Current understanding indicates that even if there was a complete cessation of emissions of CO2 today from human activity, it would take several millennia for CO2 concentrations to return to preindustrial concentrations
The German chemist expertly dismantles the claims by the Royal Society that it would take "millennia" for atmospheric CO2 to return to preindustrial levels. Such a claim, he says, "cannot be true."
Taking the Royal Society to task Kaiser refers to several peer-reviewed papers reporting the half-life of CO2 in the atmosphere to be "between 5 and 10 years." The chemist calculates that with a half-life of 5 years means that more than 98% of a substance will disappear in a time span of 30 years.
The German then poses the question that if CO2 were to stay in the atmosphere for millennia, why has its level in the atmosphere not doubled in the last 15 years, or gone up tenfold-plus over the last 100 hundred years?
The Parliament is currently passing the Budget of the European Union and one budget line in the Parliament section caught my eye, (page 22, of this document line 1632)Doesn't matter, after all, it's only your money they're pissing down the drain, and you couldn't give a flying fuck eu. Could you?
Social contacts between members of staff and other social measuresAnd what is this budget line for? A budget line which amounts to 310,000 Euros? It is an
"appropriation 'to encourage and provide financial backing for schemes to promote social contact between staff of different nationalities, ... subsidies to staff clubs, sports associations, cultural societies ...'"Fortunately somebody on the Budget Committee spotted it and put in an amendment to cancel it saying,
Is Parliament a playground or a place of work?Of course given that that somebody was a chap called Lucas Hartong and he is a Dutch MEP from Gert Wilders' PVV his amendment was rejected. The net result is that you are paying 310,000 Euros for EP staff members to indeed have a rather wonderful, multi-linguistic and social time of it.
Money well spent you must agree.
Update,
Just had an email from Mr Hartong,
Every day that I am voting I think: I´m in the twilight zone..... Only supported by 2 or 3 colleagues who haven´t given up the fight either.
Image via Wikipedia Fucking hell! The Fucking ugly bastard that made Tourettes fashionable again, has finally decided to fuck his last fuck and has retired from the fray. What an absolute cunt! Fuck off you utter bastard! Sob.
“We are clear the fundamental process of supervision has to occur where expertise is, with the national authorities,” he said. It was “vitally important” Brussels did not intervene directly in running our markets, he warned.
Eurocrats want formal recognition from the United Nations. They want Herman Van Rompuy to be able to address the General Assembly as a head of state, and to create a seat for Baroness Ashton, the EU’s foreign minister (hat-tip, EU Observer).
We need to demand now that referendum that has so long been denied us, before the occupation of a foreign power becomes permanent.
They may eventually get their way in the UN, but I and many others will never accept it. Under those circumstances do not be surprised if a very large number of political commentators, pundits and the public very quickly become freedom fighters, all across Europe. I hope Cameron and Clegg can live with that.
THOUSANDS of members of an on line support group are intensifying their fight to have a Teesside serviceman released from an Afghan jail after he was refused his freedom by the Afghan authorities at a court hearing. Anthony Malone 37, an ex paratrooper from Billingham is being held in Pul-i-Charkhi prison in Afghanistan for allegedly owing thousands of dollars.
After an intense two and a half hour court hearing on Monday Mr. Malone and his lawyer Kimberley Motley were informed that the original verdict was to be upheld by the court.
Mr. Malone has already served six months longer than his two-year jail sentence after he was arrested on fraud charges in January 2008. Maria Blades, Mr. Malone’s sister said: “It was stated that if Anthony agreed to pay the money owed, an undisclosed amount, he could be set free tomorrow.”
Ms. Motley argued that the total amount allegedly owed was not given, and that the names of those the money was allegedly owed to were also not apparent in any document in Mr. Malone’s file.
Mr. Malone continues to be detained for an undisclosed amount of dollars owed which is against the Constitution, Article 32.
Mr. Malone has made it very clear that he will not allow any payment of money for his release.
Miss Blades said of her brother's decision: “Anthony is a man of principle and insists on his innocence. He wants to leave Pul-i-Charkhi as a freeman with his name cleared.”
The Malone family and their Facebook supporters do not believe Mr. Malone should have to pay back any amount of money to the Afghan authorities. They are upset and appalled that Mr. Malone has been sent back to languish in his rat infested prison cell.
Ms. Motley says of the prison where Mr. Malone is being held: "It's a very, very dangerous environment especially for the likes of those that are internationals and those that have past military experience."
The prison Mr.Malone is being held in is notorious and has been dubbed the equivalent to Alcatraz. It is overcrowded, rat-infested and also houses captured Taliban fighters, jihadists and murderers. Mr. Malone has been threatened and had knives held to his throat.
Mr. Malone has said: “I am battling mentally and I’m battling physically because of the conditions.”
When the news that Mr. Malone had been denied his freedom reached the Facebook group, ‘Release Anthony Malone’ it began a frenzy of activity to step-up the campaign to release Mr. Malone.
‘Facebook group members began in earnest to plague their local M.P’s, to write to the Prime Minister, write and telephone local and international broadcasters, contact local and national newspapers, start an on-line poster campaign and the group members' have also increased the posting of the link to their on-line petition. One group member, Jan Morten said: “After listening to the interview on the radio, the authorities are now saying he owes $75000. That’s why they banged him up in the first place. Why on earth should this money be paid, he has paid it in full for the time he has spent in that prison.”
Mrs Morten has written to her local M.P, the Prime Minister and has spent everyday and night on the group exchanging information and encouraging others to join the group and sign the petition to aid with Mr. Malone’s release.
Lisa Miller said: “What’s happening to Anthony Malone is a disgrace. What’s more horrifying is that our so called elected representatives, I use the term very loosely, have sat back for more than 30 months and let this continue.”
Andy Beckwith said: “Anthony is sticking to his principles and we should all salute him for that. He is a very brave man, I do not know of many people that would do the same in his situation. I would like to think that after 8 years in Afghanistan our government would have at least some sway in the polital/legal infrastructure of the country, obviously not.” Casey Mitchell said:“Unfortunately for Anthony, the constitution in Afghanistan states that being in debt does not limit a person’s freedom or deprive him of his liberties. The mode and means of recovering a debt shall be regulated by law.”
Ms. Mitchell went on to say: “From that I take it that they have regulated the law to incarcerate him, contrary to point (I) of their own constitution. And the recent court judgement that they intend to hold Anthony until he has paid the "alleged" debt back looks like they are trying to justify point (II). From what I have read, they have still not provided any evidence of debt, to whom, for how much, for what service or goods. If you can not provide sufficient evidence in your case as an accuser, in most courts in the world, your case would be thrown out… An abomination of justice.”
Despite the recent failed court hearing, Mr. Malone’s lawyer remains optimistic that with the help of Anthony’s friends and family he will be released soon.
Ms. Motley also commented that Mr. Malone is in good spirits: “He’s just trying to get through this period. He’s also very appreciative of all the assistance he’s receiving from family and friends.”
The Facebook group members from, ‘Release Anthony Malone’ would like to thank all those who have joined the group and signed the petition to fight for Anthony’s freedom.
The petition currently stands at 3110 signatures, many more signatures are needed.
The group welcomes more members who can offer active support to Anthony Malone's plight.
To join the Facebook group click here or copy and paste the following link into your browser: http://www.facebook.com/mariablades#!/group.php?gid=132879203409709&ref=mf
To sign the on-line petition click here or copy and paste the following link into your browser: http://www.petitiononline.com/Freeanth/petition.html
Leading doctors today weigh in on the debate over the government's role in promoting public health by demanding that ministers impose "fat taxes" on unhealthy food and introduce cigarette-style warnings to children about the dangers of a poor diet.
The demands follow comments last week by the health secretary, Andrew Lansley, who insisted the government could not force people to make healthy choices and promised to free businesses from public health regulations.
But senior medical figures want to stop fast-food outlets opening near schools, restrict advertising of products high in fat, salt or sugar, and limit sponsorship of sports events by fast-food producers such as McDonald's.
Unhealthy living is almost universal in Scotland, with virtually everyone in the country putting themselves at risk, according to a study.Glasgow University researchers analysed data from 6,574 people who took part in the 2003 Scottish Health Survey.
They identified five factors which contributed most to disease in richer countries - smoking, drinking, poor diet, physical inactivity and obesity.
The report found that 97% of Scots had at least one of the risk factors.
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Cameron’s move was classically Blairite. Tony Blair made no secret of his disdain, amounting to loathing, for the Labour Party, from whose culture he remained always aloof. That is similarly the case with Dave: he is not comfortable with Tories or Toryism, as this pre-emptive strike demonstrated. The need to cosy up to the Liberal Democrats energised Dave to do what he wanted to do anyway: eliminate grassroots Conservatives and Conservatism from the Conservative Party.
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frank_davis
April 29th, 23:54
Last night I posted up a piece which was, in part, about the social isolation and disintegration that I thought the smoking ban was causing. This evening, among the responses, there was the following anonymous message:
I am getting too old to stand outside pubs or restaurants. Plus I was taught that it was only 'ladies of the night' that stood in the street smoking.
I have been 3 years away from any social contact other than the odd hello with neighbours.
Being a widow with no family it was always going to be hard to get back into some semblance of normality with regard to socialising, but I didn't think that it would be this bad.
I used to meet up in a cafeteria with some lady friends, but now that has stopped as a few of the ladies were smokers and didn't want to stand in the street to have a cigarette.
I went to a quiz night at the local pub as there were quite a few elderly 'singles' there. That has stopped. I also playe bingo once a week and that too has stopped as there is no pleasure in having a drink there with no cigarette.
I am now on anti depressants and wish that I had the courage to kill myself and join my dear husband.
Thank you politicians for making my life not worth living after working from age 14 until 68. I am now 74 and have lost my soul and will to live in this lonely place.
Nothing needs to be added. Here in a nutshell is the social devastation caused by the smoking ban. It falls most heavily, of course, on the elderly.
I think these stories must be told. There must be thousands upon thousands - millions even - of people all over the country, and all over the world, in much the same situation. People who had their social lives destroyed. People who have become profoundly isolated and depressed as a consequence of smoking bans.
Our politically correct news media will never report any of it. They won't report it because for them smokers are non-persons, people who don't count. So it's only going to be on blogs like mine that such people are going to find a voice.
So I'd like to appeal to my readers, particularly the elderly (65-70+) and vulnerable ones like my anonymous commenter, to write to me to describe their personal experiences of the smoking ban. I'm interested in younger readers' experiences as well, of course.
And I'd like to ask readers if they know any elderly and vulnerable people who may have become isolated. Phone them up! Pop round and see them! Ask them how life has been for them. Get them to tell their story.
I'm sure there are thousands and thousands of horror stories out there, that need telling, and which antismokers would prefer never get told at all. When the stories start being told - and they will be told -, they might begin to feel ashamed of what they've done.
I've set up a googlemail account: cfrankdavis@googlemail.com
And I've also put up a (rather crude) box in the right margin, which will stay there.
Emails are welcome from all over the world, but since this a UK blog, non-UK writers should give some indication where they are, and what sort of ban is in force where they live.
Any suggestions are welcome.
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"Political World" We live in a political world Love don't have any place We're living in times ...
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