge videos without checking their agenda? Especially when it comes from “Academia” which is supposed to be doing science rather than moving opinions of the masses toward political correctness?
Perhaps this “makes fun of Global Warming”, but shouldn’t we be more critical in promoting such cutting-edge videos without checking their agenda? Especially when it comes from “Academia” which is supposed to be doing science rather than moving opinions of the masses toward political correctness?
My wife was born and raised in South Africa. When I mentioned this video to her she was quite startled. “Are they sending car or truck radiators? And what good will they do anyway?” she asked. She had never seen a domestic radiator until she arrived in the UK. She then wanted to know if South Africa was that cold now that they needed radiators in their houses.
Marcott has responded see CA. They’ve decided after all that their HS is a load of BS they really did not mean to put it there etc…..SM tears it to pieces this paper WILL BE withdrawn
Great news, Norman, thanks for the tip off. Dare I predict that Jo will post on this topic soon, to alert her readership to these new findings?
There’s no actual sign of Marcott et al even contemplating retracting the paper, so that is still wishful thinking.
Folks, the main admission from Marcott et alis now:
Thus, the 20th century portion of our paleotemperature stack is not statistically robust, cannot be considered representative of global temperature changes, and therefore is not the basis of any of our conclusions.
Our primary conclusions are based on a comparison of the longer term paleotemperature changes from our reconstruction with the well-documented temperature changes that have occurred over the last century, as documented by the instrumental record.
There’s a razor sharp rebuttal from Ross McKitrick in the CA comments.
On Real Climate the warminista have defended the Marcott conclusions.
Tamino (of Closed Mind fame) insists:
The point of Marcott et al. is to study global temperature change in the past, not the present — specifically the last 11,300 years. […]
In my opinion, the Marcott et al. reconstruction absolutely rules out any global temperature increase or decrease of similar magnitude with the rapidity we’ve witnessed over the last 100 years. And the fact is, we already know what happened in the 20th century.
Critics of the recent uptick, and of the re-dating procedure, either have utterly missed the point, or they staunchly refuse to see it and want everyone else not to see it either.
It is not Marcott et al that provide the estimates of the modern warming – they don’t have sufficient proxies in the last 50 to 100 years to robustly estimate the global mean anomaly. This was stated in the paper and above. Their conclusions, as discussed in the paper and above, come from comparisons of their Holocene reconstruction with CRU-EIV from Mann et al and the instrumental data themselves. The headline conclusion follows from that, not the ‘uptick’ in their last data point. – gavin
The party line is clear: Okay you caught us manufacturing the proxy uptick, but the recent instrumental uptick is unusual compared to the rest of the Holocene, so we can still say industry has altered climate dramatically.
The sharp uptick in the instrumental record can only be compared against their reconstruction if they can show their low-frequency proxies are capable of registering such events. If the 20th century portion of their reconstruction does not have the same uptick as the instrumental record, we would conclude that it could have missed similar swings in earlier centuries as well, so the absence of such swings in the earlier part of their graph tells us nothing about the presence or absence of decadal and century-scale warming events. Likewise, an annual or decadal observation from the modern instrumental record cannot be compared against values from their reconstruction, if their reconstruction is not capable of resolving events at that time scale.
But that is precisely what they do in Figure 3 of their paper, and it is the basis of their claim that “Global temperature, therefore, has risen from near the coldest to the warmest levels of the Holocene within the past century, reversing the long-term cooling trend that began ~5000 yr B.P.”
For astute regular readers of Jo’s blog this is nothing new. With this new update and partial admission they have not really changed changed their tune. It just shows how the warmists circle the wagons, dodge the tough questions, and repeat the propaganda endlessly in the hope people will eventually accept it.
You are an optimist. I’m expecting them to try to get away with merely clarifying that only the paleo part of the reconstruction is “robust”. They don’t want the paper withdrawn because the IPCC wants to use the graph.
Look for the IPCC to feature the graph prominently but only discuss its paleo portion in the text. If the casual reader then draws an erroneous conclusion from looking at the non-robust hockey stick part of the graph, then how can the IPCC possibly be blamed for that? These people are sneaky. They can lie without saying a single word that isn’t true.
What I found quite suspicious was the way dam levels were recorded on Saturday and Sunday mornings from 7 May 2005 until 17 May 2009, then there were no more weekend readings recorded afterwards.
I was only too happy to blame the operators 2 years ago and jump on the coverup bandwagon. I also recognised that it was just hubris to build houses on a known floodplain and then try to blame someone else when an inevitable natural event becomes a natural disaster.
The commentary at the time reckoned the operators followed the manual. They did not have the option to keep the gates closed for any longer once the water level reached 74m.
I think the point is that the operator has the discretion to open the gates before it reaches 74m, and if they were not recording dam levels on Saturday mornings they were missing information that could tell them to exercise this discretion. With warnings from the BOM about more rain on the way late the previous Friday night, it begins to look like more could have been done if they were serious about flood mitigation.
31 March: Russia Today: Cyprus’ President-related company transfers €21 mln to London prior to bailout agreement – report
A company owned by in-laws of Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades wired €21 million from Laiki Bank to London days before the Eurogroup’s crisis-triggering levy proposal, claims a Cypriot newspaper. The president demands an investigation.
During two days, 12 and 13 of March, the company A.Loutsios & Sons Ltd., co-owned by Loutsios John, the husband of Nikos Anastasiadis’ daughter, Elsa, took five promissory notes worth €21 million from Laiki Bank. The money was then transferred to London, reported Cypriot newspaper Haravgi, affiliated to the communist-rooted AKEL party.
The withdrawal was fulfilled just three days before the Eurogroup meeting when euro finance ministers agreed a 10 billion euro ($13 billion) bailout for Cyprus.
The company, however, has firmly denied the reports.
The newspaper recalls that Cyprus Finance Minister, Michalis Sarris, publically admitted that the government was aware in advance about the Eurogroup’s intentions to impose a “haircut” on bank deposits of more than 100,000 euros…
The president stressed that no one, including himself, will walk free from the on-going investigations looking into responsibility for the crisis that has engulfed the Cypriot economy.
Moreover, Anastasiades assured that when the investigative committee assembled on Tuesday, he would request that its members look into this particular case. http://rt.com/news/cyprus-president-money-withdraw-129/
You’ll all remember how the Live Aid song in the eighties said that there would be no snow in Africa this Christmas. I say give it time. Now if there was only enough power to use those radiators….
unfortunately, this isn’t an april fool’s day joke!
1 April: BBC: Melt may explain Antarctica’s sea ice expansion
Climate change is expanding Antarctica’s sea ice, according to a scientific study in the journal Nature Geoscience.
The paradoxical phenomenon is thought to be caused by relatively cold plumes of fresh water derived from melting beneath the Antarctic ice shelves.
This melt water has a relatively low density, so it accumulates in the top layer of the ocean.
The cool surface waters then re-freeze more easily during Autumn and Winter.
This explains the observed peak in sea ice during these seasons, a team from the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) in De Bilt says in its peer-reviewed paper… http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21991487
Pat…thats what Imre Lakatosh, in defining the traits of pseudo-science referred to as a sub-tending theory within a “protective belt” defending a falsified theory.
This can be so easily debunked by simple logical reasoning.
These “scientists” would have us believe that the fresh water somehow remains seperated from the salt water and rises to the top of the ocean where it freezes.
Try melt a block of ice at the bottom of a glass of salt water then come back a day later and see just how seperated the salty water is from the fresh water.
How do you know when a climate scientist is lying? They open their mouth.
Sonny, ocean ice is not salty and fresh water is less dense (lighter) than salt water.
If you use very cold (4 C) salt water with some food coloring in your glass example above and float two ice cubes on the top, when they melt you could use a straw to sip that clear fresh water floating off the top of the salt water.
BS, looks like they’ll make an AGW Martyr of him.
Those adoring comments are just astounding.
The stupidity of people is a constant source of amazement!
I managed to get the call at question time and asked Karoly:
“I would like to draw your attention to three facts, two of which are not in dispute at all.
“The first is that the CO2 levels are galloping faster than the most pessimistic predictions. The second is that there has been a 17 year pause in global warming, as acknowledged by Rajendra Pachauri of the IPCC, and that the British Bureau of Meteorolgy models are predicting that this pause will continue until the year 2017 — that’s a 20 year pause. And thirdly there is a leaked graph from the Fifth IPCC report due out in September showing actual temperatures tracking below the lowest predictions of the previous IPCC reports.
“If we put those three facts together, don’t they blow this idiotic global warming scare right out of the water?”
So, remember how this Labor Government said that the CO2 Tax was of very little to zero monetary effect, and remember how they said those in the most need would be compensated.
I know I harp on it at times, but remember how I said that residential power consumption only made up 20% of usage here in Australia, so some people were being compensated for their (residential) consumption, so basically a part of 20% of total consumption is compensated.
That leaves the two largest consuming sectors. Commerce and Industrial to foot the increased power bills due to the imposition of the CO2 Tax on their own, without any compensation.
Now we have the hospitals, and keep in mind that this is only in Victoria, are feeling the squeeze due to increased energy costs, and the CO2 impost is around 15% of your total electricity bill, so just those hospitals in Victoria have an INCREASE (not their whole power bill, but just the increase) in their power bill to the tune of $6.7 Million ….. and that’s just for 6 Months.
OK, so you tell me now. If they have increased costs in one area, do you think they will be cutting back in other areas to even out that huge extra cost.
The CO2 Tax was (supposedly) meant to send an indicator so people would use less electricity, so I, umm, wonder how that works out for a hospital.
Seriously Tony even with all the dripping sarcasm you are looking too deep. This si a greens policy not a labor policy. Gillard spewed out the words (sending a signal) but she had no idea what she was talking about. Hell they cant even formulate and progress their own policy abortions how did you expect them to do any better with one from the stupid greens?
Whilst on my soap box i want to share a funny story about the local green nutjob, this is the same nutjob i have mentioned before that some may remember. This is the guy that claimed the worlds population needed to be reduced (read culled) so i suggested he lead by example and top himself much to the laughter of the people listening to our little debate.
Anyway he has paid someone to build him an electric car which is quite useless and he barely gets from his house (outskirts of Gawler) into the centre of Gawler but due to the fact that he is on the local council (just like Matt “give them more jumpers” B) he got a photo shoot in the local rag extolling teh delights of going green.
His ugly mug has made a reappearance in the local rag, this time he is advocating the benefits of building a recharging station in down town Gawler so all the eco nuts in Adelaide can drive to Gawler on the weekend.
Two problems here:
1, No one no matter what car they drive wants to go to Gawler on the weekend and
2, How many people in the greater Gawler area do you think have a dodgy electric car?
Typical green policy, spend a shit load on a waste of money but in this case it will only benefit this idiot.
I think their tongues are firmly planted in the cheeks 🙂
150
It might be very much tongue in cheek – intended to get people thinking that Africa is not just full of problems and the rich countries are not without their problems. But there is another aspect. Piling radiators on a truck and shipping them to Norway is a very bad way of helping out. It is like much of the aid that Western Countries have sent to Africa. It often little or nothing to help. In fact it has often been the reverse, like encouraging corruption. As Fraser Nelson points out in the UK Telegraph, it points to another problem. In Britain the recent cold winters have lead to tens of thousands of extra deaths. The policies to combat global warming are contributing by making the cost of heating much more expensive. Yet nobody seems concerned about 30,000 extra deaths from the cold.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/elderhealth/9959856/Its-the-cold-not-global-warming-that-we-should-be-worried-about.html
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Perhaps so. Or perhaps it’s a cry for recognition of the African people as people instead of human disasters.
80
Roy, I think his point was that all the people involved were Norwegian already.
Weve also had food aid from India arriving in Northern England.
51
Ace,
My point was completely different. I don’t want this to be confrontational but my comment had nothing to do with Norway at all. Yes, the song is a put-on but it comes from a place entirely different from Norway. Actually it comes, not from any country or continent but from the human spirit.
I did a lot of reading on the sites behind this video and what they’re trying to do is get recognition of an Africa that is succeeding, doing well and looking at a bright future. That Africa doesn’t want the world’s view to be just the misery of poverty, malnutrition and starvation.
The thing is summed up nicely by the question, is the glass half empty or half full? It is seen only too frequently as half empty where in fact it is half full.
Too often the “aid” sent anywhere, Africa included, is what the giver thinks is needed and not what really should be done to get the needy out of their trouble. Or maybe even worse, it’s simply self serving or results in massive corruption. The successful part of Africa wants out from under this. They want control of their own destiny just like the rest of us. Africa wants to join the world that is succeeding. They don’t want to stay in the half empty side of the glass anymore.
Africa’s aid to Norway will make no difference. I doubt that radiators were even shipped (I don’t know). The whole thing is about rocking every boat that needs rocking until the picture changes and Africa is allowed to manage its own affairs. Yes, they still need help. But finally, let’s make it the right help.
My comment at #18 I think is accurate. The video and the movement behind it are indeed both of the things I said, “…it’s either naively serious or it’s a brilliant slap in the face to so many things and people that I wouldn’t try to list them all.” That’s the kind of thing you need to do when you’re down and want up. It’s desperate hope and a plea for recognition.
81
One of my colleagues has worked extensively in many parts of Africa. During one period, when food and medicine was in short supply, some aid was received from Europe, packed into a number of containers. He says that the food delivered was mostly past it’s EEC mandated UseBy date, so it could not be sold in Europe, and needed to be disposed of. That is not so bad, because the food was probably still edible, if prepared properly.
What really upset him though, was that a significant amount of container space was filled with cleaning utensils, such as brushes, dustpans, mops, etc. and with plastic garden furniture.
It seems, from what he was told, that these goods were of an older design, and were occupying warehouse space somewhere, which of course was costing money. Also getting rid of them at a loss has tax implications, and it may also be possible to apply for EU funding to cover the cost of transportation. There are also promotional opportunities in being an “aid” provider.
What the giver thinks is needed, does indeed come into the equation. The question then becomes, “Who’s need?”
71
A similar thing happens with drugs of all kinds. The FDA mandates that manufacturers specify an expiration date. It’s quite illegal to sell or for any medical professional to use anything that has expired. But those same “expired” drugs can be legally sold in other countries where, surprise of all surprises, they work perfectly — not good enough for us but good enough for the rest of the world.
I really think the word “hypocrisy” is not strong enough for this kind of double standard. The drug manufacturer is given a strong incentive to specify the shortest shelf life they can get away with in order to sell more product and the whole thing is a monumental charade. No one knows how long most of those drugs will stay effective. And no one cares. The FDA satisfies Congress that they’re protecting the American Public and the Congress can say to the voters, “See what I do for you! Now vote me back into office.” But at least useful drugs get to some of those who need them.
61
The do-gooder mentality in a nutshell. The last thing they think of is whether the do-gooding is really going to solve a problem of significance to the recipients, and of their own choice. It never occurs to them, in my experience, to do the courtesy of asking, first, “may I help you? What is the problem you would like me to help you solve?”
40
Some interesting points Roy.
In the 1930s here in Australia, it was seen just how little was needed to physically get by on;
while acknowledging that most of Australia is a reasonably temperate climate and the main
problem with “sleeping rough” was mosquitoes.
My great wish is that the United Nations will one day bite the bullet and instal caretaker UN
Administrator Governments in places currently run by warlords where there is no freedom to
elect government.
Unfortunately Africa probably tops the list of potential beneficiaries, along with some parts
of South America and the Indian Sub continent.
There are no easy answers but possibly a 4 year UN administration followed by closely
monitored elections might be a start?
In the West we have had “basic rights” for a long time but have become so complacent that we have allowed our freedom to be stripped from us by stealth in behind the scenes, government misappropriation and corruption.
There is no place for “Personal Greed” in elected Government but unfortunately it is endemic to our current “democratic” system. Urgent changes are needed in the west where we have been brainwashed by smart operators.
The “choir” thing above brings out the main talking points: even relatively poor westerners are hit by slick advertising that says they can help a starving African by donating and in return they will feel ennobled by this act.
Little do the poor realise that they are most likely contributing to the local warlord in the area and making the problem worse.
Additionally the “management” of many of the charities chews up substantial portions of the donations in local admin costs such as advertising and “essentials”.
Perhaps “Sir” Bob Geldorff is the poster boy of this type of “charity at a distance” where the closest he gets to the suffering is to appear in a live aid concert.
All people need basic education, a guarantee of personal security, water, food, a secure and honest banking system, community, family and above all hope.
Container loads of aid are just a feel-good flash in the pan that needs to be replaced by solid UN action to ensure the few basic rights listed above.
KK
20
Allen said:
To which I can add that I have a co-worker who is so smugly proud of himself for having discovered in the latter years of his life that he is his brother’s keeper.
Though it has never once occurred to him to ask his brother if he wants to be kept by him or whether his ideas of what would be best for his brother actually are.
Seems to me it is really about how it makes him feel about himself as opposed to whether it actually benefits anyone else. Which does go a long way towards explaining why they never ask the questions Allen posed.
20
LOLOLOLO yeah but which ones!!!
00
their cheeks!
40
They’re cheeky!
It brings a tear to the eye, There is hope for humanity after all.
21
Changing the social climate.
One radiator at a time.
120
That is funny on so many levels.
111
So, remember how we are told that Australia needs to set an example and indicate we are not being profligate consumers of electricity, and how we are huge per capita consumers of electricity.
The Population of Norway is 5 Million.
The Population of Australia is 22.6 Million, 4.52 times that of Norway.
The yearly power consumption for Norway is 120TWH.
The yearly power consumption for Australia is 240TWH, only double that of Norway.
Yesterday the power consumption for Norway totalled out at 19,500MW.
Yesterday the power consumption for Australia totalled out at 23,000MW.
I think Australia is indeed already pulling its weight.
Tony.
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and 91.1% of that power in Norway comes from Hydro power.
110
Huh? And 91% of Australia is flat.
20
And, 91 % of Australias populated coastal regions have elevated hinterlands ideal for dams.
KK 🙂
10
I heard a report on the BBC’s World Service about a plan to cover Sydney’s (?) roofs with solar panels as it gets 7 hours of sunshine a day. Apparently CO2 is at record levels and may be contributing to global warming (I thought the science was ‘settled’) and it’s time to take action.
The study was based on an American scheme – can’t remember whereabouts – and they did at least have someone who questioned it’s validity. What sort of mythical world are these people living in?
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Tony you are exhibiting the kind of confirmation bias we associate with Greens. As you realise, theres a little difference in climate at issue. How many Australians die from hypothermia if they dont burn godzillawatts of power every day in heating? How many megabuggatonnes of fuel have to be spent in Australia shifting billions of tonnes of snow and ice off the roads?
Of course, John Brookes and his “basking” (his word) undrr the airconditioner goes ome way to making up for the difference.
As For England, we are somewhere short of Norway in the Figidaire League. Lets have fun…Folks, Ozzies and Gingerbread men…venture your guess at my expenditure in GB pounds, per week on electricity mostly for heating over the last three months. No prizes, but I challenge you!? Minimums and maximums accepted as guesses, but state which.
00
OK, I’m game enough to actually attempt an exercise like this, but folks, take this not as an educated guess as to Ace’s consumption here, but as a generic guesstimate, and here, what is worth noting are comparisons with what similar costings are here in Australia.
Now, an average (keep in mind average) residential consumption for electrical power in the UK is around 5000KWH, which extrapolates to around 13.7KWH per day. Now here in Australia, that average residential power consumption is actually 20KWH per day, so some may be puzzled as to why the UK, a much colder place has lower consumption. That is mainly due to the English having a greater access to Gas in their homes than we have here in Australia, so a greater percentage of Space Heating in the UK would be achieved with gas, while here in Australia, electricity would cover that.
So now, assuming the average electricity consumption is around 5000KWH, in the UK, almost 60% of that consumption goes on Space heating, hence 3000KWH.
Now here, the conjecture comes in. Let’s assume that most of that heating occurs in the Winter Months, so probably 80% of that total is for the colder period including Winter (including also a third to a half in Spring and Autumn each) so let’s say that covers 5 months, so now we have (just for space heating as that was Ace’s challenge here) 2400KWH. Now this has been a colder Winter, Spring and Autumn as well, so let’s add in an extra half on top of that average period so that gives us 3600KWH. As this space heating covers the 5 cold months, we take three fifths of that, and we add this to the remainder for the 3 Month period of 700KWH, giving us a 3 Month consumption of around 3000KWH.
Similar to Australia, electricity accounts are paid three Monthly, so that’s why I did the above exercise to show how the Winter power bill is higher than Summer, and also the two benign season bills(Autumn and Spring).
In the UK, they pay (on average) 19 pence per KWH. Conversion sees that coming in at 28 cents Australian per KWH, and compare that with here in Australia where we pay around 23/24 cents per KWH.
So, at a rough guess, Ace’s most recent 3 Monthly power bill came in at around 570 Quid.
So, 570 Pounds is for the 3 Month period, 90 days so divide that by 90 and multiply by 7, and we get around 44 Pounds a week, for a guess at Ace’s weekly power bill for that period.
Probably on the high side, but can you see how English people would be putting up with the extreme cold, because electricity costs so much.
Tony.
10
Wow you are game for achallenge.
I realise I should have outlined my paramaters.
No gas or other fuel consumption.
One person. To economise over this period I have partially heated only my office, where I have spent nearly the entire cold episode.This is a very small space, about 1000cubic feet.
At night the only heating is my bedroom. No heating when away from apartment.
Only appliances used a PC, monitor, DVD and monitor, battery chargers, other piddly bits like that. I dont do cooking (havent for a couple of years).
So, not a house, not an entire home, just one tiny room at a time.
20
I’m game to try Ace, I’m going to estimate 500watts for heat (continuous for each of the 90 days). 200 watts for light and 200 watts for your computer and stuff but that only for 50% of the time.
90x24x700= 1512kw
1512x£.19 (pence) =£287.28 for the 90 days total (going on Tony’s figure for Kwh cost)
so about £95.76 per month
If you have refrigeration for your Boddingtons Ales then add £15.00 for a full size (lots of ale). 🙂
10
Pretty astute Mark. I haven’t totaled the period so I cannot provide a weekly mean but a minimum of 25 GBP per week and a high of frequently 35 GBP per week. So its higher on the whole than your estimated average.
10
Darn! I was going to say 1000 watts for heat and actually calculated the 3 month amount for that (£492.48) but I started thinking you were hinting at a very careful, austere use of electricity so I cut it back.
Still there quite a few variables like how often you leave and turn heat off or what kind of building construction so I’m happy enough with my guess (+ you haven’t answered about the fridge.) 🙂
Also, is the 35 GBP / week including taxes or just power?
00
PS we pay between .07 and .10 per kWh and with a GBP at about twice the value of the USD you are at least four times higher in cost per kWh.
Ouch!
10
Okay, so let’s say a hot Australian Summer is approximately the same as a cold English Winter, with relation to electricity consumed, (cooling here in Oz versus heating in the UK).
So, in my case, my consumption comes in at $450 per quarter, hence $5.00 per day, and Ace mentions his (high of) 35GBP per week, converted to AUD equates to $(AUD)6.50 per day.
Our electricity cost averages at 23 cents per KWH
UK electricity cost average 19P per KWH (or 28 cents in Australian currency)
So Ace’s consumption for a cold Winter averages around 23KWH per day.
My consumption for a Hot Summer averages around 22KWH per day.
The point here is that for these two cases, power consumption is almost the same.
So, while the vast bulk of an average power bill is for Summer here where I live, it is similar for a UK Winter.
So, no matter what the situation, people will use the electricity that they have to use.
No amount of warm and fuzzy use less for the sake of the Country meme will have very much of an effect. True believers might consume (marginally) less electrical power, because of that, but the average person will use whatever it takes in the privacy of their own home, for their own comfort level, and that of their family’s comfort level.
That power needs to available all the time for that reason, and only one form of power generation can do that.
The only thing that WILL make people consume less, is if it’s not there at all.
As Mark says, compare what you pay for electricity with what they pay in the U.S. and here’s a State by State breakdown of power costs, Click you mouse on Residential and it’s the second column in from the right for price per KWH, and at the bottom it shows the U.S. average at 11.72 cents per KWH.
Electrical Power costs U.S.
Tony.
10
The problem with that Tony is that I HAVENT used what I have NEEDED to use, because I simply cannot afford to! Thats why Ive repeatedly cussed about it here. The heating Ive paid for is the diffference between life and death,not comfort. I have had weeks of being continuously cold as F%^&* , and as I write this my feet are like ice.
10
Tony, FYI, our rate (I don’t want to disclose the exact area) for residential 120/240V supplied through one meter:
RATE (Monthly) General and Space Heating
0-300 kWh 5.098¢
301-500 kWh 6.735¢
501-750 kWh 8.168¢
751-1000 8.445¢
Over 1000 kWh 8.937¢
Plus a flat $8.00 monthly “service charge”
“Dual Fuel” rates are at 5.178¢ (this being an interruptible service designed for heating during non-peak times).
Commercial is slightly different but not much.
The power Company collects hydro for about 15%-18% of supply, 80% is from coal.
00
Ace, I empathize with your predicament. It is a crappy shame that first world economies are holding their constituents energy hostages and not comfortably either.
Being cold sucks. I live in a part of the world that has plenty of it. If I could offer help for you I would.
Fortunately we heat with natural gas at a substantial cost savings over electric and I have options for wood if needed. The reason I guessed close to what you were using for electric is because I’ve contemplated in some detail what would be required in an emergency for space and heat (food too but that is another story).
I’m in awe of the native peoples that survived winters here in skins and bark. But then my Viking forbears accomplished the same thing somehow.
00
Thats because back then we were as hard as a cat’s head but now after decades of living a luxurious life we have become soft as marshmellows. God help us all if/when the next ice age hits.
Cheers
00
You didn’t tell us how much beer you drink? It could possibly consume quite a bit of electricity to keep it warm (puke!).
00
smile…that is sweet Eric W.
this should make u smile too…note the final sentence in hudson’s piece!!!
28 March: BBC Paul Hudson Blog: How cold will March end up? Plus an Easter outlook
March is now well on course to be the coldest since 1962 (CET 2.8C).
And there remains just a chance that it could equal the mean temperature set back in 1962.
If so, March 2013 would turn out to be the equal coldest since way back in 1892.
With December 2010 ending up the coldest since 1890, it’s yet more anecdotal evidence that something significant seems to be happening to our climate, driven by a jet stream that continues to be forced regularly further south than normal, across all seasons.
As ever the reasons for this are not clear.
*****But those who study how solar activity affects the positioning of the jet stream will, perhaps, feel increasingly vindicated.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/paulhudson/posts/How-cold-will-March-end-up-Plus-an-Easter-outlook
101
Ah but, Has Paul Hudson Put His Foot In It Again?
http://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2013/03/29/has-paul-hudson-put-his-foot-in-it-again/
40
Paul Hudson is the journo FOIA first sent the climategate emails to. That was his chance at being famous for 15 mins. He hasn’t exactly got a newsman’s nose for a story …
Pointman
70
Thanks, Pointman, I didn’t know that. I suppose, at that time, he would have been deep in the Beeb’s warmish mindset and decided to look long and hard at a)his career prospects and b)his pension entitlements and settled for letting someone else go over the top first.
On reflection, all the intervening years of discussion still haven’t dented the Beeb’s and the MSM’s adherence to the ‘consensus’ view. Cracks are appearing but I’m almost thinking that I don’t have enough years left to see this nonsense finally sent into the annals of silly science.
70
LOL … as one FB commentator wrote, the (socialist) ‘Western World’ should save its advice for Africa and STFU.
51
At least the Norwegians have electricity and can afford it.
No point in sending surplus radiators to the UK.
24,000 ‘died because of cold homes’ last winter: Fears grow that figure could be higher this year because of spiralling bills
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2240716/24-000-died-cold-homes-winter-Fears-grow-figure-higher-year-spiralling-bills.html#ixzz2P09tfQd8
100
The only people in Norway that wouldn’t know how to deal with the cold are the refugees/immigrants, many from African countries ironically.
I’d say more but I don’t want to be the Easter Grinch. Let’s just say janama was on the right track.
Considering the Norwegian tradition of eating fermented trout, I think a bit of food aid from Africa would be very helpful in August. Let them eat cassava leaves. Some real food.
Also, a personal observation, hot dogs from dodgy 7-11 corner shops taste just as bad in Oslo as they do in Brisbane. It shouldn’t have surprised me actually. A different town far away from the capital was where I bought the most expensive pizza I’ve ever had. (Maybe 20 NOK or more.) Due to a shortage of medium-sized bases they gave me a large for the same price which turned out to be too much to eat and I had to dump half of it in a bin. I reckon pizza must be some sort of exotic luxury in that place, you can’t just get it anywhere for cheap.
When I was in Sweden I made sure I had Swedish meatballs, just like the Swedish chef from the Muppet Show made. I was fairly scientific about it; I tested them to see if they would bounce off the plate! Sadly there was not much bounce at all, I think I may have gotten one of them to bounce 1mm but only at a cost of splashing my jacket with lingonberry sauce. Imagine the disappointment. Jim Henson had lied to me. Not quite a Lorenzian breakfast but I had discarded a pet hypothesis before the end of lunch!
All round it was a good trip. Very scenic.
91
Andrew,
I suppose you are occasionally left pining for the Fjords, incidentally, designed by Slartibartfast.
Hmm! Always wanted to hook up Python and Hitchhikers.
Tony.
101
I wasn’t expecting some kind of hookup between Python and Hitchhikers.
31
Nobody expects the hookup between Python and Hitchhikers!
Cardinal Fang, fetch the Vogon poetry!
31
You silly kniggits…..
31
Thank you Tony for swinging into HHG territory.
The quote- “First Up Against The Wall When The Revolution Comes” has been daily in my thoughts for several years now.
Anecdotally, I heard that Douglas Adams had to keep writing to stay in front of the Taxman after his original spectacular success so his own words may have been hard to keep from the front of his mind.
11
If Hanson, Chu, Gore, et al ad infinitum were “up against a wall” they would feel strangely vindicated and die righteous. You dont want that do you?
Much better they live long, prosperously, but finally aware of the untruth they had been spreading.
10
I’ve got a slug.
Can it talk ?
Not really
10
All our food is adapted from elsewhere, but we have succeeded in making it all low quality high cost
30
I’ve bad news for you, Andrew. Pizza ain’t cheap anywhere! Even bad pizza is expensive. They long ago discovered that it’s manna from heaven and they charge accordingly. 🙂
20
What I dont understand with Norway having been there quiet a few times is there liking of dodgy Chinese restaurants and pizza joints. I guess you get like that during long periods of night time during winter. Walking out of a pub in summer at 3am and its still light seems to play havoc with your senses to.
20
Henson & Hanson, the lying double act!
00
Is that ivory on the piano keyboard? Ebony & ivory in frosty Norway? I feel a song coming on.
41
With Europe freezing, it;s good that the Norwegians can laugh about the chilling cold climate.
41
This is such a heart-warming story, I just had to post it on James Delingpole’s blog on the DT website.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100209502/hayes-fallon-deckchairs-titanic/#comment-847044601
21
This must be satire? MadTv?
Or
Someone think it’s April fools day already?
10
Looks like WUWT has finally been hacked or something anyway its down please advise AW. Cheers
10
It’s working now … you might have caught it being updated.
00
Such an ill-thought out scheme.
Give a man a radiator, and he will stay warm for a day.
Teach him how to MAKE radiators and he will stay warm for life. (assuming he lives that long)
80
“Build a man a fire, and he’ll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he’ll be warm for the rest of his life.” Terry Pratchett
120
Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day – teach a man to fish and he’ll spend the rest of his life sitting in a boat drinking beer.
111
Janama; That was beautiful! I know a few fishermans widows that concur with you on that !!!
40
And that is the definition of Pier Review.
50
No Rereke, it’s Beer review.
20
I will give you that one. I was assuming that the boat was tied to the pier.
10
Give a man $20 and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to make $20 and he’ll ask you for a bigger printing press.
70
Seriousness aside — which seems appropriate — it’s either naively serious or it’s a brilliant slap in the face to so many things and people that I wouldn’t try to list them all.
Maybe it’s both.
40
Only a minority of Norwegians loves fermented trout (“rakefisk”) and, for that matter, sheep heads (“smalahove”; split, salted, smoked and boiled). Enjoy Easter!
60
Hello Trygve.
Are you from Norway and still living there? By your name and your understanding of eating habits in Norge I assume so.
It is great to hear Jo’s blog is read so widely. I keep forgetting this is not some cosy little private club, the whole world is watching!
Can you tell us how the Global Warming subject is judged in Norway? Have you seen any survey results on how many people there believe it is bad? Can you tell us of any conversations you have had with other Norwegians about it?
Of course I yield to your local knowledge about rakfisk popularity. I said only it was traditional, I had no idea how many people still ate it. I was going to say they ate Surströmming until I checked and found that is a Swedish thing.
You may be surprised to learn that we have quite a lot of smalahove in Australia. They are easy to find. You just have to look at the ministers of our current government. 🙂
Cheers.
10
Yes, I am Norwegian and living in Norway. Climate and AGW is strongly into Norwegian politics, but not on top except in some short rethorical bursts. Mass media reportings are mainly unilateral, but there is a growing discussion on the web indicating a slow turn of public opinion. I have no data readily available on public opinion, but shall try and dig them out.
Thank you for your comments on sheep skulls.
Best regards,
Trygve
20
Whilst amusing, this is old stuff! It has been around for ages.
10
LOL … ROTFLMFAO … I put the vid up on my FB. Guess what ? One of my old friends msgs me and tells me that his and another mate’s kids wrote and produced this and played in the band.
It is a small world, this global village !
20
Knowing these people, they’re flippin’ the bird at the NGOs and laughing at them.
20
28 March: UK Telegraph: Fraser Nelson: It’s the cold, not global warming, that we should be worried about
No one seems upset that in modern Britain, old people are freezing to death as hidden taxes make fuel more expensive
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/elderhealth/9959856/Its-the-cold-not-global-warming-that-we-should-be-worried-about.html
10
it shocks me how little people i talk to comprehend – or are concerned about – the magnitude of the ever-increasing theft of people’s money in cyprus. no wonder they keep upping the amount they are stealing:
30 March: UK Daily Mail: Bank of Cyprus savers with more than 100,000 euros now face 60 PER CENT losses as officials scramble to prevent collapse
Savers then stand to lose a further 22.5% depending on an assessment…
Airports are now searching passengers and stopping anyone trying to leave the country with more than 1000 euros (£845) and daily cash machine withdrawals are limited to 300 euros (£250).
Cyprus was yesterday still reeling from its bailout plans with British expat pensioners struggling to pay for food and bills as banks refuse to release their UK pension payments…
Slovenia’s recently elected prime minister Alenka Bratusek insisted her country should not be compared to Cyprus. ‘Our banking system is stable and safe,’ she said.
But the IMF said: ‘The new government should promptly address bank restructuring, corporate sector debt overhang and governance and involvement of the state in the economy.’
Economists polled by Reuters said Slovenia and Spain were now the two eurozone nations most likely to need a bailout.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2301513/Bank-Cyprus-savers-100-000-euros-face-60-PER-CENT-losses-officials-scramble-prevent-collapse.html
30
there are many heartbreaking personal stories online if one looks for them.
30 March: UK Daily Mail: ‘It’s robbery!’ New Cyprus bombshell as Britons are told they may lose EVERYTHING over £85k
Bank of Cyprus savers will see 37.5 per cent of any deposits over €100,000 (£85,000) converted into shares in the bank, with a strong possibility that these will prove worthless. Another 40 per cent will be repaid only if the bank does well in future, while 22.5 per cent will go into a contingency fund that could be subject to further write-offs.
Laiki Bank customers are also reported to be facing the loss of 80 per cent of their deposits above the £85,000 limit…
Although it is not known how many of the 60,000 British expats living on the island have deposits of more than £85,000, it is likely that a considerable number will be caught in the net.
Neil Hodgson, 48, who moved to Paphos, on the south-west coast of the island, six years ago, said he has lost nearly £200,000. The former farmer, who has two accounts with Bank of Cyprus, added: ‘I had more than €300,000 in my deposit account and €20,000 in my current account. When I went to the bank the other day I was told the total balance for both is €100,000.
‘They were unable to explain how this had been worked out but indicated I might get some back at a later stage.
‘I checked online and it confirmed that the €20,000 in my current account remains, but that I only have €80,000 in my savings account. It’s robbery, plain and simple.’…
Mr Hodgson, from Newcastle upon Tyne, whose wife died two years ago, said he moved to Cyprus believing he was destined for a ‘happy life of semi-retirement’.
‘Our farm in Ayrshire was bought by a mining company and I came into a lot of money,’ he added. ‘We moved to Cyprus for the sunshine and easy life but it has turned into a nightmare…
Claims that the victims are shady Russian oligarchs have a nasty whiff to them, and even if some of the cash that will be taken is of doubtful provenance, that cannot justify the burden now being placed on the tiny island economy.
Smaller savers may not have been hit by a levy on their bank accounts, but they will be swept up in the economic storm that is sure to descend on Cyprus as a result of such draconian measures…
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2301737/Its-robbery-New-Cyprus-bombshell-Britons-told-lose-EVERYTHING-85k.html
and, of course, there are stories of corruption:
29 March: GreekReporter: Cypriot Politicians’ Loans Written Off
The Greek newspaper Ethnos and the website 24h.com.cy said that loans to Members of Parliament from the three major political parties and other officials in the public administration from the Bank of Cyprus and Cyprus Popular Bank (Laiki) will be written down or off.
The list includes former and current politicians, wives and relatives whose debt will be excused while the banks chase others to pay their loans. It was not said whether the government or bank officials drew up the list of those who will be given preferential treatment and who won’t have to pay, essentially having received free money they can keep or spend as they wish.
The list including the names of those who managed to have their debts deleted is before the Parliamentary Committee on Institutions which will review it although it includes people they may know. There was no information on whether that would create a conflict of interest in their eyes…
The Attorney General, Petros Klerides, who is in charge of any prosecution on the state’s behalf, has the list that is said to include eminent Cypriots, politicians and businessmen, who took loans from the banks that are being written off.
The list from website 24h.com shows the write-offs include…ETC
http://greece.greekreporter.com/2013/03/29/cypriot-politicians-loans-written-off/
meanwhile, the MSM reports i’ve seen are a disgrace, and will no doubt lead other countries to believe they can get away with similar robberies.
30
Pat
Thank you for putting this up.
It’s important information that we all need to be aware of.
KK
10
read all:
29 March: SilverDoctors: FDIC & Bank of England Create Resolution Authority for Unlimited Cyprus-Style “Bail-Ins” for TBTF (Too Big to Fail) Banks!
On Wednesday, SD (SilverDoctors) broke the news that Canada had buried a provision for depositor bail-ins for systemically important banks deep inside its official 2013 budget, and stated that the Cypriot bail-in was not just a one-off event, but is in fact the new collapse template for the entire Western banking system.
We suspected that the same policy change had been made by the US & the UK, but was simply yet to be discovered, buried in the website of a Federal agency.
We suspected correctly…
The resolution states that while the US would prefer large financial institutions be resolved through ordinary bankruptcy, depositor wealth confiscation will be pursued in the case of a systemically important institution (i.e. BOA, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, etc):…ETC
http://silverdoctors.com/fdic-bank-of-england-create-resolution-authority-for-unlimited-cyprus-style-bail-ins-for-tbtf-banks/
20
27 March: CBC Canada: Carbon offsets program slammed by B.C. Auditor General
B.C.’s Auditor General John Doyle has issued a scathing report on the provincial government’s efforts to be carbon neutral, saying efforts to buy carbon offsets to counter its greenhouse gas emissions are not “credible.”…
The biggest concern to Doyle is that tens of millions of dollars that are being collected each year from schools, hospitals and other public sector bodies to buy carbon offsets are not being credibly spent…
Doyle also took issue with the trust for organizing what he calls an “orchestrated campaign” against him on the file.
He said carbon trust managers broke his confidence and disclosed information about his audit to industry stakeholders — something he said he’s never experienced with any other report.
***”Of all the reports I have issued, never has one been targeted in such an overt manner by vested interests, nor has an audited organization ever broken my confidence, as did the senior managers at PCT by disclosing confidential information to carbon market developers and brokers,” he wrote.
“I cannot sufficiently express my surprise and disappointment that a public sector entity, with a fiduciary duty to the people of British Columbia, chose to expend its time and energy in this manner, rather than addressing the concerns raised in the audit.”…
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2013/03/27/bc-carbon-neutral-report.html
10
shameless hypocrites:
Britain’s greenhouse gas emissions rise 3.5 pct in 2012
LONDON, March 28 (Reuters Point Carbon) – Britain’s greenhouse gas emissions rose 3.5 percent year-on-year in 2012, mainly due to an increase in output from coal-power fired stations, according to government estimates published Thursday…
http://www.pointcarbon.com/news/1.2241053
10
It is a while back now, but one day I was wandering around Kavieng, top of New Ireland Papua New Guinea, not long after Newcastle Oz had it’s earthquake.
A couple of local [Fussy Wussy] cops came up to me, pushing a wheel barrow. It was half full of money. When asked what the money was for the answer was “one pella New Castle belong ostrala”. “Ostrala him help us, now him all bugger up we help him”.
It would have been discourteous to tell them not to bother, it was not too bad, so I said I was sure they would be grateful.
I hope Newcastle was grateful for the $1100 they collected. The people who had donated it earned either $12 or $19 a week.
80
Wow. Every once in a while I am just floored by acts of kindness and generosity.
I mean everyone understands the idea that one should help others in need when it is of little cost to one’s self.
But to give so much is just amazing.
There is a quote which says “The most well developed people are from the least developed countries, and the least developed people are from the most developed countries.” I think it was a quote from Peter Ustinov. I swear I have the quote correct but when I search for it there is no match. Anyhow, it does unfortunately ring true in some ways – PNG highlander cannibalism nothwithstanding!
40
Re Ustinov’s elusive quote.
I once saw a TV interview in which B.F.Skinner stood in front of the camera and said “I do not exist”.
What he meant of course was ” “I” do not exist”.
Hard to convey aloud.
Ive many times wanted to cite that assertion of a Behaviourist perspective, because it perfectly demonstrates its parallel with Buddhism. All the more because, as I remember it (from upwards of 30 years ago) he was stood in a snow covered outdoors place.
Everything off Telly is on the web somewhere. But Ive been totally unable to find what this was in for citation purposes.
If anyone has a reference it would be most appreciated.
Of course I may be mis-remembering an interview with the inventor of Formica declaring his triumph: “Ply does not exist”.
10
Yes indeed I think the Ply version is the correct one. 😉 As you may also recall, the inventor of Formica was Rene Descartes, whose seminal contribution to European domestic benchtop construction was summed up best by his own famous statement: I countersink, before I sand.
20
Then he puts the Pan Gloss varnish on it: “Shine is for the best in the best of all possible kitchens”.
10
Hi Andrew, that quote “The most well developed people are from the least developed countries, and the least developed people are from the most developed countries.”is quite profound. It can be extrapolated in so many ways. For me it states that we in the developed world are fixated with knowledge and forget about wisdom. We fill our kids heads with facts and give them no clue as to how to use them in the world they live in. I know for a fact that some Africans’ can be the wisest people you could wish to meet and are a bit touchy about their place in the world. This video is obviously (need it be said) a spoof.
30
I laughed my head off watching this video (expensive & well-done by “Ikind Productions”?) especially in view of bogus claims of man-made global warming. Yet, from experience I’ve learned not to take everything at face value anymore, like for example CO2 driven Global Warming promoted by politicised academia, but to look deeper.
So I went to the (Norwegian) “SAIH” website that created this video. They like to “raise awareness” that Africa is not just “hungry people” stereotypes and that we need “better information about what is going on in the world, in schools, in TV and media”, “based on real needs.” etc.
Then my eye caught the first article on SAIH.NO, and it was about Syria, and the terrorist destruction of the university in Aleppo. SAIH reporter J. Draege blamed that on the Assad govt. rockets? See the (imperfect) machine translation below:
——————————
“IN Syria is the problem in these days with relevant information. 15. Januar was a section of studentboligene on the University of Aleppo and a part of arkitekturfakultetet university bombarding. Explosions took life of at least 80 people and injured even more.
Jonas Dræge, MPhil-student in modern midtøstenstudier at Oxford University, he dwelt in Syria a period and has first hand experience from how Syrian Studenter will be subjected to military press tactics.
For an authoritarian rule regime without something strongly sivilsamfunn students is a particularly important group to control. For auspicesmet in Syria was there even viktinavigate to prevent formation of Studentgrupper than most other types of opposisjonsgrupper, says Dræge.
The student says that youth while mobility is a major focus for the regime in Syria.
“The eleven years Bashar al-Assad was president before demonstrasjonene started in earnest in 2011, it was intellectual that tried to lead the opposition. The students who were with, tried repeatedly to organize undergrupper out of these opposisjonsgrupneat. Regime came down hard on all such attempts. First arrested the vigilantes, and they put the secret police on campus and warned against that studentmøter would be faced with hard response.
Then J. Dræge was in Aleppo in May 2011, two months after the first demonstrations start south of the country, he visited campus at the University of Aleppo. Halvannet years later became university attack. It is often wondered constantly in whether it was rockets fired by oppositions medlemmer, laughs about it was missile attacks from regime’s fighter aircraft which caused explosions.
“For an authoritarian rule regime without something strongly sivilsamfunn students is a particularly important group to check”
Jonas Dræge, MPhil-student in modern midtøstenstudier at Oxford University.
Light at the end of tunnel en Rob Quinn, Executive Director at Supernaturally powered that Risk network, which has will be based at New York University, have faith that your security by all the world’s utdannelsesarenaer should be improved.
– Network with arterysjonale actors who care about attacks on educational institutions at all levels, is growing. We work together through Global Coalition for Protecting Education from thattack (GCPEA) to view interessentene which needs utdanningsinstitusjoner have for better protection, says Quinn.
– What is understanding concrete objectives?
“The goal is better and more on the Litelig protection. Genève conventions prohibits already random attacks on civilian teachers and barley. What we hope to see, is a greater respect and better protectedan enhanced mainstream performance of utdanningsinstitusjonis in all countries, regardless of condition, because education is everyone’s framtime, says Quinn.
—————————————————–
Here we see yet another politicized academic initiative not to attack “GW denialism”, but to “Syrians defending their homeland against Western supported murderous Jihadi rebels” denial-ism.
We all know how we’ve been through similar slick media campaigns already! Like:
“O.B.Laden hiding in Tora Bora caves” causing a well planned attack on sovereign Afghanis, killing thousands of them, plus Pakistanis, until today!
“Weapons of Mass Destruction” justifying war killing 1-1/2 million Iraqis, destroying their infrastructure, & crippling babies and adults & soldiers with depleted uranium in Iraq, and more mayhem.
“Qaddafi’s murders” justifying the murder of hundred thousands civilians, grand theft of their gold & oil, bombing this former top African country back to 3rd world status Western “democracy + central bank!”
“Assad is a murderer” and so the West & Saudis finance & arm thousands of Al Qaeda terrorists they used to be looking for in Afghani caves, to massacre 100.000’s normal Syrians, expel a million of them as refugees, just to create a more Western friendly Regime there. And the sordid list goes on.
This is a very funny video, just like that “children-exploding-at-a-button” video from AGW activists, which scared our kids sh*t-less to “deny” any AGW in left-leaning public schools. And just as the very well-done “Kony” video justifying American military invasions into over 22 African countries. That video largely failed, as there were too many media savvy people who saw through the BS. Etc. Etc. Etc.
Perhaps this “makes fun of Global Warming”, but shouldn’t we be more critical in promoting such cutting-edge videos without checking their agenda? Especially when it comes from “Academia” which is supposed to be doing science rather than moving opinions of the masses toward political correctness?
Lu
21
Lu,
It does make fun of global warming. But perhaps it’s also more than that.
10
My wife was born and raised in South Africa. When I mentioned this video to her she was quite startled. “Are they sending car or truck radiators? And what good will they do anyway?” she asked. She had never seen a domestic radiator until she arrived in the UK. She then wanted to know if South Africa was that cold now that they needed radiators in their houses.
00
Marcott has responded see CA. They’ve decided after all that their HS is a load of BS they really did not mean to put it there etc…..SM tears it to pieces this paper WILL BE withdrawn
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Great news, Norman, thanks for the tip off. Dare I predict that Jo will post on this topic soon, to alert her readership to these new findings?
There’s no actual sign of Marcott et al even contemplating retracting the paper, so that is still wishful thinking.
Folks, the main admission from Marcott et al is now:
There’s a razor sharp rebuttal from Ross McKitrick in the CA comments.
On Real Climate the warminista have defended the Marcott conclusions.
Tamino (of Closed Mind fame) insists:
Gavin Schmidt rebukes a critic thusly:
The party line is clear: Okay you caught us manufacturing the proxy uptick, but the recent instrumental uptick is unusual compared to the rest of the Holocene, so we can still say industry has altered climate dramatically.
Whereas McKitrick nails it:
For astute regular readers of Jo’s blog this is nothing new. With this new update and partial admission they have not really changed changed their tune. It just shows how the warmists circle the wagons, dodge the tough questions, and repeat the propaganda endlessly in the hope people will eventually accept it.
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You are an optimist. I’m expecting them to try to get away with merely clarifying that only the paleo part of the reconstruction is “robust”. They don’t want the paper withdrawn because the IPCC wants to use the graph.
Look for the IPCC to feature the graph prominently but only discuss its paleo portion in the text. If the casual reader then draws an erroneous conclusion from looking at the non-robust hockey stick part of the graph, then how can the IPCC possibly be blamed for that? These people are sneaky. They can lie without saying a single word that isn’t true.
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Help the freezing people of England!…….Save us from ‘The Con-Man’ (FenBeagle cartoon)
..English Energy politics explained.
http://fenbeagleblog.wordpress.com/2013/03/31/the-con-man/
[Very clever Fen, gave me a good chuckle. Good dog. Mod oggi]
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behind a paywall, but heard most of the article being read on radio this morning. a total disgrace:
1 April: Australian: Hedley Thomas: Lockout on flood files for 30 years
THOUSANDS of internal documents obtained during investigations by Queensland’s $15 million public inquiry into floods and the operation of Brisbane’s Wivenhoe Dam are being withheld from public access and scrutiny for 30 years by the state government…
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/lockout-on-flood-files-for-30-years/story-e6frgczx-1226610026456
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WTF?!!, you are joking! So no public debate, democratic process and it’s consequences? What’s going on over there you lot?.
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Must be Freemasons involved.
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What I found quite suspicious was the way dam levels were recorded on Saturday and Sunday mornings from 7 May 2005 until 17 May 2009, then there were no more weekend readings recorded afterwards.
I was only too happy to blame the operators 2 years ago and jump on the coverup bandwagon. I also recognised that it was just hubris to build houses on a known floodplain and then try to blame someone else when an inevitable natural event becomes a natural disaster.
The commentary at the time reckoned the operators followed the manual. They did not have the option to keep the gates closed for any longer once the water level reached 74m.
I think the point is that the operator has the discretion to open the gates before it reaches 74m, and if they were not recording dam levels on Saturday mornings they were missing information that could tell them to exercise this discretion. With warnings from the BOM about more rain on the way late the previous Friday night, it begins to look like more could have been done if they were serious about flood mitigation.
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but the pollies get something like $150,000-plus a year when they retire, which would require something like $6 million in your Super Fund!
31 March: News Ltd: AAP: Craig Emerson says the superannuation of ordinary Australians is safe
Dr Emerson attacked the Coalition over its policy to reinstate the 15 per cent tax on superannuation for the low-paid.
He said the Coalition was engaging in class warfare by planning to slap an extra tax on the 3.6 million Australians earning up to $37,000 per year…
http://www.news.com.au/national-news/craig-emerson-says-the-superannuation-of-ordinary-australians-is-safe/story-fncynjr2-1226609757253
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31 March: Russia Today: Cyprus’ President-related company transfers €21 mln to London prior to bailout agreement – report
A company owned by in-laws of Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades wired €21 million from Laiki Bank to London days before the Eurogroup’s crisis-triggering levy proposal, claims a Cypriot newspaper. The president demands an investigation.
During two days, 12 and 13 of March, the company A.Loutsios & Sons Ltd., co-owned by Loutsios John, the husband of Nikos Anastasiadis’ daughter, Elsa, took five promissory notes worth €21 million from Laiki Bank. The money was then transferred to London, reported Cypriot newspaper Haravgi, affiliated to the communist-rooted AKEL party.
The withdrawal was fulfilled just three days before the Eurogroup meeting when euro finance ministers agreed a 10 billion euro ($13 billion) bailout for Cyprus.
The company, however, has firmly denied the reports.
The newspaper recalls that Cyprus Finance Minister, Michalis Sarris, publically admitted that the government was aware in advance about the Eurogroup’s intentions to impose a “haircut” on bank deposits of more than 100,000 euros…
The president stressed that no one, including himself, will walk free from the on-going investigations looking into responsibility for the crisis that has engulfed the Cypriot economy.
Moreover, Anastasiades assured that when the investigative committee assembled on Tuesday, he would request that its members look into this particular case.
http://rt.com/news/cyprus-president-money-withdraw-129/
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[ I think that it is just one big commercial for the Radi-aid singers, and planned as such.
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You’ll all remember how the Live Aid song in the eighties said that there would be no snow in Africa this Christmas. I say give it time. Now if there was only enough power to use those radiators….
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A very obvious point.
Wherever these choir members are living, Africa or Norway, they are not representative of the great bulk of the population which is real Africa.
KK
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so anyway… how was Canberra for you?
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Yes
Had missed the last two years.
Finbar Furey did a good show up in the terrace, a tear jerker.
The Bridge Project was good and so was SANS.
Good weather; good variety of food ; some mulled wine.
Our group pulled huge crowds estimated at 20 to 30.
KK 🙂
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wow 30. Were you headlining?
Weather was very good.
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No Budawang for us just a little spot in Central Park and the Spookeys aren’t concerned at all about competition.
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unfortunately, this isn’t an april fool’s day joke!
1 April: BBC: Melt may explain Antarctica’s sea ice expansion
Climate change is expanding Antarctica’s sea ice, according to a scientific study in the journal Nature Geoscience.
The paradoxical phenomenon is thought to be caused by relatively cold plumes of fresh water derived from melting beneath the Antarctic ice shelves.
This melt water has a relatively low density, so it accumulates in the top layer of the ocean.
The cool surface waters then re-freeze more easily during Autumn and Winter.
This explains the observed peak in sea ice during these seasons, a team from the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) in De Bilt says in its peer-reviewed paper…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21991487
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Pat…thats what Imre Lakatosh, in defining the traits of pseudo-science referred to as a sub-tending theory within a “protective belt” defending a falsified theory.
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Pat keep it simple mate.
Melting ice in one place is causing ice formation in another place.
And it’s still all our fault…
You know what we call this scientific phenomenon?
Total Bullshit.
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What GW Sonny,
http://www.drroyspencer.com/2013/04/uah-global-temperature-update-for-march-2013-0-18-deg-c-again/#comments
Another month the non warming continues.
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This can be so easily debunked by simple logical reasoning.
These “scientists” would have us believe that the fresh water somehow remains seperated from the salt water and rises to the top of the ocean where it freezes.
Try melt a block of ice at the bottom of a glass of salt water then come back a day later and see just how seperated the salty water is from the fresh water.
How do you know when a climate scientist is lying? They open their mouth.
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Sonny, ocean ice is not salty and fresh water is less dense (lighter) than salt water.
If you use very cold (4 C) salt water with some food coloring in your glass example above and float two ice cubes on the top, when they melt you could use a straw to sip that clear fresh water floating off the top of the salt water.
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An interesting experiment!
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Ok, but where are the new ice cubes that formed?
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try debunking using experimentation
10
http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Turning-CO2-Directly-into-Transport-Fuels.html
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WUWT yesterday say James Hansen is retiring from NASA to pursue climate activism.
Please Jo follow this one up!
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Not particularly good news: http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/01/james-hansen-is-leaving-nasa-to-intensify-his-campaign-for-carbon-cuts/
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Hi BS
How much credibility will he have left after “leaving” NASA.
He may have left but it was more like a shove.
He can’t use NASAs name now.
He will be seen as a Pennsylvanian recluse spouting about that old global warming thing.
KK 🙂
KK 🙂
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BS, looks like they’ll make an AGW Martyr of him.
Those adoring comments are just astounding.
The stupidity of people is a constant source of amazement!
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I managed to get the call at question time and asked Karoly:
“I would like to draw your attention to three facts, two of which are not in dispute at all.
“The first is that the CO2 levels are galloping faster than the most pessimistic predictions. The second is that there has been a 17 year pause in global warming, as acknowledged by Rajendra Pachauri of the IPCC, and that the British Bureau of Meteorolgy models are predicting that this pause will continue until the year 2017 — that’s a 20 year pause. And thirdly there is a leaked graph from the Fifth IPCC report due out in September showing actual temperatures tracking below the lowest predictions of the previous IPCC reports.
“If we put those three facts together, don’t they blow this idiotic global warming scare right out of the water?”
Read the rest here
http://www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/doomed-planet/2013/03/comedy-s-hot-new-duo-manne-and-karoly
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So, remember how this Labor Government said that the CO2 Tax was of very little to zero monetary effect, and remember how they said those in the most need would be compensated.
I know I harp on it at times, but remember how I said that residential power consumption only made up 20% of usage here in Australia, so some people were being compensated for their (residential) consumption, so basically a part of 20% of total consumption is compensated.
That leaves the two largest consuming sectors. Commerce and Industrial to foot the increased power bills due to the imposition of the CO2 Tax on their own, without any compensation.
Now we have the hospitals, and keep in mind that this is only in Victoria, are feeling the squeeze due to increased energy costs, and the CO2 impost is around 15% of your total electricity bill, so just those hospitals in Victoria have an INCREASE (not their whole power bill, but just the increase) in their power bill to the tune of $6.7 Million ….. and that’s just for 6 Months.
OK, so you tell me now. If they have increased costs in one area, do you think they will be cutting back in other areas to even out that huge extra cost.
The CO2 Tax was (supposedly) meant to send an indicator so people would use less electricity, so I, umm, wonder how that works out for a hospital.
Link to media report
Tony.
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Turn off the machines that go “BIP”?
Seriously Tony even with all the dripping sarcasm you are looking too deep. This si a greens policy not a labor policy. Gillard spewed out the words (sending a signal) but she had no idea what she was talking about. Hell they cant even formulate and progress their own policy abortions how did you expect them to do any better with one from the stupid greens?
Whilst on my soap box i want to share a funny story about the local green nutjob, this is the same nutjob i have mentioned before that some may remember. This is the guy that claimed the worlds population needed to be reduced (read culled) so i suggested he lead by example and top himself much to the laughter of the people listening to our little debate.
Anyway he has paid someone to build him an electric car which is quite useless and he barely gets from his house (outskirts of Gawler) into the centre of Gawler but due to the fact that he is on the local council (just like Matt “give them more jumpers” B) he got a photo shoot in the local rag extolling teh delights of going green.
His ugly mug has made a reappearance in the local rag, this time he is advocating the benefits of building a recharging station in down town Gawler so all the eco nuts in Adelaide can drive to Gawler on the weekend.
Two problems here:
1, No one no matter what car they drive wants to go to Gawler on the weekend and
2, How many people in the greater Gawler area do you think have a dodgy electric car?
Typical green policy, spend a shit load on a waste of money but in this case it will only benefit this idiot.
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I can’t help it but ask the obvious question: What are does radiators doing in Africa, where there is no electricity in the first place?
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